Free Second Chances by Lincoln Cole Page B

guardian,” Richard replied.  “And no one
knows where her Mom is.”
    “If her mother is gone, can’t she become the guardian?”
    “Yes, and no,” Richard said. “It would be a court battle,
but if her Mom can’t be located, she just has to file paperwork and hope the
court approves.  It’ll take months though, which means by the time they get the
paperwork done the school year will be almost over.”
    “Did you call Jim?”
    “Your cousin? No, why would I call him?”
    “He works at the local precinct.  He could ask around and
see if they know anything about Nichole’s Mom.”
    “Deborah…”
    “There’s no harm in asking, right?”
    “There’s no sense in it either.”
    “Unless Jim can find out what happened. Then it would be
worth it.”
    Richard sighed.  “I suppose. Meghan doesn’t think I should
get involved.”
    “Why not?”
    “She said it isn’t my place.”
    “What do you think?”
    Richard thought about it.  “I don’t know.  She said it was
like when I got the bracelet supplier for you, and you got pissed at me.”
    Deborah shook her head.  “No. I wasn’t pissed at you because
you wanted to help. I was pissed because you didn’t tell me you were going to
call them.  One of the things I’ve always loved about you was that you were
always willing to help me out.  You’ve always been there for me.”
    “But there isn’t anything I can do for Nichole.”
    “Because you fired her? What does that have to do with
anything? You can still help.”
    “I don’t think…” he trailed off.
    What he wanted to say was that Nichole had lied to him, and
it felt the same as if his own child had lied to him. He wanted to say how he
had looked at her like a daughter and that she betrayed his trust.
    Part of him—a petty part he didn’t like thinking
about—didn’t want to help her out of spite.
    “Jason should be here soon,” he said instead.
    “He called a few minutes ago,” Deborah replied. “While you
were thinking. Wanted to make sure plans hadn't changed.”
    Richard scowled. “He doesn't trust me?  I told him I
would visit his damn clinic, so I’ll go,” he said.  Then he sighed. 
“But I probably should have driven separately instead of letting him pick me
up. Who knows how long this thing will take?”
    “He said to expect you home around nine-thirty.”
    Richard yawned.  “That’s what he  says , but
it’s not like he really cares what time it ends. He doesn't have to get up at
six in the morning for work.”
    “No, he doesn't,” his wife agreed.  
    Richard shrugged away the chill in the air—and with it the worries
about Nichole. He didn't really have time for them.
    “What a crappy night,” he said, glancing up at the
sky.  “It’s probably going to rain, too.”
    “It looks beautiful to me,” she said. “You can even see a
few stars. Rare with the city lights.”
    She pointed up to add emphasize, and indeed a plethora of
little dots could be seen. Normally stars would be drowned out by street lamps,
but the city had cut electricity costs by only switching on half of them in the
evenings.
    To be honest, it made Richard feel a little cheap. The
city’s finances were so bad they couldn’t even afford to keep the streets well
lit.
    He gestured at a cloud bank in the distance.
    “Those are rain clouds,” he explained, “coming this way.”
 
    She looked like she was about to argue, and then said
instead: “Should I grab you an umbrella?”
    Richard was about to respond when he heard a car sputtering
down the road. He heard it, in fact, well before he would expect to hear any
vehicle entering this neighborhood. It was thudding and rumbling, spitting out
plumes of smoke as it came.
    He watched the fading-yellow behemoth approach, his
annoyance growing as he realized its destination: it pulled to a stop right in
front of his house.
    “You've got to be kidding me,” he mumbled.
     

Chapter 12
Richard
     
    Richard’s younger brother,