She Tried to Make Me Pay for a Mother-in-Law I Don't Have

My voice carried. Every officer in the room turned to me.

Before they could respond, Janet cut in. "A misunderstanding, officer. It's all a misunderstanding!"

Her voice was tight, threaded with panic.

"Officer—she ate at our restaurant and wouldn't pay! That's the only reason any of this happened!"

"We don't need police for this. Really, we can handle it ourselves!"

She forced a smile in my direction. "President Dickerson, come on—it's such a small thing, we can work it out right here!"

I let out a cold laugh. "I don't think this is small at all."

"And I'm very curious who exactly racked up a bill like that at your restaurant and had it charged to me."

"Manager Gilbert, are your surveillance cameras really broken?"

I stared her down, anger burning through every word. "You're not the one coming after us for money."

"We're the ones coming after you."