Page 116 of Bar Down, Baby

Her logic astounds me, but she’s the gatekeeper and I’m not going to argue.

“I know this is an uncomfortable phone call, but I just wondered… Megan asked for space. And I’m giving it to her. But I figured that if something happened, she would tell you. And I wondered—hoped, actually—that if something happens to her, to the pregnancy, I mean—”

“Derek,” she interrupts.

“Is there any way you might be willing to—”

“Derek,” she says again. This time more urgently.

“What is it?”

“She’s here.”

“Here? Where is here?”

“Pahrump.”

“What? Why? Was she allowed to fly this late in the pregnancy? Is she okay?”

“She’s okay. She’s just—well, there was a death—”

“Is she okay? Who died?”Fuck.Panic, fast and ferocious hammers into my chest.

“Her mother’s husband.”

My blood runs cold.

She risked a late-term flight for that fucker’s funeral? I must be missing something.

“That asshole? Probably deserved whatever he got.”

She snorts. “That’s the first smart thing you’ve said.”

“How long will she be there?”

“I don’t know. She’s trying to help her mother figure things out, but it’s a mess.”

“I should be there,” I say.

“Derek, I don’t know—”

“I won’t come see her,” I say. “Not unless she says it’s okay. But I should be there, right? Just in case?”

She’s quiet for a long moment. Then she clears her throat.

“Please don’t do anything that’s going to hurt her more. Her heart can’t take it.”

My gut twists and my throat burns. It’s the slap in the face I deserve.

“I can help. Nobody has to know it’s me. But I can… I don’t know, pick up food for the funeral. I can drive a truck to cart the dickwad’s shit away. I can pay bills. Anonymously. I can… anything. Whatever I can do. I can…” I look at the clock. It’s almost eight o’clock. Could I get on a plane tonight? Probably not. Maybe tomorrow? In the morning?

She lets out a heavy sigh. “Look, I’ll deny this if she ever asks, understood?”

“Yeah, sure.”

“You really messed up. She’s in bad shape. Like, worse than when she left home.”

My stomach twists again, thinking about seventeen-year-old Megan having to move in with a predator.

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