Page 2 of Catastrophe Magnet

He inclines his head. “A year. Take it or leave it. My insurance premium goes up every time there’s an…accident.”

Oh, my God! He even uses air quotes, as if I hurt people for shits and giggles or something.

“Fine,” I grumble. “But I’m not happy about this.”

He smiles as he shrugs his wide shoulders. “So don’t screw it up, princess. I have faith in you. The conditions are just there to cover my ass if things go tits up.” He picks through the stack of folders on his desk, then flicks one open and runs his gaze down the cover sheet before nodding to himself and handing it over to me.

“Thank you,” I murmur, accepting the simple beige file as if it’s made of gold. Hugging it to my chest as I hightail it out of there before he can change his mind, Bosco excitedly bounces around my ankles as I go.

I head straight for the break room out back and drop onto the couch, staring down at the file withmycase in it. I’m so freaking excited that I crumple it a little.Oops.

Laying it on my lap, I smooth it out as best as I can then take a few calming breaths before flipping it open. I scan over the information on the cover sheet my sister Belle writes up for each skipper that comes through the system.

Neil Berkley, my new target, is a recent college dropout who got done for setting the dean’s car on fire before vandalizing his home. No priors, no history of violence, and no record of drug or alcohol abuse. I tap my chin as I take it all in.What the hell set him off?

Picking up his mug shot, I can’t help but notice he’s kinda cute. Shaggy dark hair, nice brown eyes, full kissable lips…Shit.I drop the photo back into the file and slap it closed.My eyes dart around the room, making sure I’m alone.Perving on the perp is so not cool!

My oldest sister Megara walks in, heads straight for the fridge, grabs a bottled water, and then turns to face me before kicking the door closed. “What you got there?”

Pride suffuses me, and I hold the file up to show her, just about squealing as I say, “Dad gave me a case!”

Her green eyes widen as she grins. “Oh, did he now?”

“Yep. He thinks I’m ready to get back out there.”

“And whose idea was it exactly? Yours or his?”

I smirk. “It was a joint decision.”

“Sureit was. So, what have you got?” Meg’s lips tick up into a smile, and she takes a seat beside me, then throws her arm around my shoulders.

Out of all of us girls, she looks the most like our momma. Tall, slender, long dark brown hair, and piercing green eyes. I lean into her side, soaking up her presence. I was only two when our mom passed away in a horrific car accident, and sadly I don’t have any memories her.

With Meg being the eldest, she’s always treated me more like her daughter than her sister despite being only eight years older than me. I don’t mind it too much; it’s nice to have a motherly role model, seeing as dad never really moved on.

Meg gives me a little squeeze. “Sooo…” she prompts.

I shake my head and grin at her. “Right, so my guy has zero history of violence or drug use until he dropped out of SSU, which is when he torched the dean’s car and messed up his house. He had a perfect record and good grades, too. There has to be a reason he snapped, don’t you think?”

She nods and reaches for the file. “May I?”

I hand it over, and she reads over everything I already have. Meg is our lead negotiator. If we receive a case with markers indicating they’d respond well and allow us to apprehend them in with no force, Meg takes them. She’s never come up against someone she can’t talk into a set of cuffs. That’s not to say she couldn’t kick major ass if things went sideways, because she’s just never had to. Meg has a way about her that makes you fall under her spell and do whatever she says. She’s a weapon, and she knows it.

“Hmm, my money’s on the dean bangin’ his mom,” she eventually says.

I cringe. “His mom? I was thinking maybe his girlfriend.”

“Nah, girlfriends come and go. I’ve got fifty on the mom.”

“You’re on,” I tell her, extending my hand to make it official.

“What are we betting on? I want in,” Belle declares as she plops onto the arm of the couch, one long leg crossed over the other.

She’s wearing a fire-engine red tunic and a pair of black, patent leather Louis Vuitton peep-toe pumps that match her skintight black pants. And of course, her fingernails and toenails are painted matte black with diamantes. We may live in a small town, but Belle would be better suited to New York or some other big fashionable city.

Flipping her long blonde ponytail over her shoulder with more pizazz than Shiloh Springs knows what to do with, she tilts her head and gives Meg and me an expectant look. “Well…?”

“Meg thinks my skipper found out the dean was boning his mom and that’s why he dropped out of SSU then lit up the dude’s car and got fancy with the spray paint on his house. I think his girlfriend was getting it on with the dean, not the mom. Bets start at fifty a piece,” I tell her.

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