Hopelessly Broken (3 page)

“We can’t tell that yet.
Let me go find something to catch him. A basket or something.”

But before she had taken a single step toward the door, t
he dog wriggled through a hole in the lattice and went straight to Logan. Logan gathered the animal into his arms. “Got him.” He jumped to his feet, heading for the house.

“Wait a minute. Where are you going with that animal?”

“Inside. He’s shivering,” Logan said.

“We can’t take him inside.”

“Why not? Look at him.”

Jenn looked.

Big mistake.

The dog’s
bulging eyes were so big, so sad.

He was shivering.

His big pointy ears were quivering.

He looked pathetic.

Jenn sighed. She’d always been a sucker for pathetic.

“Please? Let me take him inside.”
Logan gave her his best pleading look. Now he was looking pathetic too. “I’ll keep him in my room. You won’t even know he’s there.”

“Let me see how late it is.” Jenn went inside, following on the heels of her brother.
While she checked the clock in the kitchen, he hurried to his room, the wet dog cradled in his arms.

It was after nine. Not so late. Jenn knocked on
Logan’s door before entering.

Logan
was sitting on his bed, the dog, now wrapped in a towel, was still in his arms.

“
Logan, do you know where Aeron lives?”

“No.
” Logan cuddled the dog to his chest, a fingertip stroked the top of its bony little head. “But you know what?”

“What?”
she asked.

“I just remembered he was handing out fliers.”

“Where?”

“On
Bernard Street. I think he was putting them on people’s front doors.”

“He didn’t give you one?”

“No.”

Jenn thought about going out and seeing if she could find one. She nixed that idea when she watched her brother curl up in bed, the dog tucked against his chest.

He was smiling. Logan was smiling.

Since Mom and Dad had died, she hadn’t seen him smile like that. His eyes were twinkling. Like a little kid’s should.

She sighed. How could she take this small bit of joy from him? As much as she hated that little dog, she couldn’t do it. “I’ll see if I can find one...tomorrow.”

Logan
’s twinkly smile brightened even more. “So he can sleep with me tonight?”

“Just for tonight. Tomorrow
we have to give him back to Aeron.”

“Okay.” Looking
sweet, Logan sighed. “Thanks, Jenny.”

Jenn patted
Logan’s leg. “Goodnight, kiddo.”

The next morning Jenn was up extra early. She took a shower. She blow dried and straightened her hair. And she even put on makeup. Then she put on some real clothes, instead of sweatpants and a hoodie. With Logan at her side, carrying his new best friend, she squinted against the bright sun as they headed east, toward Logan’s school.

“If we can’t find
Aeron, you’ll take care of Cojack until I get home from school, right?” Logan asked.

Oh, the joy.
“Yes, Logan.”

“You’ll take him outside? And not let him get away?”
he asked.

I can’t wait.
“Yes, Logan.”

“And you’ll get him some food, too?”

Where the hell is Aeron or one of those fliers?
“Of course, Logan.”

“And he can sleep in my room
,” he said, nuzzling the beast.

“I’m sure he’ll like that,
Logan.”

“Oh, darn.”
Logan said.

He had just seen
Aeron.

Jenn
had too.

But
Jenn wasn’t thinking
oh darn
. She was thinking
oh, wow
. And she was thinking
don’t make an idiot of yourself
...even though she had a very bad feeling she might do that anyway.

Frowning,
Logan trudged up to Aeron. “We found Cojack,” he grumbled. “Here you go.” He dumped the dog into Aeron’s hands.

“Thank you, buddy.”
Aeron’s smile made Jenn’s heart do a flip-flop in her chest. Aeron ruffled Logan’s hair. “I’m so relieved you found him.”

While they in
teracted, Jenn tried to act normal. But it was hard. Impossible. Aeron was too good looking to be real. Just like the heroes in her books. She felt awkward and uncomfortable, even though she’d spent all morning making herself presentable.

Logan
gave Cojack a pat on the head. “He was hiding under our deck. In our backyard. We found him last night and he slept with me.” Logan gave the little dog a final stroke. “He’s a good dog. You’re lucky.”

“Yes, I am. I’m lucky to have him back. Thank you again.” Aeron tucked the dog into the crook of his arm and smiled at
Jenn. She smiled back. “Can I pay you a reward?”

She shook her head. “No
. We don’t need--”

“I don’t mind
,” Aeron interrupted. “I mean, I advertised on the flier that I would pay.”

“That’s okay. We don’t need the money.” That was a lie.
Jenn could think of a million reasons why a little extra cash would come in handy. But it was way too embarrassing, taking money from Aeron.

“Okay.” Aeron flopped an arm over
Logan’s shoulder. “How about if I take Logan out for some lunch tomorrow? It’s Saturday. Maybe we can go play some laser tag too.”

“Laser tag?”
Logan shot Jenn one of his pleading sad-eye looks. He knew the answer before she said a word. Logan sighed. “No, thanks.”

“No?” Aeron turned his questioning glance Jenn’s way. “Are you sure?”

Jenn nodded. “I’m sure. Nothing personal, you know.”

“
Sure. Okay.” Aeron let his arm slide off Logan’s shoulder.

Jenn
motioned to Logan. “Ready to head to school?”

“Yeah. I’m coming.”

Jenn started walking, expecting Logan to follow. When she didn’t hear his footsteps trailing behind her, she turned.

He was huddled with Aeron.

She waved him over. “Come on, Logan.”

Logan
straightened up. “Bye, Aeron.” Back, more or less, to his bouncy self, Logan shuffled up to Jenn and together they walked to school.

On the way
he only asked her three times why she wouldn’t buy him a dog. However later, after school, he asked her at least another hundred times. By dinnertime Jenn was ready to scream if she heard the word dog in any context, even on TV. And after three days of badgering, she threatened to punish Logan if he so much as whispered the word. Being the manipulative little monster that he was, he resorted to drawing pictures of himself with a dog and plastering them all over the house for the next few days.

On Friday,
exactly one week after they’d returned Cojack, while she was scrubbing the toilet (a job that every girl lived for), someone knocked on the door. It was just after noon. She wasn’t expecting any packages. Logan was in school. There was no reason for Aeron to come by. She hadn’t seen or heard from him since they’d returned his dog.

Peeking out the bedroom window, she caught sight of
a car parked outside the house.

A dark sedan.

Oh crap. Not the dark sedan.

Another knock
echoed through the house.

She stiffened.

For months she’d been anticipating a visit from Mrs. Tate. She was still technically underage, caring for Logan since shortly after their parents’ death. An aunt they’d never met before had arrived the day after their parents’ death, stayed in the house with them for roughly two weeks, and then disappeared.

She was pretty sure that wasn’t okay.

She’d done her best to hide their situation from Logan’s school and their case worker. She was petrified he would be taken away and put in a foster home and she’d never see him again. She was hoping she could make it to her eighteenth birthday before someone found out and reported her. She only had a couple more weeks until she would be legal.

Had her worst fears come true?

A third knock set her heart rate to the stratosphere.

She quietly made her way to the front door and peered through the peephole. A woman stood on the front porch.
It was the woman who’d come to their house that awful day, when they’d learned about their parents.

Mrs. Tate.

What should she do?

If she answered the door
she could lie, say her aunt was at work, and hope the woman didn’t know the truth.

If she didn’t answer, she had to hope the woman would go away, become bogged down with her other cases
, and forget about them for another couple of weeks.

What to do?

The woman knocked again. Clearly, she wasn’t giving up.

Jenn opened the door.
She made sure she had a friendly smile in place. “Hi.”

“Hello, I’m
Mrs. Tate with the Department of Human Services,” the woman said, peering over Jenn’s shoulder. “Do you remember me?”

“Sure,” Jenn said.

“You’re not in school.”

“I…I stayed home sick,” another lie. But she’d already told so many
over the last year, what would one more hurt?

“
Is there an adult at home?” Mrs. Tate asked, her expression turning cold.

“No, not right now.”

Mrs. Tate pulled a card out of her bag and handed it to Jenn. “Can you tell me when someone will be home? I need to speak with an adult immediately.”

“Um, I’m not sure.” Jenn fingered the card. How would she get out o
f this situation? She needed an adult, someone who would be willing to lie to DHS. She had no idea where she’d find anyone to do that. Who could she trust? This wasn’t going to be just a little white lie, it would be a big, honking huge one.

What about Aeron?

Mrs. Tate’s eyes narrowed but her smile remained in place. “Could you please give her...?”

“Him,” Jenn said,
making a snap decision. “My aunt’s oldest son has been staying with us. He’s nineteen.”

“
O-okay.” Mrs. Tate didn’t look pleased. “Could you please give him my card and ask him to call me as soon as possible?”

“Sure.” Jenn stepped back, prepared to shut the door.

“Thank you.” Mrs. Tate shifted her bag on her shoulder, turned and cautiously walked down the slick steps.

Jenn instantly vowed to buy some salt and get those stairs cleared at once.

She shut the door then slumped against it.

She’d dodged a bullet. But she was far from being out of danger. Despite Mrs. Tate’s syrupy smile and soft voice,
Jenn knew that woman was nobody to mess with.

She had to find an adult willing to pose as
either her runaway aunt or her aunt’s fictional son. And the sooner, the better. Or Logan could be taken away. That would devastate both of them. But especially Logan.

Where
would she find someone to help her? Who would be willing?

She thought about
some of the guys she’d known from school. Only one was old enough, and there was no way she could ask him.

That left only one
person.

Aeron?

She hadn’t seen him in days, and she had no idea how to find him. Would he be willing to lie to the authorities? Was she crazy for even thinking about this?

Crazy? Maybe. But
she was desperate. Desperate enough to at least try.

At three-thirty, she dressed and set off for
Logan’s school to pick him up. She didn’t run into Aeron on the way there. That was disappointing.

When
Logan spied her waiting outside his classroom at the end of the day, he came bouncing up to her, his eyes all happy and sparkly. “Jenny, what’re you doing here?”

“I thought I’d walk with you today. Is that okay?”

“Sure.” They headed down the sidewalk, following the pack of children trudging ahead of them.

Jenn waited until they were within a block of home before asking, “
Logan, have you spoken with Aeron recently?”

“Um...” He slid her a guilty look.

“Do you know where he lives?”

Logan
shook his head. “Noooo.” His gaze dropped to the ground.

He was lying.
Her brother was lying. To her.

Of course he was lying. He’d watched her lie over and over.
What a great example I am.
Feeling almost physically ill, she stopped walking, grabbed Logan’s arm and bent to look him straight in the eye. “Logan. It makes me so sad that you’re lying to me.”

“I’m not
lying!”

“Tell me where he lives.”

“No.”

“This is important,
Logan. I need to talk to him.”

“You’re going to tell him I can’t walk Cojack anymore.”

She released his arm and tried not to sound so angry. “I swear, this has nothing to do with Cojack. I need to talk to him about something else.”

Logan
stared down at the ground. He kicked a stone and chewed on his lower lip. “Do you promise you’re not going to yell at him?”

“I promise.”

“Okay.” Logan motioned back toward the school. “His house is this way.” He led her back the way they’d come, stopping in front of a white vinyl-sided bungalow that looked very similar to theirs. “This is it.”

“Come on.”
Jenn led him up the front steps then knocked on the door.

A minute or so later, Aeron was opening the door for them
and ushering them inside. “Hey there, Logan. Are you here to walk Cojack again?”

Again
?

Again.
Before today, Jenn hadn’t been aware of Logan coming to walk Cojack at all. She slid her brother a questioning look.

Logan
’s face paled. “My sister needs to talk to you.” Logan searched the tiny living room. “Where’s Cojack?”

“I
n the backyard,” Aeron said.

“Can I go play with him?”
Logan asked Jenn.

“Sure,” Jenn said. “Just don’t leave the yard, okay?”

“Yeah, okay.” Logan dashed through the house like he lived there. Within seconds a distant thump signaled his exit out a back door somewhere.

Aeron
motioned to the overstuffed couch that was way too big for the miniscule room. “What’s up?”

Jenn
motioned to her wet boots.

He shrugged.
“You saw Logan. These old floors aren’t going to get any uglier.”

She sat
, crossed her arms over her chest, and bit her tongue. She wanted to say something about Logan’s visits, but she didn’t. She needed this guy’s help. It wasn’t going to be easy convincing him to help her as it was. If she angered or insulted him, it would be that much harder. “I’m here to ask a favor. A big one.”

“Yeah? What is it?”

Jenn fiddled with her coat as she glanced nervously around the room. “I wish I didn’t have to ask this. It’s a big deal. But I don’t know what else to do...”

“What?” Aeron sat on the couch’s arm, too close. “You know I like your little brother. He’s a good kid. Reminds me of someone I knew once.”