“Shit,” Marti muttered under her breath, seeing the flashing blue lights in her rearview mirror. She’d checked her speed when she saw the squad car, 48 was too fast for this street, but didn’t think he’d pull her over. She steered to the curb and stopped, hoping he’d go past, but he didn’t. The lights pulled in right behind her. Marti turned off the car and rolled her window down, then waited apprehensively.
Relief flooded her when she heard the familiar voice of her boyfriend’s buddy. “A little fast tonight Marti,” he chided.
“Hi Jon,” she replied, sheepishly. His flashlight quickly illuminated the inside of her car, he swept it over the backseat first, then directly at her.
“Do you know how fast you were going?”
“No,” She lied.
“48 Marti, the speed limit is 30.” She didn’t respond, staring nervously at her hands on the steering wheel. Surely Jon wouldn’t give her a ticket, he and Dave had been best friends most of their lives, going to school together, rooming together during their Police Academy training, and though Jon worked for the City and Dave worked for the Sheriff’s Department, they usually worked the same shift. They played softball together in the summer, basketball in the winter, and worked out at the gym together at least twice a week.
“Your license Marti?” he asked, bringing her attention back to the present. She fumbled in her purse and finally found it. “Now just sit here and look pretty, I’ll be right back,” he said, seemingly amused at her awkwardness.
She looked into her mirror and noticed a second set of lights, “Must be a quiet night,” she mused, glad that Dave was assigned to patrol another section of the county tonight.
After what seemed like an eternity Jon returned, her heart sank when he handed back her license and a ticket. “Marti, you’ve got a taillight out in back too.” She wasn’t aware of that
“Ok, I’ll fix it,” she promised quietly.
“My partner’s gonna follow you home to make sure you get there safely,” he said, placing his hand on her shoulder softly. Her mind was racing to come up with a way to avoid telling Dave about the ticket. She started to plead with Jon to change his mind but quickly abandoned the idea, knowing she’d be in more trouble then. Finally she pulled her car back into the street and drove slowly away. The second set of lights pulled directly behind her. “Three damn blocks,” she grumbled to herself, thinking of the lecture she would face in the morning when Dave saw the ticket.
She pulled into the parking lot and turned her car off. Taking longer than necessary to gather her purse off the passengers seat she hoped the officer would drive off before she got out. He was still there when she stepped out of the car, she walked quickly past without looking, her pride stinging.
“Martha.” Her heart stopped when she heard her name. Dave’s voice was calm, but he never called her Martha. She turned and strained against the darkness to see into the driver’s window. He was not smiling, she knew she was in a lot of trouble now.
She jumped when his car door closed. His footsteps on the pavement seemed louder than normal, and her feet felt as though they were set in concrete. “I thought you were….,” her voice trailed off leaving the sentence unfinished.
“I was,” he replied, “Until I had to bring a drunk driver to jail.” He stood directly in front of her, at nearly a foot taller he seemed to tower over her. Marti looked down, her eyes fixed on one of the buttons of his shirt, tears welling up in her eyes as she waited for his lecture. “Give me the ticket,” he ordered. She reluctantly handed him the paper. “How fast were you driving?”
“Forty-three,” she lied, immediately regretting it, he would have seen her speed on Jon’s radar.
