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I was stranded at four in the morning on the freeway with a dead cell phone and the rim somehow got bent. Once I find a decent spot to pull off, I grab my cell to dial my brother. I’m hoping he can come put the spare on and it will hold me over until Monday.
Squeak. Guess I need to have my brakes changed as well. That’s a future me problem.
Undoing my seatbelt, I twist sideways to grab my purse from the back floorboard when I come face to face with a masked man laying across my backseat shoving a gun in my face.
My life flashes before my eyes. Dancing in the kitchen with my mother while making sugar cookies as a kid. Riding bicycles with my brother and his friends. My first kiss. The births of my daughters. Our first Christmas alone. Signing the loan papers to start my business. Last night with Prodigy.
“Turn around. Slowly,” the deep voice commands.
A shiver courses up and down my spine. I recognize that voice. There’s no mistaking the hateful tone that haunted me for years. Licking my lips, I hold my palms up and face the steering wheel. “You don’t want to do this.”
“Shut the fuck up.” The barrel of the handgun presses into the base of my skull. “I want your credit cards and pin numbers. Your phone too.”
“All in my purse.” A tear trickles down my cheek. I watch him through the rearview mirror. “You don’t have to do this.”
“Pin numbers.” He jabs the gun at me once more, while pilfering through my purse.
I hold his gaze through the mirror. “The day our divorce was final. Best day of my life other than the times I became a mother.” I deliver the blows and notice the slight flinch as his body jerks slightly.
“Now your keys.”
Shit. I won’t let him get away with this. “I met Kieleigh today. She’s a great kid. Resembles her sister.” I clear my throat, trying to appeal to him while knowing better. He only cares about himself.
“I said, give me your keys. Don’t try anything stupid.”
“If you need help seeing her, I can talk to Marie.”
“Are you stupid? I will blow your brains out. I don’t know who the fuck you’re talking about, bitch.” The way his voice pitches on bitch, I have no doubt in my mind this is my ex-husband.
I should be terrified. Shaking, begging for my life. I stopped giving him power over me a long time ago. Maybe I should have let Link kill him when he offered.
We’d all been better for it.
“Adam, if you ever gave a damn about your girls, you’ll stop this.”
“Next time, I’ll pull the fucking trigger.”
Thwack.
Something hard hits me in the head.
I awaken to the sound of a troubled voice. “Ma’am. Can you hear me?” Someone shakes my shoulder gently.
I jerk upright from where I’ve been slumped over the steering wheel.
“Ow.” I touch the back of my head and wince.
“I’ve called 911,” the older man states. I glance at him, trying to recall what happened.
“What?” I mumble, wetting my lips. Thirsty and nauseas at the same time.
“You passed out. I drove past a bit ago and noticed you. On my way back through, I saw you were still here about an hour later and stopped. Are you okay?”
“I think so.”
“I’ll stay with you until help arrives.”
I nod as pain slices across the back of my head. I blink and bile burns in the back of my throat.
