The fence around Aerospace Oklahoma was traveling past the police car window, the coiled razor wire pulsing in the passing streetlights. If they’d only jumped a little farther or come down quicker, they would have landed on some other street. The police car would never have seen them.

He saw a street sign and started.

“Hey, which way are we going?”

St. Claire chuckled. “Glad you noticed, Jonathan. See, I already had my little chat with your father, and he and I have come to an agreement.”

A sickening feeling began to come over Jonathan. Breathing became harder, as if the pull of gravity were steadily increasing.

“You see, in the state of Oklahoma, if a parent feels unable to take charge of their delinquent child, they can request that the child remain in police custody.”

“What?” Jonathan cried. “But my dad—”

“Can’t seem to make it down here tonight. Previous engagement, I think.”

“For how long?”

“Don’t worry. It’s just until a judicial hearing officer listens to the particulars of the case. Your dad has to show up for that, and I’m sure he’ll take you home as soon as you’ve met the JHO and promised to be good.”

“Are you kidding?”

The man laughed sharply, the sound as loud as a dog’s bark in the cramped backseat. “Martinez, I never kid. It’s time you learned a little lesson about the perils of breaking curfew.”

The claustrophobic feeling began to overwhelm Jonathan. The car felt tiny and overheated, the barred partition between the front and back seats turning it into a cage. His stomach churned with nerves and hunger. “You mean I’m spending the night in jail?” he asked softly.

“The night? Not just one, Jonathan. You see, unlike your friendly sheriff’s department, judicial hearing officers don’t work on the weekend.”

“What?”

“Your butt is mine until Monday morning.”

16

1:16 A.M.

GROUNDED

The strange thing was, Jessica’s dad was a lot more upset than her mom.

Mom had answered the door in her unpacking clothes—she must have still been working on the kitchen. She had talked to the police quietly and thanked them for bringing her daughter home. Never raising her voice, she’d told Jessica to wait in the kitchen while she woke Dad up.

Dad had flipped.

He was still wide-eyed, his hair standing on end from frantically running his hands through it. Mom had repeatedly told him not to wake Beth up, but Jessica couldn’t imagine her little sister sleeping through his yelling. What freaked him out the most was the bruise on her face, which she could feel was just starting to show.