Renegade Path

A couple hours a week wasn’t going to earn me nearly enough money to do what I wanted, but I had to start somewhere.

Screams ricocheted through the house, followed by shrill curses. Mike jumped to investigate. “Stay here,” he ordered.

Left alone in his office and having no interest in involving myself with whatever drama was unfolding in the rest of the house, I eyed the phone on the desk. I’d love to give Juliet a call. Had her number memorized from the day she wrote it on my arm. My secret phone was stashed upstairs in my backpack.

The yelling and swearing grew louder and I craned my neck to peer out into the hallway.

Judy wrestled a crying and struggling Evie down the hall with Mike following behind them.

“Roman did it!” Evie screeched.

I jumped out of my chair and ran to the doorway. “What the fuck is she talking about?” I shouted at Mike.

He shook his head. “Nothing. We got it handled, Roman.” He nodded to his office. “Stay put for a few minutes, okay?”

My heart thundered as he closed the door.

Evie was trying to set me up for who the hell knew what.

Fear rolled through my stomach as I staggered back to my chair. Obviously, I hadn’t done anything wrong. Mike knew that.

But no matter how hard I tried to convince myself everything would be okay, deep down a voice whispered reminders of all the times I’d been let down and betrayed before.

Chapter Twenty

Juliet

My cell phone rang and I leaned over to scoop it up off my nightstand. No one but Roman, Vienna, and sometimes Uncle Dex ever called.

I didn’t recognize the number, but I answered anyway. Uncle Dex frequently used different unknown numbers.

“Hello?”

“Juliet? It’s me.”

“Roman.” A happy sigh followed his name. We’d spent the whole day together and I still couldn’t get enough of his voice. “What’s up?”

“I’m not sure.” Tension radiated over the line, wiping the dreamy smile off my face.

“Are you okay?”

“I’m not sure. When I got home, Pip was babbling about Evie trying to set me up and now there’s some commotion. My name was thrown around. I’m worried.”

He didn’t talk a lot about the home when we were together, but he’d mentioned Pip often enough. And Evie had confronted me once or twice at school—although I’d never told Roman—so I knew who she was and what she was after.

“Roman, what are you going to do?”

“Nothing I can do right now. If something happens…If I get sent away again. I want you to know—”

“Don’t. You’re not going anywhere. Please,” I added. A tear rolled down my cheek. I couldn’t stand the helplessness or the injustice of his situation. “Let’s look for a place together now,” I blurted.

Silence.

“Juliet, I’d love that more than anything, but—”

“Maybe Uncle Dex can loan us some money.”

“I can’t take money from your family, Juliet. A job offer is one thing, but—”

He had his pride. Having everything else out of his control, I understood it. To a certain extent.

In the background there was knocking. “I gotta go, Juliet.”

The call ended.

I didn’t dare try calling him back and risk getting him in trouble.

All night I worried and wondered what was happening.

Roman

I’d seen a lot of legitimate issues get swept away or ignored during my time in the system. So the attention Evie got for her false allegations shocked me into silence at first.

Then I came out fighting.

“I wasn’t even here when she claims whatever happened, happened!” I roared. “Did you talk to Janet? I guarantee she’s involved too!”

No one cared.

I still had to be questioned.

Interviewed.

Examined.

Questioned again.

What pissed me off the most was that somehow Janet and Squire skated out of the whole mess. I had no doubt they helped concoct this idiotic plan and encouraged Evie to go through with it. While Evie had been a source of annoyance since I moved into the house, I’d never suspected she was this downright devious.

“For the last time, I got home late from our school field trip,” I explained to my caseworker. Ms. Simpson did not seem pleased she’d been dragged out of her house after business hours. I couldn’t blame her, honestly. But I didn’t want her to somehow blame me and block me from getting a job or something.

“Why so late?” she asked, tapping her pencil against her yellow notepad.

“It was an all-day field trip. You approved it,” I reminded her.

“So someone can confirm you were on this school trip?”

Guilt, because I’d snuck off with Juliet, crowded my conscience. Mr. Broom had caught us far away from where we were supposed to be. But because he trusted us, he’d let it slide. And now I might be dragging him into vouching for me.

Thankfully, the moral compass I’d developed over the years spun in its own direction. I swallowed hard but kept my voice and gaze steady. “Only my entire class, the principal, and the six teachers there to supervise all of us.”