Page 90 of Fierce-Jax

“Grandpa is going to laugh,” Gianna said. “You told him he couldn’t make my car faster.”

“Gianna,” she said. “Shhhh.”

“You have a car?” Officer Clemons asked, looking at her daughter and cracking a grin.

“My grandpa’s name is Dylan Patrick. He owns lots of cars. And he bought me my own I get to drive around when I visit him at work.”

The officer laughed. “Dillion Patrick?” he asked, looking at her license. “Not the same spelling.”

“No,” she said. “But it’s my father. I’m a doctor. I don’t work for him. Do you need to see some other verification?”

“Do you have any medical ID on you?”

She pulled her office badge out of her purse and handed it over.

He gave her both her license and registration back. “I wasn’t sure you were a doctor,” the officer said. “You’d be surprised how many people lie about those things.”

“I am,” she said.

She wanted to argue that it could have been a life or death emergency, but since she had her giggling daughter in the back he wouldn’t have believed that either.

“Slow down,” Officer Clemons said. “I’ll let you go with a warning this time.”

“Thank you,” she said. “I appreciate it.”

Dillion put her license and registration back, then put her blinker on to pull back out slowly and made sure she stayed under the speed limit.

She got Gianna to school, dropped her off quickly, kissed her, and asked her not to tell anyone in school what happenedthat morning. She wasn’t sure her daughter would do it, but she didn’t have the time to plead either.

“You’re late,” Marcy said when she was running into the office, her bag flapping behind her.

“Not a good morning,” she said. “As if I didn’t oversleep, Gianna was being a little stinker this morning and then I got pulled over.”

“Oh no,” Marcy said. “Did you get a ticket?”

“That was the least of my worries after my chatty daughter told the officer I yanked her hair and hurt her this morning.”

Marcy’s jaw dropped. “Nooooo.”

“Oh yeah. I’m not sure the last time I was sweating like this. I think my shirt is sticking to my back. Thankfully she explained and the officer laughed.”

“That’s good,” Marcy said.

“I got off with a warning to slow down. Not sure if it’s because Gianna also informed the officer that she was going to tell her grandfather because I’d said her toy car can’t go any faster and yet I was driving fast.”

“Oh boy,” Marcy said. “You’ve got your hands full with her.”

“The officer thought it was funny. Then Gianna had to share that her grandfather had a lot of cars. By then he was reading the name on my license. I think he thought I was a spoiled rich girl. He admitted he didn’t believe I was a doctor and asked for my badge.”

“Jerk,” Marcy said.

“I don’t know. He was doing his job. It shouldn’t matter what my career is.”

Even if she had hoped by saying she was a doctor she’d get let go. It happened to other doctors.

It happened this morning with her too, but she didn’t think it had much to do with that proof as much as her daughter’s antics.

“It shouldn’t,” Marcy said.

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