Total pages in book: 71
Estimated words: 71625 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 358(@200wpm)___ 287(@250wpm)___ 239(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 71625 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 358(@200wpm)___ 287(@250wpm)___ 239(@300wpm)
I grinned. “Good. But for future reference, should you ever think differently, the school can file that against your mother. So, be mindful of the choices you make, okay?”
She nodded.
I gestured to the shoes. “Take those with you, and if you ever need anything, there are other ways of getting it. I guarantee it. If you don’t think there’s any other way, call me.”
“I don’t have a phone…at least not one with any minutes on it.”
I grinned. “I’m pretty sure you can find one that you can borrow. You call me if you need me.”
I passed her one of my cards that was in the dash of my cruiser.
It read Steel Cross, Chief of Police.
“You’re the chief of police?” she whispered, horrified.
I winked at her. “You got the top boss, honey. You should be happy.”
She looked anything but happy. She now looks terrified.
“The offer stands, Conleigh. If you need me, call me. Okay?”
She swallowed, nodded, and then got out of the cruiser.
She was about to shut the door when she halted and turned, her eyes once again meeting mine.
“Thank you for the food. For the headphones. And the shoes. Cody will love you forever.”
I smirked. “Tell him that I take payment in the form of colored pictures.”
She smiled, then shut the door quietly before rushing into the school, the shoes clutched tightly to her chest.
I watched her go all the way in, then parked and got out.
I walked into the school, waving at the office ladies on the way to the school resource officer’s office.
He looked up when I appeared in the doorway.
“Yo,” he said, looking confused. “What are you doing here?”
Matt Holyfield, Conleigh’s stepfather, and a man who had always gotten on my nerves.
“Matt,” I said, coming inside. “We got a problem.”
He listened as I spoke about the girl, Conleigh.
“So, what’s the problem?” Matt asked. “If she’s not doing it at school, there’s not really much I can do on my end.”
I narrowed my eyes.
“The problem is that I need to keep that girl in line, and I need to keep an eye on her. Her mom’s going through a rough patch, and I’d rather not have her fall into the deep end with no floaties. Gave her my information if she ever needed help, but I’d like her to contact you if anything else gets out of hand.”
Matt’s lips twitched. But not in a smiling kind of way. In a ‘you’ve got to be fucking joking’ kind of way.
What the fuck was going on here?
“I’m here.”
I pounded once on his desk with my fist, not using my voice because I knew that I was about to tell the fucker to get the fuck out.
God, I hated the guy.
“All right, my next stop is her mom’s place. Wish me luck.”
Matt snorted. “Good luck doing anything with that cun—ugh, woman. She’s batshit crazy.”
I didn’t reply to that.
Winnie, at least in my dealings with her, hadn’t been crazy.
She’d been conscientious, sad and over-worked.
What she had not been was crazy.
She hadn’t yelled and screamed at Conleigh—and I’d been listening to them for weeks now because they liked to keep their windows open, and I did, too.
“Language, Matt,” I growled. “And let me know if you hear anything more about Conleigh.”
Matt gave me a lazy two finger salute, and I knew I wouldn’t be hearing anything from the little shit.
Thoughts on who I could use to replace him if he wasn’t doing his job, I stopped by the office on my way out and had a little chat with the principal.
He hadn’t personally had any dealings with Matt, but that wasn’t to say that he was doing any good, either.
I walked out of the school with a lot on my mind, and a lot of it had to do with the woman that I was going to see.
My last stop was Winnie’s place, hoping that she would be home at lunchtime rather than at work.
I wasn’t disappointed. She was at home.
I got out of my cruiser, walked up the same still-in-need-of-a-mow lawn, and knocked on the front door.
It took her much longer this time to answer the door.
“Ummm,” she hesitated, looking like she’d just woken from a nap. “What are you doing here?”
She looked scared like I was going to tell her that she was being arrested.
I winced.
“I had another run-in with your girl today.”
Her shoulders slumped.
“Really?” she whispered. “Did she…what happened?”
“What happened was that she tried to steal a pair of shoes for your son and got caught doing it by the store manager. After picking her up, I dropped her back off at school.”
Her mouth fell open.
“You’re joking.”
I shook my head.
“Fuck,” she whispered, then sighed and stepped back. “Come in.”
I did, and she closed the door behind me.
Today she was using a cane.
It made me wonder if she had good days and bad days, or if maybe she was just getting better day by day.