Page 149 of Puck Me Secretly

“I don’t know. I told him you were vouching for him, but I don’t think the cops are buying your story.”

“When are the cops going to interview me?”

“They will send someone down to the hospital tonight.”

I couldn’t believe this was happening. “I’m not suggesting thewoman wasn’t assaulted, but she is mistaken. She’s blaming the wrong man. Max is innocent.”

“She’s sticking to her story. She’s adamant it’s Max. She even picked him up out of a lineup.”

“Why would she do this? She knows this isn’t true. I was with him. This is a complete fabrication.”

“She isn’t aware that Max has an alibi. And the prosecutor can’t drop the charges until they are certain he is innocent.”

“Has she provided any physical evidence?”

“She is refusing to give up her clothes or let anyone examine her.”

“Why would she do this? Why would someone try to set Max up?”

“Money? Publicity?”

I thought about that. “Even if they drop the charges, this is going to devastate his career.”

His lips thinned with regret. “Do you want me to hire a private investigator?”

“Yes.”

“I’ll take care of it.”

“What happens next?”

“Well, based on the fact that they don't have any physical evidence, I’m hoping that the charges will get dropped.”

“How did they arrest him with no evidence?”

Brian ran his hands through his hair. “Sometimes you get a trigger happy cop, who makes the arrest and then the defense attorney has to decide on whether they will follow through. They might drop the charges if they can’t make it stick, but now they are stuck with the arrest.”

“This is bullshit!”

He put a hand on my shoulder. “Stay with your dad. Two officers will come down in about an hour.”

“My Mom made a big mistake handing over proxy to Baxter.”

“Hockey can wait. We can sort that out later.”

I nodded, fightingtears. “Yeah, okay.”

The interviewwith the cops left me exhausted. They repeated the same questions over and over, with a disbelieving tone. I could tell they doubted me, doubted that I was with Max. They suggested that I was only trying to cover up for the team, to ensure that our star player didn’t get arrested. By the time the interview was over, I was in tears.

They wouldn’t answer any of my questions or tell me what was going on with Max.

Finally, I made my way back to the waiting room where Mom was curled up in a chair.

“How’s Dad?”

“He hasn’t woken up yet.”

I dropped into a chair, exhausted. “Have the doctors come by?”

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