Total pages in book: 39
Estimated words: 36632 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 183(@200wpm)___ 147(@250wpm)___ 122(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 36632 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 183(@200wpm)___ 147(@250wpm)___ 122(@300wpm)
I barked out a laugh. “My brothers? Straight and narrow? Are we even talking about the same fucking people?”
Lawdawg pointed an accusing finger at me. “You’ve got a mouth on you, Sonya.”
“No shit, Sherlock.” Sparring with Lawdawg was always fun. I think he enjoyed it as much as I did. Probably why I never managed to truly piss him off like I did most other people, though not for lack of trying. “You just now figuring that out?”
“Nope. Just was never tempted to duct tape it shut before today.” He gave me a big grin like it was all the height of hilarity, but I could tell he was actually getting a bit ruffled.
My dad was president of Salvation’s Bane MC in Palm Beach, Florida.
“Gee, Lawdawg, tell me how you really feel.” I rolled my eyes at him and crossed one leg over the other and my arms over my chest.
“Oh, I plan on it, young lady. You’re old enough to do better than this.” He pointed a finger at me. “You need to grow up and act your age.” He glanced from me to Linnie. “Both of you.”
“It was just a bit of harmless fun! No one got hurt. We didn’t make any noise and keep people up. We did it in a neighborhood with no young children around. And we didn’t even break the law. At least not any important ones.”
“You put a blow-up sex doll in the back of Santa’s sleigh in Mr. and Mrs. Cranston’s front yard.”
“It was Mr. Robinson’s! We watched Mrs. Robinson bring it to the trash in front of their house last night when we went for a run. She was screaming at him. He was trying to get her to go back inside and ‘talk about this like civilized adults.’ We saw an opportunity and we took it.”
Lawdawg opened his mouth to respond but the court bailiff chose that moment to open the door to the courtroom. “Sheriff.”
“Jon. He ready for us?” Lawdawg stepped aside slightly to hold the door open.
The older man looked from Lawdawg to me and back. “Christ, Grady. Again?”
Lawdawg shrugged. “Afraid so.”
“Come on, then.” Poor Jon sounded resigned, like this was something he had to endure every couple of weeks. Hmmm. Come to think of it, he actually did have to endure this every couple of weeks. My bad.
Bailiff Jon led us inside the courtroom of Judge Rupert P. Dailey. Lord knew I’d seen the inside of this place more than I should have. It was all in good fun; I never did anything dangerous or serious. This was just a fun place to pull pranks.
Judge Dailey looked up from where he’d been reading something at his desk. He sat behind the bench in the main courtroom where he presided. When he met my gaze, he started and did a double take, then frowned. “Christ, Grady. Again?”
“Déjà vu,” I muttered.
“You two.” The judge sounded tired, like he was so exhausted he couldn’t manage much longer.
“Look, Judge. In our defense, anyone leaving their Christmas decorations up this long deserved to be poked fun of. It’s spring, for crying out loud!”
“Not another word, young lady.” The order was given by both Judge Dailey and Lawdawg. In unison. Like fucking choir boys or something. I wasn’t saying that out loud, but the thought made me want to giggle.
Judge Daily and Lawdawg exchanged a look, and the judge sighed. “What sex toy did the two of you run up the flagpole this time?” I opened my mouth to answer, but Judge Dailey immediately raised his hand in a gesture to stop me from speaking and shook his head vigorously, his eyes comedically wide. “No, no, no! It doesn’t matter. I don’t want to know! I don’t want to know!” I smirked at Lawdawg. We were totally getting a slap on the wrist. “Grady, have you made arrangements to get these young ladies home?”
“I have, Your Honor.” Grady gave me the side eye before turning his full attention to the judge. “Caroline’s stepmother is on her way. I’m making sure Sonya gets home.”
“But --”
“And she’ll go.” Lawdawg spoke over me, turning his head to give me a stare promising death and destruction if I didn’t shut the fuck up. Now. I did. Not because I was afraid of the big bastard, but because I was trying to learn the finer points of knowing when to keep my mouth shut. Seemed like a good time to practice. “Without. Further. Comment.” He spoke through clenched teeth. Yeah. We might have broken him this time.
“Good! Can I assume whatever mischief they left behind has been… disposed of? And any mess cleaned up or fixed?”
“It has, Your Honor.”
“Don’t let me see you in my courtroom again, ladies. You’ve caused enough mischief to last several lifetimes. If I see you again, it will require some jail time for giving me a headache. Understood?”