Page 9 of Trial Run

“I see how it is,” she said. “You wait until I’m not home and then you eat all the good stuff.”

“Hey, Mom. I’m celebrating because I made a hundred on my calculus test.” He waved a glazed donut at her. “This is the last good one. You want it?”

“Look at you, being all generous. It does look good, but I think I’ll pass.” She started to say she didn’t have anything to celebrate, but decided not to burst his bubble. He deserved to bask in the glow of his good grades. She dug in her purse for the gift card she’d been saving for a special occasion and produced it with a flourish. “I was thinking we could spring for Shake Shack tonight.”

“Delivery or in person?”

“Your choice.”

“In person. Every time we get delivery, their fries show up cold and the shakes show up warm.”

She shook her keys. “In person it is. Grab your stuff and let’s go.”

Ben practically ran to the car and spent the entire ride recounting how his math teacher had talked to him about joining mathletes.

She had aMean Girlsflashback. “Isn’t that a high school thing?”

“It is, but since I’m taking AP classes, I can try out for the team and travel with them to meets if I make the cut. Mr. Lawrence said I have a good chance. Tryouts are in two weeks.”

“Travel?” She tried not to instill the question with fret, but she could hear the edge in her voice, and she was certain he could too. “Like how often and where to?”

“Like to other schools who compete. The farthest school is Waco and that’s only once a season. We go on a school bus and Mr. Lawrence travels with us.” He bounced in his seat. “No overnights.”

She took a deep breath while she contemplated how to respond without killing his enthusiasm. “Sounds pretty awesome, kiddo. Let me give it some thought.”

“You have to sign a permission slip before I can try out. It’s online and I sent you the link.”

“I’ll take a look at it.”

“That sounds like a ‘maybe’ and ‘maybe’ usually means no.”

“Not always.”

“Mostly.”

She started to deny it, but after taking a moment to reflect, she realized he was right. She often delayed her answers, not because she wanted to deny him the things he wanted, but becauseshe wasn’t always sure about the best way to keep him safe as if that were the only rubric she could use to make her decision. A few school-sponsored bus trips out of town shouldn’t be an issue and normally it wouldn’t be, but after the threat she’d received, she couldn’t commit to the risk and she couldn’t tell him why. For now, all she could do was delay and pacify him with burgers and shakes. “I promise I’ll check out the link this week. Okay?”

“Yeah, okay.”

She pulled up in front of Shake Shack and filed away his disappointment as another reason this week sucked beyond belief. Her rent was late, her job was in jeopardy, she was missing valuable study time, and she was getting ominous, daily threats that were so vague she wasn’t sure how to comply with the demands. All she did know was that she was stuck on this jury and there was nothing she could do about it, so a double Shack burger and the largest shake on the menu were definitely in order.

Chapter Five

Reggie stood up from the workout bench and flexed her arm. “Thanks for meeting me so early.”

“No worries. I’m an early bird anyway. It’s when I get my best workout in.”

She shook her trainer’s hand and walked to the locker room. The ortho had cautioned her against pushing her recovery, but she was determined to get back to full strength as soon as possible so she could complete her firearm qualification. She likely wouldn’t need a gun for the types of cases she was going to handle, and she’d never really cared for them. The shooting had only reinforced her ambivalence, but now that she’d been on the receiving end of one, she was determined to have the skills to defend herself because if it came down to her and a gunman again, she wasn’t going to be the one who wound up in the hospital.

After a quick shower, she made the drive to the courthouse. The parking garage was already almost full and she had to circle several times before she found some empty spots toward the roof of the building. She pulled in at the same time as an older Subaru wagon and she glanced over to see Brooke behind the wheel—a bright spot in what promised to be a long, boring day of testimony. She took her time getting out of the car, stalling so she could walk with Brooke to the courthouse, but after afew minutes of waiting, she walked over to the driver’s side window and rapped gently on the glass. When Brooke lowered the window, she leaned in. “Everything okay?”

Brooke looked flustered. “My son forgot his calculus textbook. He’s going to freak out.”

“Can you call him?”

“I tried and it went straight to voice mail.”

“I bet he’ll text you when he figures out.”

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