Page 48 of Something Tattered
Showing a lot more bravado than I felt, I said, "If it's not, take me to court."
Derek looked heavenward. "I can't take you to court. You're represented byourfirm."
"Great," I said. "Then you can waste lots of money, suing meanddefending me at the same time." I crossed my arms. "I hope you've got lots of time on your hands."
"That's not the way it works," Derek said, "and you damn well know it."
Actually, I knew shockingly little about how everything worked. Ididknow that Derek's dad was supposedly my lawyer. And he was also the lawyer for my parents' estate.
But I knew all sorts of other things, too – that the property taxes had gone sky-high, and that most of the money set aside for maintenance and repairs had been diverted to pay those taxes, and that, worst of all, I couldn’t do a darn thing about any of it until I turned twenty-five.
That's when I'd fully inherit – not just the house, but any remaining funds, along with full control and responsibility.
That was still four years away. Sometimes, it felt like forever.
Cassie said, "Hey Derek." When he turned to look, she pointed toward the front entrance. "Your swat team's here."
We all looked. Sure enough, I spotted Officer Nelson hustling in through the main entrance. He was short and squat, with a big white moustache that covered nearly a third of his good-natured face.
I liked him. He was a regular at Cassie's Cookies and had a real thing for chocolate. I stood on my tiptoes and waved him over.
Derek said, "What are you doing?"
I gave Derek my snottiest smile. "Getting this over with."
"You can't do that," he said. "I'm the one who reported it."
Ignoring Derek, I called out, "Officer Nelson! Over here!"
His face broke into a friendly smile, and he started lumbering in our direction.
Derek was looking almost nervous now. "What are you gonna tell him?"
The sudden change made me pause. "Why? Are you worried?"
"No."
I studied his face. "You are. Aren't you?" And that's when I realized something. Derek wasn't nearly as sure of his position as he claimed. The way it looked, I'd thrown him off by calling his bluff.
Probably, his little script called me to apologize profusely and promise to never, ever take out the Porsche again. After all, that's how things usually went when it came to estate business.
Funny, I'd never really pushed the issue before. So why was I now? Was it because I had Joel and Cassie backing me up? Or because I'd had one shot too many?
Either way, I wasn't giving in. Not tonight.
Chapter 24
Five minutes later, it was mostly over.
Derek, in spite of his attitude earlier, had said surprisingly little during the whole encounter, which ended with me giving Officer Nelson an apologetic smile. "So anyway," I concluded, "sorry for the misunderstanding."
"Aw, that's alright," he said. "Got me off the desk for a few." He looked to Cassie. "See ya Monday?"
She gave him a little wave. "See ya Monday."
As Officer Nelson lumbered toward the exit, Derek said, "What's going on Monday?"
Cassie said, "Chocolate day at the cookie shop." She lifted her chin. "Officer Nelson's a regular."
