Heat (19 page)

Authors: Michael Cadnum

BOOK: Heat

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“Problems that don't show up when a mechanic peeks under the hood,” Dad said. “I'll call it Lemonhounds, something like that. There's a huge market there.”

The California State Bar Association had compensated my father's clients, and he could never practice law in the state again. Miss P told me that no one expected a competing diver to be able to handle pre-med classes.

Cindy was saying it was a good idea, she could picture the business cards, a lemon driving a car.

“A lemon in a car.” Dad laughed, affectionately, too hard.

“A hound driving a lemon,” I said.

His eyes brightened. “Good idea, Champion.”

I could not look at him for a moment.

“I'm going to get it all back, Bonnie,” he was saying, leaning toward me across the table. “All of it.”

“We still have contacts, people who believe in Harvey,” Cindy said. “They'll set Harvey up again like this.” She snapped her fingers, softly, so it didn't make a sound.

When a guard called over a loudspeaker, “Visiting hours are over,” the inmates began to stand up but didn't leave their stations.

Dad cocked his head in the direction of the PA system, a round hole covered with a steel grid up near the ceiling. He gave me a you-wouldn't-believe-this-place roll of his eyes, like this was a restaurant where the service was terrible. The food was bad, and they ignored you when you asked for your check.

I had come with so many things to say, that I still believed in him.

He said, “Next time, Champion.”

Without anyone telling us, we made sure the chairs were pushed all the way in against the tables. The inmates lined up against the far wall, and the visitors lined up against the other. We began to leave the place, two lines walking in opposite directions, but ours was slower.

I watched as he filed from the room, laughing with one of the guards.

About the Author

Michael Cadnum is the author of 35 books for adults and young adults. His work-which includes thrillers, suspense novels, historical fiction, and books about myths and legends-has been nominated for the National Book Award (
The Book of the Lion
), the Edgar Award (
Calling Home
and
Breaking the Fall
), and the Los Angeles Times Book Prize (
In a Dark Wood
). A former National Endowment for the Arts Creative Writing Fellow, he is also the author of award-winning poetry.
Seize the Storm
(2012) is his most recent novel.

Michael Cadnum lives in Albany, California, with a view of the Golden Gate Bridge.

All rights reserved, including without limitation the right to reproduce this ebook or any portion thereof in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of the publisher.

This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, events, and incidents either are the product of the author's imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, businesses, companies, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.

Cover design by Drew Padrutt

ISBN: 978-1-5040-1981-1

This edition published in 2015 by Open Road Integrated Media, Inc.

345 Hudson Street

New York, NY 10014

www.openroadmedia.com