8 Summersby (2/2)

Disgusted, she looked at her hands. Maybe she had a chance to talk herself out of insanity. In many thrillers she had seen, the defendants had come through with it. But that would have seemed like a betrayal of Jessica and her agonizing death, and she vigorously pushed that thought aside.

She looked the policeman to her right. The man was quite young, barely older than 23-year-old Sam. Again and again he gave her stealthy glances.

As soon as Sam made eye contact with him, he looked out of the window and looked at the busy, nocturnal city.

Sam tried to remember where the headquarters of Policia Investigadora Ministerial, the Mexican policeman, lay. Was not it outside the city? She tried to estimate how long the journey would take. Probably not more than 15 minutes. How depressing, a car ride where no one talked to her and they all considered her a monster. As a crowning glory, she awaited a choleric police chief whose relatives had tortured her to death. Would she experience the next morning?

Sam listened to the monotonous singing of the tires on the asphalt. Suddenly it seemed very important to her to see another sunrise. She squinted and tried to remember the last one. But there was nothing, she felt drained and weak.

A deep tiredness overcame her.

But she could not spend the last hours of her life sleeping, which was almost blasphemous.

Speaking of God, he had turned away from her at least that night. Sam felt small and lost.

She woke as her forehead made a rough acquaintance with the neck support of the front seat in front of her. The monotone sounds and the mental and physical efforts of the night she had dozed off briefly.

The driver turned to her, smiling coldly. ”Pardon Scherenlady, has the colleague forgot to strap it?” ”Sorry, my mistake.”

His two colleagues grinned furtively. All three policemen got out. Moments later, the back door of the car opened and Sam stepped into the cool night. As she straightened up beside the police car, he came to her driver and stared at her.

”Turning around, apparently, my colleague not only forgot to buckle up but also to look at weapons.” He pushed Sam roughly against the car.

”Stretch out your arms and put them on the roof of the car. Spread your legs. And - no antics.”