Page 41 of Chill’s Chance

Once the prisoners are in their cells and their clothes are burning, Puma leads us upstairs and back to the clubhouse. “Get Max watching the feed and monitoring the prisoners. Don’t want them to escape. He can also monitor the front gate when we call Showtime in for her party.” He checks his phone when it dings. “Showtime said Sterling is here. Hunter, can you get Slade and bring Claudia, too? Sterling can talk to both of them at the same time. Might make it easier on Slade.”

I nod. “Do you know when Chill will be back?” I ask him. “I owe her a conversation.”

“She’ll be here soon, but I need to talk to her first. Take care of your son.”

I nod and do as I’m told. I find Slade and Claudia watching a Pixar movie with Mal and Elina.

“But we’re watching a movie.” Slade complains when I tell him that the detective is here to see him.

“We’ll pause it.” Elina offers and hits the button on the remote. “We’ll wait for you to come back. Promise.”

“Thanks!” Slade says to Elina before taking Claudia’s hand to follow me out of the room.

“She’s so sweet.” Claudia says as we sit at a table. “I think Slade has a bit of a crush on her.” She whispers to me when I pull a chair over for the detective. Her comment distracts me.

“Really?” I ask, glancing at my son. Not sure if this is a good thing or a bad thing. It’s innocent right now, but ten years from now, I can imagine Puma threatening a double homicide if my son has a crush on his princess. Shaking away the concern, I focus on now. I have some time before that becomes an issue. I hope.

I’m distracted by the clubhouse door opening and the detective walking in with Puma. Puma leads him over to us and I feel Slade tense up. I focus all my attention on my son, so much so that I’m barely aware of Chill entering and heading down the hallway with Puma, Wildcard, and Spark. I see her blonde hair amongst the sea of black leather before returning my focus to Slade.

Sterling goes over many of the same questions that we covered with him, but he asks a few new ones that I hadn’t thought of.

“Did you ever see either men outside the apartment? Or feel like someone was watching you?” Sterling asks.

“I used to see a cop hanging around outside my school. There never used to be a cop, but then about a week ago, he showed up. He’d hang around and watch us during recess.”

“Did you mention him to anyone?”

“I told a teacher. She went over to talk to him. But he left before she got there. After that I only saw him when mom came to pick me up.”

“Did your mom see him?”

Slade nods. “Yeah, she got upset, worried. We were supposed to go out to dinner that night. Taco Bell. We usually would go inside to eat, but she changed her mind and went through the drive-thru. She kept checking the review mirror and had us locking our doors. That was the first time I saw her scared. It was that night that she told me to run to Claudia if something happened to her.”

“When was this?” Sterling asks.

“Two nights before she died.” Slade says. Both Claudia and I grab one of his hands to bolster him when we hear his voice break. “I should have stayed with her.”

“I’m sorry you lost your mom, Slade. But she was right to tell you to run and find someone you could trust. She wouldn’t have wanted you hurt.” Sterling says. “You being alive and safe is the better option. We can find who hurt your mom and we can put them away.”

Slade nods as he fights back tears. I hug him close and ask Sterling if he’s done. When Sterling nods, I take Slade’s hand. “How about you go sit with Elina and Mal? You can finish the movie.”

“What about Claudia?” He asks.

“I need to talk with the nice detective.” Claudia says. “I’ll come see you later. Ok?”

Slade nods before we head down the hallway. I find Alisa in the room when I get there. She’s handing out small bowls of popcorn when we step in.

“You’re just in time.” She says, giving a bowl to Slade when he takes his seat on the couch next to Elina. “I’ll get them off to bed once the movie finishes.” Alisa tells me.

“They know about the party.” I tell her, chuckling at her scowl.

“I know. I’m sure they’ll want to sneak in to watch, but I have a plan.” She says, pointing at the tent in the corner. “Sleeping bags and a laser show. That should do it.”

CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE: CHILL

When we reach the common room, I immediately notice Hunter’s absence. Claudia and Sterling are still at the table, deep in conversation. I hope that means Sterling has finished questioning Slade. Poor kid is probably tired of answering questions and thinking about this mother’s murder. Although, the pain and horror of losing his mother will stay with him forever.

Grabbing a beer from Smooth, I head over to sit with Dice and Hawk. Hawk has a map of the area in front of him.

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