Page 49 of Under the Lights
“I’ll note your objection on the file,” Chase said, making Sam laugh. “Let’s go meet the kids at the bridge and get this over with.”
They were mixing it up a bit, since Hunter and a few of the other boys were picking up some work hours for a landscaper nearby. Chase would be hanging out with a kid named PJ, who jumped into the shotgun seat the second the truck came to a complete stop.
“Hey, Mr. Sanders, I’m PJ.”
“Call me Chase. Good to meet you.”
“You, too. Jeez, your truck’s a mess. My parents moved here after you left, so you didn’t go to school with my dad or date my mom or anything.”
Chase’s head whirled. “Good to know.”
“Wouldn’t it be funny if you’d dated my mom, though? I could have been your kid. That would be a funny story, if you came back after all this time and found out I was your kid, wouldn’t it?”
“Jesus, kid. You can’t be saying stuff like that in a town like this.” He wondered if this was some kind of prank. “What position do you play, PJ?”
“Cornerback, though I’m not super good at it. But, really, I’m Coach’s secret weapon.”
It was probably his job to talk so damn much that the other team couldn’t hear their own play calls. Chase pulled away from the curb, wondering how they were supposed to concentrate on addresses and decorations, but PJ took the list and scanned it quickly.
“Take a right up there. Have you guys done a lot of practicing since you got back?”
“Not really. We haven’t had a lot of time.” Chase made the right turn.
“Bummer. So are you using your old playbook from high school? It would make sense, since it won you the championship.”
“We’re using some old plays, but we have a few new tricks up our sleeves, too.” That was a lie, but he had a feeling this kid had more tricks up his sleeve than they did.
“When we were young, like in middle school, we used to pretend we were you guys. It was pretty awesome but we could never remember all the calls, and the actual binder Coach used is locked in the trophy room. What were some of them?”
“I’m onto you, kid.” He glanced over at PJ, who just grinned.
“I told you, I’m Coach’s secret weapon. I’ll never be an all-star cornerback, but I’m good enough for the position. I only play football so I can go into coaching. Defensive coordinator’s what I’m going to be. I can read people and plays like nobody’s business.”
“I think ours will give you a little trouble,” Chase said. If they actually had any. Pretty hard to read plays that didn’t exist. He suspected there would be a lot of scrambling on Sam’s part due to trying to find a receiver who’d run in the right direction.
“Take a left and then slow down,” PJ instructed after glancing down at the list. “Does your friend Alex have a GPS with him?”
“No. Why?” That didn’t sound promising.
“He’s got Ronnie with him, and he doesn’t know where anything is. I think he got lost going from his math class to the cafeteria last year.”
“It’s an old school, with a lot of hallways. It always takes a month or so to learn your way around.”
“He was a junior.”
Damn. “If Alex doesn’t show up for the spaghetti dinner, I’ll see if the rental agency can track the car.”
“Good idea.”
They cruised the roads of Stewart Mills, covering their assigned area and ensuring everybody who’d entered the decoration contest had an entry and that every entry had a photo. PJ talked the entire time, about everything from algebra to zephyrs, which Chase had never even heard of.
“Hey, cop ahead,” PJ announced suddenly. “It looks like Officer McDonnell. She’s really nice. You must know her since she’s the coach’s daughter, right?”
Chase beeped the horn and waved as he rolled past her. It looked like she was taking pictures of a dented mailbox. A few seconds later, his cell phone rang and he pulled it out to see her number. Even as hit the button to answer it, PJ pulled an iPod from his pocket and a second later was bobbing his head to music Chase couldn’t hear.
“Officer McDonnell, what a surprise.”
“Was that PJ in the passenger seat?”
