“Shit,” mutters Gage. Turning to me, he smiles weakly. “Give me a second.” He walks directly to the captain and the two men.
“What do you think they’re saying?” I ask Cooke softly.
Cooke growls, “Probably making a fucking deal. That guy in the dark suit looks loaded.”
“Sometimes I think life is only good for the wealthy, but I know that’s a cynical, jaded way to look at things. It just seems like rich people get their way no matter what. Money isn’t everything.” I shrug.
“It’s nice, though, love. It’d allow me to buy my girl a new place to live.”
I look back up at him with an arched brow. “I wouldn’t care if you were a pauper, Cooke.” Reaching up, I pat him in the middle of his chest. “I can tell you have a heart of gold in there. That’s all the wealth I need.”
When I hear raised voices, I quickly turn back to the four men across the room. The dark-suited man looks angry. “This is bullshit.” Yep. He’s angry. “We had an agreement,” he spits.
Gage gestures in my direction, and I slide the inch or two needed to be right up against Cooke. I don’t like this. Any of it.
Cooke must sense my unease, because he leans down and whispers, “No worries. I’ve got you, love.”
“Thank you.” I say it without taking my eyes off the four men who are all now looking right at me.
“Her?” the dark-suited man says, pointing one angry finger my way. “She’s the one causing all this trouble for my poor daughter.”
I snort, then scoff, and it’s loud enough for them all to hear. For some reason, I grow some courage. “I didn’t cause anything, sir. Your daughter has been especially unkind to me.”
The man with Kara’s father snickers. “Unkind? Who says shit like that?”
I do.
“She destroyed my only mode of transportation.” And I have no money to fix it.
“That’s what insurance is for,” the other man grunts.
Gage has joined the fray. “It was parked. Your daughter admitted she ran over it.”
Kara’s dad remains silent as his friend says, “She didn’t know what she was saying.”
“She admitted to running over it several times,” Gage deadpans.
“She was confused. Her car was caught up in the debris.” Still the other guy talking.
“Enough!” shouts Kara’s dad. “What do we need to do to make this go away?”
Go away? That’s not right or fair.
The four men look at me. They’re silent, like they’re waiting for me to say something. So I say what I’m thinking. “What?”
Gage’s captain speaks, finally. “Mr. Becker wants to make a deal. What’s it going to take to keep you from pressing charges?”
I shrug. “How would I know? I’m not a cop. She broke the law. Isn’t that something she should pay for?”
I feel Cooke vibrate behind me. He’s laughing. I don’t know why, though. This isn’t funny.
“Are you going to press charges?” asks the captain.
“Look.” I pull away from Cooke and step closer to the men. I’m over this. I’m tired of dealing with Kara Becker, and I’m not going to let her father get his way either. Not without a fight, anyway. Where my courage is coming from, I have no idea. Well, maybe it’s coming from the six-five man who is now directly behind me again. I know because his palm is on my lower back. Just another gift from him, because Cooke Thompson gives me strength.
“She has had a burr about me from day one. I tried to be nice, but nothing worked.” I look at Kara’s father, then back to the captain. “Ask my roommates. On the morning of the assault, I was attempting to mend fences, but she wouldn’t have it. When the police were there, Patsy and Susanna convinced me not to press charges or get a restraining order because they were afraid you’d fire their mom,” I say to Mr. Becker, “By the way, that would be wrongful termination, and you’d get sued. I’d be a witness to that.” So there.
I know all about wrongful termination. My brother claimed he was wrongfully terminated once, but it turned out he was having sex with the boss’s daughter in the back room. During business hours. He claimed that ifhegot fired, so should she. I get his point. In the end, I think the girldidget fired, but then she was rehired not long after that. My brother wasn’t happy, but by then he’d gotten another jobanda girlfriend. “A better one” according to my big bro. I’m not sure if he meant the girl or the job.
