Chapter Fifteen
Duncan
"Oh, my God. Right. Well, stay where you are, okay? Is there anyone else with you? Can you call the police?"
The police? What the fuck is going on?
"Then just stay indoors and don't open up, okay? It doesn't matter if he fires you. He should have fixed the fucking cameras. Be there soon to pick you up.”
She was shaking when she hung up.
"What's wrong?"
"My sister works at a gas station. Someone just robbed the place, and the owner has no camera." Her voice broke. "I need to pick her up."
"Let's go together."
"What do you mean?"
"I've got my car. We'll drive there together. Do you want to call the police?"
"She already did."
"Is she okay? Did he do something to her?"
"He had a knife, but he just waved it around to scare her, thank God.”
Riley was shaking badly. I kept my hand on her shoulder all the way to the car.
"Where exactly does your sister work?" I asked her once we were inside.
"I'll put the address here." She typed it into my app.
"That’s a seedy area.”
"I know. And she lives there too," Riley said in a small voice as I drove off.
To my dismay, her eyes watered. "That's why I was hoping to get the job right away instead of waiting for the stupid bar exam results.
I want to be able to help her out so she doesn't have to live in that godawful place. She’s working three jobs to put herself through school.
It sucks. I've done it for five years, and I don't want my little sister to go through the same thing. "
She'd clasped her hands together in her lap, and I covered them with mine. She was shaking even worse than before. I'd never felt a connection as deep as I did to Riley. The fact that she didn't want her sister to face the same spoke volumes about her.
"I promise we'll figure this out, okay? Don't you worry. First, let's go check on your sister. Don't blame yourself."
"I should have convinced her to move in with me, but she's so stubborn."
"She didn't want to?"
"No. She said that, since she's eighteen, she should be able to get by on her own.”
"San Diego is an expensive city."
"That's why she found that hellhole to live in. I even offered to give up my room at the house and move somewhere else, or even share it, but she wouldn't hear of it."
I'd never heard Riley so distressed.
"Listen. No matter how much we care for people, we can't force them to do what we think is best. All we can do is support them."
"I know," she said, wiping away her tears.
"Please don't cry. I want to make you feel better."
She turned to me, smiling. "Thank you for driving me there. I promise I’ll get my shit together before I'm back to work on Monday."
I stared at her. "Riley, I'm not going to leave you to deal with this alone. We’ll figure out things together."
She just stared at me, but at least she didn't fight me on it.
We arrived at our destination twenty minutes later.
"Where are the police?" I asked.
"I don't know, but that's her boss’s car." She pointed to a fucking Range Rover.
What the hell? The man didn't even bother to repair the cameras, but he was driving a Range Rover? I was seeing red.
I parked the car, looking around carefully. The area seemed deserted.
Riley jumped out before I’d even turned off the engine. Damn! I followed her quickly inside the store. A woman who looked a lot like Riley stood behind the counter. Range Rover guy seemed no older than midtwenties with very short hair and three rings in his left eyebrow.
"I don't care. Your shift is until midnight," he was saying as we entered.
"I’m too shaken. Honestly, I don't think I can stay here for that long."
He shook his head. "I can't believe you called the fucking police."
"What is going on?" I asked.
Riley immediately went to her sister’s side.
He turned to me, face red. "What is this? Who are you?"
"I’m her sister," Riley said, rolling back her shoulders.
“You asked your sister over? This is your place of work. What the fuck?" he growled.
"You can't talk to her like that," I said.
He straightened up and puffed out his chest. "Who the fuck do you think you are? This is my business."
"Yes, and clearly you have no idea how to talk to your employees. She was robbed. You can’t expect her to continue working."
"Nothing happened to her, but the guy did take some of my cash. She'll have to work for free until she makes it back," he sneered.
"No, she won’t," I said. "That's not how this works."
"It fucking does if she wants to keep her job."
"No. I’m a lawyer," Riley said.
The guy froze. Fuck, was I proud of Riley.
"You haven't even taken steps to ensure your employees' security because you’re too cheap to repair that camera. She's not liable for anything except suing your fucking ass."
"She wouldn't do that."
"Oh yes, she would. You know why? Because she'd have a lawyer pro bono."
I'd never seen Riley like this. She'd been so lost in the car, but now she was 100 percent confident.
"You don't need this job, do you? What with your fancy-ass lawyer sister. Why the fuck would you even take it?"
"You say one more word and I'm going to knock your teeth out," I told him.
I didn't give a fuck if that made things worse or not. He couldn’t treat anyone like that. I despised people who thought their employees were their servants and expected them to put his profit above everything else, including their health and safety.
"All right, fine. I changed my mind. You can leave," he said, looking straight at Riley's sister. "Don't bother coming back."
She was red in the face, and for a split second, I thought she might burst into tears, but instead she cleared her throat.
"You know what? My pleasure. Everyone warned me not to take this job, but I was stubborn. But I'm not going to risk my life for $8 an hour."
She looked up at Riley and said, "Let's go."
Both of them rounded the corner. The guy looked like he wanted to do something, but I stepped in front of him.
"Shut your fucking mouth."
He jerked his head back. "Out of my store."
"Gladly," I snapped.
He looked behind me at Riley and her sister. "What the fuck am I supposed to do? Man my own counter?"
They didn't bother to reply.
I snorted, walking right behind them with quick steps. I didn't want them to be alone outside for a split second.
Once we were all in the car, I turned around to look at her sister and then at Riley, who was sitting next to her, holding her hand.
"Paula, are you hurt?" Riley asked her.
Paula shook her head. "No, he didn't do anything to me. I'm just shaken and pissed off."
"Of course you are," Riley said. "I can’t believe that asshole. You are not going back there even if he begs you to, understand?"
"I’m not planning to," Paula said. "But I’ll have to find something else quickly so I can pay my rent."
"We'll think about this in the morning, okay? This is Duncan, by the way.”
“Jeremy’s dad?” She dropped her head back against the seat. “Oh my God, I’m sorry you had to see all that.”
I smiled softly. “No problem.”
“Uhh… I don’t live far from here.”
"Don't you want to come to my place?" Riley asked.
Paula shook her head. "No. I love your roommates, but I can never relax around them. I feel like they always look weird at me when I’m there, like I'm encroaching on their space."
Riley jerked her head back. "What? You never told me that. I'm sure they’d understand the situation."
"Don't insist. I just want to go home and sleep."
"All right, I'm your driver for the evening," I said, trying to lighten the mood. "What's your address?"
The second she told me what it was, I understood why Riley wasn't so thrilled. It wasn't exactly a dump, but it wasn’t safe.
Five minutes later, we arrived in front of a small building that looked to house about five or six apartments. Riley and I walked Paula to the door. I kept looking around, keeping an eye out for anything suspicious.
"Are you sure you don't want me to stay with you?" Riley asked.
Paula turned around and sighed. "Duncan, please help me."
I cleared my throat. "Actually, I don't think that's a bad idea."
Riley looked over her shoulder at me with a very grateful expression.
Paula glared at me. "Yeah, no. Damn it, you're not helping at all.” She turned to face her sister. “Riley, I just want to process this on my own, okay?" Paula put her hands on Riley's shoulders. "And you know I do that best when I'm alone."
"You're even more stubborn than me," Riley said, kissing her sister's cheek.
After Paula closed the door, Riley sniffled. "Can we go?" she whispered. "I don't want her to hear me."
"Sure."
I put an arm around her shoulders and led her out of the building. I surveyed the street, but it was completely deserted, and I couldn't see any headlights. She got into the car quickly, and I hurried into the driver's seat.
Riley was dabbing at her eyes when I started the engine.
"Damn it, I was so scared," she said.
I took her hand, kissing it. "I'm sorry."
"And I tried to hold it together for Paula, but it's just… He could have hurt her, you know?"
"But nothing happened," I said.
I had unbelievable respect for her. Watching her back at the station and even at Paula’s apartment, I couldn't even tell she'd been scared or that she'd been holding in tears. Clearly, she had practice at being strong for her sister.
“I can take care of that moron, make sure he won’t bother her again,” I said.
Riley swallowed hard. “That’s really nice of you, but I don’t think it’s necessary.
I can’t wait to finally start as a lawyer.
She’ll never take a job that puts her in danger again.
” She yawned and sank lower in her seat.
“I don’t want to go home. The house is empty.
Julia and Christine went clubbing again. ”
"You're coming with me," I said.
"What?" She jerked her head up. "No, that’s not what I was implying. I’ll be fine."
"Riley, you're in no state to be on your own."
“My roommates will be there… eventually.”
"They’re at the club. You need a good night’s sleep. They’ll come back late and make noise.”
She hesitated for a moment, then sighed heavily. "Honestly, I don't really want to be by myself tonight. I suggested staying with Paula as much for her benefit as for mine."
“Besides, I'm better company than drunk roommates," I replied.
“I have to say, you're very convincing.” She gave me a small smile. “I’m all yours tonight, Duncan.”