Page 95 of Tangled Up

She’s flying through the small town, passing intersection after intersection. We cross more railroad tracks, into more open farmland. I’ve just taken a breath, thinking at least this might be safer when the car suddenly swerves.

I hit the brakes as the front-end of the Honda goes down into a ditch. We all shout in horror as the back end catapults over the front.

“NO!” I don’t know if my voice or Henry’s is louder as the car flips once then rolls again and again before spinning out into a vacant field and stopping.

CHAPTERTWENTY-SEVEN

CARLY

My head still throbs from that slam against the gear shift, and my heart is flying in my chest. I’m not buckled in, and Alize is going way too fast.

“I think you can slow down some now.” I keep glancing in the mirror, to see only darkness behind us. “I don’t think anybody’s following us.”

“They’re coming.” Her hands grip and loosen on the steering wheel. “They won’t let that go unchecked. We’ve got to stay ahead of them.”

She picks up her phone and starts tapping but suddenly swerves to avoid the shoulder.

“No!” I let out a little yell as my heart jumps to my throat. “I can help with that. What are you looking for?”

“You think I’m stupid? I’m not giving you my phone so you can call the cops.”

“I won’t call anyone, I promise.” I hold out trembling, cuffed hands, nodding at the device. “You can’t text at this speed. You’ll steer off the road and get us killed. How will that help anyone?”

Her lips press into a tight line, and she looks quickly from me to the road ahead. “Fine.” She tosses the phone at me. “I opened the navigator app. Find us the quickest route to Pace.”

“I thought we were going to—”

“The bitch lives in Pace,” she shouts.

Chewing my lip, I type in the name of the city and hit start. A computer-generated voice begins speaking, telling us to continue northwest on I-75 for 500 miles. My head throbs worse as I realize I’m in for an eight-hour drive in handcuffs.

Dropping my chin, I do my best not to cry. I’m so tired. My wrists hurt, and I’m afraid I’m going to die in this car.

Looking out the window, I watch the white line zipping past. The windows are down, and my hair blows in humid knots around my head. The scent of salty pine blows all around us, and I think about Beck.

My last text from him said he had to take care of a few appointments before he got on the road. I can’t imagine what he’s thinking right now. He’s probably frantic. Henry is probably frantic, my aunt, Jessica…

It’s getting harder to care about Alize, but clearing my throat, I try one more time. “If you exit now and drive us to the nearest police station, I’ll go back with you. We can get another evaluation, take it to the judge. I’ll do everything I can to be sure you have visitation rights—”

“I don’t want visitation rights.” She glares at me. “I want my babies back. Shelby is so little, if any more time passes, she won’t even remember me.”

My eyes close as I exhale. I’m tired, and it’s time for the hard truth.

“You’re not going to get them back, Alize. You left them in a house for more than a day alone. The neighbor found your son trying to feed the baby hot dogs. Raw hot dogs.”

Alize’s head drops back. “I was lost. I took the bus to Cantonment, and I got off track. I was trying to find a job that didn’t care if I had a record.”

“You didn’t even hire a sitter.”

“I didn’t have money for a sitter! I thought I could get back before they woke up.”

“You can’t leave small children at home alone foranyamount of time.” I’m out of patience. “Even if you were lost, you were gone more than twenty-four hours. You could’ve walked back in less time than that.”

She’s quiet, and I can tell she’s hiding something. I watch her blinking fast, looking out the window and back at the road.

“You told me you’ve never used drugs. If it wasn’t a drug deal gone wrong, what was it?”

She looks out the window and back at the road, not answering me.

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