Free Streamline by Jennifer Lane Page A

don’t really know him anymore. He’s been gone for four years.”
    Leo then thought about the rage-aholic in his life who was intimately connected to his addiction, but he was not about to discuss his father.
    Fortunately, the tidbit about Jason seemed to satisfy Mr. Shale.
    After the group, Leo sat outside the treatment center with his gym bag and an assignment to attend a Narcotics Anonymous meeting before the next group therapy session on Thursday. As Leo waited, he realized again how much time and effort treatment was going to require. He wished he could turn back time and never start taking those stupid pills.
    “There you are.” Mr. Shale emerged from the building behind Leo.
    Leo instinctively stood, and Mr. Shale waved him to sit back down.
    “I forgot to give you these.” He handed Leo some slips of paper, sliding in next to him on the bench. “They’re attendance forms to be signed by an NA member. Bring a signed form on Thursday.”
    “Yes, sir.” He scanned the parking lot for Jason’s rental car. “I’m waiting for my ride.”
    “You had a good first group session, Leo. What’d you think?”
    “Um, I don’t know, sir. They all seem worse off than me, and they’re kind of old. I don’t know if I can relate.” Mr. Shale smiled. “That’s a fairly typical response to your first group, but you’ll find you have more in common with them than you think.”
    Over Mr. Shale’s shoulder, Leo watched a vehicle turn into the parking lot. Sheer terror pulsed through his body.
    “What is it, Leo?” Mr. Shale asked.
    Leo stiffened as tires screeched to a halt on the pavement in front of the bench. His father turned off the ignition and practically leaped from the car with a caged ferocity.
    Leo jumped to his feet, his gym bag falling to the sidewalk.
    Now standing just inches in front of Leo, his father whipped the sunglasses off his face and seethed, “What the hell’s going on here?” Mr. Shale stood as well.
    “I — I’m here for drug treatment, sir.”
    “No kidding!” Hostility dripped from his father’s voice. “I’m following orders in California, and I get a phone call from my insurance company informing me that my son’s in detox. I tell them they must be out of their minds — my son’s not in detox! Turns out Tri-Care knows my son better than I do!”
    Leo absorbed the shouted words as if they were physical blows.
    Jason! Where’s Jason? He’d promised CS wouldn’t find out.
    “Mr. Scott.” Mr. Shale held out his hand.
    CS eyed him and ignored his hand. “It’s Commander Scott.”
    “Commander Scott, I’m Marcus Shale, a therapist here. I assure you Leo’s getting the best treatment for his addiction. We’re address-ing all his needs — ”
    “His needs?” his father interrupted. “What do you know about my son’s needs? He needs a kick in the butt, not this faggoty touchy-feely therapy you got going on here. I’ll make sure he never takes another pill the rest of his life.”
    “Commander, your son needs drug testing and group counseling to recover.”
    “Leo, get in the car. Now,” CS ordered.
    “Yes, sir.” Leo reached down to grab his bag.
    “Leo, don’t move,” Mr. Shale countered.
    Leo looked back and forth between his father and therapist, paralyzed.
    Mr. Shale moved closer. “Leo, look at me. Does your father hit you? It’s okay. You can tell me.”
    CS crossed his arms in front of him and looked smug.
    Leo silently pleaded with the therapist, willing him to help. His frightened eyes begged Mr. Shale to realize his next words were untrue.
    “My dad’s never hit me, sir.”
    His father pulled open the passenger door, and Leo swallowed and ducked into the car. His father slammed the door after him and stepped to Mr. Shale. “Stay away from my son,” he said in a voice tinged with fury. “He won’t be back.”

16. The Deal
    The only sound in the study was the ticking of the clock on his father’s desk.
    Leo had never noticed how loud it