I had a feeling my next seat would be the back of a police cruiser. So much for avoiding my car being towed. What were the chances of Thaddeus flying to Minneapolis to bail me out of jail and testify before a judge that kicking the guard was not my fault but rather a malfunction of his invention?
“Lake? Want to tell me what the hell is going on?” Everson called me Lake. I imagined it sounding sexier. I also imagined not being in handcuffs. Scratch that… there were handcuffs, but I was handcuffed to a bed, not a chair in the manager’s office at a golf course.
“Mr. Banks, your nanny assaulted one of the security guards.”
“Run that by me again? Who did what?”
“Miss Jones demanded we find you to notify you of a family emergency, then she struck a guard with her…”
I looked up at the officer with his mouth hanging open as if the politically-correct word for my prosthetic leg, which didn’t look like a prosthetic leg, would magically fall from his lips.
“Leg? Is that the word you’re looking for? Real leg. Fake leg. Prosthetic leg. Bionic leg. Any way you look at it… the word is leg, because it replaces the part of my body that’s missing. Does anyone know what part of my body is missing?”
tick tick tick
The wall clock was the only sound in the room.
“Leg… Lake’s leg is fun.” The child in the room was the only one not afraid to call it like she saw it.
“Could I please speak withMiss Jonesalone about the family emergency?” Everson eyed the officer. “Maybe you could get this little girl a snack or something?”
The officer stood his ground, jaw set, eyes narrowed.
“Ten minutes?” Everson asked.
“Five.” The officer grunted.
Everson motioned for Shayna to go with the police officer. “He’s going to get you a snack.”
“Everson—”
“Shut it, Lake.”
I glared at him as Shayna followed the officer out of the office.
It didn’t matter that my Apollo was dressed in blindingly bright plaid shorts and a white collared short-sleeved shirt. I wouldn’t let his looks distract me from my anger.
“He could be molesting her as we speak. You don’t send your child off with a stranger, even if they’re wearing a badge.”
“That’s just it!” he roared, bending at the waist so his face was level and a few inches from mine. “She’s not my kid. She shouldn’t be here. You shouldn’t be here. I paid you to stay with her until CPS arrived and you couldn’t fucking follow my simple instructions! What is your problem?”
My teeth hurt from grinding them so hard. My pulse raced. My skin burned.
“You’re her family.” I had a million answers, but that was the only one that mattered.
“We share a few genes. She doesn’t think of me as her family?—”
“She does.”
He stood straight, planted his hands on his hips, and paced the small room.
“She does. She knows you’re her family, and she thinks you’re going to take care of her. That little girl has lost the two most important people in her life. She’s lost two teeth and doesn’t know who the tooth fairy is… and dolls… she doesn’t have any dolls.”
“This is none of your business.” He continued to pace.
I stared at my lap. “I know,” I whispered.
Guilt. I felt guilt. Regret? None. I couldn’t picture Shayna or hear her little voice in my head and regret one thing I did that morning. Okay, maybe assaulting the guard, but that really wasn’t my fault.
