Page 47 of Shattered

“My company has one on retainer,” Keaton offered. “He may not be an expert in family law, but I’m positive he’d have a few recommendations.”

Keaton was the owner of a big-time security firm, left to him by his scumbag father. Though he’d turned the everyday operations over for someone else to run, he still held the controlling interest.

Jade’s face fell. “Shit, I can’t afford a lawyer.”

“Wecan.” Nodding to my friend, I gave the go ahead. “Make the call, K.”

“Wait.” Betsy pushed her way through our small group. “My nephew is a lawyer. He’s got an office about an hour north of here. Let me call him. I’ll make sure he gives you the family discount.”

“What’s the family discount?” Henley asked.

“No charge, otherwise, I stop sending him cases of my famous apple pie moonshine.”

“Betsy,” Mitzy admonished, then winked in my direction. “There are two hot feds in the room. I’m not sure bringing up your not-so-legal distilling operation is such a good idea.”

Ignoring the two women, who continued to banter back and forth, I took a hold of Jade’s hand and gave it a squeeze. She was still a little shaky and pale, except for the tip of her nose, which was red from crying, yet she’d never shined brighter.

Fear was a big motherfucking motivator. Where herpride may have prevented her from accepting help in the past, the stunt her parents pulled had awakened a whole new level of protectiveness. An inferno was building deep behind her tired dark eyes. A fire fueled with anger and fanned by the flames of her love for Jett. Essentially, they were fucked and I couldn’t wait to watch her burn their sorry asses to the ground.

“Show me the papers, Angel. Let’s get a feel for what we’re up against.”

Seven days.

Seven short days to prepare for the fight of our lives.

“How the hell did they find out about Jett’s little indiscretion? We kept that shit tight.”

Keaton had a point. Due to his age and the deal he made with the prosecutor, Jett’s name and the nature of his crime were never released to the media. Yet, somehow, the details were laid out in front of me on the petition to have Jade removed as guardian. The papers stated her alleged neglect could have led to irrevocable harm to “the minor” in question.

“Maybe they have some kind of connection with Chase or his dad,” Henley suggested.

Chase McArthur was the little bastard who hired Jett to hack into the university records, claiming he’d submitted the wrong paper for a class. He was currently awaiting trial for a litany of charges, including an assault on Jade and Henley. Fortunately for us, his congressman daddy had pretty much disowned him in order to save his political career.

The bell above the door chimed as Jett strolled intoOver Easy. The four of us had been so immersed in our discussion, we’d lost track of time and the fact he would be stopping by the diner after school. Jade scrambled to shove the documents back in the envelope as he made his way toward the back, where we’d gathered around a large table, but I stilled her hand.

“You can’t protect him from this, Angel. He has as much of a stake, if not more, than any of us in the outcome.”

She blew out a breath and closed her eyes. “Dammit. Why do you always have to be right?”

“Oh, there have been plenty of times where he’s been wrong. Remind me to tell you about them later.” Keaton flashed me a toothy grin.

Dick.

“What’s going on? Why are you all here? Did something happen?”

“Take a breath, kid.” I pushed a chair with my foot. “Park your ass and we’ll explain everything.”

It didn’t take long until his initial worry shifted into something darker, something much harder to combat.

“This is my fault.”

Guilt.

“No, Jett,” Jade started.

“How can you say that? If it wasn’t for my greed, they wouldn’t have anything against you.”

“Bullshit,” she hissed, then her head swung to her best friend beside her, while rubbing the back of her arm. “Did you seriously just pinch me again?”

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