Page 74 of Like You Know
“Lalalala!” Jet covered his ears and yelled over her. I smacked him, and he got back to slurping his noodles.
“I do have one more idea but ...” Donna chewed her lip. “It might be more trouble than it’s worth.”
“Then it’s probably not worth it,” Jet supplied unhelpfully.
I sighed. “Shady,” the girls and I all said at the same time, and I nodded at Donna. “Do it.”
At this point, I’d make a deal with the devil himself to get my mom back. Shady couldn’t be any worse.
CHAPTERTWENTY-SIX
Donna typed out a message,and we all tried not to watch her phone as we ate. By the time we finished, he’d replied, and another half hour later we were pulling into the parking area of Oak Hill Park to meet him.
“This is so dumb. I can’t believe I’m letting you do this,” Jet grumbled, gripping the wheel tightly.
I huffed. “You’re notlettingme do shit. I was going to do this with or without you.”
“I know,” he gritted out. “That’s why I’m letting you do it.”
He’d insisted on coming but tried to talk me out of it the whole way there. We’d been bickering the entire drive, but I was secretly glad to have him by my side. Every time we interacted with Shady, we walked away with one of us owing him something. Being in debt to a criminal like him was stressful as fuck.
It took us a while to find a spot in the almost-full parking lot. It was a beautiful summer day, if a little hot, and people were out enjoying it. Several groups had picnics set up in the shade of the tall trees, and a couple walked up the hiking path and disappeared around a bend.
The five of us wandered over to the main path. I did my best not to run and look as frantic as I felt. Harlow still had to grip my arm hard a few times to stop me from rushing ahead.
Where the hell was that deviant?
All I could see were families and groups of friends having a fun day. No tracksuits as far as the eye could see.
“Donna.” I sighed.
She gave me a small smile. “I already texted him.”
Jet mumbled some more about what a bad idea this was.
A few minutes later, Shady emerged from the same path that the hiking couple had gone down. He was in shorts and sneakers but still wore a loose-fitting, lightweight tracksuit on top. Even with it zipped only halfway, the sky-blue garment looked out of place in the heat of the afternoon. No more than the two chihuahuas he was walking, though.
He sauntered up to us, two diamanté-encrusted leads clutched in his fist as the little dogs pranced obediently by his side.
We all gaped at the tiny dogs. Shady’s unimpressed glower didn’t waver.
He also didn’t stop. Just walked right past us toward the parking lot.
“Shady! What the hell?” Donna called after him, and he stopped, looking over his shoulder.
“Hey, girl.” He gave Donna a sleazy smile. “You looking fine, but I gotta get these two rats home. They need their nap.”
One of the “rats” yipped, and they both wagged their little tails as they stared up at him.
“You said you’d talk to us.” Harlow huffed.
“I said I’d talk toher.” Shady pointed at Donna. “Now, I expected her to bring you three. But you should all know better than to bring a cop along for a ride with me.”
For a moment, no one spoke, and the corner of Shady’s mouth quirked up into a satisfied smirk.
“Jet? He’s not a cop. He’s just my boyfriend.” I laughed, hoping I wasn’t laying it on too thick.
“Yeah, he goes to our school,” Mena added.