“All towns have gangs,” I told her. “It’s just a way of life, unfortunately. However, the gang here is small potatoes compared to some of the gangs that are out there.”
“True,” she agreed. “Hey, did you see the silverware?”
I pulled out the plastic cutlery that’d fallen to the ground in her haste to open the boxes and handed her one, keeping the other for myself.
“Thanks,” she paused. “I’m not sure how the hell I’m supposed to cut a steak with a plastic knife.”
I pulled out both of the pocket knives that I carried with me at all times and handed her one. “This’ll work.”
She took it and glanced up at me. “You didn’t shave your arm or anything with it, did you?”
“Not in at least a couple of days,” I told her. “The last thing I did with it was eat an apple at lunch today.”
She snorted.
“How did I know that you cut the hair on your arm with the knife?” she asked.
“Probably because that’s how you know if it’s sharp enough,” I guessed.
She snickered, and then opened the knife and started cutting into her steak.
She took a bite and moaned as the flavor hit her tongue. “Oh, this is so good. Even only semi-warm.”
I took a bite of my own steak and agreed.Chapter 14There are more germs and bacteria on movie theater seats than almost any other public place. Enjoy your movie.
-Text from Flint to Ezra
Flint
I rode to the gym with a smile on my face.
Camryn was meeting me at the school with Dooley, giving me more than ample time to teach the class that Croft couldn’t cover, and then get to the school by seven thirty to help with the middle school drop-off.
We had a plan to meet in the cafeteria where I would take Dooley, and she could run to the bus drop-off to do her part in getting the kids to where they needed to go in the morning.
I was so proud of the progress she’d made with my dog.
Honestly, that part of it all had scared the crap out of me because it wasn’t like I could really give Dooley up. Not only was he family, but he was also my job as well. Sure, I’d trained him from the time he was a puppy, and he was my own personal canine, but he was also a lot of why I had the cushy job that I did.
Hell, there wasn’t an officer in the entire department that got to work seven thirty to four, five days a week like I did and even got off for the majority of every holiday that the students did. Hell, when I picked up extra shifts, it wasn’t even a requirement for me.
So hell yes, I loved my job.
I also loved the hell out of my woman.
It’d been a very short time since we’d become ‘official.’ And in that short time, I’d tried to keep my distance. But every time I’d add a brick to my wall, she’d knock down three or four. And just like that, I was no longer able to hold any defense against her.
The light in front of me turned green, and I started to accelerate.
I also laughed because as I did, I could practically hear Camryn squealing behind me as I went through the gears as fast as I could.
What I should’ve been doing instead of laughing at my imaginary girlfriend was paying attention to the road.
Because if I had, I wouldn’t have made the fatal mistake that I did.
Headlights filled my vision, and then everything went black.Chapter 15I’ve just spent the last hour trying to figure out how a Stegosaurus has sex. The longer I think about it, the more difficult it is.
-Text from Camryn to Flint
Camryn
“Hey, Camryn?” Carmichael squeaked into the phone. “Is Flint there?”
I looked at my watch to ascertain the time. He’d left my house a little over an hour and thirty-five minutes ago.
“No,” I said, scowling at my severely lacking clothing selection. “He’s at the gym covering the class for Croft, remember?”
There was silence on the line for a few short seconds as she digested this bit of news.
“Actually, that’s why I’m calling,” she explained. “I’ve had four members call me bitching that the gym wasn’t open, and nobody is there and there’s not a sign on the door saying why it’s not open. Did he say he was going to his house?”
I shook my head, frowning fiercely as I did.
“No,” I began to explain. “He stayed the night. We went on the way home from our date yesterday and got a change of clothes as well as his uniform for today. I was to meet him at the school in about twenty minutes from now with Dooley.”
She inhaled deeply. “Something’s wrong.”
I frowned and said, “Let me call him and call you back.”