from here. I tried to hide that anything was wrong. I wanted to shield her from it all.
But she knew because Mary pulled back, and her eyebrows scrunched together. “What’s wrong?”
I cupped her cheek. “Nothing, baby girl.”
The sweet smile was back on her face. “Your mama got me ice cream.”
I nodded, securing her in, buckling her seat belt. “That’s great, baby girl.”
Mary told me about her day, rambling on as though nothing was wrong. She told me she had left the little pumpkin that she got from the pumpkin patch on her desk at the school.
It was as if this were a regular day, as though we were on our way home and she was recounting the day’s events, but this could not have been more different.
Kate, my mother, drove, to who knows where.
While we drove, I scrambled to come up with a plan to get Mary as far away as possible from this situation. When I took out my phone, Kate stepped on her brakes so fast that Mary and I jerked forward.
“No phones,” she barked out.
Mary’s eyes widened, and I patted her knee. “I’m not calling anyone. I’m going to play a show for Mary, so she doesn’t have to listen to any adult conversations.”
My mother eyed me for a second, and I took out my AirPods from my bag. “Mary, do you want to watch Peppa Pig or Sofia the First?”
“Sofia!” she exclaimed, throwing her little arms in the air.
I pushed the earbuds in her ears and played a YouTube video of one of her favorite shows.
When Kate faced the road and continued to drive and I knew that Mary was occupied, I finally spoke, “How much do you need this time?”
Her laugh was cynical. “How do you know that I just didn’t want to see you?”
My laugh was more cynical than hers. “See me? When have you ever in my whole life wanted to see me just because?” My jaw locked. Anger clouded my vision, and I spat out my next words, “Just tell me why you’re doing this.”
The car turned silent, so silent that I could hear Mary’s show playing on my phone.
“There are some people I owe money to, Becky. And they’re not nice people.” Her voice had that manipulative quality to it, like she knew she could make me feel for her.
But I couldn’t feel anything but contempt for her. I’d lost all compassion for my mother long ago. And I didn’t care what she did to me, but I wasn’t going to let the people I cared about be collateral damage.
I wasn’t going to let this woman use an innocent child as leverage to get what she wanted. This woman had to go to jail, and I swore she would if it was the last thing I did on this earth. I needed her locked up, so she couldn’t hurt the people around me any longer. Once I had Mary safe, I’d lead the cops to her, find authorities to take her. She couldn’t get far. I had her license plate memorized by now.
“How much?” I repeated, working hard to keep the anger out of my voice.
She was silent for a beat. “Ten. Ten thousand to get me back on my feet.”
I released a long, jagged sigh.
“It’s only money, Becky.” She rolled her eyes. “And looking at the Briskens, it looks like this would be nothing for them.”
A sudden reality hit me that this had been my life with this woman. Each and every time she had needed money, she’d come to me. And she clearly knew the Briskens had the means. Not like I was surprised. But still, my fear only heightened at this new reality—that she’d gone to a great extent to research them. That only meant that her desperation ran deep.
Now that she had connected the two, she would always use me as leverage against them. If there was a bounty on my head, Charles would pay whatever it was to keep me safe. I knew that much.
I swallowed down the bile that had crept up my throat. “Let Mary go, and I’ll get you what you need.” And get you in jail.
She laughed again as she pulled off the highway. “Do you think I’m stupid, Becky? You know your mother better than that.”
I gritted my teeth. How dare she! My blood was beginning to boil. “There are cops swarming the school. Mary’s father has a whole security team scouring the vicinity. There’s no way this will end well,