Terrible Friend

4

"What? No! They are in there!" Albert turned so that his stretched out fingers could point toward the door he had just come through.

"Shit! Kovach nodded to a second officer "Hold him." Then he headed into the dark room, gun drawn.

Albert stood there, arms secured tight behind his back. He was proud of himself for stopping whatever had been going on in there. They would be arrested and he would be free to go.

He was still reeling from the fight he had just escaped from when the officer, Eric Kovach, came back through the door, holstering his gun.

"Alright, turn around." He grabbed Albert harder than he had to and shoved him against the wall. He frisked him. When he found the strange shape in his pocket, he patted it. "Get me a bag." The short round officer that had been holding him darted out front door of the gallery.

"I can explain that." Albert proclaimed as Kovach's gloved hand reached in and pulled the necklace out of Albert's pocket.

As soon as the necklace left Albert's possession, Jax shrieked. The sound echoed painfully through Albert's head. He tried to bring his hands up to cup them over his ears. His sudden movement startled the officers and earned him an elbow in the ribs. Albert winced.

Helpless to cover his ears, the searing pain of Jax's screams raged on. Albert's ears began to ring. The officer spun him around to face him.

"Start explaining."

Albert couldn't hear the officer over Jax's screams. He hung his head, trying to hide the tears in his eyes.

Kovach, accepting his slouch as guilt, turned him toward the door. The short, round officer came in waving an evidence bag. He handed it over. "Put him in the car. I'll bag this and be right there. I doubt we are going to get anything out of him here."

The second officer nodded and led Albert to his car. He was gentler than Kovach was. Albert was grateful for that.

As the officer placed his hand on top of Albert's head to ease him into the back seat, he noted Albert appeared to be in pain.

"Are you alright?" the officer asked.

Albert only heard the last word. The screaming subsided and Jax voice bellowed with cursing and questions.

<About god damned time Al! What the fuck took so long?>

"Yeah I'm fine. Am I under arrest?" Albert asked the officer.

"Oh, yeah, I need to read you your rights. You have the right to remain silent, anything you say..."

The officer's voice trailed off as panic started to flow through Albert's veins like tiny shards of glass.

"What about the other guys?" Albert interrupted.

"What other guys? Detective Kovach didn't find any other guys. So, sit back and relax. You can tell the whole story downtown. Do you understand your rights as I have explained them to you?"

<Hold it! Arrest? Other guys? What the hell happened Albert!>

"Yes sir." Albert waved his hand. "I choose to remain silent."

He and the officer rode in silence all the way to the station. Jax was blundering through a plethora of questions that he would just have to wait to get an answer to.

Albert quickly thought through everything that happened. They weren't going to believe him. Especially not after finding the necklace in his pocket. He didn't know if belonged to the gallery or not, but it didn't matter. He was caught coming out the back room, in a gallery that had, from the sound of it, been robbed before. He was toast.