Read Online Death of a Garage Sale Newbie by Sharon Dunn - Free Book Online Page B
Authors: Sharon Dunn
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behind her daughter as they made their ways up the justice center steps.
The sun shone down from a marble blue, clear sky. The temperature hung around seventy. Midsummer in Montana would be the most pleasant time of the year if she didn’t have to spend it keeping her son out of trouble.
“The only men who want to mentor my son want to date me, Mother. I just think that complicates things.”
“If only Larry—”
Tammy stopped abruptly halfway up the stairs. “Larry? I hardly think that’s a realistic solution.”
Ironically, her first exposure to the law hadn’t been at the police academy. She had married Larry Welstad when she was seventeen and pregnant. Among other things, he had several narcotics and auto theft convictions. After three frightening years of marriage, Trevor’s father had gotten into a car he borrowed from a friend and driven off the face of the earth.
The abandonment had been a blessing in disguise. Tammy completed her GED, started attending church again with her mother, and entered the police academy within a year of her husband leaving. She was pretty sure the outstanding warrants would keep dear Larry out of Montana, hopefully forever. The last thing she needed was Larry around to influence her fifteen-year-old son.
Mom touched her forehead. “I’m fishing at the bottom of the pool, sweetheart; I’m sorry. I’m starting to feel a level of desperation. If only Daniel were still alive.”
At the mention of her father, Tammy sighed and headed up the remainder of the stairs. She wasn’t sure what God was doing leaving two women to raise a boy alone, but she had to trust His wisdom.
“We can’t live on ‘if onlys,’ Mother. We’ve got to deal with what we have to work with.” Which was close to nothing. If her parenting resources had been a poker hand, she would have folded a long time ago. But that wasn’t what motherhood was about. You played the game to the end even if it looked like you were going to lose. Trevor had said plenty of mean things to her, but the one thing she did not ever want him to say was, “You gave up on me, Mom. You bailed. You wrote me off.”
Tammy opened the doors and turned left down the long hallway. The administrative-interview wing, where the officers spent most of their time, was at the opposite end of booking and holding.
“Tamela Jane, slow down. I can’t keep up with you.”
Her legs had been moving at the speed of her thoughts. Maybe lawlessness was genetic. Maybe Trevor was doomed to live his father’s life. Don’t go there, Tams. Don’t go there. She slowed her pace. “Sorry, Mom.”
Her mom had a short, turned-under hairstyle that she dyed chestnut brown. Like Tammy, she was tall and big boned. She dressed mostly in matching outfits she ordered off the shopping channel. Today she wore head-to-toe lavender peachskin.
“I’m not a young woman.” Hannah lifted her chin and stroked her neck.
Tammy nudged her and winked. “You could pass for forty.” At least she had Mom, and that was a true blessing.
“Ha. Forty? Maybe in a dark room filled with blind people.”
“Come on, Mom. This way.” They opened the door that led to the jail. The processing room was a counter with a bay of video screens behind it. Tammy recognized Ryan Vicher, an officer who had moved up from Wyoming. He was the one who had told Bradley Deaver to push the work on the Parker woman through and the one Captain Stenengarter had sent up to question the archery range members. Tammy clenched her teeth. Why was her mind always returning to that case? It was over and done with. She needed to let it go.
Vicher nodded. “He’s down the hall.” He held up the police report. “This can disappear if you want.”
“Trevor doesn’t get breaks because he’s a cop’s kid.”
Her mother stood beside her. “We agreed he had to suffer the consequences of his actions.”
“He’ll have to appear before a judge, probably pay restitution.” Vicher placed the
The sun shone down from a marble blue, clear sky. The temperature hung around seventy. Midsummer in Montana would be the most pleasant time of the year if she didn’t have to spend it keeping her son out of trouble.
“The only men who want to mentor my son want to date me, Mother. I just think that complicates things.”
“If only Larry—”
Tammy stopped abruptly halfway up the stairs. “Larry? I hardly think that’s a realistic solution.”
Ironically, her first exposure to the law hadn’t been at the police academy. She had married Larry Welstad when she was seventeen and pregnant. Among other things, he had several narcotics and auto theft convictions. After three frightening years of marriage, Trevor’s father had gotten into a car he borrowed from a friend and driven off the face of the earth.
The abandonment had been a blessing in disguise. Tammy completed her GED, started attending church again with her mother, and entered the police academy within a year of her husband leaving. She was pretty sure the outstanding warrants would keep dear Larry out of Montana, hopefully forever. The last thing she needed was Larry around to influence her fifteen-year-old son.
Mom touched her forehead. “I’m fishing at the bottom of the pool, sweetheart; I’m sorry. I’m starting to feel a level of desperation. If only Daniel were still alive.”
At the mention of her father, Tammy sighed and headed up the remainder of the stairs. She wasn’t sure what God was doing leaving two women to raise a boy alone, but she had to trust His wisdom.
“We can’t live on ‘if onlys,’ Mother. We’ve got to deal with what we have to work with.” Which was close to nothing. If her parenting resources had been a poker hand, she would have folded a long time ago. But that wasn’t what motherhood was about. You played the game to the end even if it looked like you were going to lose. Trevor had said plenty of mean things to her, but the one thing she did not ever want him to say was, “You gave up on me, Mom. You bailed. You wrote me off.”
Tammy opened the doors and turned left down the long hallway. The administrative-interview wing, where the officers spent most of their time, was at the opposite end of booking and holding.
“Tamela Jane, slow down. I can’t keep up with you.”
Her legs had been moving at the speed of her thoughts. Maybe lawlessness was genetic. Maybe Trevor was doomed to live his father’s life. Don’t go there, Tams. Don’t go there. She slowed her pace. “Sorry, Mom.”
Her mom had a short, turned-under hairstyle that she dyed chestnut brown. Like Tammy, she was tall and big boned. She dressed mostly in matching outfits she ordered off the shopping channel. Today she wore head-to-toe lavender peachskin.
“I’m not a young woman.” Hannah lifted her chin and stroked her neck.
Tammy nudged her and winked. “You could pass for forty.” At least she had Mom, and that was a true blessing.
“Ha. Forty? Maybe in a dark room filled with blind people.”
“Come on, Mom. This way.” They opened the door that led to the jail. The processing room was a counter with a bay of video screens behind it. Tammy recognized Ryan Vicher, an officer who had moved up from Wyoming. He was the one who had told Bradley Deaver to push the work on the Parker woman through and the one Captain Stenengarter had sent up to question the archery range members. Tammy clenched her teeth. Why was her mind always returning to that case? It was over and done with. She needed to let it go.
Vicher nodded. “He’s down the hall.” He held up the police report. “This can disappear if you want.”
“Trevor doesn’t get breaks because he’s a cop’s kid.”
Her mother stood beside her. “We agreed he had to suffer the consequences of his actions.”
“He’ll have to appear before a judge, probably pay restitution.” Vicher placed the
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