Ride Steady (Chaos #3)(29)

I didn’t know what was going on so I started with the easiest part first.

“Mr. Allen?” I asked.

“Yes. Mr. Allen. Kane Allen. Operating manager of Ride Auto Stores and Custom Design. We’re on retainer with them, and my specialty is family law. So I’ll be taking care of you.”

I didn’t speak because I couldn’t.

She didn’t need me to. She wasn’t finished.

“Once I see what’s going on, I’ll ask Leanne to contact you and we’ll set a meeting so we can meet face to face and talk about what we’re going to do going forward. Are you all right with that?”

No. I wasn’t. Mostly because I had no idea what was happening.

“I, well, I have to admit, Ms. Howard—” I began.

“Angie.”

“Right, Angie,” I said quickly. “I have to admit, I don’t know what’s going on.”

“Mr. Allen didn’t speak to you?’

He didn’t. I wasn’t even sure I knew who he was.

“Not really,” I replied.

“Okay, then, Chaos is utilizing their retainer agreement with us to look into what Mr. Neiland has been doing to you. I’ll say from the little I’ve heard that it sounds suspicious. To be honest, though I think this is something that won’t surprise you, Neiland and Belkirk have been around so long, they started the good ole boys network in Denver and they enjoy their status as founding members. Which, I’ll share, I find annoying. Thus, I’m going to enjoy digging into this one.”

“I—”

“So, to end, it’s all in good hands. Just tell Leanne where we can get your files and I’ll start.”

“Well—”

She spoke over me. “Nice meeting you, even on the phone. Have a good day.”

I heard nothing until I heard the first voice come back and say, “Hello again, Ms. Teodoro. I’m ready to take down the information about your old firm.”

“I think I need to speak with Mr. Allen first,” I shared.

“Right. Okay. You do that. In the meantime, give me your last attorney’s details. Angie is raring to go on this and she’s had me clear her afternoon to do it.”

Clear her afternoon?

This afternoon?

“Okay, then perhaps I should speak with Ms. How… I mean, Angie again for a moment,” I tried.

“She’s already on another call.”

I drew in a deep breath.

“Ms. Teodoro, sorry to rush you,” Leanne said when I took my time doing that. “But Angie wants these files by this afternoon so I have to get cracking. Your old attorney’s name?”

I let out that breath, telling her my old attorney’s name.

“Good man,” she muttered. “Not as good as Angie. Okay!” she cried brightly. “We’re on it. Have a lovely day, Ms. Teodoro.”

She didn’t wait for me to share that sentiment. She disconnected.

I stared at my phone, wondering how they even got my number.

Then I thought Tyra. Or Lanie. Maybe Elvira. We’d shared numbers last night. Maybe that was it.

I felt something biting into my palm so I lifted it and looked to it.

My car keys.

New tranny.

I looked to the door.

Kane Allen. Operating manager of Ride Auto Stores and Custom Design. We’re on retainer with them, and my specialty is family law. So I’ll be taking care of you.

Kane Allen, Operating Manager of Ride Auto Stores and Custom Design.

And Joker was a member of the Club that ran said business.

Something unpleasant slid through me. And after yesterday, baking the pie for Joker, having him set it aside like it meant nothing, the call from Tory, my son being sick, my mortification in front of five people I didn’t know (and Joker) caused by me shrieking like a lunatic, breaking down in front of three women I also did not know, all that Aaron was doing to me, I didn’t cry (again). I didn’t feel mortified (again).

I got mad.

There was nothing I could do about that mad. Not right then. I had to get to work.

And I was hoping Travis would feel well enough that Tory could bring him in to see me.

After that, I’d do something about that mad.

Definitely.

* * *

Four hours later, Tory did bring Travis. I was at my register and I saw them come in.

My heart leaped. My boy looked pale but he also looked right to me, stretched his arms my way, and screeched (hoarsely).

He wanted his momma.

My heart warmed as my throat tickled.

My manager, Sharon, who was lovely and who also knew about Travis being sick (and some about Aaron being a jerk), let me finish with my customer and take my lunch.

My grocery store was LeLane’s. It was a gourmet food market. It had all the things normal stores had, like mustard and sour cream, but they were much more expensive. It also had a bunch of other stuff normal stores didn’t have, like live lobsters, a cheese case that would make any Frenchman sigh with delight (I guessed, I’d never met a Frenchman), and the like. They had six of them in the Denver area, one in Boulder, one in Fort Collins, two in Colorado Springs, and two in Pueblo.

It was family owned. They took care of their customers and employees, and they did the latter by giving great benefits, being nice about when you took your hours (for instance, they did their best to let me work days when I had Travis so I didn’t have to pay extra for after-hours daycare), and they paid relatively well.