Page 15 of The Echo of Violence

Turning back to the pregnant woman, I see a man approach her and start talking. I almost turn away again, but her whole demeanor changes. What was once open and relaxed is now rigid and tense. She turns from the man with a shake of her head and a fake smile as she scans the area for her boy. When the man starts to crowd her, I curse under my breath and walk over to them.

“It’s none of your business, Jinx.” I remind myself that stepping between lovers’ quarrels never ends well, but something about this whole scene feels wrong.

When he reaches out to touch her belly, I hesitate for a second to see how she reacts. If he’s her partner and she’s not in danger, I’ll back off.

Her face pales, and she steps back, so I take that as my cue to interrupt. “Oh, hey, there you are. Sorry it took so long. Traffic was a bitch,” I say to her with a smile.

She looks at me with a question in her eyes, but she doesn’t shut me down. I can see her shaking from here, so I lean in and give her a hug.

“Just play along,” I whisper.

Staying close to her, I turn and face the man, my smile long gone.

“Who’s this?”

“I don’t know. He just started talking to me,” she murmurs softly.

The asshole in front of me opens his mouth, but I beat him to it.

“Wait, didn’t you warn him about Derek?”

I look at her, willing her to go along with me.

“Dammit, girl, you know what he’s like. He’s only just gotten out of prison for attacking the last guy who spoke to you. You know how crazy possessive your husband is.”

“I…uh…” she starts, but the asshole looks between us.

“Husband?”

I point at her belly. “You didn’t think she swallowed a beach ball, did you? You’d think after six kids, her husband would leave her alone, but like I said, he’s obsessed.” I look down at my watch before looking into the guy’s eyes.

“He should be here any minute. If you stick around, we can introduce him to you. Just don’t touch his wife, or stand too close, or… look at her.” I look over his shoulder and smile.

“Oh, I think I see him now.”

The guy takes off like his laxatives just kicked in. I didn’t even get to kick his ass.

Turning back to the woman, I take a step away so she doesn’t feel crowded.

“Are you okay?”

She nods, her hands resting on her belly. “Thank you. He freaked me out. He didn’t say or do anything wrong, but everything was just off.”

“Always listen to your instincts. Sometimes, especially as a woman, it’s the only early warning system we have. Besides, he touched you. That’s crossing a line.”

“You’d think so, wouldn’t you? But it seems like my bump has a neon sign pointing to it that says, Please touch me.”

“If it were me, there would be a lot more handless people in the world,” I mutter, making her laugh.

“Hey, Mama, look what I found.”

We both turn at the sound of the voice, and I see the little boy holding a pebble you’d usually find on a beach. It’s a little out of place here, but there are a lot of flower beds and walkways further down, so maybe they brought them in to use as decorations.

“Wow, that’s pretty,” his mom says.

He smiles and looks at me. “Hi. I’m Sam.”

“Hi Sam, I’m Jinx. It’s nice to meet you. I like your stone.”

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