Chapter 6
Warren Atwell’s Legal Briefs: When being detained by law enforcement officers, always demand to see their identification.
I was living in a nightmare—or adjacent to one.
My gut churned as I watched Avery zip up her flight suit and put on her skydiving gear.
The woman had multiple dives on her record and would jump today with a group of strangers.
The thought of her jumping out of a perfectly working plane gave me heartburn, but not as much as my ridiculous display of idiocy.
“Are you in trouble with the law because I could get you off?” The words wouldn’t stop playing on a loop in my head. I sighed as I watched the plane maneuver above the landing zone area.
I had no desire to jump out of a plane, but I would not leave Avery alone while she did so.
That release form was a joke that would not stand up in a court of law.
I did what I could, but it only delayed the inevitable.
When her jump was over, we would go our separate ways with this secret hanging between us.
Bile rose in my throat as the plane’s motor droned overhead. Two men joined Avery before the plane took off, so a few people were sitting on their car bumpers at the landing site, ready to shuttle the jumpers back to their cars at the hangar.
A tall redhead kept staring at me. Her blue eyes narrowed as if she recognized me, but she said nothing. Occasionally, she would make a note on her phone or text someone. It was none of my business.
I wished there was something I could do to change things between Avery and me. But I knew in my gut that unless The Universe came along with a big fat nudge, we would return to my tongue being tied around Avery and her ignoring me.
The engine grew louder, and a collective gasp went up as the divers stepped out of the plane.
My heart was in my throat as I heard Avery scream.
I stood and clutched my hands into fists, never feeling more impotent than in that moment.
I reached for my phone and prepared to dial 911, but stopped when I realized Avery’s scream turned into a cackling laugh.
Her laughter rang out over the countryside as she plummeted toward the earth. When her chute opened, I heard her yell, “Hell to the yeah!”
I closed my eyes and blew out a deep breath. It was for the best. That woman was reckless, and I did not need that in my life. I had no idea why an app would connect us. We were too different, and it would not work. She was totally wrong for me.
Maybe I should sue the app makers for getting our hopes up and being so wrong.
I opened my phone to make notes and noticed Avery floating gracefully toward the ground.
As she drew closer, the sun glinted off her goggles.
A carefree, beaming smile split her face.
Her hair floated behind her, weightless and free.
She might be reckless, but I envied that devil-may-care attitude written all over her face.
I wondered what it would be like to be that free and unbothered by everything.
Before I talked myself out of it, I opened the phone’s camera and took several shots of Avery’s landing.
My heart lodged in my throat right before her feet touched the ground, but she pulled hard on the chute’s cords and landed on the field as if she did this every day.
The crowd clapped as the parachute slowly dropped to the ground beside her.
She bowed and dragged the chute as she stomped across the grass toward me.
“You’re still here?” Avery pushed her goggles to the top of her head.
“I thought you might like a ride back to the hangar,” I said.
“I would have gotten a ride from someone.” She gestured to the crowd, waiting for the other two people coming in for a landing.
“Do you know these individuals?” I asked.
“No. But skydiving people are cool,” Avery said. She unhooked her harness and laid it on the ground. Then she stretched the chute out and began expertly rolling it into a ball, preventing tangles as she did so.
“Excuse me.” The redhead stepped toward us and flashed a badge before shoving it into her pocket. “Detective Wysdom Ward. Can I have a few moments with you?”
“What is this regarding?” I folded my arms across my chest.
The detective looked amused as she glanced between me and Avery. “This is regarding Nunya and Beezwax. I am here to talk to her.” She pointed at Avery.
Avery popped up. “Me? Why?”
“Ma’am, were you aware that skydiving as a single woman in the Tampa Bay area is illegal?”
I blinked a few times at the redhead, Detective Ward. She carried herself like other police officers I knew, but there was something off about her. “Please allow me to see your badge again.” I held out my hand.
“And who might you be?” Detective Ward smiled. “Is it Sears Catalog Day at the Skydiving School?”
“Hey, now,” Avery warned. “He’s a lawyer. A damn good one. And if he wants to see your badge, I think I want to see it, too.”
I warmed a bit at her defense of me. That was nice.
Detective Ward rolled her eyes but produced the badge from her back pocket. “There, happy?”
I put on my reading glasses and studied the burnished gold badge.
Its shield-shaped design featured intricate engravings of a balanced scale and an eagle.
I squinted at the words Flamingo Cove Police Department and the badge number etched on the top.
Nestled securely within a sleek black leather wallet, the badge contrasted sharply with the supple texture of the material, which was stiff as if it were brand new.
I snapped a picture of the badge with my phone and returned the wallet to the detective.
She raised her eyebrow at me in what looked like begrudging respect. “Alrighty. Now that we’ve established that I’m a detective.” She pulled a zip tie from her other back pocket. “You’re under arrest.”
Avery dropped the folded parachute on the ground. “Are you fucking serious?”
“I suggest you watch that tone, ma’am,” Detective Ward warned as she moved closer. “You have the right to remain silent. Anything you say can and will be used against you in a court of law. You have the right to an attorney—”
“Warren?” Avery pleaded, turning her worried brown eyes toward mine. “Do something!”
“If you cannot afford an attorney, one will be provided for you—”
My heart pounded as I watched Avery’s arrest in slow motion.
Previous interactions with her flipped through my mind.
All of the times that I became tongue-tied around her.
Every moment that I wanted to punch myself for saying the wrong thing.
But that was dating. Arrests and legal shit was my area of expertise. I could not afford to get this wrong.
“She has an attorney, and this whole thing is baseless,” I shouted.
Detective Ward zipped the ties over Avery’s wrists and paused to look at me. “Why is that?”
“You said it was against the law for an unmarried woman to go skydiving?” I asked.
The cop nodded slowly. “I did say that.”
I glanced between the detective and Avery. The police officer seemed amused by this whole thing. Avery’s eyes welled with tears, and rational thought left the building of my mind. “Well, she is not unmarried.”
“Interesting,” Detective Ward said. “Tell me more.”
When I lost my mind, I tended to double down on the crazy. That was the only explanation. “She is not single because… we are getting married tomorrow! At the courthouse!” I shouted before I could think about the words coming out of my mouth.
Avery gasped.
“Respect.” Detective Ward pounded her fist against her chest. “I didn’t have that on my BINGO card, but sure.
Let’s go with it. Tell you what. You can spend the night in the holding cell, and tomorrow morning, I’ll personally escort you to the courthouse.
That sound Kool and the Gang? Mmm-kay. Hand over your phones. Let’s go, lovebirds.”
We reluctantly gave her our phones.
The blood drained from Avery’s face as Detective Ward escorted her to a classic black Cadillac and placed her in the backseat.
“You too.” Detective Ward motioned toward the open door. “What’s your name, again?”
“Warren Atwell. Esquire.” I slid into the backseat beside Avery. “And we shall want our phone calls as soon as we get to holding.”
The detective said nothing as she closed the door with a flourish. I turned to look at Avery. Her shoulders shook as she stared out the window.
“Avery? Are you alright?” She said nothing, but the shaking got worse. I touched her shoulder. “Avery?”
The woman whirled around and glared at me with murder in her eyes. “Are you high?”
I leaned away from her. “I do not believe so.”
“She thinks we’re getting married!”
“It is okay. We will settle this when we get to the police precinct. It will not come to that,” I assured her, hoping I was not lying.
The anger in her eyes cut me off at my knees, but she said nothing as she shook her head and turned back to the window. I had never been happier about a woman being in handcuffs as I was right then.