Trouble Triangle (Tyler's Trouble Trilogy) by Travis Casey Read Free Book Online Page A

carpet. I leaned back again. "Shit, shit, shit." I drew a deep breath. "The recruiter didn't think I'd get in with four arrests. He said two should be okay. He said if they accepted me, that would be the end of it."
    She fiddled with her necklace. "Like, it probably would've been if you never had anything to do with submarines. But now that they know, the charge you're looking at is fraudulent enlistment. God, you are so gonna get busted. After some time in the brig, you'll be dishonorably discharged." Her big brown eyes focuse d on me as she sipped her wine.
    "Well, it's his fault. He said that's what we needed to do, so I went along with it." I took another drink and a puff and forcefully stubbed my cigarette in the ashtray.
    "Like, you signed it." She stared at me. "Ever heard of falsifying government documents?"
    I dropped my head in my hands. "So that's it then. My Navy career's over before it ever got started. Shit. Now the judge is gonna throw me in the slammer for not doing four years. I'm totally screwed."
    She put her hand on my back and rubbed. "Not necessarily." She took a sip of her wine. "It gets a bit boring typing up the same old papers day in and day out. I'm too smart to go brain dead. I need to have adrenaline rushes by doing risky things. I have an idea. I have to write to the recruiting office in Fort Wayne to get further documentation. When they write back, I'll  type up a phony addendum." She took another sip of wine. "It's a form IP2601 . I'll make it look like the recruiter's office sent it. Then, I'll copy their letterhead, and using that, type a new letter saying that you did tell them everything, but they didn't put it all down as they should have. That's why they have this addendum. The letter will say they failed to put it in with the rest of the paperwork."
    I looked at her in disbelief. "Are you serious?"
    "It won't be easy, but I think I can do it. I'm pretty good with paperwork. We'll have to backdate everything to before you joined, you'll need to sign it, and we'll have to forge the recruiter's signature." She finished her wine and refilled our glasses.
    "So, unless you want to go back to working in your dad's bicycle empire," she said, "this is your only option."
    Oh, yeah. Some empire. A pokey shop in some backstreet trying to sell reflectors to middle-aged women who take up cycling before they get fat . Now I was stuck. I raised my eyebrows. "Aren't you taking a risk if you do this?"
    "Like, that's what girlfriends do for their fella . Besides, I'm a risk freak. Let's put it this way." She slid closer and put her hands on top of mine. "We'll stay in together, or get kicked out together."
    She moved her hand behind my head and pulled me toward her. Her soft lips touched mine in a long, lingering kiss.
    She eventually backed away and winked. "Deal?"
    My mind flashed back to Mom giving me one of her 'you're useless' speeches. Then I slipped into a vision of me sitting in a jail cell with Tyrone smiling at me. I studied Holly's stunning good looks. I couldn't wait to sell my story to Hollywood. Tyler Chambers starring in 'Fucking for Freedom'. If that's what I had to do to stay in, I consoled myself that at least Holly was good-looking enough to make it bearable. Even enjoyable. If only she didn't have to talk. "Doesn't look like I have a lot of choice."
    "Good. I'll start working on it tomorrow morning." She patted my hand. "Now, what did you have to say that's so important?"
    I ran my hand through my hair and had a sip of wine. I sipped again to gain some more thinking time. "Well, you know when you dropped me off on the Monday morning after our date?"
    She nodded.
    "Well, that was a pretty asshole thing for me to say. You know, about just hanging together, and 'Can I call you sometime' kind of thing." I looked down. "I figured you must have guys throwing themselves at your feet all the time. You know, me being younger I thought you might think I was just a kid or something. I didn't think