Rescue

stopped at a cell with a steel sink, seatless hopper, and stand-up shower on one wall and a wooden bench, like you’d find in a sauna, on the other.
    I said, “Am I going to be here long?“
    Billups took off the cuffs. “Law says up to eight hours.“ No smile.

    About one of those hours later, he came back for me. “On your feet.“
    We went from the corridor into what seemed to be a squad room, outside windows on two of the four walls, a central table and folding chairs for eight or ten. A small television set was screwed into a ceiling corner, like the one at Pinky’s. Next to a bulletin board with personnel information on it stood a honeycomb of mailboxes, last names under them. Past the honeycomb was a rack of manila folders, labeled WARRANTS and REPORTS and then some form numbers that made no sense to me.
    A sideboard held a computer, the officer sitting at it turning toward me. He wore sergeant’s stripes on his gray shirt and a dour look on his tanned face, the eyes brown and flat. About my age and beefy, he used his feet to pedal the swivel chair over to the table. As Billups guided me to one of the folding chairs, Deputy Sherman came through the door, closing it behind him.
    The sergeant said, “My name’s Tidyman, Mr. Francis. Whit Tidyman. And I’m doing my best here to decide if we should be booking you or making our apologies.“
    I didn’t say anything.
    Tidyman pursed his lips. “You aren’t interested in helping us decide which?“
    Nodding toward the deputies behind me, I said, “Billups pulled me—“
    Tidyman said, “Deputy Billups, I think you mean.“
    I liked that he’d stand up for his officers. “Deputy Billups pulled me out of the restaurant before his partner could find out that I was the one who got assaulted.“
    Tidyman said, “My road deputies here didn’t go double to Pedro’s, Mr. Francis. They responded separately in two vehicles, and it was just pure luck they got to the scene at the same time and didn’t step into a hornet’s nest when they did. Deputy Billups pulled out of there the one combatant he didn’t know, and I credit him for that. Now, you’ve been read your rights, and you can talk or not, but I’d like to resolve this now if we can, before I have to go and get formal on you. So, what happened?“
    Seemed reasonable, especially if it meant “John Francis“ wouldn’t be fingerprinted. I told him about the incident with Jay in Pinny’s parking lot the night before and the three of them coming for me on the patio that morning. Tidyman let finish.
    He looked up at his deputies and back to me. “You stayed the night at Ms. Adair’s place, then.“
    “I did.“
    When Tidyman realized that was the extent of my answer, he said, “And you’re just a little burned that she didn’t back your play with my deputies at Pedro’s, aren’t you?“
    “Probably.“
    “Within ten minutes of Deputy Billups pulling you out of there, Ms. Adair was on the phone to me here, saying you’d helped her last night and were just in the wrong place at the wrong time this morning.“
    “Why didn’t she tell that to your men?“
    “In front of her horse’s ass ‘ex-fiancé’ and his friends? Dawna Adair has to live on Mercy Key. You’re just a tourist, right?“
    Slipping the question, I said, “You don’t have some kind of Domestic Violence unit here?“
    “We do. Got an Abuse Hotline down on Key West, though that’s mostly for children and the elderly. We also have a Domestic Abuse Shelter on Plantation, Family Resource Center right close by. But those good folks have to get triggered by something, and this here is the first time I’ve heard there was anything off about what old Jay was doing. Whereabouts are you from, anyway?“
    Nice change of gears. “The accent doesn’t give it away?“
    Tidyman pursed his lips again. “Whyn’t you just sort of answer me straight, Mr. Francis, we’ll get along a lot better.’
    I looked at him. A lot of iron under the beef. “Boston.“
    “Boston. What’s the weather like up there now?“
    “The weather?“
    “Yes.“
    “Warm days, cooler nights. I’d have to make some calls for the barometric pressure and humidity.“
    Tidyman grinned. “You’ve a—what’s the word, ‘jocular’?“ way about you, Mr. Francis. What I was wondering was, why you’d be visiting the Keys this time of year, the weather s still so nice back where you’re from?“
    “I had a yen to see this part of Florida.“
    “A