Page 3 of Echoes in the Storm
“You spotting me the money?” Paying for it isn’t the problem; getting reimbursed if I do, is.
Cody mumbles something unintelligible before answering, “I’ll see what I can do. I cleaned my savings out paying for it, bro.”
“Course you did.” Never the kind to have a backup plan, my brother. “Tell you what,” I say on a sigh. “I’ll figure out how far away I am from civilisation and see if there’s a local garage that can park it up until morning.”
“And then what?” he asks.
“And then,” I say, dragging out the last word, “we try to get someone to fix the fucking thing.”
He hesitates, probably wondering how in the hell he’s going to pay for that, or more likely, whether I will. The unexpected chirp of a siren close-by has me shooting up in the seat like a jack-in-the-box to check what’s going on.What the fuck?
“You can pay me back at a hundred bucks a week. Deal?” I cut the conversation short, eyeballing the cop who’s pulled up behind me using my side mirror.
Cody breathes a sigh of relief. “Thanks, bro.”
“Thank me when I get the piece-of-shit home. Say hi to Mum for me.” I hang up and toss the phone into the passenger’s foot well as Officer Holier Than Thou saunters up beside the car.
“Afternoon,” I greet, slinging an arm over the back of the bench seat in an effort to pull off the confident and relaxed look.
“Any reason you’re parked out here?” He avoids looking at me, choosing instead to run his eyes over the vehicle.
Great.Gym Bro is probably tallying up the bonus he’ll get at the end of the month ticketing a run-down car like this. “Had a spot of mechanical trouble, but I’ll be off the verge as soon as I find someone to tow it.”
“Good luck with that at this time of day.” He takes a step back and crosses his arms. It’s the human male’s equivalent to puffing out his peacock feathers.Fuckhead.He probably wants to intimidate me, but all he manages to do is piss me off.
I’m not bothering anyone, not causing trouble. I pulled far enough off the road that I wouldn’t be a hazard to other drivers. Why the hell has he decided to pick on me?
“If you could step outside the vehicle for a moment, I’ll leave you to get on your way soon enough.”
Can I fucking what?“Mind if I ask why?”
His jaw ticks. “Yes, I do mind. Step out please, sir.”
Wait until I get my hands on that fucking brother of mine. If I so much as get a warning about anything on this car, so help me God—
“What’s wrong with it?” the cop asks as I stand on the grass with my arms folded as well.Two can play at that game, buddy.
“Broken driveshaft.”
“Hmm.” He squats down to shine his torch under the wheel arches, tapping fuck only knows what under there as though a simple knock will confirm its road-worthiness.
“Like I said, I’m trying to jack up a tow. I’ll be off the road as soon as I can.” In other words, fuck off and leave me in peace.
“I heard you fine the first time.” He straightens up, eyeballing me again before he opens the door to check the inside of the car.
“Find anything?” I step forward to try and peer over his shoulder.
He moves backward to get his head out the door, and I leap to the side to avoid any chance of the guy’s rear end bumping me.Not getting that cosy.
“This what I think it is?” He holds a hash pipe carefully between two fingers.
Fuck my life.You have got to be kidding me.
“Mate, I just picked up the car. It’s brand-new, second-hand.”
“So you don’t know if I’ll find anything else in here?”
Sincerely hope not.“Nope. No idea.”