Page 84 of Love and Other Lost Things

“Jane?” came a female voice through the phone. “It’s Kait. I have your car.”

Jane opened her mouth to thank Kait and tell her that she no longer needed it. But something stopped her. Martin’s words, coming back to her. We may not be able to keep Matteo away from Scarlett in the meantime. It’s going to get ugly.

Was she naive to believe that Martin could help her? That anyone could help her? She’d promised Nik that she’d stop running. That they were in this together. But what if she couldn’t protect Scarlett? What if nobody could? If Matteo had a right to see Scarlett, Jane would have no control of what he might do. He could hurt her. He could kidnap her. Jane had heard the stories, seen the news articles about the women who did everything legally in their power, and still their abusers used their children against them. Matteo had done it before.

He’d do it again.

Jane cleared her throat. “Is the car ready now?”

In the background, she could hear the whir of drills and hydraulic lifts. “Give me until tomorrow morning to get the license plates and paperwork together. Then you can come by and get it.”

Tell her no, a voice whispered. You promised Nik. Tell Kait you don’t need the car. But Jane’s mouth wouldn’t form the words. And finally, she managed to choke out, “Thank you. I’ll see you then.”

THIRTY-THREE

The minute she turned down Mom’s street, Jane’s heart slammed in her chest. Matteo’s car was back. She pressed on the gas and accelerated into the driveway, barely taking the time to throw the car into park before she ran into the house.

Jane stumbled to a stop in the doorway to the living room where Matteo sat with his phone in his hand. He looked up, and her stomach curled in fear.

“Where’s Scarlett?” he barked at her.

“I—” Jane’s terrified eyes darted down the hall toward the kitchen. What had Mom told him? “I was just about to go pick her up.”

Matteo leaned back against the couch cushion, arms stretched wide. “I’ll come with you.”

Jane almost argued with him, but then he’d double down and definitely insist on coming. She needed to think of a way to get him to agree to let Scarlett stay at Hannah’s house without leading him over there. “Okay,” she said, calmly. “Let me just check in with Mom first.”

Jane turned and hurried down the hall to the kitchen. She found Mom standing at the stove, swirling a wooden spoon in a large pot. The scent of cumin and onions filled the kitchen.

“What is he doing here?” Jane hissed.

Mom grabbed the handle of a frying pan and gave the contents a toss. Ground beef and spices sizzled. “I told him he could come back today.”

“Why did you let him in the house?”

“If I didn’t, he would have come in anyway, just like last time.” Mom rubbed her shoulder.

Jane felt awful that Mom had to go through this. Her husband was finally gone, her abuser out of her life. And now another monster was down the hall, terrorizing them. But Mom just went calmly back to stirring the pot on the stove.

“What did Martin say?” Mom added salt to the pot. Was she really making chili at a time like this? Maybe she’d finally gone numb to the trauma. Jane wondered if that would ever be her someday.

“He said it’s going to be a long fight.” Jane lowered her voice, glancing nervously at the kitchen doorway. “He said we might not be able to keep Matteo away from Scarlett. He said even if Nik is the father, Matteo might have custodial rights. Mom,” she hissed, “if Matteo gets custody of Scarlett, he’ll kidnap her. I know he will.”

Mom faltered for a moment. But then she seemed to shake it off, grabbing a spice jar from the counter and shaking it into the pot. “We’ll never let that happen.”

Jane glanced at the doorway again. “I talked to Kait,” she whispered. “She can have our car ready tomorrow. I just need to figure out a way to stall him until then. And then figure out how to get away.”

In her original plan, they would have swapped cars with Kait and then had days to head to Canada. How could she pull it off with Matteo watching her every move? “Maybe we can sneak away at night.” It was only a couple of hours to the border. But she wouldn’t have any kind of head start.

It all felt so futile and hopeless.

Mom’s voice cut into her thoughts. “There are other ways, Jane.”

“Like putting all my hopes on Martin Lefkowitz?” Hands shaking, Jane held on to the counter for support. She couldn’t fall apart now. “He’s a good guy and a good lawyer. I can see that. But the system can’t help women like me. We need to take matters into our own hands.”

Mom tapped the wooden spoon on the side of the pot and set it on the counter. Then she turned to look at Jane. “I couldn’t agree more.”

“So, you’ll support me in going? You’ll help?”

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