His hands peeled off of me almost instantly as he grabbed for his neck, trying to figure out how to either breathe or swallow. His eyes were wide, and his mouth was opening and closing slowly, like that would help.

I sent Tanisha around to the driver's side. I opened my door but waited until she was in before I dropped into the seat.

Jumbo's friends were preoccupied with trying to see if he was okay. They ignored us as we pulled away.

"Head to the police station," I told her. "They might decide to call the cops and I'd rather be the first one to file charges."

We parked...