More Than a Touch (Snowberry Creek #2) (15 page)

As they walked into the small courtroom, Gage gestured toward a row of seats right behind a low railing that separated the business end of the courtroom from the rest. As they sat down, a door on the far side of the room opened, and a pair of deputies escorted the prisoner over to a nearby table. So that was Austin Locke. Leif sat up taller to get a better look at him. From what Callie had said about him, the guy had just turned twenty-two. Right now, Austin looked a helluva lot younger and a whole lot scared.

Callie gasped softly, clearly having the same reaction to Austin’s appearance. Leif reached over to squeeze her hand to let her know he was there for her. What would it do to Callie if they sent Austin to jail? No matter who it had been, the whole situation would’ve been hard on her, but this was Spence’s cousin, and someone she knew. Yeah, Austin had been dealt a bad hand in life, but he’d also made poor choices, ones that had led him straight to this courtroom.

Several other people had straggled into the room. Most looked around with some degree of curiosity, but there was one who strutted in as if carrying a big chip on his shoulder.

The man paid no attention when Austin lifted a hand in greeting. Instead, he dropped into a seat in the back row and looked around the room, clearly disgusted by the whole situation. The second he spotted Callie, he snarled as he came up off the chair and started toward her. “You greedy bitch! This is your doing!”

Gage recognized the threat at the same time Leif did and moved to intercept the guy. He caught him by the arm and spun him around.

“Sit down now, Vince.” He pushed the older man back down in his chair and wasn’t all that gentle about it. “And just so you know, there’s nothing I’d like better than to throw your worthless ass in the cell right next to your son’s. One more word out of you, that’s exactly what I’ll do.”

To underscore that he meant business, Gage waved one of his deputies over to sit a few seats away from the angry man.

Leif watched the confrontation, holding his cane in a white-knuckled grip. “I assume that’s Austin’s old man.”

Callie looked a bit pale as she nodded. “Yes, that’s him.”

Gage seemed to have the situation under control for now, but Leif wasn’t going to take any chances. Right now, Callie had the aisle seat. “Switch places with me.”

It spoke to how rattled she was that she immediately did as he asked. The woman wasn’t much for taking orders. More than once she and Nick had tangled over her stubborn insistence that she could take care of herself.

Finally the bailiff announced the arrival of the judge. Good. The sooner this circus was over, the better. Once again Leif squeezed Callie’s hand as they settled back to watch how the whole mess played out.

C
hapter 15

T
hree hours later Leif found himself back at the courthouse for the second time in one day. Callie asked so little of him; it was the least he could do for her. Besides, the last thing he wanted was for her to be the one to meet with Gage and Austin Locke, and not just because Nick would kick his ass for letting that happen. There was no telling what that punk would do once he walked out of his holding cell. Besides, the time Leif spent with Austin would let him get a read on the kid.

If Austin was gaming them, he’d be more likely to let his mask slip around Leif than in front of Callie, especially if Leif pushed a few buttons. After reading Austin the riot act this morning, the judge had warned him that one screwup was all it would take to land him right back in that courtroom. And the judge had made it very clear that if that were to happen, Austin would be handed a one-way ticket to hard time in prison.

For now, Austin would be given supervised probation as long as some very specific criteria were met. Gage had asked that either Callie or Leif be present when he explained everything to Austin one more time before releasing him from custody. It would be interesting to see how the meeting played out.

On paper, Austin wasn’t that much younger than Leif himself, but they were worlds apart in experience. The army had given Leif a sense of self-worth and a purpose in life. Austin was still caught in that no-man’s-land between punk kid and adulthood.

So while Leif had Austin to himself, they were going to have a little come-to-Jesus talk to make sure they started off on the right foot. Meanwhile, he stretched his leg out in front of him and tried not to flash back to a few nights ago when he’d been sitting in this very same room with Mitch Calder and wondering if they were going to be overnight guests at the Snowberry Creek jail.

He shifted his weight, trying without success to find a more comfortable position. When the doorknob turned, Leif rose to his feet. Austin walked in with Gage right behind him. The kid acted just as freaked out by everything as he had been earlier in the courtroom. His eyes flitted around the room as if he couldn’t quite believe what was going on.

Gage performed the introductions. “Austin, in case you don’t remember, this is Corporal Leif Brevik. He’s a friend of Callie’s and served in Afghanistan with your cousin Spence.”

When Leif held out his hand, Austin reacted as if it were a snake about to bite him. After a quick glance toward Gage, who nodded, he finally stuck out his own to grip Leif’s. His palms were clammy and cold. Yeah, the kid had a bad case of the screaming heebie-jeebies. No surprise there.

“Leif’s here to talk to you about the job Callie offered you.”

It would’ve been hard to miss the flash of furious resentment in Austin’s eyes. Earlier in court, his employer had stepped forward as a character witness on Austin’s behalf, but he’d also regretfully delivered the message that the company had rules against employing convicted felons. The judge had tried to convince him differently, saying that Austin’s record could be expunged if he made restitution and went a year with no further infractions.

The man had made it clear that the corporate office had left him no wiggle room on the matter. On his way out, at least he’d stopped long enough to apologize to Austin before leaving the courtroom. It had clearly been a hard blow.

Austin shoved his hands in his jeans pockets. “I can find my own fucking job.”

Leif jumped right on that. “Well, maybe you could, but the judge said the only way he was going to let you out of jail was if you already had one. I’m guessing it’s hard to look for work from behind bars. If you’d rather serve time instead of accepting Callie’s offer, fine with me. I’ll let her know.”

As Leif feigned heading for the door, Gage joined in. “Don’t be stupid about this, Austin. A lot of people worked hard to make this chance possible for you. It sucks about losing your job, but at least give your boss credit for showing up today. He didn’t have to do that. He also told me off the record that the second your record is expunged, you’ll be welcomed back.”

None of that seemed to make much of an impression. “Yeah, right. He’ll just find another excuse when the time comes.”

Austin stared right back at both Leif and Gage, which Leif sort of admired. It couldn’t be easy dealing with all of this even if he had brought it on himself. “Gage here thinks you’re smart enough to take advantage of this chance you’re getting to turn things around. Me, I’m not so sure, but I’m willing to be proven wrong.”

Gage backed his play. “So what’s it going to be, Austin? Will you accept the job offer and walk out of here a free man or are we headed back down those steps to arrange your transfer to the state pen?”

Austin’s wide-eyed gaze ping-ponged back and forth between them. He obviously felt cornered, but finally he nodded. “I’ll take the damn job.”

Gage’s big hand came down hard on Austin’s shoulder. “Smart decision. Is your father picking you up or do you need me to have one of my deputies give you a ride home?”

Austin shook his head. “He couldn’t hang around all day, waiting for you to let me out. I’ll walk.”

Leif surprised them all by saying, “It was pouring rain outside when I came in, so why don’t I give him a ride? It will give me a chance to talk to him more about the job.”

Gage didn’t even give Austin a chance to turn down the offer. “That’s a good idea. Now, both of you get on out of here. I’ve got work to do.”

Leif was glad he hadn’t been standing between Austin and the door because he suspected he would’ve been mowed down. Before the kid made it out of the room, Gage had a couple more things to say.

“Leif, I haven’t forgotten about that meeting I mentioned to you. I’d better hear from you soon.”

“I haven’t forgotten either.”

In fact, as much as Leif wanted to deny it, Gage had been right about him not being able to handle everything that was going on all on his own. “I’ve been meaning to call.”

“Meaning to doesn’t cut it with me, soldier.”

Without waiting for Leif to respond, Gage turned his attention back to the kid. “Austin, one more thing. Remember this: You get this one chance. Blow it, and I promise you’ll regret that decision the rest of your life. Got that?”

The kid jerked his head in a quick nod. “Yeah, I got it.”

•   •   •

The short trip to Austin’s apartment was spent in total silence. Leif turned on the radio in the hope that music would dispel the heavy cloud of tension between them. No such luck. His companion stared at the lit dial in horror.

Leif had to laugh. “So I take it you don’t much like country music.”

When Austin didn’t respond, Leif tried again. “Well, it can be an acquired taste.”

The kid sneered. “I don’t see that happening anytime soon.”

Okay, at least he was talking. Progress was being made. “Fine. Since you’re obviously a music critic, I’m open to suggestions. You pick the station.”

At first he didn’t think Austin would take him up on the offer. When he did switch to another station, his choice surprised Leif. Maybe there was hope for the kid after all. The sound of a guitar riff filled the cab of the truck. Leif listened for several minutes before speaking again.

“I didn’t know they had a dedicated blues station around here.” Leif tapped the steering wheel in time to the music. “That’s one of my favorite songs. Do you like acoustic or electric blues guitar better?”

“Both are good. Depends on the performer.” Austin pointed straight ahead. “That’s my apartment building at the end of the block on the left.”

As they turned into the narrow parking lot, Leif was about to ask more about Austin’s taste in blues players, but the kid started cursing at the top of his lungs. He pounded his fists on the dashboard a couple of times.

Leif reached over to stop him from hurting himself or the truck. “Hey, stop that. What’s gotten into you?”

Instead of answering, Austin ripped off his seat belt and bolted out of the truck while it was still moving. Leif slammed on the brakes and clambered out after him, landing hard on his left leg. He ignored the shooting pain as he limped over to catch up with Austin. The kid stood at the side of a big Dumpster, staring down at a bunch of clothing and other crap scattered on the ground.

Austin started kicking the piles. When he began hitting the Dumpster with his fist, Leif caught his arm to prevent him from doing some serious damage to himself.

“Damn it, what’s wrong, Austin?”

The younger man’s eyes were bleak when he finally looked up. “This stuff is mine. The manager must have tossed it all out here.”

Now Leif wanted to punch something. If this mud-soaked pile represented the sum total of everything Austin owned, no wonder he’d turned to theft to make ends meet. But, by God, even if the entire mess wasn’t worth a damn dime, he deserved better than to come home to this.

“Does the manager live on-site?”

Austin nodded. “Yeah, he has an apartment on the first floor. It’s the last one on the far end.”

“Good. Let’s go have a little talk with him.”

Before going two steps, Leif pivoted back to face Austin. “On second thought, I don’t want you involved.”

He looked around and spotted the perfect place to tuck Austin out of sight. Pulling out his wallet, he handed the kid a couple of bills. “This shouldn’t take long. Wait for me over there at that coffee shop. Order whatever you want to drink and get me a tall drip with cream and three sugars. There should be enough there to buy yourself something to eat, too.”

“I don’t need your money.”

Leif wasn’t going to risk blowing Austin’s parole. “Take it. You can buy next time.”

“Okay, but what are you going to talk to Mr. Roche about?”

Leif was supposed to set a good example for Austin, which meant he had to control his temper no matter how much he’d like to kick the apartment manager’s ass right now. “I’m going to find out why he did this. While I’m talking to him, is this everything? Are you missing any furniture or anything?”

“The apartment was furnished, but I had dishes and—”

Stopping in midsentence, Austin muttered another string of curses as he flung back the lid of the Dumpster. His tirade only increased in intensity as he started yanking another bunch of clothing and other stuff out of it.

He tossed it all to the pavement with careless disregard as he continued to hunt for something. After a couple of minutes, he stopped and let the lid drop back down with a heavy clunk.

“They’re not here.”

“What’s not here?”

“My acoustic guitar, my iPod, and my CD collection.” Then he looked around the parking lot, his eyes wide and worried. “My truck’s gone, too. Chief Logan said he had it towed back here after the cops arrested me.”

“Go get coffee. I’ll be along in a few.”

Austin started to protest, but Leif cut him off. “No, let me handle it. You can’t afford to get involved in a shouting match with the guy. If he were to call the police, your one chance to stay out of jail would be shot all to hell and back. I’ll either get your stuff from him or find out where it is.”

He waited to make sure Austin was going to listen to reason before heading toward the front of the building to find the manager’s apartment. Luck was with him. Just as he rounded the corner, the man stepped out of his door. He appeared to be in his late sixties and was as run-down as the building he managed.

“Mr. Roche?”

“Who the hell wants to know?”

“I’m a friend of Austin Locke’s.”

Okay, that was a stretch, but this guy didn’t have to know that. “He asked me to stop by and check on his apartment.”

Roche spit on the ground. “He don’t have one anymore. Emptied it out yesterday.”

Leif took two steps forward, deliberately crowding the guy a bit. The manager wasn’t much shorter than Leif, but he was skinny to the point of being skeletal.

On impulse, Leif took a shot in the dark. “Austin told me he’d paid through the end of the month, plus you’d collected a deposit when he moved in. One way or the other, you owe him a refund.”

Roche resorted to bluster. “Then he’s a damn liar. The law says I can deduct cleaning costs from his deposit and storage fees for his crap.”

Leif was now within arm’s length of the man. “Considering you tossed his clothes and things out in the trash, I can’t imagine there are any storage fees. And where’s the rest of his stuff?”

From the way the man’s eyes were darting around and looking for a means of escape, Leif already knew he wasn’t going to like Roche’s response. He pulled out his cell phone. “Answer me or the next call I make is to the police.”

Roche swallowed hard. “I sold it all to the pawnshop down the street just this morning. Figured the kid wouldn’t be back for any of it, seeing as how the paper said he’s in jail and on his way to prison.”

“Bad news for you. He’s not going anywhere.” Damn, he wanted to hurt this asshole. “His truck also seems to be missing.”

When Roche hesitated again, Leif started punching numbers into his phone. “Okay, okay, I had it towed. Told them it was an abandoned vehicle.”

What were the chances he could stick the bastard with the impoundment fees? Zero to none. Probably the same thing on the money he’d gotten for selling Austin’s stuff.