Page 57 of Crashing Into Me
“I need to hear the words,” she protested.
He sighed, “I promise.”
Paula pressed play on the computer and turned up the volume. Kayden watched the video in its entirety. And witnessed in shock, his mother’s laid out the plan to force Lana to leavehim, his face distended in pain. When all the video clips had played, Paula shut down the laptop and waited for her brother’s reaction. He had his elbows on his knees, still staring at the computer, barely able to contain his emotions.
“Kayden, remember you promised me,” she pleaded.
“I need to see her. We need to go to Florida. Now,” he replied.
“No, we don’t,” Paula stated.
He snapped his head toward her defiantly.
“She’s here.”
Kayden stood from the couch, and Paula could swear his face showed every emotion possible—excitement, anger, fear, joy.
“I’m gonna bring her to you, but it needs to be somewhere mom and Kim won’t see her. At least not yet.”
“Who cares? We have all the evidence we need!”
“Kim has plans of her own, Kayden, and I’m sure Mom has no idea what she’s been up to.”
“What are you talking about?”
“She threatened Lana that if she made contact with you or showed up here in town again, she would turn over evidence of Mom and her friends who helped to sweep some of your past cases under the rug. It’s a ‘If I can’t have him, no one will’ scenario, bro.
Kayden sank to the couch and covered his face with his massive hands. He knew Kim wasn’t an angel, but he had no idea she was that unhinged and would threaten his freedom to make sure he and Lana both suffered.
“I regret the day I ever laid eyes on her.”
“Don’t worry about her, Taylor and I are working on something to put a stop to it.”
Kayden racked his brain, trying to find somewhere in the small town that was still private where he could meet up with Lana. They could meet in Shelby, but he didn’t want to wait aminute longer than he had to, and then it hit him. Smiling at Paula, he ran upstairs to get dressed.
20
never letting go
When Lana heard the knock on the door, she jumped from the bed and crept to the peephole. Paula stood on the outside, scanning the hallway, and she opened the door quickly before Kim — or, God forbid, Maureen—walked out and saw her there. Pulling Paula by the hand, she yanked her in and shut the door behind her, looking out the peephole again to make sure the coast was clear.
“Have you lost your mind?” Paula asked, startled.
Lana turned around and put her finger up to her mouth. Paula took her shades off and frowned.
“You’ve finally snapped, haven’t you?” she continued.
Lana grabbed her arm and took her into the bathroom.
“What is going on?” Paula asked.
“Did you know your mother was my neighbor?” Lana pointed to the wall behind Paula and her eyes grew three times the normal size.
“Oh shit, no. I didn’t know what floor she was on,” she whispered.
“And deranged Kim is at the end of the hall!” Lana whispered as loud as she could.
“You didn’t leave the room, did you?”
