AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Brett watched in the rearview mirror, one corner of his mouth curved up.
He wasn’t reckless. It might’ve looked that way, but his face was calm. His eyes were steady. He handled his truck with restraint, everything calculated for maximum control.
“We’ve got another three miles before cops will clock us for speeding,” he warned me. “While I’m enjoying the random burst of teenaged rebellion, I’ll need to slow down. Getting hauled in after a car chase would cause a certain publicist to have an aneurysm.”
I grinned. “I know. Thank you for that, though.”
“Not a problem. Care to share what bee got in your pants? Just so I’m on the same page.”
I shared what I could, trying to explain it the best way possible.
After a little bit, he nodded. “I can get that.”
“You’ve driven like that before.”
He grunted. “It’s called a controlled fishtail. Most have to rev their engine for maximum effect, but I figured a way to do it faster. I did a lot of crazy shit when I was a kid.”
“Yeah?”
“Yeah. I’ll tell you about it. Actually, I think there’s a documentary that kinda covers where I grew up.”
“Really?”
We were coming to the outskirts of the city, so Brett slowed to a normal speed. Once we hit the interstate, the phone started ringing through his dashboard.
Willy calling.
Brett cursed. “I gotta take this.” He hit accept. “If this is about the news, I don’t want to hear it.”
The person on the other end was quiet a moment. “What are you talking about?”
“Nothing. What’s up?”
“Uh… Okay. An update for you. The judge granted Shannon visitation.”
Brett’s mouth tightened. “Supervised?”
“Unsupervised.”
“Shit! How?”
“Because we can only prove neglect. No abuse.”
Brett’s hands tightened around the steering wheel. “You told them about Sammy’s protocol?”
“We did, and while the judge said he was also alarmed by that, there was no proof anything of that sort had happened.”
“What the fuck does that mean?”
“They asked Sammy if a man had ever come into her room at night, and she said no. She said it was just a caution, course she pronounced it as a cahdish.”
Brett shook his head, a slight grin showing before it was gone again. “When does that start?”
“Immediately. Judge said there’s no reason to wait. Shannon’s been acting like a good little parent. You know how she is.”
“She’s thinking of this as a long con.”
“Yeah, but I’m also calling on behalf of Stevie. You guys play the Orcas in three weeks?”
