She looked like she wanted to ask more questions, but the car was slowing down. And stopping. In front of the police department.

Michael stared at the neat lettering at the front of the building. CINCINNATI POLICE. They were going to put him in jail. He was going to jail. With real criminals. Who’d . . . He choked out a sob as his gut roiled.

He hunched tighter into himself. God. “I’m going to throw up.”

Dr. Dani wrapped her fingers around his wrist, pressing his pulse point gently with her thumb until he turned his head to look up at her. “No, you’re not going to throw up,” she signed with her free hand. “You’re going to breathe with me. Just like we did before. Okay?”

He nodded, too scared to refuse. She put her hand on her chest, lifting and lowering it as she breathed deeply. Within a few breaths he was matching her rate and she let go of his wrist.

“Better?” she asked.

He blinked at her. He was still terrified, but he no longer felt like he’d hurl. At least there’s that. “A little.”

“Okay. I saw about twenty reporters waiting outside the police department. They’re going to be yelling at you and you might see flashes of light from their cameras. You’re not going to look at them. You’re going to keep your hands in your pockets until we get inside. You’ll go through a metal detector inside the door, and they’ll tell you to take your hands out of your pockets. Detective Kimble told them you were coming and that you’d have an interpreter, so nobody’s going to get in your face inside.”

“Will it be the same woman as before?”

“No, she had to go to another appointment. But I know this interpreter and he’s nice, too. He’s interpreted for my brother a few times. He’s one of the only interpreters in the city certified to interpret in legal situations. He’s good.”

Not the same woman. That’s good. But a man? Shit. At least this guy didn’t know. Not yet, anyway. “Okay.”

“When you’ve gone through the metal detectors, you put your hands back in your pockets. You have no privacy until we get to the interview room. Got it?”

He nodded. “Yeah. No privacy.” He was used to that.