Page 69 of Crime Lord’s Captive

When they walked outside, her mother came to a stop when Blade gestured them towards the SUV.

“I have my own car,” her mother said, gesturing to an old Honda. “I have some errands to run.”

“We don’t mind,” Blade said.

“Come, Mom,” Lyla said and took her mother’s hand.

One of the guards moved into the last row of seats so she and her mother could sit together. Blade took the passenger seat and they were off. Her mother gave instructions to the driver, clearly embarrassed. Lyla climbed out of the car and watched as her mother stuck first one and then another card into the ATM machine with a pinched, worried expression as she typed in her PIN.Gut clenched, Lyla accessed her bank in Maine through her cell phone and grit her teeth when she saw that the account had been closed.

She dialed Gavin’s number as her mother tried a third card.

“Hey, baby girl,” Gavin said.

Lyla took a deep breath. “My money in my account, the five thousand, you have it?”

“Yes.”

Why the hell did she think seeing her mother would make her feel better? It made her realize how fucked up her life was. Gavin had all the power and she had nothing. She tried to tread carefully. “Is the five thousand a down payment?”

“Down payment for what?”

“Dad’s debt.” She paced as she watched her mother slap the screen of the ATM as if that would change what she was seeing.“I-I know five thousand is nothing but—”

“What’s going on?” His voice was clipped.

“I need some money,” she said.

Dead silence on the other end. Her heart began to pound and she tightened her grip on the phone.

“I can get a job to pay you back.” Still no response and her eyes stung with tears of desperation. “I know I owe you for dad’s debt and we haven’t talked about how I’m going to—”

“Blade has a credit card. We’ll talk about this later,” Gavin said and hung up.

Lyla swallowed hard as she pocketed the phone. Her mother walked away from the ATM without any money and hurried back to the car. Lyla got into the passenger seat and sat silently as they stopped at the post office and then the grocery store. Her mother chose a ghetto grocery store where people sold tamales and black market DVDs out of the trunks of their cars. Blade and the other guards had their hands in their jackets, clearly on edge. As her mother grabbed a wagon, Lyla sidled up to Blade.

“I talked to Gavin and he said you have a credit card we can use?” Lyla asked in a low undertone.

“He texted me. I have the card,” Blade said.

Lyla nodded and rushed to keep up with her mother who seemed to be trying to get away from them. “Mom, get whatever you need.”

Her mother wouldn’t look at her. “I just came for a few things.”

“Gavin will pay for it,” Lyla said, stomach tight with nerves.

Her mother flushed with embarrassment. “We’re okay.”

“No, you’re not and you might as well get what you can while we’re here,” Lyla said, dreading her conversation with Gavin.

“Really?” Mom asked, hopeful but wary.

“Yes. Just... get what you need. I don’t know when you’ll have another chance.”

Her mother took Lyla at her word and filled her basket to the max. Lyla grabbed a package of condoms because it couldn’t hurt and distracted her mother when they were rung up. Blade didn’t blink as he handed the credit card over. Her mother was in a better mood as they loaded up the groceries and headed back to the house. Lyla, Blade and the guards carried the groceries inside. Her mother filled the empty fridge with food and it comforted Lyla, even knowing that she had to deal with Gavin soon. Her mother insisted on making lunch for all of them. The guards were allowed to sit in the living room while Lyla watched her mother put away ingredients and start the preparations for her homemade fried chicken.

Under normal circumstances, Lyla would have been eager to taste her mother’s cooking, but not knowing how Gavin would react to this latest incident with her parents made her queasy.

“What’s this?”

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