Before they can make much progress, Tina and Grant are approached by a police officer. Scared, Grant involuntarily wets his training pants, which were just changed. The officer smiles at the two of them.
“Hi, kids. Is there a grownup with you?”
“No,” Tina says. “My little brother and I are meeting them at the museum.”
“At the museum, huh?” The police officer takes out a phone. “Can you tell me their cellphone number?” Tina is quiet. “That’s what I thought.” The officer puts away his phone and pulls out a radio. “I’ve got two unaccompanied minors here. Bringing them to the station.”
“What? No!” Tina says quickly. The officer shrugs.
“Sorry, little lady, but I’ve been watching you for a bit. Clearly, there’s something going on with you and your brother. Until we track down an adult responsible for you two, you’re going to be staying with us. Don’t worry, we’ve got a room at the station just for kids like you.”
Before Tina or Grant can protest, the officer leads them to his car. He buckles Grant into a car seat. Tina reluctantly gets in. As they are heading for the station, the two have a hushed conversation.
“Okay, once we get there, you need to make some sort of distraction so I can escape,” Tina whispers. Grant frowns at her. “After I escape, I’ll go back to normal. Then I can come pick you up from the station, pretending to be your parent.”
“…Fine,” Grant mumbles reluctantly. He doesn’t want to be in police custody, and doesn’t want to risk Tina just abandoning him once she escapes, but he doesn’t really have any other choice.
They arrive at the station and are ushered inside, into a room set up like a daycare. There are a few other children there, but they’re all roughly Grant’s age. Once the officer who found them goes away, leaving only one adult in the room, supervising the children, Tina looks at Grant. She nods, signaling that Grant needs to do his distraction.
Grant had plenty of time to think of a distraction on the ride, so he immediately starts it up. He...