Page 50 of Hidden But Not Safe

‘My thoughts exactly,’ Ram said. ‘Just get it done.’

Naz shook his head and drove to the nearest supercenter.

Meg stared out the window. “This is where we’re going?”

Naz didn’t have the words to explain.

She scrambled out to follow him inside. When he pulled out the blue shopping cart, she stared at him with widened eyes and her lips parted, another laugh slipping out.

Naz didn’t go to stores very often, and never to this one, but the aisle he needed was easy enough to find.

Only there were options upon options, and Naz had no clue what to do.

“Um, Ignacio?” Meg asked, staring around the aisle they were in. “What the fuck are we doing here?”

Naz showed her their shopping list, listening to her laughter as he tried texting Ramiro. ‘There are different types.’

Ramiro’s response came in all caps. ‘DO YOU THINK I FUCKING KNOW?’

He didn’t respond to any other texts.

Meg looked at his phone over his shoulder and snorted again. “You all are hopeless. At least that means you don’t regularly traffic babies.”

Naz glanced around the aisle, but it was empty and no one glared at him like he was a kidnapper.

Meg moved away from the cart, her hand running over the nearest box. “You’ve got money, right?”

Naz nodded. He studied the different sizes. They all recommended diapers by weight, but he had no idea what baby they were even buying stuff for.

“Fine, then let’s do this,” Meg said, grabbing the first box. She filled the bottom shelf of the cart as well as the center with every size available of one brand. “You’re gonna need wipes and stuff, too,” she said. At least the wipes were more about picking a brand, not a size. She also grabbed some powder and some cream that said it was butt paste. He wondered if it glued the diaper in place.

“That should do it.” She grinned at him, nodding to the cart. “You get to push.”

At the end of the aisle, she stopped in front of the cart, making him almost run into her. She moved toward the display of fluffy blankets. Her hand caressed one that looked like white cotton.

“Not as soft as it seemed,” she mumbled, letting her hand drop. She took off again, leading him to the checkout.

Diapers were damned expensive. Naz swiped the card Ramiro had set up for him. It was a business expense, after all.

Loading up the minivan took up a chunk of the space. Meg climbed into the passenger seat, way too quiet.

The address Ramiro had texted him was a new one. That wasn’t unusual. Diego always moved on. The change in location was the only normal thing about this job.

“I think about it sometimes,” Meg mumbled.

Naz let the minivan idle in the parking spot as he looked over at her.

“The baby I might have had. It would have been all fucked up probably, and there was no way I’d have been able to keep it, not while in foster care.” She wiped her hand along her jeans, staring down at the movement of her fingers. “Not like anyone would have wanted it.”

Naz reached over, covering her hand with his.

“It wasn’t even treated like a baby. It was proof, that was all. Evidence to put my dad away for good.” She turned her hand, weaving her fingers with his. “I was relieved when they locked him up. I thought it would be better without him around, but then the foster home wasn’t much different.” She shrugged. “At least by then I had the IUD and didn’t have to worry about carrying some asshole’s kid.”

Naz kept his hand from squeezing hers too tightly as his vision darkened.

“The social worker I was assigned to took me to the clinic. Said it was my choice, but what kind of choice was there? He was my fucking father. She told me about how messed up the baby could be and that no one would really want it.”

She laid her head back, her hand squeezing his to the point of pain. “The baby didn’t even have a chance at a shitty life. Probably for the best. I don’t want to be alive half the time.”

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