D.N.A: Does Not Assimilate
Five

His grip tight around her bicep, obviously displeased with what he'd arrived to replace her doing, she was escorted around the wall and to the staircase. At the top step, he jerked her around to face him, eyes narrowing into thin slits, beyond pissed at what she'd been doing.

"Give me your hands," Detective Gerald growled, pulling out the handcuffs at his belt. Obviously he planned on containing her. "And why the hell wasn't she handcuffed?"

Krane rolled slender shoulders nonchalantly at that, refusing to back down at the angry glower in her partner's eyes, though she knew she'd been in the wrong. "I didn't see a point to. The girl came freely and of her own will. She hasn't fought us since she was brought in."

"She's a criminal," Gerald sneered in derision, using a bit more force than was necessary to click the handcuffs around her wrists. Testament of the anger he felt right then. Then none too gently steering her down the staircase, determined to get them moving, before anything else happened. "No matter how sweet and compliant she appears, she's the criminal. You are the officer. We do not allow allowances just because the crook is nice. You know better, Krane." She snickered at that. "Shut up!" Krane snapped.

"Don't take your anger out on the girl now just because you're pissed off at me," he immediately jumped in, coming to the defense of the female perp before him. Seeming to replace a disagreement with what the woman had said. "She's not to blame for your mistake. You're lucky nothing more came of it." Gerald took a deep breath. "Why don't you make yourself useful and run that down to the lab?" Niyota grinned mischievously. "Told you so."

Getting to the bottom of the staircase a moment later, Krane had gone off to do as she'd been ordered by him. He stopped at the counter. "I need to take her to booking," he explained to the elderly man sitting on the other side. A buzzing entered the silence at this and pushing her forward, Gerald jerked open the caged door to the back, assisting her through the doorway. It buzzed closed behind them. "I understand your need to solve this, but until further notice, you are to have no contact with the Y'Fell's. Am I understood?"

She cocked her brow at him skeptically. "If you're worried about his welfare, then you have no need to be. I didn't threaten him or anything. I just told him to watch out. All of you might be blind to the truth, but I'm not. That girl is playing you all for fools and will turn on you the second she gets what she wants."

He growled low in his throat.

That was rewarded with a wide smile.

Jerked to a stop when they came to a counter at the end of the narrow corridor, a warning look that she wasn't to move, he pushed on the bell. A few minutes later a woman in her fifties and white gray hair came out through a side door. Gerald smiled warmly at her. "Hello, Judy. I have another booking for you."

"It's a young one," she mused thoughtfully, sizing up the girl in his presence tonight.

He bobbed his head. "Yeah, tell me about it."

Sitting down on the stool on the other side of the counter, she pressed a button on the computer and waited quietly as the system came on. "Her name?"

"Jane Doe," he volunteered.

She typed that in. "Offense?"

"Breaking and entering."

Niyota looked up at him, the corner of her lips twitched into a smile. "I wonder Detective Gerald, how much of a crime would it be for a police officer to willingly file a false police report? Or in your case, booking report. Huh?" Judy looked up at him in askance. "Scott, what is she talking about?"

A hand jerked on her. "Shut up already," he muttered, obviously not pleased with that. Gerald looked up at the woman, a soft smile on his face, shaking his head. "Ignore her, Judy. The girl is under the misconstrued idea that she's someone else and determined to have everyone else believe her fantasy."

"It's not fantasy if it's real," she retorted, stubbornly refusing to back down. Detective Gerald might wish to prefer ignorance, but she wasn't going to join him. Too much counted on it.

Sighing in relief at his answer, thankful neither of them was committing a crime. Judy hopped down from the stool once she'd typed everything and walked through a door and came out on the other side. "Down here," she said on the other end of the counter, waiting until Gerald had escorted the prisoner in her direction. "Give me your right hand."

"Just in case you're wondering my prints are already in the system," Niyota volunteered the information for their benefit. Though she did as the woman had requested of her and held out her right hand to be printed by her. "I had them taken during a kidnap prevention program when I was in junior high. Do them anyway? You can check against the prints of Niyota Y'Fell later."

"I plan on it," the detective grumbled moodily, patently not thrilled to know that a teenage girl had suspected his plans before he'd even had the chance to fully formulate them. As she'd been doing every step of the way, proof she knew the steps of the legal system. Lessons instilled in her mind by Uncle Kyle.

Deciding to be good for a while, aware that Detective Gerald was fast losing his patience with her. It never went over well when a man was constantly undermined. Especially when the one in question was an officer and the culprit was a teenage girl. Niyota was sure it irked the man to hell that she'd been able to predict his every move.

Dropping the complaints she'd been making, Niyota allowed Judy to take her fingerprints. One by one each finger was pressed into the ink container she had on the other side, then pressed to the area of the paper that said the name of the finger. Once the right hand had been completely printed on the page, Niyota switched hands around in the handcuffs. To give Judy better access to the left hand she needed to complete the process. Silently thanking her for the helpful assistance, probably never having met a criminal so willing to offer aid to the police, Judy went back to work.

All the while Niyota silently wondered what Detective Gerald would do when he finally found out the outcome of her fingerprints. She highly doubted the man was going to be too pleased when it was discovered that her fingerprints were already in his precinct database. Already he was getting testy that she'd guessed his intentions before he'd ever had the chance to decide to do it. Not only once, but on several occasions. It wouldn't go over too well with him when it was revealed that just like she had assured him, her prints were in the system and an identical match to Niyota Y'Fell's.

Cops never liked it when the perp was right. Niyota wished she'd be around to see the look on his face when he found out this tidbit, but was also aware of the unlikelihood of that scenario. "All done," Judy proclaimed loudly.

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Informing the woman to send a copy up to his desk to be placed along with his written report. Which Judy promised to do, and he ushered her further on down the hall. Niyota willingly went where the man steered her, knowing that anything less would be construed as resistance from her, forcing him to make her. She didn't want to make an enemy of the man, knowing that the only real hope she had was getting Detective Gerald to believe her story. At least investigate it further. Niyota knew all too well what happened to people that got on the cop's bad side. Making them less likely to go out of their way to solve a case. Especially when it seemed so open and shut. Like her own.

Shown through a series of different doors and down yet another flight of stairs, he stopped as he came to the female side of the jail. All of which were presently empty.

Removing the handcuffs around her wrists and unlocking the first jail cell, Detective Gerald stepped back, motioning to her with a hand gesture. "Get in."

Taking a deep breath to shoulder her resolve, she stepped through the opening of the jail cell. She couldn't help flinching as it slammed shut behind her. Turning around once she heard the thundering click, assuring her that the door was sealed shut and locked, Niyota gazed up at the man. "What's going to happen to me, Detective?"

"Who are you really?" he asked instead.

"I already told you," she sighed, wearily shaking her head. "I'm a lot of things detective, but I'm not a liar. Especially not about something as crucial and important as this. I am Niyota Y'Fell."

With an angry sound at the back of his throat, Detective Gerald spun away from the cell door and stormed off. Apparently that wasn't the answer he'd been hoping for. Niyota lifted her shoulders up and down in a weary, careless shrug. It was the only answer that he was getting out of her.

He'd asked for the truth and that's exactly what she'd given him. Niyota couldn't help that no one believed her.

Listening to the sound of the door slamming closed behind him, feeling more alone than ever. She dropped down on the edge of the cot. Then dropping her head back against the hard concrete wall, not even fazed by the headache, Niyota was overwhelmed by her emotions. Unable to hold them at bay now that she was alone, no one able to pay audience to her despair and pain, the tears she'd been fighting back fell. Oh, god.

How had her life come to this?

In the course of the last twenty-four hours Niyota had woken up inside some strange place, narrowly escaped captivity and death. Only to return home to learn someone had stolen her life and now she was sitting in jail for breaking into her own house. The shit just kept piling up. Niyota had the fleeting thought that she must've committed some horrible crime in some past life, for this to have happened to her. This was just too cruel to be true.

Niyota cried herself to sleep.

After a night spent tossing and turning on the rock-hard cot, tormented by nightmares, she snapped awake by a hand on her shoulder. Groggy eyes were pried open with some force, to see Detective Gerald standing over her. "What?" she grumbled, miserable after the long night she'd had. It showed on her face.

Just a heads up: Narugi.com is the only place to read the complete version of this book for free. Don't miss out on the next chapter-visit us now and continue your journey! "Time to get up" he said.

Rolling into a sitting position on the edge of the cot mattress, strangely alert and orientated as she rarely ever was. Niyota extended out her wrist to the man, not needing him to tell her to. "Where am I going?"

Immediately replacing the silver handcuffs onto the proffered wrists, making sure they were tight and secure on her. Confident there was no chance of her getting out of them Detective Gerald helped her up to her feet. "Somewhere they help people like you," he replied.

"Where?" she insisted.

"Greenwood," he supplied after a long short pause.

Immediately she realized the "somewhere that helps people like you" that he'd been referring to. Having heard about the private facility. Just outside of town limits. About five or ten miles. Both good and bad things, all depending on the person talking and the instance.

"I'm not crazy," she informed him, since he seemed to think otherwise.

He didn't look at her. "We'll see about that."

Understanding that their minds were already made up about her and there was nothing she could do or say that would change it, she fell silent again. Why waste her breath and energy, when no good will ever come of it? Niyota followed him out of her cell. At the front desk of the jail, he stopped, signing her out of the jail logs and taking a copy of the report. Then they were on their way again.

Niyota was escorted out through the rear entrance of the police precinct and into the awaiting police cruiser in the side alley.

"What no straps?" Niyota muttered under her breath, settling back against the cool leather seats of the car and stared straight ahead.

Climbing in behind the steering wheel just in time to overhear her sarcastic rejoinder, Gerald twisted around in his seat and looked through the cage. "No. Since you've been so compliant with us so far, I thought it would be more comfortable if I personally transported you."

"Shucks," she drawled.

Shaking his head sadly at her, obviously not understanding her need for sarcasm given the predicament she was in, he twisted back around in his seat. Turning the key over in the ignition, instantly bringing life to the engine with a loud roar, Detective Gerald steered the car out of the alley and onto the street.