“Which is what Dale so rudely commented on ... among other things.”
“What’s she doing in Sea Blue Beach?”
“Apparently working at the Starlight.”
Milo jiggled the cuffs and pointed to the door. “The squad car’s right outside. I figured you’d want this on the DL, though Ididsee a reporter at the courthouse when I headed over here.”
Perfect. And he’d truly believed Dale would never want that punch to go beyond the walls of the diner.
Matt asked for a minute to tell Spike where he was going.
The big man laughed. “Did you really punch him? Don’t answer. I’ll just say he’s had it coming for decades. Want me to call Dup?”
“He’s got one of those phones in his truck. The number’s on the wall in the office.”
Just outside the rink’s side door, Milo cuffed Matt and helped him into the back seat.
“I lovedFlight Deck, bro. Seen it three times.”
“Don’t try to flatter me when I’m handcuffed, Milo.” Matt stared out the window. Harlow was right. He shouldn’t have hit Dale. Watch. The state will offer a deal to drop the charges if Matt left town for six months. Which would mean he couldn’t fight for the Starlight. Well, he’d not take it. He was going to see it through. Maybe, in some small way, redeem himself. Get rid of that thing eating him up inside.
“Can we stop at the Blue Plate for a burger? I’m starved. My treat.”
“I’ll call in an order once I book you.” Milo glanced at him through the rearview mirror. “I tried to talk Dale out of it, Matt. I swear. That’s why he went to the judge.”
The jail was in the back of the courthouse, and if the world was in black-and-white, Matt would think he was in Mayberry. A reporter waited at the entrance.
“Matt Knight? Tebow Gains from theGazette. Is it true you punched Dale Cranston for no reason?” He stuck a small tape recorder under Matt’s chin.
“Tebow.” Milo shoved him out of the way. “Do you really think he’s going to confess? You have enough for your story.”
Tebow refused to stand down. “Why’d you punch him?”
“Who said I punched him?”
That went on for a few minutes until Milo tossed young Tebow out the door. Thus the story began of how Matt Knight, Hollywood star and Sea Blue Beach hometown boy, was photographed, fingerprinted, and locked up for defending the honor of the Starlight, his granny, and the charming, exquisitely beautiful Harlow Hayes.
“What do you want on your burger? The works?” Milo angled back to see Matt in the cell, phone to his ear. “You want fries and a Coke?”
“And a slice of apple pie. When do I make my phone call?”
“As soon as I order. Audra, hey, Officer Patitucci here. ... You heard already? On the radio? News travels fast. Yeah, a couple of burgers with the works and...” When he hung up, he released Matt to make his call.
Dad answered his truck phone on the first ring. “Spike called. Told me everything. I called a lawyer.”
“Who’d you call? I have a lawyer in LA. His number is in my leather—”
“You don’t want an LA lawyer for this, Matt. Besides, when could he even get here? Two, three days? A week?”
“He can call the judge.”
“Bodie Nickle is on his way. He knows our legal system, every judge and lawyer.”
“Bodie.” Booker’s older brother. Matt would’ve laughed except for the shock of it all. “Bodie Nickle is not going to defend me. He may actually volunteer to prosecute me.”
“Like I said, he’s on his way.”
“I don’t know, Dad. I saw Trinity at Biggs, and the look she gave me ... even Harlow noticed.”
