After all, now I could tell customers I had worked on a Mercedes.
Marcus stood behind me with his fists clenched.
I signaled for him to stay calm.
Then Laura stepped closer.
“And Craig, if you cause trouble about this, you won’t see the boys for a while.”
I looked at her.
Then at Brent.
I thought about the cracked booster seat.
Noah’s lip.
Rick being told the accident was his fault if he talked.
And I smiled.
“Okay.”
Their smiles widened.
Brent laughed.
“That’s it?”
“That’s it.”
Then I held out the release form.
“I just need both signatures confirming you inspected the repairs and accepted the vehicle.”
Brent signed without reading.
Laura did the same.
Neither noticed the sentence above their signatures.
They drove away laughing.
Marcus looked at me.
“You just let them leave owing you seven thousand dollars.”
“I know.”
“How are you going to pay for all those parts?”
“I don’t know.”
Then I picked the invoice off the floor.
“The seven thousand doesn’t matter anymore.”
At 5:03 the next morning, my phone rang.
Laura was screaming.
Police had arrived before dawn.
Brent had been taken into custody.
The Mercedes was being seized as evidence.
Children’s Services was coming.
“You did this!”
She screamed that I had promised not to create trouble.
“No,” I said quietly. “I said okay about the seven thousand dollars.”
Then I told her everything I had found.
The car seat.
Chompy.
The silver paint.
The mailbox reflector.
The crash data.
Rick’s account.
Then I reminded her about the release she had signed.
“You used our signatures?”
“No.”
I looked out into the dark street.
“I used the truth. You just didn’t read it.”
Then she started crying.
“How could you do this to me?”
“I didn’t do it to you.”
I thought about Rick and Noah.
“I did it for them.”
The investigation moved forward.
Brent faced charges connected to impaired driving, leaving the scene, and putting the children at risk.
Children’s Services investigated the household.
Then Denise filed an emergency motion in family court.
Nine days later, we stood before a judge.
The judge asked Laura directly whether she knew Brent had been drinking before he drove the boys home.
After a long silence, Laura admitted she did.
She admitted she should have called a cab.
Stayed at the party.
