If I Stay {Fillie}

I'm not a Fangirl

"...and that should be $4,500," Millie finished, smirking as she laid the money on the desk. The chief behind the counter was speechless as he regarded the crisp bills spread out in front of him.

"What person carries that much money on them in cash?" he spluttered, bewildered.

Millie smiled. She had cashed the remainder of the check at the bank before arriving at the station. "Me. Now if you wouldn't mind, I would like Finn Wolfhard released to me as soon as possible."

The chief narrowed his small eyes at her. "Who even are you, anyway? Mr. Sartorius didn't say anything about you."

"He doesn't know me," Millie replied, pressing her lips together in a thin line.

Then recognition clouded in Powell's eyes. "Wait, you're the girl that's all over social media! Millie something Brown! Mr. Sartorius did tell me to watch out for you."

"Oh, no, that's not me. My name is...Mildred." Millie mentally slapped herself for using what Finn had first called her, thinking the horrid name was what she had told him she was called. "We just um...we just look alike."

"Really?" The chief raised his eyebrows, obviously not believing her. "Prove it."

Millie snorted. "Prove it? Really?"

Powell didn't find it quite as humorous as she did. "Yeah. Sing."

"You want me to sing...in the middle of a police department?" Millie pretended to look terrified as she gazed around the room. Officers were bustling everywhere she looked. "I don't know, I'm really timid."

The chief's hard expression softened, but only a bit. "Millie certainly isn't shy, performing in front of all those people like that. But I still wanna hear you sing, just to make sure."

Millie glared at him. "You want me to sing? Fine. But it won't be pretty." She took a deep breath and started to sing a Grace VanderWaal song. She made sure to be extremely off-key, her voice moving up and down in unappealing ways that sounded like nails on a chalkboard. She even threw in a couple of voice cracks, just for fun.

Powell stopped her before she even got to the chorus. "Stop, stop, stop!" he begged, waving his hands at her. "My ears are bleeding. You're definitely not Millie...whatever her name is, Brown. Take Wolfhard and go. But I'm gonna have to tell Mr. Sartorius that someone got him out. He's not going to be happy." He looked at Millie pointedly. "He might even come after you. You've been warned."

"I think I can handle it," Millie said, nodding in thanks and pushing the money even closer. She leaned forward and lowered her voice. "But I'll tip you off if you don't tell him for a couple days."

His eyes narrowed again. "How much?"

"Extra hundred," she whispered. "That enough?"

Powell pretended to be busy on his computer as Millie slipped him the hundred dollar bill. "The boss will be in the dark for two days," he assured her. "No more, no less." He tossed her the key to Finn's cell. "I'm trusting you with that, Mildred."

She grinned at him as he handed her a small cardboard box filled with Finn's confiscated items. At a glance she could see his cell phone, a wallet, and...an unused condom in the box. She almost laughed out loud. Had he thought he was going to get laid at the French restaurant? Moron.

She picked her way through the policemen back to the heavy metal door with the box and key. She pulled it open, the metal squeaking loudly on its hinges, and discreetly entered Finn's lonely prison.

He was waiting expectantly for her, his face pressed against the bars like a child staring into a shop window. "Well?"

Millie held up the key and smirked at him. "I told you not to doubt my skills."