Now shut down." Yes, Sir."Ted put the Mech in gear and walked to the drop hole. Typing commands it refused to open so activating the com he said, "Ope... the damn iris, or I will blow it open." Sir, I can't..." Fine, have it your way."Aiming the plasma cannon at the iris, he blew the doors off and stepped up to the edge as the ship shivered from the sudden displacement of ten tons. Stepping out over the lip, he tumbled out of the ship and continued to tumble as he fell. The Mech flipped. “He won’t!”“Em,” Violet said, “your dad and his friends beat up Jayce Franklin! Everyone knows it.”“What did I miss?” I asked.“Jayce is on the football team and he’s dating a white cheerleader,” Valerie said. “They make a really cute couple. But Mr. Nelson and his friends caught them at Jackson Lake. Jayce is in the hospital with pretty severe internal and head injuries, as well as a badly broken arm.”“So why hasn’t Len Nelson been arrested?”“Because Kim won’t tell the Sheriff who did it, and. When I got to the drivers door I opened it grabbed the change of clothes and stood there with the door open which shielded me from view of anyone in front of the van to some degree. I looked toward the back of the van to make sure no one was coming from that way. I then took off my shirt tossed it in the van and looked around again. There was someone about 35 ft away rooting arount in their trunk but they were across the row and the door blocked their view a bit and they were preoccupied. Then. ”“I agree.”I kissed her, then returned the nibble on her ear. Her legs almost buckled.“Don’t DO that when I’m standing, dammit! I lose control.”I backed up to the bench and sat, pulling her down with me. “Control is sometimes vastly overrated.”“I need control, Josh. There’s something else...”I felt my heart drop. “What else?”“Well, I sort of did some research.”“What kind of research?”“On you.”“Not much to find. No ex-wives. No criminal record. Nothing.”“What do you do for a living, Josh? And.