wooden desk and gave her a way out that she had never considered—adoption. He even gave her the name of someone who wanted to adopt. She recognized it. It was the name of someone famous. It was something she couldn’t consider, though. She still thought that Tony would get out of jail and that they would live together in a trailer on his parents’ property. One big happy family. Still, she kept the phone number tucked away in a drawer, just in case.

Of course, by the time Brianna was born, she knew Tony would never get out. She found herself in the middle of the night trying to soothe Brianna, wondering what it would be like to be free and childless again. She had thought that as Brianna got older, things would get easier, but they didn’t. When Ashley started feeding her baby cereal, Brianna choked her way through the first few bites, then threw the rest. Ashley, in tears, would plead with her baby to eat, but Brianna wouldn’t, and she would only sleep two or three hours at a time. Ashley took Brianna to the doctor, who said that there was nothing wrong. He told Ashley that she just needed to be more patient. Ashley tried.

One night, though, when Brianna was nine months old and lay screaming on Ashley’s bed, all Ashley could do was to yell “Shut up” over and over. She knew her parents wouldn’t wake up. They never did. Ashley threw her clothes around her room and smashed a ceramic bear. Brianna kept crying. Ashley grabbed a pillow and pushed it down hard on her daughter’s face. She only held it there for a moment, but after realizing what she had almost done, she grabbed her daughter and held her tight. Ashley swore she’d try harder.

By the time Brianna turned a year old, her father was getting more insistent. More needy. He called Brianna his little angel and kissed her constantly, even though his scruffy beard scratched her soft baby skin. For her first birthday, he bought Brianna some Bonne Bell lip gloss, “to make her look sexy,” he said.

That was when Ashley called the phone number Judge Otero had given her. It took a few more months, but suddenly Brianna was gone. Ashley had her life back.

And her daughter was safe.

Lucy was helping Manny get out of his chair, so they could leave, when Nathan came over to them.

“So, are you taking off?” he asked solemnly.

“Yeah, we got places to go, people to see,” she said, trying to brush past him.

“Here’s the thing,” Nathan said slowly. “I can’t let you drive. I’ve seen you drink four beers.”

“I’m not driving,” she said. “Manny here is.” He swayed slightly at the mention of his name. She realized just how ridiculous that sounded as she looked at Manny in his drunken stupor. She clearly hadn’t thought this through.

“Okay, I see your point. I guess we need to call a cab,” she said.

“Well, if you want to wait, I’ll get off in fifteen minutes,” he said. “I can take you both home.”

Lucy sighed. She sat Manny back down in his chair as she retook her own.

Twenty-five minutes later, Nathan appeared, sans apron, and the trio of them walked outside to his car.

“So, can I get my car keys?” Nathan asked, looking at Lucy expectantly as Manny leaned against the car for support.

“I don’t have them,” she said, confused. “I never found them. I thought you’d have your extra set with you.”

“Why would I carry around my spare keys when my car was at your house?” Nathan said.

“All right, fine. Whatever,” she said, getting annoyed. Nothing with Nathan was simple. “We’ll just get a cab, unless you can drive a tow truck.”

“Yeah, of course I can,” Nathan said. “I worked one summer as a heavy equipment operator for the Forest Service, remember?”

Nathan got the keys from Manny and opened the truck up. Lucy climbed into the passenger seat and started clearing out the papers and other junk so all three of them could sit in the cab. She threw the stun gun, crowbar, and wire hangers on the floor, but her OCD took over when it came to the mess of papers, which looked to be mostly invoices and other towing-related documents. She gathered them up into a bundle and then straightened them into a neat pile, which she held on her lap as she sat in the middle of the seat. Nathan helped Manny into the passenger side,