“I wouldn’t be sitting here right now if I didn’t. I just need you to answer a couple of questions.”
“Okay, like what?”
“Simple stuff.” I never took my eyes off the screen as I asked her, “Was it a city cop or a state trooper who pulled you over?”
“City, I think.”
“Was it a black and white car, or black and tan?”
“I’m pretty sure it was black and white.”
“Okay, good.” I pulled up the city clerk’s database and started making my way past their firewall. “What day did you get the ticket?”
“It was one day last week. Monday or Tuesday, I think.”
“I need to know the exact date, Katie.”
“Tuesday?” She thought for a moment, then continued, “I was on my way home from cheer practice, so yeah, it was definitely on Tuesday.”
“So, that would be on the twenty-third. What about your driver’s license number?”
Katie opened her small purse and pulled out her wallet, then rattled off the numbers. After a little searching and fancy footwork, I managed to find where the ticket had been entered into the database. “Here it is.”
“You actually found it?”
“You sound surprised.”
“You can’t blame me there. I mean, come on… Who would’ve thought that Jared Freemont, the biggest party guy around, would know how to hack into the City Court Clerk’s Office?”
“Party guy?”
“Yes, Jared.” She placed her hand on her hip. “Everyone knows you’re just looking for a good time, but I’m okay with that. I’m looking for a good time too.”
I quickly removed Katie’s ticket from the clerk’s database and then deleted all records of the citation from the police department, making it appear that she’d never been pulled over for speeding. Katie was both grateful and astounded, so much so, she spent the next couple of hours showing me just how impressed she really was. By the time we walked out of that bedroom, we’d both gotten what we were after and some. I left the party feeling like I could conquer the world, but that didn’t last long. I’d barely made it home when Landon called to warn me that Katie was blabbing about what I’d done with her ticket. I should’ve been concerned. I should’ve gone to her and shut her down, but I didn’t. I was a stupid teenager who thought he was invincible. I didn’t think anyone could get to me, but I was wrong. Dead wrong.
It was a week later when my life took a dramatic turn.
I was sitting in my living room with Eugene, one of my father’s many no-good friends. He and my pops had just finished off a case of beer, and my dad had gone out to the shed to grab another. We were both waiting on him to make it back when I heard the low rumble of motorcycles off in the distance. It was a sound that had me jumping up from the sofa and rushing over to the window. When I saw the group of motorcycles heading in our direction, I motioned Eugene over. “Hey, come check it out.”
He didn’t move. He was too fucking wasted to care what was going on, but I couldn’t have been more intrigued. My pops and I lived out in Nolensville, not in the city, but on the outskirts of town, where rundown mobile homes go to die. An old pickup truck might’ve driven by from time to time, but I couldn’t ever recall seeing a motorcycle out in these parts—much less four of them. I watched in awe and horror as these men, decked out in leather, pulled into my driveway and parked their Harleys inches from my front steps. I’d never been so terrified. Hell, I couldn’t even move as I watched my father come out of the shed with the case of beer in his arm. He looked a bit rattled as the men got off their bikes and made their way over to him. They spoke for a moment, and then my father pointed at the window where I was standing. My blood ran cold when they all turned to look at me. Fuck. They’d come for me.
I had no idea what they wanted, and I didn’t care. My fight-or-flight instincts had already kicked in, and I was itching to get the hell out of there. Unfortunately, there was no way out—at least none where they wouldn’t see me leave. I was fucking stuck and in such a haze of shock and panic that I missed Dad calling out to me. I didn’t actually hear him until he threw open the front door and shouted, “Jared!”
“Yeah?”
“You got company.”
Seeming unfazed by the fact that the fierce strangers were summoning me, he walked over to the kitchen, took a couple of beers out, then shoved the rest of the case in the fridge. Without saying another word, he walked over to the sofa and sat down next to Eugene, acting like he couldn’t care less that my life might be in danger. I shouldn’t have been surprised.