Page 50 of Code Violation

That hurt.

“Forrest! What the fuck? What happened? Are you okay? Of course you’re not okay.”

Blinking muzzily, Forrest recognized Levi Cruz’s voice, but darkness closed in before he could explain.

* * *

Forrest and Nero sat shoulder to shoulder on a damp hillock about fifty feet from what had been Forrest’s pride and joy. Nero had his precious backpack sitting between his knees. Levi paced back and forth in front of them.

Even though Forrest had only passed out for a second, Levi was insisting on calling them an ambulance. Forrest was trying to convince him not to. Nero just seemed to be enjoying the argument, his gaze flicking back and forth between the two of them.

“We don’t need an ambulance. Do we, Nero?”

Nero shook his head. “I’m fine, just banged up.”

Levi glared at Forrest and then Nero. Pulling out his cell phone, he called the fire station and the garage while Forrest and Nero listened to his side of the conversation. And Forrest, at least, thanked fuck he was alive and relatively unhurt.

“They say they’re fine. The truck is trashed, and the engine is still smoking a bit. All right, thanks.” Frowning, Levi slipped the phone back into the pocket of his sweatshirt.

“Cops are busy with something. Fire’s on the way. Fucking cops are always too busy. What the fuck happened?” he demanded.

Forrest knew Levi was pissed off at the world in general, not just CSPD. And nobody, not even the CSPD, blamed him.

“Dude, we’re fine. We don’t need the police.”

Especially not Lani. Was she working today? Forrest hoped not, but he wasn’t stupid enough to assume she’d stay behind her desk like the doctor wanted her to if she heard about this call.

“Don’t fucking Dude me. You could have a concussion. You could be dead,” Levi snarled.

“Not dead,” Forrest muttered. “Right here. Listening to you yell at me. Us.”

Levi glanced at Nero again and dismissed him.

“Oh, I’m just yelling at you. He wasn’t behind the wheel.”

“Why is it always my fault when the shit hits the fan?”

“Your reputation precedes you. Again, what the fuck happened?”

Forrest looked down the now empty road. The RV, oblivious to the near collision, hadn’t even stopped. It was long gone, heading north.

“The brakes gave out at the top of the hill.”

Or before. He wasn’t sure and it didn’t feel like it mattered right now.

“You could’ve been killed,” Levi pointed out.

“Yeah, I’m gonna have a little conversation with Silas about that,” Forrest said.

Levi stopped his pacing long enough to scowl at Forrest again. “Silas is a genius mechanic. Do you really think he made a mistake replacing your brakes?”

“I don’t know what else it could be. They were fine this morning.”

* * *

A flatbed tow truck arrived within a few minutes, just as it was starting to get dark. And, thank fuck, Silas was behind the wheel. The fire engine Forrest could hear in the distance was coming from the far side of town.

“Dammit,” he grumbled. The last thing he wanted to do was confront the town’s mechanic about shoddy work, but it had to be done. Rising to his feet, he watched the massive truck pull to a stop. Nero stood up as well.

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