Page 47 of Refuge for Cherilyn

“Like blackout. See?” She pointed at it. “The wheels are blacked out. Brake assemblies blacked out. No chrome anywhere except the emblems. None. Oh, and the inside is all black, and I had colored LEDs put in, and when it’s running, the inside colors change, and the windows are tinted so it’s really dark in there, and?”

“Candace?” She stopped. “Who paid for that?”

“I did!”

“You did. So now you have a job?”

She seemed to be thinking of what to say next, and Shaw absolutely could not wait to hear what she came up with. It would no doubt be quite the tale. “Um, no. I, um, I paid for it the same way I’ve always paid for stuff.”

“And how is that?”

“Um, with Austin’s credit card.”

Oh, yeah. I see where this is going, he told himself. “And how much did all of this cost?”

“Um, about forty.”

“Forty dollars?”

She rolled her eyes and sighed. “No. Forty thousand.”

“Forty thousand dollars! You paid forty thousand dollars for that? Black plastic wrap stuck on a car? With Austin’s credit card?”

“Yeah, I know it was a little much, but he lets me buy bags and clothes and stuff, and I really wanted to do it, and there’s this cool guy named Jake with all these tattoos and piercings, and I really like him, and he does this stuff, so I thought that if I maybe…” She stopped, and Shaw was glad. He was pretty sure he knew what she’d been about to say and he sure didn’t want to hearthat. “Um, but he charged me full price.”

Shaw stood there, dumbfounded. He didn’t dare ask, but he was pretty sure she’d given some guy a blowjob to try to get a cheaper price on something she charged on her stepdad’s charge card. To the tune of forty thousand dollars. For some black film he stuck on her car. And yet again he heard that small voice in his head whisper,Choose your words carefully, Harrison. “So am I to assume that they kicked you out because of this?”

“Uh, well, they strongly suggested that I not come home, so, um, kinda, I guess.”

“And if you wanted to come home, what were the conditions?”

“That I get a job and pay for it. Which I can’t because, gah, Dad, it’s forty thousand dollars! I won’t be able to make that much money until I’m eighteen!”

“I’ve got news for you. With the maturity trajectory you’ve got going on now, you’ll be lucky to make forty thousand dollars when you’re forty. Did you even try apologizing to them?”

“Why? I’ve always had whatever I wanted! I don’t see why this is any different!”

“Oh, it’s a lot different. A lot. It’s?” A sound interrupted him and he turned to see what it was.

Coming up the driveway was a large red wrecker. As he watched, he heard Candace say, “Oh, no…”

His head whipped back around and he stared at her. “They didn’t tell you that you could take this car, did they?”

“It’s my car!”

“And exactly whose name is on the title?” She mumbled something. “What did you say? I can’t hear the lie you’re telling that you think I’ll believe.”

“Okay! So it’s Austin’s car! I mean, it’s not the one he drives. It’s one of his collector cars, and he never drives those, so?”

“Oh holy hell.” The wrecker driver got out and before he could speak, Shaw glared at Candace. “Give him your keys.”

“No! That’s my car! Well, it is now! I had the work done on it! It belongs to?”

“Austin. It belongs to Austin. Give him the damn keys, Candace. Right now.” He watched as his daughter opened her bag, pulled them out, and threw them on the porch floor. “Pick those up and hand them nicely to the gentleman.”

“He’s not a gentleman. He drives atow truck,” Candace spat, and the wrecker driver glared at Shaw.

“Hey, I didn’t raise this hellcat, so don’t look at me. Candace?” Both he and the wrecker driver folded their arms across their chests.

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