Page 41 of Unhinged
Crack!
I dive behind my own door as the bullet slams into the side mirror, shattering glass across my arm. The sting barely registers. Heart hammering, I grit my teeth and pop up just enough to fire two rounds in return.
Bang! Bang!
“Judge!” I scream over the chaos. “Baby, stay on the floor! Don’t move—you hear me?”
“I’m down!” His voice is high-pitched, panicked.
“Stay there, no matter what!”
Another shot blasts from the Yukon, this one punching through the window above my head. Glass rains down, cutting into my scalp and shoulders. I drop lower, pressing my back against the car.
Think, Brydgett. Think.
I push myself up again and fire twice, aiming for the driver. One bullet whizzes past his head, the other hits the driver square between the eyes. He falls back, his body crumpling in the dirt.
A second door slams, and Earl steps out, grinning like this is all some twisted game.
“Brydgett!” he calls sickly sweet. “You sure have grown up. You look good enough to eat.”
“Fuck you!” I spit.
"Oh, I plan to do just that. I've been dreaming of you for almost a decade. Almost gave up hope, thinking you offed yourself, but then Tina comes home from a family thing and says her cousin's nephew knows you."
I fire a shot at him.
Miss.
Somewhere in the distance, a low, steady hum rises—faint but growing louder. The unmistakable growl of engines. More than one. My pulse stutters, hope flickering in my chest.
“Oh, don't be like that,” Earl taunts. “I’ll be so good to you… during your heats, that is. Tina says you’ve got a boy with you. Tell me, Brydgett… is he mine?”
“He’smine!” I roar, firing once more.
Earl fires back. Pain sears through my side like fire, sharp and unforgiving. I stagger, clutching the wound as warmth soaks my shirt.
“Mommy?” Judge says from the backseat.
“I’m okay,” I gasp, pressing my palm harder against the bleeding. “Shhh, baby. Listen to me.” My breath comes inshallow bursts. “If he comes over here… you run. Do you hear me? You run to Ike’s. Don’t stop. Don’t look back. You know the way, right?”
“Mom…”
“Promise me, Judge.”
“I know the way,” he whispers.
“Good boy,” I choke out. “I love you.”
“I love you too.”
I peek over the top of the car door. Earl’s grinning as he strolls closer, gun in hand. I pull the trigger one more time.
Click.
Empty.
“Gonna be so good for me, aren’t you, Brydgett?” he says, twisted pleasure filling his words.
