Page 100 of Forget That Guy
“Relevance?” Jedidiah asked drolly.
Julianna growled under her breath.
Someone came into the courtroom from a side entrance then and walked right up to the judge.
Curious to know what this person wanted, I strained to hear, but got nothing.
The judge looked worried and looked outside the window.
I saw something dark that looked like smoke filling the air.
The man who entered left, and the judge took off his glasses and leveled a look at Juliana. “You are not getting full custody. In fact, after looking at the statements of the kids that tells us what they want—all done by their lawyer—I award full custody to Sinclair Windsor. You are to pay him.” He looked at the sheet in front of him that likely showed her income totals. “Three hundred dollars per child. Now, I have to go get into my fire gear. Seems like the vet building is on fire.”
He stood up, but I was already halfway out of the room.
TWENTY-FOUR
It’s unsticking your thighs from plastic chairs season.
—Holly to Nettie
HOLLY
I was coughing up my lungs, and the poor little raccoon babies in my shirt were along for the ride.
I heard talking, and at first the sound of the voice didn’t quite register.
I was coughing too hard for it to.
But then the voice moved closer and the timbre of the voice played along sensitive nerve endings.
I knew that voice.
I’d heard that voice days ago when I’d escaped another dangerous situation.
I peeled open my eyes and stared up at the man blocking the blinding sun.
“Hello.” He smiled as he dropped down to his haunches. “Are you okay?”
No.
No, I wasn’t okay.
And not only because I’d just escaped a burning building with over twenty animals in it.
I wasn’t okay because this was the man who’d been at that dog fighting ring.
The man that Denver had been looking relentlessly for since I’d told him about the man that’d been in the mountains with me that night.
Luckily, the croak that came out of my mouth was answer enough for him because he didn’t push further for me to speak.
Didn’t think that I’d ever thank having smoke inhalation, but there I was.
“Come on over here.” He lifted his hand. “We need to get you away from the fire.”
I was already shaking my head. “No.”
He tried that blinding smile he’d already given me once, but that smile wouldn’t work on me.
