Melody Unchained by Christa Maurice Read Free Book Online Page B

She opened that one as she went up the stairs. The larger companies had either paid Billy a flat rate or deposited royalties electronically but some of the smaller ones still sent checks. Inside the nearly empty apartment, she scanned the statement. So many units sold on several recordings over the past year. Billy always used to give her these checks and tell her to go buy herself something pretty.
    Now she could use the money to pay back some of the money she’d borrowed from Jerry. Billy would like that and so would Jerry. It meant she was being her own master.
    She signed Billy’s name, grabbed her purse and headed back out to the bank.
    “Hi, welcome to First Federal. How can I help you?” the teller said when Melody arrived at the counter.
    “I just need to cash this check. It’s already signed.” Melody set the check and Billy’s bankcard on the counter. Jerry would like this. Then maybe he’d decide she didn’t have to live alone for the whole year of the lease. The people at the coffee shop were nice, but she wanted to be with him.
    The clerk was frowning.
    “Is something wrong?” Melody asked.
    The clerk looked up and there was a flash of fear on his face. “Something wrong?” the clerk repeated. “Yes, there is. Could you step into the president’s office?” The clerk gestured to a grand doorway at the end of the counter.
    Melody went into the room. What was the problem? She’d done this hundreds of times before without any trouble. Before things had started going electronic, she had done all of Billy’s banking for him. He’d never had a good head for figures and forgot to pay bills all the time. The bank didn’t even have Billy’s signature on file, it was her hand signing his name. There was no one in the president’s office. She turned back to the door and a policeman was walking through it followed by the clerk and another woman. She took a step backward, bumping into the desk. “What’s going on?”
    The policeman was talking into the radio at his shoulder. Requesting back up. He had to be. Why? The officer let go of his radio and moved toward her. “You are under arrest for fraud. You have the right to remain silent. Anything you say can and will be used against you in a court of law.” The officer stepped behind her and caught her wrists in a plastic zip tie like she had for the trash bags, only bigger. “You have the right to an attorney. If you cannot afford an attorney one will be provided for you. Do you understand these rights as I have read them to you?”
    Melody stared at him. Miranda rights? He was arresting her? For cashing a check?
    “Where did you get this check?” the woman asked. She held up Billy’s royalty check.
    “From the mail. It just came today. I cash Billy’s checks all the time.”
    “And this card?” She held up Billy’s bankcard.
    “Why? What’s going on?”
    The woman handed the officer the check and the bankcard, which he slid in his pocket.
    “I need Jerry.” Melody tugged at the plastic tie trying to reach his card in her pocket. Not even real handcuffs. Tears flooded her eyes. “Jerry Howland. Please. He’s a detective. He’ll be able to straighten this out. You have to call him. I need Jerry.”
    * * * *
    Crossing the room to his desk, Jerry could see the yellow sticky note on his desk and his stomach clenched. He dashed around the other desks and snatched it up. Melody Welsh in holding. Asking for you , it said.
    When he’d stopped in to see Melody this morning, she’d been fine. She was fitting in at her job as well as she could fit in anywhere. What the hell could have happened in the last ten hours to get her arrested?
    He called downstairs to have her moved to an interview room while he was on his way. They were supposed to spend tomorrow moving her into her apartment. A guy was coming over to take Billy’s records, a jazz collector Barnes recommended. The money from the records had been enough to cover Melody’s security