One Day in a Small-Town Desert, chapter 10, page 6

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Séara Nulıpésha knew she had to arrest Mr. Kılímo. The paramedics wouldn’t lie to her, surely. But it just was so darn implausible--every step of the way--that Mr. Kılímo would have gone into town in the late evening, killed a Colonial Enforcer, and returned to his home as if nothing had happened. Knowing all that, she was quite willing to delay actually arresting the gentle, old man. Before she did that, she could let him take the medics to the victim they’d been clamoring about.

She let out a quick breath and said, “All right, take them to the victim without me, but I’m not leaving.”

If she was really arresting him, she could barge right in and look around all she wanted. Since she wasn’t doing that, Mr. Kılímo would easily realize that she wasn’t serious about taking him into custody.

A big, friendly grin on his face, Mr. Kılímo gestured the medics inside. “Come on in. I’ll take you right to Bhanar and show you that you’re not needed.”

The two medics walked past Séara without giving her so much as eye contact. The second man bumped her shoulder slightly. It wasn’t hard enough to definitely be on purpose, but his lack of apology made it seem that it was.

Mr. Kılímo shut the door with a thump after the paramedics entered the house, leaving Séara alone in the desert night.

Why had that medic bumped her? Here she was, doing everything she could to help them get inside, and this was how they showed their gratitude?

She turned her back on the door and crossed her arms, moisture gathering in her eyes.

Maybe she wasn’t cut out for this job. Here was her first big test and for some reason she felt like she was failing. True, she’d gotten the medics inside, but it took forever. She’d told Mr. Kılímo she was arresting him, but then she didn’t follow through on it. She didn’t even know why she had said that to him. She surely didn’t trust those paramedics more than she trusted Mr. Kılímo, so why had she taken their word for anything? They were probably just upset that he hadn’t let them inside. They were just trying to get revenge on him, and using Séara to do it. And he bumped her just to show his contempt.

A tear rolled down her cheek as she stared up into the night sky.

Is it always going to be like this? Will the men I work with always treat me like this, taking advantage of a poor little girl? She carefully wiped the tear away. Will I always play right into their hands and make a fool of myself?

The distant stars provided no response.

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