“Mommy?”
“Shh,” she said, attention only partly on Beth. “How about we play the quiet game, Beth. You keep swinging, and let’s see who can stay quietest for longest. Okay?”
“Okay. That sounds fun. I’m gonna beat you.”
One of the men fished what looked like a meth pipe from his pocket and heated it up. Not totally surprising since Copper told her there’d been an uptick in meth sales in the area. “Okay, honey. Be quiet starting now.”
Beth fell silent, only the occasional squeak coming from the swing.
Confident her daughter was taken care of for the moment, Shell paced a few more steps away from the swing set. Was the taller man wearing…
Oh shit.
He was wearing a Handlers cut. Oh, my God. Shell’s stomach rolled, and her knees nearly buckled. As the identity of the larger man became clear.
Rusty.
She didn’t dare breathe, as though that would somehow keep her from being discovered. Rooted in place, Shell gaped at the scene before her. The men passed the pipe back and forth then the smaller man pulled a brown paper package out of his backpack. Rusty inspected it, nodded, then handed over an envelope before stowing the package in a bag on his own back. The men spoke for a minute before the smaller one counted the money.
Holy shit, that was a tall stack of bills. Any chance they were singles? Probably not. Where the hell did Rusty get that kind of cash?
Her stomach clenched.
Oh no. No, no, no. He wouldn’t dare…She almost laughed at her own naive thoughts. He sure as hell would. Rusty was exactly the type of man who’d steal from his own club and use it to buy drugs. Although with that size package, he was probably selling as well as using.
She should not be witnessing this exchange.
“Come on, Beth,” Shell whispered, turning toward her daughter. “We gotta go now.”
“What?” Beth whined, face crumbling. “Copper isn’t here yet. I don’t wanna go!” Her voice rose with the hysteria children got as they teetered on the edge of a full-on tantrum. Any other day, Shell wouldn’t give in to that kind of behavior. But now? Priority number one was sneaking away unnoticed. “Yes, we have to go. If you leave with me now, we’ll go get ice cream.” She’d bribe her daughter with the Hope diamond if it got her off that damn swing.
“Okay!” Beth yelled making Shell flinch.
Shell risked a glance over. Rusty was stalking straight toward them about half the distance he’d been, his long stride eating up the inches.
Shit! Her hands shook as she reached for the chain to stop the swing, then thought better of it. They’d never make it to her car before Rusty caught up to them and she didn’t want him within spitting distance of her daughter. “You know what, honey?” Shell said as she worked to keep her voice from shaking. “Changed my mind. Keep swinging.” She wiped her sweaty palms on her jeans then gave Beth a push to get her going again. “Whatever you do, Beth, do not get off this swing. Do you hear me?”
“Yes, Mommy.”
“Say it to me, Beth.”
“Stay on the swing.”
“Good girl. I’ll be right over there where I can see you.” Shell pointed toward Rusty right before she took off at a jog on legs that felt like rubber bands, meeting him as far from her daughter as she could manage.
“You spying on me, doll?” Rusty said, grinning as though he hadn’t just been caught red-handed.
Like she didn’t have a million better things to do with her time than follow him around?
“No Rusty. What the hell do you want?” Shell glanced around and let out a breath of relief. Whoever he’d been meeting with was long gone. But that meant there was not another soul in sight. No one around to hear her scream. For the next few moments at least. “Copper is meeting us here any second. You need to leave now.”
He smirked, and her stomach dropped. Each and every time he’d come to her in the past, that smug king-of-the-world smirk taunted her. In the five years he’d been behind bars, that smirk hadn’t changed one bit. Memories, all unpleasant and unwanted, assaulted her.
Clothes off, blondie, got something for you.
What, Rusty? Now?
Right fucking now. Get naked and get on the bed. Spread your legs.
Rusty, we can’t do this now. Copper is going to be here any second to fix the leaky faucet in the bathroom. We had to schedule it while my mom was out so she wouldn’t freak.
Guess you better hurry then, huh? Stop running your trap and get ready to be fucked.
Rusty! We can’t now.
Need I remind you why we can and will do it now?
And then the smirk would appear. No, he’d never needed to remind her. For the three years he’d owned her body, he never once needed to remind her. Though he did, often and cruelly.