Chapter 236
“Grandparents are extravagant people,” Andy said with a shrug. “My mom took her shopping as a treat.”
Culpepper grunted again, and kept poking. He found an empty granola bar wrapper under the bed, and didn’t say anything, just gave them a dark glower.
Scooter apparently knew the whole routine; watched without talking as Culpepper inspected the bedroom, the bathroom, peered in the fridge and pantry. He was careful, keeping Culpepper between himself and Andy, so the man couldn’t look at both of them at the same time, and on a few occasions, gave Andy a quick headshake, just the barest movement of his chin.
Culpepper was thorough; checked the security of the windows and the door locks, and went as far as to shake the railing around the balcony. Made another face at the coffee can of sand that Scooter used to stub his smokes. He didn’t, at least, seem to be aware of Billie’s attempt to run away from home. The whole time Andy watched as Scooter’s shoulders got tighter and his stance grew more stubborn, his jaw set and his eyes steely.
By the time Culpepper left, Scooter was looking as unhappy and tense as Andy had ever seen him. He waited until Culpepper’s car was out of sight, then laced his fingers through Scooter’s. “Babe?”
“Lemme call Kendra’s mom real quick,” Scooter said. “Won’t take him long to get there, and he can legally take her for an interview.” He chewed his lip, then scrubbed one hand through his hair.
Call placed and Ms. Casper informed, Scooter threw himself down on the sofa. “Simon, that son of a…he couldn’t come talk to us? He had to pull this shit? Crap. I need to warn Jason.”
Andy grimaced. “They can pigeonhole our friends, too? Ugh. Who else should we warn?”
“Everybody who works here. Her babysitters. Her teacher. We’ve…Jason an’ I’ve been through this,” Scooter said. He sank his fingers into his hair and yanked. “Same asshole, too. Fuckin’ Dennis Culpepper. Tried to take Jason from my parents an’ put him in a home for boys.”
“Jesus,” Andy growled. “And your parents weren’t even gay.” He pulled out his phone and started composing a carefully-phrased mass text for the part-time Dockside staff.
Scooter took a deep breath. “Jason was bein’ bullied at school, an’ his…well, Jason’s dad and your dad took lessons at the same school of parenting. When the bruising didn’t stop when Joe Anderson left town, people started looking elsewhere.” Scooter clenched his fist in his hair. “Culpepper is gonna scare her to death.”
Andy had to close his eyes for a moment and remember how to breathe, because Scooter was right; Culpepper wasn’t exactly a teddy bear kind of guy. Christ. “Anything we can do?”
“If he works himself up to actually rude, yes,” Scooter said. “He’s a civil servant, he answers to a manager. Doesn’t speak well of him that he’s still doin’ this and hasn’t gotten a promotion to a desk job. But we can file a complaint if he gets ugly. He won’t. He’s very…politic. Call Jess. CPS has to get us a copy of the initial concern paperwork within twenty-four hours. And…don’t talk to him. Even when he’s doing your interview. Just what he asks and no more.”
Andy nodded and flipped to his contacts list. “Got it. You don’t—I didn’t say anything he can use, do you think?” He tried to play back over the whole inspection quickly, but how should he know what was and wasn’t good?
“God only knows,” Scooter said. “We’re not doin’ anything wrong. House is clean, she’s got clothes an’ food. It’ll be fine. Just. Nerve-wracking.” He chewed his lip until it was red and swollen. “It’ll be fine, baby. It will.” Andy wasn’t sure who Scooter was trying to convince
“Of course it will,” Andy said. He kissed Scooter’s cheek. “One of these days, I’m going to kick Simon in the balls.”
“We’ll sic Kat on him,” Scooter promised.
* * * *
Scooter was so, so very bad at doing nothing. He’d just never been the sort to sit around and watch television for long. But he didn’t want to dump all the childcare on Andy; that was hardly fair. With Culpepper creeping around, it was better if Billie wasn’t found alone in the house with Andy and Scooter both below stairs. Scooter personally thought it was ridiculous; someone checked on her a few times during the night and there hadn’t been a problem.
It did mean that Billie could drag him into playing all sorts of silly games—he’d gotten a deeper education about Monster High dolls and their teenage drama than he’d previously considered existed—and tempt him into building Lego castles. He’d even dug into some of his mom’s old reenacting garb—Andy had been ambushed by a seven-year-old wearing a tri-cornered hat and toting a bayonet made from a paper-towel tube coming up the stairs.