Revealing Annie - Freya Barker Page 0,72
away from my hand.
“Yeah, whatever.”
But his smile is big when he gets out of the truck.
“I have a delivery for Mel Morgan?”
The girl sitting at the desk in the front office looks up from her computer, taking me in head to toe and back up.
“You look familiar.”
I smile at her. “Yeah, I get that a lot.”
She hits a button on her phone.
“Mel, I’ve got…what’s your name?”
“I’m dropping something off for Kyle Matsumoto.”
“I’ll be right out”
Two seconds later I hear a door open and soft footfalls coming down the hall.
Kyle’s lawyer is unexpected; from the long silver gray hair falling in waves around a classically beautiful face, to the black tank over cropped cargo pants. A gorgeous, colorful tattoo peeks out the neck of her shirt and seems to extend down her rounded left arm. Her feet are bare.
She looks completely out of place in the sleek industrial design office.
“Who are you?”
Her abrupt question startles me.
“Annie Flowers, I’m a friend of Kyle Matsumoto.”
From the corner of my eye I see the girl lean her elbows on her desk, unapologetically nosy.
“You share his bed?”
I glance over at the girl again, before turning back to the lawyer who still hasn’t introduced herself.
“I don’t see how that’s—” I start but she cuts me off.
“Right. That tells me enough. Linds, hold my calls,” she orders the girl before she points a finger at me. “You, come with me.”
She turns on her heel and pads back down the hall and I have no choice but follow along, clutching Kyle papers in my hand.
“Well, don’t just stand there,” she grumbles when I stop just inside her office.
I take it to be an invitation to sit, so I sink down in one of the two stylish leather chairs facing her desk. This woman can’t be hurting, judging from the high-quality design of her office, and yet she doesn’t dress the part. Interesting.
“So, Annie Flowers, who are you and what are you to my client? And before you get your knickers in a knot, I’m trying to get custody for my client and won’t have that railroaded by a relationship I was not made aware of.”
She’s right, I was about to tell her where to get off but I get why she needs to know. Although, I’m guessing she’s not known for her tact, but I should tell her. I should tell her everything.
For the next hour I do exactly that, and by the time I leave her office I almost like the woman.
Unfortunately I never make it to the bakery. It’ll have to wait for another day.
Sumo
“Hey, buddy. What’s your name?”
The kid blinks his eyes a few times.
“J-Jake.”
“Hi, Jake, we’ll take good care of you. Just a few questions, okay? How many fingers am I holding up?”
He blinks again, his gaze darting everywhere looking panicked.
“Jake? How many fingers?” I wiggle them in his face.
“Three.”
“Good. Do you know what day it is?”
The kid has a good gash somewhere on the back of his head; he’s lost quite a bit of blood. He doesn’t answer and looks like he’s going into shock. I want to get a collar on him before I move him to look at his head, but I need Blue for that.
I look up to see her jogging over with the bag and backboard.
We got a call about a skateboarding accident in a park near the high school. It has a designated concrete skate area, which is surrounded by a chain-link fence, so we couldn’t get the rig any closer. We’ll have to carry him out, but I’m guessing he’s no more than eighty or eighty-five pounds. Maybe twelve years old.
“Hey, Jake?” I help Blue slide the brace around his neck.
“Yeah?” He looks at me like he’s never seen me before.
“How old are you?”
“I’m…I’m…” he mumbles, and then stops talking as we carefully roll him on his side, Blue holding his head stable while I check the back of his head.
I’m not saying Billy Bapcock isn’t a good medic, but there’s nothing like the silent communication Blue and I have developed over years of working together. It’s effortless.
The back of Jake’s skull has a large depression that really worries me, and I quickly cover the area with thick padding before wrapping a quick bandage around his head. We roll him onto the backboard and strap him down. His eyes are still open but he doesn’t make a sound.
“IV?”
I shake my head. “Let’s get him loaded first. I wanna get out of here quick.”
She nods and bends down