Stand Alone Read Online Free PDF Page B

to a store. There are lots of options.”
    “I suppose. I was just confused, you know?”
    He studied her, frowning.
    “I can’t understand why you would break into an empty house to sleep there, unless there was something wrong with you.”
    Justine felt her face flush, and hoped that he couldn’t see it in the dimness of the street. There was nothing wrong with her. It had just been an impulse. Something to do.
    “Get up,” Officer Carter told her.
    Justine got stiffly to her feet. It didn’t help that she’d been sleeping on the cold floor all night. Grasping her wrists behind her, Officer Carter felt her pockets to make sure that the security guard hadn’t missed anything.
    “You’re under arrest for breaking and entering,” he told her.
    “I didn’t break in! It was already broken. I just    …   entered.”
    “It’s not your house, sweetheart. You can’t do that.”
    Justine sighed. He walked her over to his car and opened the back door.
    “Watch your head,” he advised, helping her in. Justine felt a warm flush of pleasure at his strong hands guiding her into the car. She lifted her feet in, and then he closed the door, shutting her in. She thought he would get into the car right away, but he spent more time talking to the guards, and went back into the house once more. Finally, he got into the front seat of the squad car.

    It was a long and boring wait in the police station waiting area. Justine was handcuffed to a bench, her hands in front of her this time, between her legs. It was a little more comfortable than the concrete curb, but not by much. Her butt got numb as she sat there, watching other arrestees come and go. Lots of them were drunks, of all varieties. Homeless drunks, drunks dressed up for a night on the town, loud and amusing drunks, quiet morose drunks. Some of them were sick. Some of them barely conscious. Justine had no idea that so many people in the city got potted in one night. There were a few other arrests. A girl who’d vandalized her boyfriend’s car. A break-in at a liquor store. A knife fight between a tall, ordinary-looking gentleman and a short, long-haired, wild-looking Hispanic guy who bared his teeth at the observers. In spite of all of the comings and goings, Justine was bored. She couldn’t imagine what was taking so long.
    Eventually, she saw Em come in and go up to the information desk.
    “Em! Em, over here!” Justine called.
    Em looked over at her and their eyes met. Em shook her head in disgust. Justine giggled at her expression. Em continued to talk to the officer at the information desk, and eventually Officer Carter appeared and nodded to her, motioning for her to follow him. Justine could hear his words as they approached her.
    “She was sleeping in an empty house. Owners have a nightly security check, and they spotted the broken window and checked it out.”
    “Justine,” Em said to her in frustration. “Again? Why do you do this?”
    Justine shrugged.
    “Hi, Em,” she said with a cheerful smile.
    Officer Carter looked at Em with a frown.
    “She’s done this before?” he questioned. “It wasn’t on her record.”
    Em nodded.
    “We managed to keep it off so far    …   she has a    …   a sort of a psychological problem. She doesn’t mean any harm. It’s just    …   sort of a compulsion. Is there any way    …   that we could pay for the window, and keep it off of her record?”
    “It doesn’t sound like that has worked too well in the past.”
    “She has an illness,” Em protested. “You can’t punish her for something she can’t control!”
    “There’s nothing wrong with me,” Justine interjected. “Just because I don’t want to be with you, that doesn’t mean there’s something wrong with me!”
    “She has a therapist,” Em told Carter, her voice rising over Justine’s. “You can call him, talk to him about it. He’ll explain it to you    …”
    “Ma’am, it’s going on her