AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“Nah, it really won’t,” he chuckled. “I talk with my mouthful, too. See? I’m a catch for any girl out there.”
“Yeah, you’re a catch all right… you’re gonna catch something,” Reese uttered, making him laugh all over again as he caught his brother’s look in the rearview mirror once more. “C’mon. I’ll get the steaks started.”
Walking into the house, Max dropped his bag by the floor and spotted Piddles, Reese’s dog – who was spoiled rotten. The dog immediately ran over to him, shaking his entire body happily, before flopping over to have her belly rubbed.
“Hey, Piddles… how’s my pretty girl?”
“Leaking,” Eileen retorted. “Take her outside if you are going to get her all worked up while I… Oh no!”
“What’s wrong?” Reese asked bluntly, stepping toward his wife in a panic.
“The dinner rolls I bought the other day have molded already, and I really wanted to have nice hot rolls with the baked potatoes.”
“I’ll go get you some more…”
“I can go,” Max volunteered. “I’m almost out of deodorant anyhow and needed to get a few things while I’m in town.”
“Are you sure?”
“Well, I’m going shopping at some point… might as well run to the store tonight while y’all cook. Toss me the keys.”
“Don’t wreck my truck – and no bars tonight, okay?”
“Tomorrow?” Max teased, seeing his brother frown.
“No.”
“I’m just pulling your leg. I’ll just head over to the I. G. A. grocery store and grab a few things, a package of rolls, and I’ll be back shortly, okay?”
CHAPTER 2
ELANA
Today did not go as planned.
This had not been her day, week, month, or year, and it was eroding her self-confidence. This was the third case thrown out on a technicality or a loophole that someone had discovered, and it was irritating the fire out of her. Combined with the fact that apparently, the power had tripped the circuit breaker at her house.
She had walked in, kicked off her shoes, and headed for the kitchen to pop a TV dinner into the microwave… only to step in water.
Yanking open the fridge door, sure enough, the lights were off inside. She opened the freezer and saw that the massive snow cave was nearly halfway melted, which meant that everything had thawed… not that there was much inside the refrigerator at all. A few old frozen pizzas, several packs of yogurt, a package of berries, and half a loaf of bread.
Tossing what remained in the freezer, noting the sopping wet cardboard boxes that practically disintegrated, she made a note on her phone to remind her to get an electrician out here – or a new fridge. That fridge was on a circuit by itself and popped all the time. Grabbing her purse and sliding on a pair of sneakers despite her business attire, she headed to the grocery.
No, this had been a complete and utter mess – and having to run to the grocery was the cherry on the cake. They had laughed at her in the courtroom, causing her to lose her edge and her temper. She had never, ever, had anyone laugh at her before, but when she was attempting to show the jury what her client had done, it backfired.
Not only did it not work, but she succeeded in handcuffing herself to the railing to prove her point and ended up disproving it somehow. Her client stood up and started cussing her out angrily, and the prosecuting attorney jumped all over it.
Shock and horror were written all over the jurors' faces as they realized she’d just proven that her client had incapacitated the officer and stolen his vehicle, making her client a liar. He claimed that the handcuffs broke away – and that wasn’t the case because she couldn’t free herself like her client claimed had happened.
No, Elana was handcuffed to the railing beside the jurors as chaos broke out in the courtroom – and then came the second round of horror.
“Miss Cole, I assume those are police-issued handcuffs?”
“No, your honor.”
“Are they plastic?”
“No. They are metal.”
