*
“What the hell do you want now?” I ask the scrawny fucker sprawled out in one of the armchairs of my shop’s waiting room.
He stands up and pulls out an envelope from his back pocket. “Dylan Barnes, you’ve been served.”
“You already served me three weeks ago!” I protest as I rip the envelope open.
“That was the summons and petition for the custody case; this is a client pressing charges.”
“What the fuck,” I murmur, scanning the papers.
Gross negligence
Severe health issues
Infection
Amputation
Damages
I don’t even hear the door open.
“Mister Barnes, I’m Sheriff Danos,” a deep voice says, and I look up to see a familiar face. “I’m here to execute a search and seizure warrant. This is the court order authorizing the confiscation of your shop’s CCTV footage spanning these dates here,” he talks and talks, and I keep waiting for someone to jump out and yell, Candid Camera!
But nothing happens. I stumble over to the break room.
“Babe, what’s going on?” Rebel wraps her arms around my torso, and it steels me.
There’s nerds with gloves milling around the shop, and the fucking sheriff out front is for sure gonna be bad for business. I close my eyes and thank God that Truck stopped laundering drug money through the shop after DJ was born.
“You have a family to think about now,” he told me. “And the strip club is doing well.”
I need to make sure to thank him.
“Some asshole is suing me. I haven’t read the whole thing, but I wouldn’t worry,” I lie through my teeth, and Rebel nods.
“There’s always some genius who forgets he signed a waiver,” she says, and I turn around to hug her.
“Damn right. I’ll have the club lawyer take a look at this, maybe it won’t even get to court.”
“I’ll call Sly,” she says, and I take a deep breath.
It’s fine. Everything is okay.
Chapter 23
Marissa
I roll my shoulders to ease the stiffness, but I still feel achy.
“Overdid it with the pool yesterday, huh?” Red asks as she hangs up the phone.
“I don’t think that's it,” I tell her. “I didn’t sleep too well last night. I guess I’m nervous about my first day at the hospital.”
A few weeks ago, Bev asked me if I’d be interested in joining the other Chasers who pledged to spend a number of hours a year cuddling newborns going through Neonatal Abstinence Syndrome. I don’t think it was humanly possible to say yes any faster.
Now that I have completed all the necessary training and paperwork, it is finally time for the hospital orientation.
