Lex stroked his manicured beard.
“And is this the drive here?”
Tiva responded, “Yes. It’s there but it’s encrypted. I can’t access it.”
“I can get an expert on decrypting this. Knowing what’s here can be a big boon when it comes to trial. But for now I can try to get the charges dismissed.”
Lex took the drive and exited the room.
Sitting in a holding cell, Tiva twiddled her thumbs uneasily. Who knows how many hours had passed, but judging from the weight of her eyes, it as pretty late.
The door swung open.
“Tiva Kismenos. The charges against you have been dropped. You are free to go.”
Tiva glanced through the window. It was pitch black outside.
“What am I supposed to do? It’s past curfew. I won’t even be able to catch an Uber.”
“Not my problem. State just dropped the charges. If you didn’t want a tough time out there, then you shouldn’t have gotten arrested.”
He stamped a page and put it in front of Tiva to sign. As she slid the signed page back across the desk, he slid a plastic bag full of her things to her.
“You can get dressed in there.”
“Okay.” Tiva tried her hardest not to betray the venom behind that response. She headed into the dressing room, changed, and was quickly ushered out the door.
As she stepped out into the dark city, all she could hear was the din of conflict across the city.
Bryan Appley 