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Angel stretched his arms over his head when he stood. I was already ready with my shoes on and everything, so I grabbed my keys from the counter and walked him to the door.
“What appointment are you going to?”
“Meeting with Trinity’s attorney. It could be good news or bad news. We’re not really sure,” I said over my shoulder as I locked the door. The apartments were crap, and only my art and supplies were worth anything. Why did I even bother locking the place up?
Oh yeah, because I didn’t want drunk jackasses doubling as creeping stalkers barging into my place. Not with Trinity and sometimes Astrid here.
“Huh,” Angel grunted as he waited for me to finish. “I can’t believe I forgot about that. Mind if I tag along?”
I paused, cutting my gaze to him. Then I shook my head and started walking down the stairs. “Why would you want to do that?”
The shit eating grin Angel shot me did very little to convince me he was a solid tag along. “Devil’s Hands knows a lot of people. I could come in handy.”
“Do you know something I don’t?” I wouldn’t be surprised if he did, except he just said he’d forgotten about the charges. Actually, who told him in the first place? I didn’t think I had…
He shrugged. “I don’t, but you never know when our connections will come in handy.”
“This is Rhys’ connection. He set us up with his family attorney.”
“See, the more and more I hang out with your group, the more I feel left out of something epic.” He bypassed his truck to go to the passenger side of my car.
“You’re cool hanging out with my sister?” Not that she was persona non grata, but after her stunt at the cookout with Angel’s sister and her boyfriend, I hardly thought they’d go out of their way to hang out with her. Even if by default.
Dropping into the passenger seat, he immediately started fiddling with the vents. Probably because it was barely thirty degrees, and a leather jacket wasn’t really that warm.
“As long as she doesn’t act like queen bitch of the entitled and low self-esteem, I’ll be fine. She’s your sister. And you’re….” he scrunched up his nose. “Not exactly dating my cousins, but in a relationship with them. That makes you family by extension. I’m not going to be a piss ant just because she’s young and immature. Anyway, I’m more interested in who this lawyer is.”
He rested his elbow on the windowsill, touching his fingers to the roof of the car, as he turned to stare at me.
I got it. I should be driving.
Fifteen minutes later, I parked in front of Trinity’s school. “I’ll be right back.”
"Wait there, hoss. I haven’t been inside a high school in years. If I’m in it with you today, I want the full experience.” He grinned as he got out of the car.
“Fine, whatever.” I pocketed my keys and headed toward the front doors. This school wasn’t anything like Astrid’s. There wasn’t an unlocked door policy where kids could come and go. No half dead flower beds that bloomed like midsummer’s night dream once spring came. The place was actually reminiscent of a prison, minus the barbed wire wrapped around the tops of the fence.
“Damn, I think a condemned morgue has more life than this place.” Angel shivered like he expected ghostly demons to pop out of the bushes.
“It’s not so bad. I went here. It just seems dreary because school is in and it’s the middle of winter. Believe me, once school’s over and the kids are released for the day, it’s a regular party in the parking lot.”
I rang the bell by the front doors, making sure to stand in front of the camera. The office could see us, and they took security very serious. On the other hand, they had to have seen Angel through the window, and he didn’t look like the most upstanding citizen with his long, wild hair and black leather apparel.
They buzzed us in without a word. There were a few ladies in the office who had spent decades of their life here, so they probably recognized me. Angel followed behind me, snapping his gum, looking around at the youthful prison.
Sure enough, Old lady McCreary was at the front desk and smiling.
“Thatcher. It’s such a pleasure to see you.” The wrinkles in her face softening around her warm smile.
“Hi Mrs. M. I’m here to pull Trinity out.” I picked up the pen with a plastic flower taped to the end to scratch out the details in the sign out book. I’d had to let Trinity’s principal know what was going on, but she’d assured me the rest of the school didn’t need to know. It was a good thing that bitch who got her arrested didn’t go here.
We exchanged a few more pleasantries, then we moved over to the display case to wait for her. We looked at the memories of the classes over the years. The main photos were of sports wins, but there were several of spirit week and the dances.
While experiencing it, everything had seemed vivid, flashy, and through a slightly exuberant but delirious lens of a teenager. But looking at these photos showed a sharp contrast to what it had felt like. They showed something that was kind of sad. People off to the side alone, frumpy outfits we loved back then, and just… the sad reality of life now that the lens was gone.
Damn, had I really been that lame?
Yeah, yeah, I had. I was glad Astrid met me in college after I had a bit of a glow up.
