My face cracks as my lips tremble with humor before I laugh. I laugh so hard, the group of dishonest bastards look at me as if I’ve gone crazy. Maybe I have.
“Oh, God,” I mutter, my laughter gone and my voice cracking with emotion. I run my hand through my hair and put the other on my hip. How can this be? I just walked in on the father of my child paying off my lawyer and the judge handling our custody battle. How many times has this judge and team of lawyers been paid off? How many mothers have lost their kids? How many people lost unfair cases?
My eyes snap to theirs, my blood running ice-cold to the point goosebumps race up my arms.
“You know what? No.” My voice is deadly serious.
“No?” The judge tilts his head to the side, confused.
“No. I am taking this higher. I will get my daughter the right way, and you guys will burn for this. I’ll bury all of you to your fucking necks.” I point at every one of them as I back my way out of the door. “This isn’t over, Eric,” I promise then hightail it out of there.
Two Days Later
I pay for my pack of gum and leave the gas station, heading back to my car. I had reported the judge and the lawyers, and was waiting on a return call to reclaim my case with someone from the courthouse. They said they’d call me back with the next step, but the sound of their voice made me unsure. Maybe I should go back and demand to talk to someone else. The hairs on my neck suddenly stand as I pop a piece of gum into my mouth. My gaze slowly trails up the street, trying to find what has my body in a sense of alarm, when a green raggedy truck creeps beside the gas station. Men stand in the back, holding large guns. My breath shallows, and people begin screaming.
Pop Pop Pop sounds in the night air. I’m frozen with fear.
“Get down!” a man yells, knocking me to the ground. I look up from under the strange guy who is laying over me and see the green truck come to a stop.
“Did you get her?” one of the guys in the cab of the truck questions.
Sirens sound from afar, and fire spreads from one of the gas pumps.
“It doesn’t matter. We got company. We’ll go to her trailer and wait for her there!” Hearing those words, I knew right then they were sent from the judge and lawyers, maybe even Eric. My heart goes cold, and my hope of having my daughter back evaporates into ash, along with the piece of my heart that just died. I can’t go home. I can’t go to the police. I’m fucked. I’m alone. All because I wanted the attention of Eric fucking McCormick. Now I have it, and it’s the last fucking thing I want.
***
The car is hot and acting as a barrier against the breeze. Well, what breeze there is in the middle of summer in LA. Pulling my hair away from my sweaty face, I fan myself with my hand. I managed to get one guy to stop yesterday, so hopefully I can get another person to stop today. I have been living out of my car for two days now. I haven’t contacted my brother, because I don’t want whoever is trying to kill me to link us and put Tyler in danger. If they haven’t already. Every day, I stop on the side of the road miles away from my old stomping ground and act as if my car is broken down. I’ve been conning men, women, anyone who stops. It’s not something I’m proud of, but what choice do I have? I’m running and I’m desperate. I step out of the car, the back of my legs streaming with a steady sweat from the heat. Popping the hood of the car, I lean against the hot metal that makes up the front bumper. My eyes prick with tears that this is what it’s come to. I lean my head back and close my eyes against the hot summer sun.
“God, give me a sign that you’re up there and can see the pain I’m in,” I whisper to myself. My family was never big on religion, but when you get desperate, when you reach the point nobody on Earth is going to help you, you pray that there is a higher power, something that can pull you from the dark pit you’re in. You hope with all your might that things will get better; otherwise, why the hell are we even here?
A loud rumble speeds down the off ramp. I jump where I stand when I notice a motorcycle suddenly stop next to my car.
“Looks like you’re having some car trouble.” The man smirks, swinging his leg over his black bike. My mouth goes as dry from the heat wafting from the pavement. I can’t reply because I’m dumbstruck. He is sexy. Fucking deliciously rugged and good enough to eat, in fact. He has short hair that’s brown but with a tone of copper streaking through it when the sun shines on it just right. He has tattoos across his arms and a piercing in his lip that makes my panties instantly wet. He’s wearing a leather vest and torn blue jeans. He looks so strong, and oozes bad guy. Staring at him, my body comes alive with a warmth I haven’t felt since that night I got drunk with Eric. Only this warmth is much more intense.