Page 52 of Bad Seed

Brendan gave her hand a gentle squeeze. “I’ve got your back. Just remember that. Are you afraid to be here tonight on your own?”

“No. Dead bolt. Safety chain. Eighth floor. Big-ass gun.”

He threw back his head and laughed, and laughed. “God, woman, you sound like a Pope. Takes no guff. Also takes no prisoners.”

Harley grinned. Her family didn’t approve of her. And they’d hate this whole lifestyle. But it was growing on her, and so was he. She got up and started gathering up their trash, and with his help, soon had everything bagged and cleaned when he got ready to leave.

“I’ll dump the trash on my way down,” he said as he was putting on his coat. “Aaron will talk to Wiley and toChief Warren tomorrow. They’ll get in touch with you, so you just do your thing. Focus on what you came here to do and trust us to keep you safe.”

She nodded. “I won’t go anywhere, but I am going to figure out who wants me dead.”

***

Karen Beaumont did not regret paying off Justine’s debt to get her out of jail, but without the ensuing three months of alimony, they would be skimping to get by. However, skimping was not part of Justine’s world, and she was about to burst the bubble of her mama’s sense of self-sacrifice.

Justine was happy to be in Dallas. Even if she was back under the same roof as her mother, it was better than Jubilee.

It was their third day back, and after 10:00 a.m. before she got out of bed. When she went to shower, she discovered her favorite shampoo bottle was empty. She gave it a toss in the trash and went to look for her mother, then found her in the utility room, putting wet clothes into the dryer.

“Mom, I need to borrow your car. I’m out of my shampoo,” Justine said.

“You’ll have to use my shampoo. It’s on a shelf in my shower. Help yourself,” Karen said.

Justine stared. “I don’t use that kind. I want my kind. It makes my hair silkier.”

“Your kind costs over twenty dollars a bottle. Do you have money?” Karen asked.

Justine frowned. “You know I don’t. Daddy cut off my allowance!”

“And my alimony has been cut off for the next three months because of you, so there’s nothing for extras. I’m going to start back as a hostess at the steak house I used to work at. We’ll be lucky to get the rent and bills paid,” she said. “Besides, aren’t you a little embarrassed to assume that at your age, you’re still due an allowance?”

“Don’t you start!” Justine whined. “You sound just like Dad.”

Karen rolled her eyes, hit the Start button on the dryer, and started to walk past her, when Justine grabbed her by the arm and yanked her around.

“Don’t you dare walk away from me when I’m talking to you!” she hissed.

Karen froze, so shocked by the assault that there was a moment when she was actually afraid. And then her eyes narrowed. She looked down at the hand gripping her arm, and then back up at Justine.

“Take your hand off me,” Karen said.

Justine glared.

“NOW!” Karen screamed.

Justine stumbled backward, tripped on an empty laundry basket, and then fell into it.

“You pushed me!” Justine shrieked.

“I never touched you and you know it, but next time I will,” Karen muttered. “I’m not the easy touchyour father was.” Then she bent down, until her face was only inches away from her daughter’s, and the tone of her voice shifted from bored to menacing so fast Justine forgot to breathe. “I was mean and badass before you were even a thought in the universe, and I will put you out of my house in two seconds flat if youeveract like this again. Do. We. Understand. Each. Other?”

Justine nodded.

Karen started to walk off and then stopped and turned. “Get out of my laundry basket before you break it,” she snapped, and strode out of the room with her chin up and her hands curled into fists.

Justine got up, went to get her mother’s shampoo, and disappeared into her room. Her heart was pounding, and she was slightly sick to her stomach. She’d seen this side of her mother, but it had always been directed at her father, never toward her. Until now.

She had to rethink her situation. She needed money to get away from here, but even if she had it, she had nowhere to go. The obvious answer to her future was out there. She just had to figure out how to find it.

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