“I’m here,” an older man says, stalking through the dining room from the area behind the bar. “I was in the middle of a nice snack and my favorite show, so this better be good.” His gaze moves fromLucio to Lulu and then to me. “I already know it’s not.”
“Hi, Grandpa,” Lulu says with a little wave and a halfhearted smile that doesn’t make her eyes sparkle.
“Hey, kiddo. What’s wrong?”
Lucio tips his head in my direction. “Lulu’s friend here got into some trouble and is looking at possibly a year inside.”
The old man sucks in a breath as his eyebrows shoot up so fast, and I would have been pretty sure nothing else on his aging frame moved that quick anymore. “Wowsers,” he says. “That’s not a short stint.”
I shake my head. “Don’t I know it.”
“Scooch,” he says to me, motioning for me to move my ass across the bench, and without a moment’s hesitation, I move. “You been processed?”
“Arrested and out on bail.”
“Good. Good.”
I don’t know how in the world any of that is good, but if he says it, I have to believe him. The man looks like he’s been through some things. Lucio said the man had a past, and I am fairly certain much of it isn’t good.
“Lawyer?” he asks.
“Yes.”
“Good. Now, tell me what happened.”
I spend the next ninety seconds explaining as much as I can without giving away Zoey’s name orany identifying details so her grandpa and dad can’t piece shit together. When I finish explaining, Lulu exhales and her shoulders sag. She was wound so tight, assuming I’d slip up and the two guys would figure out it was Zoey I’d protected.
“Vin, grab a paper and pen for me from behind the bar,” her grandfather calls out.
Her uncle Vinnie moves quickly, snapping up a pen and paper that are lying nearby. “Are we making a plan?” Vinnie asks as he carries over the two items and places them in front of his father. “Because whatever it is, I’m in.”
“You’re not in,” Lucio tells him. “I’m not in either. We’re leaving this one up to Pops.”
Vinnie jerks his head back, looking at his brother like he has three heads. “Are you feeling okay today?”
“I’m fine,” Lucio snaps.
“This is Dad we’re talking about,” Vinnie adds.
“I’m right here,” the older man says, sliding the pen and paper in front of me on the table. “I need your details and the lawyer’s information. I’ll handle the rest from there.”
“What happened?” Vinnie asks, staring down at the entire table like we’re all bananas.
I stay out of their conversation, finding it easier to write down the information than wade into a family discussion. If I keep talking, I’ll slip up eventually and give too much away.
“No time,” her grandfather says, running a handthrough his wavy salt-and-pepper hair. “I got shit to do. It’s time to work a miracle.”
“Well then, you’re screwed,” Vinnie says, and I know those words are pointed at me.
“Have some faith in your old man,” his father says to him. “I’ve been known to get out of a jam or two.”
“Or fifty,” Lucio adds.
I have absolutely no idea what’s going on, but for some odd reason, I feel like her grandfather is being honest and earnest. “You’ve done this before?”
“Plenty.”
Vinnie snorts. “My father’s past is…”
