Natalya leaned against the wall, unfortunately accustomed to the police holding her in custody longer than necessary.
The two blondes had parked themselves at opposite ends of the communal holding cell, sitting peacefully and sneaking in cat-naps while they could. Although Natalya hadn't bothered with it, Madeline convinced the guard to allow her a phone call in the middle of the night. Natalya did hear Maddie drop her name in the conversation, but nothing else was clearly heard. The phone call obviously paid off, since the other blonde was released on bail just a little while ago.
Natalya already understood that she wouldn't be getting the same treatment. It's been this way for just over three years now. Whenever she or Katerina were involved with the police on any matter, they'd always be detained overnight so that they could try to question them about Ivan. Of course, whoever was in charge of these interrogations never showed their face, and kept giving the task to interns that didn't seem to know a damn thing about the case.
Natalya's thoughts were interrupted as an officer banged their baton against the cell bars.
"Arlovskaya, come on out," the officer ordered, "You're being released on bail."
"What?" Natalya gasped as she stood up, "Already?"
"You're welcome to stay longer if you'd like," the police officer offered.
"No it's fine," Natalya declined as she left the cell, "I wasn't expecting to be released so early, that's all."
"Well, your paperwork went through, and a friend of yours just paid your bail," the officer informed her.
Natalya tried to make sense of it as the officer led her through the hallways, but she just couldn't. They're already releasing her, without asking a single question about last night, let alone about Ivan? Did they finally clear her name on the case?
They passed through a doorway into a waiting room that had only one other occupant. Natalya couldn't see more than the person's short curly brown hair, since they were facing away from her to look at posters on the wall. She wasn't given the chance to ask who it was either, as the officer directed her to the counter instead. The receptionist started spewing legalities that Natalya ignored, since it was essentially a verbal repeat of what was on her copy of the release papers. She signed the appropriate forms before her cellphone, wallet and keys were returned to her.
"That's everything, Ms. Arlovskaya," the receptionist told Natalya, before looking past her at the other person, "Mr. Ramirez, you're free to take Ms. Arlovskaya now."
"Thank you, officer, have yourself a lovely day," the man replied in a very familiar voice, as he tugged on Natalya's elbow to get her to move, "Come along, Natalya."
As she was pulled out of the room, Natalya was finally able to look the man in the face, and attempted to control her shock and anger while focusing on her direction. The moment they weren't being watched by the receptionist anymore, she grabbed his hand and tore it from her elbow.
"What the fuck are you doing here?" Natalya snarled.
"What does it look like I'm doing?" Antonio remarked, "You should be happy, I just bailed you out of jail."
"But how did you bail me out?" she asked.
"Your bail papers were organized, and I got the cash together," Antonio explained with noticeable sass, "I walked in and flirted with that lovely receptionist while she pushed the rest of it through, and now we're strolling out of the building. It was far too easy, really."
"How did you know I was here?" Natalya drilled, "And how did you know how much my bail would be?"
"Maddie called me in the middle of the night, she told me that you were both arrested," Antonio disclosed, "As for your bail, Toris got me that information when paying hers."
"Wait, so Toris bailed out Maddie, and you bailed me out?" Natalya checked, "How the hell did you both manage to get in here without being arrested on the spot?"
"Oh, we have our tricks, that's for sure," Antonio affirmed as he grabbed her elbow again, "That will have to wait a minute, though, we've been spotted."
Natalya looked forward to see a policewoman with short wavy brown hair stopping them in the middle of the main reception hall, just before the doors to the outside world.
"Pardon the interruption, Ms. Arlovskaya," the officer addressed, "I thought Gilbert would be interrogating you this afternoon. What are you doing outside your cell?"
"I was just released," Natalya claimed, handing her papers to the officer while giving Antonio the subtlest evil glare she could manage.
"Approved by Gilbert and Lars?" Natalya could hear the officer mutter as she read the documents, "He must have been better than expected, thank goodness."
The officer's eyes rose from the paper to give Antonio a glance, before looking back at the paper with pointed eyebrows.
"And you are Mr. Ramirez?" she asked.
"Yes I am, senora," Antonio confirmed, "Is there a problem?"
"May I see some ID please?" the officer requested, "I just want to double-check."
"Oh yes, of course," Antonio obeyed, pulling his wallet out of his back pocket and handing over his ID.
Natalya froze on the spot, despite her best attempts to hide her fear. She knew they were about to be caught. The officer would spot that his name was a fake, he'd be arrested on the spot, and Natalya would be locked up at the nefarious trio's unwilling accomplice!
After a moment of close inspection, the officer handed back the ID and paperwork.
"I'm sorry, Mr. Ramirez, you look like someone we've been searching for," the officer apologized, much to Natalya's surprise, "The paperwork appears to be in order, Ms. Arlovskaya is free to leave."
"Thank you for your due diligence, officer," Antonio said, pulling Natalya along, "Have a lovely day."
The pair strolled past the officer and out the main entrance, and once Natalya was standing in the sunshine, she snapped.
"How the fuck did you just do that?" she scolded, "How did she not recognize you?"
"This type of fake ID is database-proof," Antonio elaborated, handing her the piece of ID he showed the officer, "Even if they enter the profile number in their databases, they only get the record of 'Jose Antonio Ramirez', a law-abiding citizen that has never done anything wrong."
"So this is your trick for getting past them?" Natalya probed, inspecting the ID closely, "Does Toris have one too?"
"Toris has a criminal record almost as bad as mine," Antonio pointed out, "Do you really think we'd send him in there to pick up Maddie without one?"
"How did you get these?" Natalya inquired as she handed it back.
"Your brother's expertise has served us well since we first ran away," Antonio divulged, "It helps having one of JCI's top software engineers on our side."
Antonio led her to a small black car that was parked along the street, and Natalya climbed into the passenger seat while Antonio went around the other side. She already had her own door shut and seatbelt on as Antonio climbed into the driver seat.
"So, where can I take you this lovely morning?" Antonio offered as he shut his door and reached for his seatbelt.
"There's a skytrain station three blocks away," Natalya bluntly informed, "You can drop me off there."
"Is that all?" Antonio whined as he started up the vehicle, "I could easily take you all the way home."
"Only if you let me speak to Mathilda in person first," Natalya declared, giving the Spaniard a challenging look as he pulled the vehicle out onto the street.
"I suppose that puts us at an impasse," Antonio chuckled as he merged his speed to match the traffic.
"So it would seem," Natalya mused, watching the police department disappear from her sight through the windows, "You owe me a clue, then, at the very least."
"Well, look who's being the selfish one now," Antonio commented, "I just paid your bail, how do I still owe you anything?"
"Katerina and I have been deliberately staying away from you boys since you ran away," Natalya explained, still watching the streets as the traffic allowed them to breeze on through, "Once they realize you paid my bail, I'll be labelled as an accomplice. My record will never be cleared after this."
"Believe me, your bail payment will be the least of their concerns," Antonio pledged.
"And what exactly does that mean?" Natalya asked, finally turning to glare at Antonio again, "How is having you pay my bail not so important?"
He didn't answer, turning the steering wheel instead to pull up along the sidewalk at the skytrain station, before shifting into park and letting the door automatically unlock itself.
"Here's the skytrain station, out you get," Antonio stated, "I'll give your regards to Ivan and Mathilda."
Natalya glared at him as she opened the door and pulled herself out of the vehicle. Before shutting the door and letting him drive off, however, she leaned in and glared at him again.
"You still haven't answered my question," she reminded, "Why do you think the bail payment is not so important?"
"That lovely officer nearly had it figured out too," Antonio hinted, "Lieutenant Van Ryn is still in the hospital, and Sergeant Bielschmidt has the morning off."
With that last comment, Antonio reached over and pulled the door shut. As Natalya backed away from the vehicle, she could see the smirk on Antonio's face as he drove off. Once his vehicle disappeared into the traffic, Natalya turned and went towards the skytrain station, pulling her phone out of her pocket. Knowing that she would already have to report on how she got out of jail earlier than expected, she turned on the phone and texted her safeword to Lovino.
Once the message was sent, she found a bench inside the station and sat down, before looking a little more closely at her paperwork. The approval signature from Sergeant Gilbert Bielschmidt had a timestamp of 8:01am, while that of Lieutenant Lars Van Ryn was timed for 8:02. If Van Ryn was still in the hospital, and Bielschmidt wasn't supposed to be there yet...
Her phone beeped, and she saw that Lovino had replied with his safeword. She immediately called the number, and it was answered on the first ring.
"How the fuck are you already out of jail?" Lovino demanded without greeting.
"Antonio, Ivan and Toris, that's how," Natalya declared, "Antonio paid my bail, Toris paid Maddie's, and they forged the paperwork to make it happen!"