Page 116 of Tequila Tuesdays

“Yeah, he is. I just hope he goes to jail and gets raped and shanked there.”

I grimaced, but after hearing what he’d done to the cat, I kind of hoped the same thing. “Just be careful, will you? If you see him, call the police.”

“Yes, Mother. I have Damien’s and Officer Schroeder’s numbers too.”

“Okay. Good. I’m going to call Schroeder and report it. We need a record of it. And don’t call me Mother anymore. It’s creepy.”

She chuckled. “You’recreepy. I gotta get back to work. I’ll see you next week.”

After we hung up, I stared out the window. Jason was escalating his behavior, and I had a bad feeling I couldn’t shake.

After calling Officer Schroder and letting her know about the cat, I called Martin instead of Damien. He didn’t pick up, so I left him a message and let him know what was going on.

I also asked him to shadow Shanda to try and catch Jason breaking the no-contact order. I didn’t tell him I hadn’t told Damien. Because I didn’t want Jason anywhere near Damien.

Juvenile Drug Court seemed more like a soap opera than drug court that week. None of my clients had relapsed, thank God, but there had been a few serious family fights.

Judge Perez had predicted they might get triggered by their families and the stress of the holidays, and he wasn’t wrong.

Roland got into a fistfight with his cousin when he told his aunt he didn’t want to be kissed on the lips anymore. He’d also told everyone it grossed him out, which probably didn’t help.

Darla also informed her mother she was sick of being cooped up at the house all day when she wasn’t at school, and if she wanted to go out and get a job, she would. Darla still had a raging marijuana addiction, so I could understand her mother’s worries.

I walked out of the courthouse with Wendy, the DCFS worker, after the review hearing.

She started in about Damien right away. “I heard you’ve been seeing the dimpled hottie I met a few months ago.”

“Huh.”

“Uh-huh. Spill,” she persisted.

“I’m not sure who you’re talking about.”

She smirked at me. “You know exactly who I’m talking about. The one who calls you Legs.”

“Ah, that hottie. Things are good.” I grinned and thought about New Year’s Eve. “Really good.”

She stared at me. “Wow. You admitted you’re seeing someone. And you just smiled. I didn’t even know you knew how. It’s weird, stop it.”

I rolled my eyes. “Quit insulting me.”

Wendy smirked. “I’m not insulting you; I’m just describing you.”

My phone vibrated in my pocket again. I remembered it had gone off a few times right before court got out.

I looked down at my screen. “Wendy, I need to return some phone calls. I’ll catch up with you later.” I stopped in the hallway.

“Okay. But I want details. And no more weird grins.”

It looked like Shanda had called me twice, and Martin once. My stomach tightened, and I started walking toward the exit again.

I called Shanda back first. She picked up, and I could hear her breathing hard. “Harley, he’s here, pounding on the door. I don’t know what to do!”

“Shanda, who’s at your door?”

“Jason! That fucker, Jason. And it’s not my door. I walked Bertie over to the park by my mom’s place. And he’s pounding on the bathroom door.” I could hear loud pounding and muffled yelling through Shanda’s phone.

“Shanda, did you call the police?” I asked. I felt panicked now too.

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