Marcie glanced up at the sign above the entrance to the police station as she passed under it. She'd been home, when the call had come. Sitting at the table, explaining to her parents what had happened, Cathal sitting near. Adrian had been hovering somewhere in the background despite having been told to go to his room.
She and Kaden had had a fight. She'd slapped him; he'd thrown stuff at her; both of them had taken off. Kaden was suspected of rock throwing and dog-napping, and Marcie and Cathal had gone to fix the hot rod enough to get it to limp back into Marco's garage. It helped when someone checked how much gas was in the tank, it turned out. And then, while they sat around planning a search party for Kaden, Marcie's phone had rang.
Kaden was found, and safe, and in the police station. He'd stolen a car and driven off with his friend inside it- could've killed both of them. Constable Taylor spoke with a firm calmness though, which helped keep Marcie from freaking out. She pictured him in a jail cell, his foot on the path towards following in his brothers' footsteps, and she felt like there was a lump of ice in her belly.
Of course, everyone offered to come, but Marcie declined. This one had to be done by herself. She didn't see Kaden taking it very well if she wasn't alone. Might not take it well seeing her at all, but someone had to go and take responsibility for him: he could like it or not, but that person was Marcie.
As she was heading out of the door, Adrian called her name. He was sitting on the bottom of the stairs, a deep frown on his face, his phone held between his hands.
"Hey, tell Kaden he's a fucking asshole," he said, and stomped up the stairs to slam the door of his room before anyone could chastise him for his language.
As Marcie approached the front desk, she tried to school her expression into something neutral. She didn't want Kaden to see anger or judgement or upset- and she wanted to see what his face said first. The officer behind the desk was looking a little purple around the eye, flicking over some paperwork.