Page 162 of Filthy Liar

“Where’s Reid?” I asked as we started walking towards the front entrance, Ander waving Logan off to let him know he had the kid handled on his own.

“In his office. A family came by today in need of a safe place to stay, so he’s been on the phone with emergency accommodation places all day trying to find them somewhere. Domestic violence situation. The guy has three kids with an ex, but he has one with the current girlfriend. He wanted to leave, she wouldn’t let him take the kids, so he waited until she went to the shop for cigarettes then drove straight here.”

I winced, knowing how those cases usually went. “Won’t the cops return her kid? They always favor the mother.”

“Considering all the kids have bruises, it’s being investigated. The fact that she showed up here two hours ago and smashed his car to pieces in the parking lot, before trying to stab him with a screwdriver, has kind of proven his point that she’s abusive,” he answered dryly, holding the door open for us.

Zavier spotted some of the older teens playing darts and wandered over to join them while we made our way towards Reid’s office.

My baby looked so damn tired when we entered, exhaustion on his face. He’d been working overtime lately, and he’d also started seeing a therapist recently. The death of his mom played on his mind a lot, and he still held so much guilt.

He’d organized a proper burial for her, but all these months later, he still hadn’t felt at peace with the mess we called a childhood, so he’d randomly announced at dinner a month ago that he was starting therapy.

It was going to be a long road, but it was already helping him process his feelings.

“Take five,” I murmured, walking around his desk to give him a kiss.

“I will soon. I’m just waiting for a call from the cops about an incident that happened here.”

“Logan was filling me in. Is the guy okay?” My fingers ran through his hair, and he closed his eyes for a second.

“He will be. Found emergency housing for him and his kids once they’re done with the Ashburn cops. I bet BG will be happy to hand over Heights chaos in March when the new station opens.”

Between Rory and Diesel, they’d managed to bully the council and government into pitching in around here. The council was running programs here at the center, and the government had finally agreed to rebuild the Hawthorne Heights Police Department. It had been months of building and planning, but they were finally set to open in March, meaning Ashburn Valley’s department could take a breather from being stretched so thin.

They’d even pushed for funding to improve the local doctor’s clinic, as well as organize more drug and alcohol counseling here.

“Lukas stopped by today to help some of the kids with their homework,” Reid added, stifling a yawn. “A lot of them really like him. I don’t think Hawthorne Heights High has ever had a principal who gave a shit, so it’s been a lot better with him in charge.”

Lukas was supposed to start at the beginning of the next school year, but he was dragged in last November as an emergency temp when the current principal was found to have drugs on him. A search of his office also uncovered hidden camera footage that incriminated him for sleeping with some of the students.

He’d been arrested and replaced by Lukas within days, and students were already doing better with Lukas in charge.

“I need him to help me with my homework,” I joked, making him frown.

“Are you struggling?”

“No, I just need help with a few things,” I shrugged.

“Let me know if you get stuck.”

The door banged open and Gregory ran in, holding a piece of paper in his hand. “Raven! We had a pop quiz this morning and I aced it!”

“Closed door means you need to knock, dude,” Reid scowled, used to both kids barging in. They spent a lot of their spare time here just hanging out with some of their friends from school, even if the other kids were from Ashburn.

It was actually a pretty cool place to hang out. The academy kids would never, but the public kids from Ashburn Valley’s middle school and high school regularly wandered in after school and mingled with the Heights kids.

“How long have you been here? Isn’t school only just finishing for the day now?” I asked, making a show of checking the time on my phone. “How did you get here so fast?”

His face fell slightly, and he rubbed the back of his neck awkwardly. “We came here at lunchtime.”

“You left school early? Rory let you do that?” I asked with fake surprise, making him wince.

“She doesn’t know.”

“She does, I called her,” Logan grunted, eyeing Frank next as he entered. “I called Jade too. You can’t pull that neglected kid card no more. You both have parents now who actually chose you, so how about you respect them a little more?”

“I’m so grounded,” Frank grumbled, glancing at me. “I did good on my quiz too.”

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