I opened my mouth.
Then Ryan entered the room and watched me.
“I’m fine,” I said.
Linda hesitated.
“You sound tired.”
“Just pregnancy.”
After I hung up, Ryan smiled.
“See? No reason to involve Mom in our business.”
Something about the way he said it made my skin turn cold.
That night, I returned to the car.
By Friday, I had spent ten nights in the parking lot.
I was exhausted.
My back ached constantly, and I had started experiencing painful cramps in my legs. My feet were so swollen that I had to loosen my shoes.
Ryan noticed none of it.
Or he noticed and decided it wasn’t his problem.
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The Knock at Two in the Morning
At approximately two o’clock on Friday morning, headlights swept across the parking lot.
I opened my eyes and saw a silver SUV pull into the space beside me.