In the House On Lakeside Drive by Corie L. Calcutt Page A

own papers.”
    “Not financially, he can’t,” Cooper shot back. “Still needs a signature there, he does.”
    “His lawyer is his guardian in that respect,” Evan explained. “But legally, yes, Remy is his own guardian.”
    “Where is Remy now?” the other officer, a woman, asked. Sam hadn’t heard her before.
    “Inside,” Josh said, his voice unusually timid. “Miss…Miss Rachel took him inside a-after Sam started sticking up for him.”
    “He was trying to scare Remy,” Sam defended. “Gave him something else to focus on.”
    “Little shit was beating me with that metal stick of his!” Cooper yelled. “I wanna press charges!”
    “ You were terrorizing him! And you don’t have any right to be here anyway!”
    Evan pulled Sam aside. “Sam, did you hit him?”
    Sam fell silent. “Only once, when he came after me. I told him to leave Remy alone. He charged me.”
    “I was provoked!”
    “All right!” Officer Baker shouted, the group instantly falling silent. “Cooper, you’ve got no grounds to file a complaint, though feel free to try. You are coming with us, though, on charges of violating a restraining order. And as for you, son,” he said, his voice directed straight at Sam, “while I appreciate you trying to help your friend, I’d think twice about resorting to violence. That’s what we’re here for, okay?”
    “Yes, sir.” Sam’s ire rose a little for the admonishment, but deep down he knew the older man was right.
    “Okay. Cooper, get in the car and shut the hell up.” The sounds of squabbling, feet trudging, and metal bracelets clicking into place rang out as the driveway slowly cleared out.
    “Josh, go inside, okay?” Evan said.
    “You coming?”
    “I’ve got to unload the truck. Sam’s gonna help me, right, Sam?” There was a tone in Evan’s voice that told the younger man not to push it.
    “Right.” The porch boards creaked and the front door squealed as Josh went inside. Sam followed the sound of Evan’s footsteps toward where the work truck was usually parked, and he waited for the man to open the tailgate.
    “Sam, what possessed you to go after Cooper Lavelle? That wasn’t the smartest move there.” Cardboard crinkled against the textured flatbed of the truck, and the tailgate wobbled as Evan jumped out of the vehicle.
    “I’m tired of him picking on Remy. He’s an asshole.”
    “He is an asshole,” Evan agreed. “But he’s a mean asshole, and dangerous. You’re lucky you weren’t hurt, or worse.” The slender man sighed. “Sam, I know you can move around really well for someone who can’t see—hell, even I forget you’re blind sometimes—but against someone like Cooper, he’ll use your handicap to his advantage. Every time.” He placed a hand on Sam’s shoulder, stilling the teenager. “Do you understand?”
    Sam let out a sigh. “Yes. I just didn’t want him coming after Remy again.”
    A chuckle escaped thin lips. “I daresay the idiot will think twice about coming after you , that’s for sure.” Evan picked up one end of the flat screen, tapping the box to indicate that Sam should get the other. “Think you can help me get this up the stairs in one piece, or should I call Josh?”
    “I can get it to the porch. You might need Josh to make sure I don’t drop it.”
    Evan laughed. “Josh!”
    * * *
    “Three days,” Cooper whined as he left the cells of the Otter Lake police substation. “Left me to rot there three days, Travis.”
    “Wasn’t easy comin’ up with five hundred to bail you out, now was it?” his companion shot back, his grizzled face matching his current mood. “Don’t I even get a ‘thanks, asshole’ for springin’ your ass?”
    “Thanks, asshole.” Cooper was in no mood. The thought of his current station grated on him, and the fact that he was now in debt to one of the most underhanded drunks in a hundred miles didn’t help. Travis Mason was as ambitious as Cooper was, but at least he got a disability