Read The Advocate - 02 - The Advocate's Betrayal for Free Online Page A

fingerprinted her. A different officer, a male this time and young enough to be her grandson, returned her to the holding cell, where she waited for another hour before someone escorted her to a second room. Betty was handed a brown paper bag as she walked in. A dozen other women mulled around with their bags in hand. Three female officers spread themselves around the room. One of them, with a very deep, commanding voice yelled, “Quiet.” There was a slight murmuring and then silence fell over the room. “You’re here for a cavity search in case you’re wondering. You need to strip, squat, and cough. Most of you know the drill.”
    Betty looked around as everyone started to remove their clothes. She stood there for a second, not moving, knowing she had no choice but to do what they said. Yet, she thought she could just as well have removed her clothes in the middle of a shopping mall. An officer walked up to her and quietly said, “You need to do this, ma’am.” Betty slowly began to unbutton her blouse, gritting her teeth and fighting back the tears. She attempted to cover herself with her hands and shelter her breasts with her arms, but she continued to expose herself as she removed her garments and placed them in the brown paper bag. By the time they did the body search on her, everyone else was done and standing around watching. She shut her eyes and pretended to be alone, but it didn’t work. She felt dizzy, her head hurt, her stomach twisted in knots. She heard the officer say, “Cough.” She coughed, vomit spewing over several inmates as they scrambled to move out of the way. Betty tumbled over in her own puke.
    The officer in charge shook her head. “Damn it. Get her to the shower.”
    Two officers helped Betty up. One picked up the brown paper bag with her clothes and shoved it at her. The officers led Betty to the shower. She shivered as the cold water sprayed out over her head. She reached for soap, but there was none. Less than a minute later, the officer shut the water off.
    “That’s it.” The officer handed her a towel. It smelled musty as Betty put it to her face. “Make it quick,” the officer scowled.
    Betty dried off as quickly as she could and then started to wrap the towel around her when the officer took it out of her hands and led her back into the room where the search took place. The other inmates were all dressed. Betty was handed some garments to wear, with little regard for their size. She put them on without complaint although the bra was too small and it cut into her back; her pants hung so low she had to roll them up twice at the waist and roll a cuff at the bottom of the leg. Humiliated, Betty walked to another cell where she waited for the bus to take her to her new home, but before her transportation arrived, another officer came in and informed her of her attorney’s presence.
    The deputy sheriff brought Betty into the interview room and spoke to Sabre. “Don’t be too long or she’ll miss her bus to Las Colinas and have to take the late one.” Then she handcuffed Betty to the bench and walked out.
    Betty’s hair lay flat against her head, still damp from the shower, and with a hint of gray growth at the roots creeping through. Her clean face, stripped of all makeup, made her look like a different person. All the spunk seemed to be drained out of her. Sabre’s chest ached from the sight of her. Under normal circumstances, her friend would never be seen without perfectly spiked hair, open-toed high heel pumps, and well-applied makeup.
    “Are you okay?” Sabre asked. “Of course, you’re not okay. Why do I keep asking you that?”
    Betty slowly lifted her head, the terror evident in her eyes. “They made me strip, squat, and cough while they all watched. It was so humiliating.”
    “I’m so sorry.” Sabre shook her head from side to side. “I’m just so sorry you have to go through this.”
    Betty lowered her eyes. “I’ll be okay. How much worse could it