Page 98 of When We Burn

My hand tightens on Birdie’s at the sound of that voice, and a chill runs down my back.

I wasn’t wrong.

Itwasher.

Has she been in town since the concert?

“Birdie, oh, baby. It’s so good to see you.”

Angela’s smiling at the girl at my side, who moves behind my legs and clings to me.

“Now, is that any way to greet your mama?” Angela looks up at me and plasters on a fake smile. “Hey, Dani. So good to see you. I’m picking Birdie up today.”

“No.” I shake my head firmly as adrenaline surges through me.Over my dead freaking body, you bitch.“You’re not. You’re not on the approved pickup list.”

Angela scoffs at that. “I’m her mother. Of course,I can pick her up. Come with me, baby. We’re going to go have some fun.”

She lunges for Birdie, who starts to cry, and I block Angela’s way.

“You won’t touch her,” I say, catching Stephen’s eye, and I call out to him. “Call the police.”

He immediately pulls his phone out of his pocket, and I turn all my attention to the horrible woman in front of me. It should be illegal for her to still be pretty. Even as the nastiest girl in school, boys liked her. Seeing her is putting me in a bad headspace, and I can feel my shoulders stiffening.

Why her? Out of all of the women in the world, why did he have to sleep with her?

“Jesus, you’re being so fucking dramatic.” Angela rolls her eyes and tosses her perfectly curled blond hair over her shoulder. “Bridger knows that I’m picking her up.”

“If that were true, he would have signed something with the office, and I would have been notified.”

And he would have texted or called me.

“Give me my daughter.”

“Not on this or any other day.”

Her eyes narrow, and her mouth peels back in a sneer. “You stupid, fat, worthless piece of shit. Did you think that I wouldn’t find out about you two? That my friends wouldn’t see you and then call me so we could laugh about how fucking pathetic you are? Do you think he loves you? Fuck, no. You’re a distraction. You probablybegged him to let you spread your legs for him, didn’t you?”

“What thefuckis going on?”

A crying Birdie is lifted into Bridger’s arms, and she buries her face in his neck. Angela’s eyes widen, and she takes a step back. She was obviously too focused on tearing me down to notice him walking up behind me.

At the same moment, a police car pulls up to us, the lights flashing. I recognize the cop as Rod DuVall, a guy I’ve known for a long time.

“She wouldn’t let me have my baby,” Angela says, as her eyes fill with tears. “I just want my daughter.”

“No.” Bridger’s voice is ice cold. “You don’t. You made that clear a long, long time ago.”

Bridger turns to Rod.

“She’s not allowed to see Birdie, let alone pick her up from school, and she knows it.”

“We could call this attempted kidnapping,” he says, and Angela’s face goes white.

“I didn’t do anything wrong.” She licks her lips and then glares at me. “I fucking hate you. You stay away from my family, you hear me?”

“They’re not your family,” I say, speaking through the absolute rage that’s boiling through me. “They’remine.And you’ll never touch her again.”

“Ma’am,” Rod says, taking Angela’s arm. “You have to come with me. Bridge, you need to get a restraining order.”

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