Chapter 4 #2
Sam clenched her jaw and fought the urge to roll her eyes. She’d given up on prayers a long time ago. As far as she could see, they didn’t do anything. And she needed Bella to get her butt home.
The bathroom door opened behind her, and Aubrey rejoined them and took the flyers from Deputy Marshal Roberts.
“If you don’t have any more questions or concerns, we’ll be on our way.” Deputy Marshal Roberts slid his hands into his pockets.
“No. We’re good for now.”
He turned and opened the front door. “It was nice to meet you.”
“You too.” Except it wasn’t. It was a reminder of her past failures and how she’d ended up in Renegade.
She watched the two walk down the sidewalk to the next house, then pulled the phone from her pocket and unlocked it. Her thumb was hovering over Bella’s contact picture when she saw her coming from the opposite side of the road.
Sam narrowed her eyes as Bella strolled up the walkway. “Where have you been?”
Bella sighed and entered the house. “I was with my friend.”
“The same friend that you were caught vaping with at school?” Sam shut the front door and locked it. She slid the deadbolt over and then engaged the chain lock, just like she’d done every night since finding out who she’d really been working for.
Bella dropped her bag on the ground with a thud. “Her name is Sophia, and we weren’t vaping.”
“Then why did I get a telephone call from the school?”
“Because we were in the bathroom with the girls that were vaping, but we weren’t. Guilty by association.” Bella dropped onto the loveseat.
“Why were you in the bathroom when you were supposed to be in class?” Sam moved to stand in front of Bella and crossed her arms.
“Sophia had to go between classes, and the stalls were all full, so we waited. The girls started vaping while she was in the stall. I wasn’t going to leave her in there alone.”
“Did you tell the teachers that?”
Bella’s eyes widened. “Of course not! Snitches get stitches. They don’t have WITSEC in high school.”
Nausea roiled in Sam’s stomach. “I’m not a snitch. Is that what you think?”
Sam had done the right thing when she’d testified, and they’d been rewarded with a new name and a new life in a new town.
But they were safe here. They were protected from the Mob guys who wanted them dead.
Bella was right that she would’ve had to face the girls at school afterward if she’d told the principal what they’d done.
“This is about more than just being a snitch, Bella. You’re not pointing the finger at them when they were caught red-handed. You’re clearing your name. If you don’t come forward, the teachers will believe that you were vaping too.”
“I’d rather the teachers believe that than to cross the Renegade Rebels.”
Sam groaned. It had been a while since she’d been in high school, but it seemed nothing had changed. There were still cliques and drama. “Bella.”
“I’m not doing it.” The teen crossed her arms over her chest.
Sam took a deep breath. “Fine. I’ll call the school and tell them.”
“For the love of Pete, it’s just detention, not the end of the world.” She stood up and faced Sam. “Don’t you dare call the school and get involved. I don’t need you trying to solve all my problems. You’ll only make it worse.”
Bella stormed to her bedroom and slammed the door.
Sam sank into the recliner. She didn’t want to argue with Bella anymore. Not tonight. Not about this. Not when the ghosts of their past were still haunting them. They’d survived Sam’s testimony against the Mob. Surely they could survive high school.
What could she do? This could be the beginning of the end if Sam didn’t encourage her sister to stick to the straight and narrow.
Follow the rules. A tiny step in the wrong direction and it could snowball into more trouble before they knew it.
Like official reports on school files, which were just as dangerous as doing well in sports and getting their pictures in the media.
There was so much more at stake than whether Bella was considered a snitch or a cool kid. If she didn’t watch herself, she would be noticed.
And if they were discovered, it could lead to their deaths.
Liam stared out the windshield, Sam’s image sticking in his mind. She was beautiful, no doubt. But closed off, like she didn’t want to let anyone in. Could he really blame her though? She’d had a hard life, and going into WITSEC had only made it harder.
The look on her face when he’d mentioned prayer told him she either wasn’t a believer or wasn’t on good terms with God at the moment.
The last six months of his life couldn’t really be compared to her story, but he couldn’t imagine facing it alone.
Without God to get him through. He couldn’t begin to fathom how Sam felt.
“I wish you could have met Isabella. She’s smart as a whip.” Aubrey’s voice pulled him from his thoughts. She looked at the clock on the dash and finished buckling her seatbelt. “That took longer than I expected.”
“Okay, I’ll take you back to the office.”
“That would be fabulous.” She smiled.
He turned from the Williamses’ street onto another main street. His attention was caught by a high-school-age girl carrying a blue-and-purple chevron-patterned backpack. A backpack he recognized. What was Sophia doing over here?
“Um, see that girl?” He pointed to Sophia.
Aubrey leaned forward. “Yes.”
“That’s my niece. She’s supposed to be at home.” He gripped the steering wheel.
“Oh.” Aubrey pursed her lips.
“Yeah.” Liam rolled down the passenger-side window and pulled the SUV up next to his niece. “Sophia?”
Sophia stopped and stared straight ahead. At what, he couldn’t be sure. It was just another residential street. No one out and about.
Liam leaned his left arm on the steering wheel. “Just because you stopped moving doesn’t mean I can’t see you. I’m not the dog.”
He looked at Aubrey. “Sophia has a Chihuahua named Blossom. She’ll look right past you if you stop moving. It’s like her eyesight is failing and she can only see movement. Which isn’t the case, according to the vet.”
Audrey rolled her lips between her teeth to smother a smile.
“Sophia.”
Her shoulders slumped, and she turned to the SUV, a grimace across her face. “I guess I’m busted.”
“Yeah, you are. Get in.”
Sophia opened the back door and climbed in, tossing her backpack on the seat. “I can explain.”
He eyed her through the rearview mirror. “Oh, you will. Later.” He turned to Aubrey. “Aubrey, this is my niece, Sophia. Sophia, this is my coworker, Aubrey Richardson.”
Sophia leaned forward and thrust her hand between the seats. “Nice to meet you, Aubrey.”
Aubrey twisted in her seat and shook Sophia’s hand. “Likewise.”
Liam drove back to the office. He wanted to give Sophia the third degree about school and ask why she hadn’t gone straight home, but decided to spare Aubrey the sighs and eye rolls that were Sophia’s MO.
“That’s me right there.” Aubrey pointed to a small car parked in the employee lot. “Good night, Deputy Marshal.”
“Good night.” Liam watched as she climbed into her car, and waited for her reverse lights to come on before he drove off.
“So, she’s super pretty.” Sophia didn’t give him a chance to speak. “Were you on a date?”
“You think I have time for dating?” He didn’t, but it went even deeper than that. His life had flipped upside down in the last few months. Could he really open himself up again? Risk letting someone in when everything felt so fragile?
“I know, I know. New town, new job, new dependent. I get it. I ruined your life.” She slumped back into the seat.
Liam jerked the steering wheel to the right and pulled the car to the curb. He turned around to face his niece, who was staring at her fidgeting hands in her lap.
“Look at me when I say this.”
She slowly raised her face until she was staring at him. He could see the unshed tears in her eyes, and his heart constricted.
“Sophia Daniella Roberts, you did not ruin my life. You mean more to me than you can even imagine.”
“What about Giselle? She left once you got custody of me.” She folded her arms over her chest. “You probably hate me for that.”
“Giselle leaving was not your fault. Things had been rocky for a while.” It had been a long time coming, but that didn’t make the pain any less. “It just so happened that our relationship ended at the same time. So both of us got a fresh start.”
Giselle would probably have blamed the breakup on Sophia, but the truth was, once Sophia had begun playing a bigger part in his life, it’d become clear he and Giselle wanted different things.
“A fresh start where you’re a bachelor saddled with a teenager.”
“You say saddled. I say gifted. God knows what He’s doing.” At least, he was trying to trust that was the case—even when it was hard and what God was doing didn’t make sense.
“Why would God’s gift to you mean my mom is punished?” Her eyes narrowed. “You know that doesn’t make sense.”
“Soph, your mom’s going to jail isn’t a punishment from God. It’s a legal consequence for the crimes she committed. Every choice you make has a result, and not all results are good. That’s why you need to make sure you’re making the good choices.”
She sighed. “Whatever.”
“I can only imagine what you must be feeling. But we’ll get through this together.
” He gave her a reassuring smile and turned back around, pulling onto the street and heading home.
“Speaking of choices. Want to tell me about your day? Like the telephone call I got from the school today, and why I found you walking down a street alone when I’m pretty certain I told you to go straight home from school. ”
Sophia sighed, and he watched from the rearview mirror as she rolled her eyes, just like he predicted she would.
“My friend and I weren’t vaping in the bathroom.
I had to pee, and she waited while I did.
The line was long, so we were in there past the bell.
The teacher came in and marched us all to the principal’s office.
She didn’t even want to hear our side of the story. ”
He narrowed his eyes at her.
“It’s the honest truth.” Her gaze darted around, an action that indicated she could be lying.
She’d gotten into some trouble at her old school when her mother had first been arrested. Mostly mouthing off and being disrespectful. There’d been a few verbal altercations with students who were giving her a hard time about her mom.
He understood how she felt. Being talked about was frustrating, especially when what was being said wasn’t true.
But the teen had to learn to control her temper and her mouth.
If she stuck it out with him, he could repay his sister for taking the blame for him, and ensure Sophia had a chance to thrive.
“Soph, if your friend was vaping, it’s okay to let her take the fall. You don’t have to go down with her. It’s putting you on a slippery path.”
“I already know all of this. You’ve given this lecture before.” She crossed her arms over her chest and looked out the window. “I’m not gonna wind up in jail because I had to pee.”
“What were you doing in that neighborhood?” He’d revisit the vaping later.
“My friend lives over there. She wanted to show me around, so we went walking.”
“Who’s your friend?”
The phone rang before she could answer. Thomas Mahar’s name flashed on the screen on the dash.
Liam had known Tom for years. When Liam’s sister was arrested, Tom was the person Liam had gone to first. Tom had helped him navigate the transition from uncle whose niece was staying with him to guardian of said niece.
Tom had called him this morning to pray over him before starting the new job. He was probably calling to see how the day had gone. Liam pushed the button on the steering wheel.
“Hello, you’re on speakerphone,” he warned. Not that Tom would say anything that Sophia shouldn’t hear.
“Hey, Sophia. How’s it going?” Tom and his wife, Beth, had become close to Sophia since Liam had been awarded guardianship.
Part of that was because Sophia had been a frequent guest at their house while Liam was on fugitive apprehension, working his last few weeks while waiting for the transfer to Renegade.
“It’s okay.” She turned to stare out the window.
“It has been an eventful day.” Liam clicked the turn signal and directed the vehicle onto their road.
“That’s why I called. Making sure you didn’t die of boredom going from an adrenaline junkie to desk jockey.” Tom chuckled.
“Nope, still kicking.” Thank God Albright and the fugitive were still kicking too. “Look, we’re about to pull into the house, and I need to figure out dinner. Can I call you back in a bit?” He also wanted to talk to Sophia some more.
“Yeah, no problem.”
“Okay, talk to you later.” He hit the button on the steering wheel to disconnect the call.
He’d barely stopped the SUV in the driveway before Sophia was out and racing to the front door.
Maybe more talking wasn’t on the menu for tonight.
Nothing about their new life in Renegade made sense. He was in over his head parenting a teenager. Tom’s call reminded him to give it to God and lean on Him. God was working everything out to their good.
Liam closed his eyes and sent up a prayer, handing it all over to the One who saw how this ended.