Page 62 of Tequila Tuesdays

“It means you were threatened or under pressure to answer a certain way.”

She nodded. “I haven’t seen Bertie in a month. I thought if I stayed away from the apartment, and my stepdad told Jason I’d run away and hadn’t been home, she’d be safe.”

“If I can tell the prosecutor that Jason threatened you and Bertie, he’ll probably drop most of the charges against you—except the meth charge.”

Shanda slumped a little. “Okay.”

“Is that what he did?” I asked.

“Yeah.” She sighed long and low. “He said neither of us would make it to our next birthday if I told anyone about the drugs and the wreck.”

I ground my molars, thinking about that asshole smirking at me in court.

“Where have you been staying?” I asked.

She looked over at Damien.

He nodded. “Tell her.”

She sighed again. “At the Sunny Palms assisted living center.”

Well. That hadn’t been what I was expecting. “You live there?”

“Yeah, and I work there too. They like having me there at night and they pay me a little more. It’s a shitty room and doesn’t have a window, but it’s way better than home.”

That was probably true, especially with her stepdad living at the apartment and drug users coming and going.

Relief swept through me. “It sounds like a good setup.”

She shrugged. “They can tell the families they have ‘onsite staff’ there. I get meals too.”

“Has it been working out so far?”

She dropped her eyes and looked down at the table. “Yeah, and the families don’t know that the ‘onsite staff’ is an eighteen-year-old homeless meth head.”

Shanda didn’t look like she’d been using meth. In fact, she looked good. “That’s total horseshit, and we both know it. I’ve represented ‘meth heads.’ You’re not one—yet. You still have all your teeth and brain cells. Although you won’t if you keep using it.”

She jerked her shoulder. “I haven’t been using. I only did it with Jason.”

She seemed relieved that I didn’t believe she was a meth head. I dreaded telling her Jason might still be in the courtroom.

“Shanda, here’s what’s going to happen. I’m going to negotiate with the prosecutor and request what’s called a plea in abeyance for the meth charge and see if he’ll dismiss the rest.”

“What does that mean? Speak English.”

I nodded and explained it to her.

“Does the prosecutor usually agree to the plea thing?” she asked.

“No, but I think he’ll do it with you.”

She nodded. “Are you going to ask him today?”

“Yes, but he’ll want to make sure you’re not using.” I leaned forward. “Jason and his attorney were in the courtroom when I got your text.”

Shanda straightened up, and fear flooded her face. “Oh, fuck. I donotwant to see him.”

I nodded. “The prosecutor agreed to call his case when I came out to find you. I think he’s gone by now, but we’ll make sure before you go into the courtroom.”

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