Page 39 of Love At Peace

“Yeah. What’s up, Marty?” My first reaction to him contacting me was fear. I was gripped with an instant worry that something bad had happened.

Is Heather okay?

“I’ve got Nevaeh in my cruiser with me,” he replied. The pure exhaustion and exasperation in his voice was evident.

A sliver of guilt tracked through me at the fact I worried about Heather before my niece. I was concerned about both of them, but I was at my wit’s end where Nevaeh mattered. She refused to tell me what the hell she was doing. She refused to own up for her actions. She never took credit for her crimes or attitude and still expected me to just go lenient on her.

Heather was equally secretive, but I was getting better at realizing she wasn’t demanding that I stay back as a means of insulting me or attacking me. She was acting in the interest of her own survival. Besides, she was an adult and acting like one. My niece was acting like a bratty child with no sense of responsibility.

“Now what?” I asked as I rolled my eyes at Gavin. He’d perked up, pausing from fixing this bit of fence with me.

“One of the security officers at the Hopewell Mall caught her for shoplifting.”

“Again?” I blurted out before thinking better of commenting like that.

“What do you mean, again?” Nevaeh snapped in the background of his line. “Just shut up, Roarke.”

I was surprised he had me on speaker. Then again, if he was driving, he’d be limited to make a call.

“She was caught shoplifting and gave them a hard time. So, they called me and I came to collect her,” Marty finished explaining.

“You got no right, Marty. They’re lying,” she protested.

“They found the merchandise in your pockets,” he replied, using that same tired, don’t-mess-with-me tone. “They caught it on camera.”

“No. That’s not true,” she argued.

She was either delusional or...delusional. No one could be this stupid to argue video and physical proof. If she had to, I bet she argue until her last breath, always at odds with the world.

“Anyway,” Marty said after clearing his throat. “I’m calling because I’m not sure where to take her.”

“You’re not arresting her?”

“The store isn’t pressing the full extent of charges. Because it’s the ‘holiday season’ they want to go easy on her.”

“That’s a mistake,” I replied wryly.

“Fuck you, Roarke,” she yelled.

“So, no, I’m not arresting her. Since she didn’t resist me too much, and the mall manager told the security guards to drop it, she’ll just get fined,” Marty explained with the fading patience of a saint.

“Ooooh,” Nevaeh taunted. “I’m so scared. Fine me. Do whatever the hell you want. I don’t care.”

There were times that it made sense to be cocky, but right now wasn’t it for her.

“Where should I drop her off?” he asked, finally cutting to the point.

I huffed a bitter laugh. “Fuck if I know.”

“And you want to always make yourself sound like some kind of giving and generous uncle, huh?” she said in the background.

“Why aren’t you taking her to her boyfriend?” I asked, not bothering to keep the snark out of my tone. “Go home to that asshole, Nevaeh. Remember? You told me that you were in love and with this great guy. He should be able to give you a place to stay, right?”

“David’s going to do a lot more for me than anyone else ever has,” she shouted.

“Yeah? Like leave you with a baby?”

“He loves me,” she insisted.