Chapter 23

They both heard the click of the lock before the door slid open. As if of one mind, they froze, locked eyes, and turned to book it out of the yard.

“Stop right there!” Randy ordered, using his most commanding voice. It was a tone both children took to mean ‘run like the wind’. Fortunately, their option was to either run past Randy or out into the surrounding wilderness. Both kids wisely took the choice of attempting to barrel past him, and as they did—arms, legs, and elbows flying—Randy took the lawyer’s approach instead of the physical one. Breathlessly, the entire sentence coming out as one long word, he shouted, “You can either explain to me what you’re doing back here or explain it to your father. Your choice.”

They both stopped dead. They turned.

“That’s what I thought.”