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“Are you Missy?” I ask.
“Depends, who’s asking? You looking for a good time, baby?” I want to fucking vomit when she takes a step toward me.
My fingers grip my gun, and I pull it out, pointing the muzzle right at her forehead.
“What the fuck?” she shrieks at the sight of my gun. At least she’s not running.
“Wait!” another voice calls, and I realize in an instant that it’s Claire. For one brief second, I take my eyes off the hit and turn to find Claire rushing toward us. “Wait, Lucca! That’s my mom,” Claire yells, and I stagger backward, completely fucking shocked.
Suddenly, I’m caught between hell and a rock.
Her mom?
“My ClaireBear, is that really you?” The woman takes a wobbly step toward Claire, who’s shocked, sad expression has me lowering my gun. “I’ve missed you so much! I looked everywhere for you.”
For once in my life, I don’t know if I can go through with a kill. I’ve already killed her father. I don’t know that I can be responsible for both of her parents’ lives.
It’s obvious that Claire’s mother never cared about her. If she had, she would’ve found her. It wouldn’t have been hard.
“Your father, he took you from me. Took everything from me,” Claire’s mother snaps angrily. I look between Claire and her mother. What the fuck do I do?
“I… I can’t believe it’s you.” Claire seems more shocked than anything. Like she’s looking at a ghost. “Why… why did you leave?”
“Oh, baby, I’m sorry. I didn’t want to. But your father… he made me.”
Claire frowns, and I want to sweep her into my arms and return her to the car and forget that the second half of this day ever happened. What the fuck am I supposed to do?
“Why? Why didn’t you take me with you?”
“I’m sorry, baby girl. I couldn’t, but that’s all in the past. Come here. Let me at least hug you,” her mother croaks.
Claire crosses the space that separates them and wraps her arms around her mother. In an instant, everything goes from bad to fucking worse. Claire’s mother pulls a knife from who fucking knows where, and whirls Claire around, pressing the blade against her throat.
My heart does a backflip in my chest, and I lift my gun, ready to shoot the bitch right between her eyes.
“Let her go,” I say through my teeth as calmly as I can.
She laughs. “Give me all the money you got, or I’m slitting her throat.”
“Mom…” Claire cries out.
“You wouldn’t hurt your own daughter, would you?” I ask, knowing damn well that she would. The feral look in her eyes tells me she would do just about anything for some cash, even kill the person she gave birth to.
“Do you really think I care about her?” She presses the blade harder against her throat. Claire gasps and a small bead of blood appears on the blade. “I left her with her father, hoping he would finish the job that the doctor fucked up when I went to get an abortion.”
The color drains from Claire’s face, and the air around us becomes electrically charged. Something bad is about to happen. I can feel it in my gut; the gush of something ugly fills the air.
“Let her go,” I order.
Claire and I lock gazes and without a word said, she slams her elbow into her mother’s side. The knife clatters to the ground, and all I can think of is to protect Claire. My goal has always been and always will be to protect her.
I don’t hesitate when I pull the trigger. My ears ring as the bullet leaves the chamber and lodges itself right between her mother’s eyes. One second later, she falls backward, crumpling to the pavement like a rag doll. I rush to Claire’s side and take her into my arms. This is so fucked up, so wrong. All I want to do is take her pain away and make sure she is safe, but I keep fucking up.
“Are you okay?” I ask.
“I… I think so,” she says with a hoarse voice.
Shoving my gun into the holster at my hip, I carry her back to the SUV. I buckle her into the seat and rip out of the alleyway, leaving before police can arrive. My heart pummels my chest as I drive us home and park in the driveway.
In the ten minutes it took to get here, she still hasn’t said anything.
Her silence is overwhelming, and it terrifies me. I’m scared that I’ve lost her, that I’ve hurt her. Yeah, her mom said some really shitty things and held a knife to her throat, but was that worthy of death? I didn’t think Claire would think so, but I knew that if I didn’t kill her, someone else would’ve. Maybe I should’ve let that person carry the weight of the hit.
