by B. B. Hamel
She raises an eyebrow. “Why?”
I press the nurse call button. “Because I’m going to request those good drugs and maybe get some more sleep.”
She laughs softly and kisses my lips. “I’ll be back as soon as I can.”
“Good. You can do it.”
She nods, turns, and leaves the room.
I watch her go, smiling to myself. I’m not shocked that she blames herself, but it just underscores really how much she cares bout me. I know asking her to get that camera is no small task, but we need the footage before the cops can get it. Without it, this all might get swept up under the rug, and the Carters will never back off.
The nurse comes soon and they run some tests on me. Eventually I do get those good drugs, which make me fall asleep before Noah and Alice come. But all the while, I’m thinking about Mia and what my future with her is going to bring, and I can’t help but feel optimistic for the first time in a long time.
26
Mia
There is one car storage facility in the whole town, which is pretty nice. Having a small town can be pretty beneficial sometimes. If this were a big city, I’d be running around checking places all day at least.
Roy’s Towing is an auto shop and junkyard on the east side of town. It’s a pretty large property, and I only know about it because I parked illegally once two years ago and got towed here. I’m assuming this is where they towed Lucas’s truck after the accident, especially if they’re not sure if it’s foul play or not. I doubt it would be with the police, or at least Lucas doesn’t think it would be.
I walk into the main building. Roy’s is pretty run down. The calendar on the wall showing busty women in tiny bikinis is two years old and everything looks like it has a thin layer of motor grease and grime all over it. Stickers for auto parts and supplies places are plastered all over the walls, and the computer is at least ten years old.
I ring a bell and wait. The place looks totally empty, but the sign on the door said they were open. It takes a few minutes and another ring of the bell before an older man, graying hair and round in the middle, comes ambling from the back room.
“Yes, I heard you,” he says, coming up. He puts on his glasses. He’s wearing a black sweatshirt and tattered jeans with oil stains all over them. He looks at me through his glasses. “What can I do for you?”
“Hi, I’m actually looking for a truck that was brought in recently.”
He leans against the counter. “Be a little more specific.”
I flush slightly. “It’s a black Ford truck. It was in an accident recently, was probably brought in here.”
He nods slowly. “I think I got the one you mean. Had that Baker boy driving, yeah?”
“Lucas,” I say. “How’d you know?”
“Small town, girl.” He crosses his arms, eyeing me. “That probably makes you Mia Hayes, now doesn’t it?”
I gape at him. “How’d you know that?”
“Small town.” He shrugs. “I’m Roy himself, if you weren’t sure. And I got that truck here.”
I bright a little bit. “That’s great! Is there any way I can see it?”
He pauses for a second. “Why would you want to do that? It’s pretty beat up.”
“I left something in there. My uh, my work papers. Important ones. For my job.” I smile at him sweetly but inside I feel like a freaking idiot. There’s no way he’s going to buy this.
He frowns at me. “I don’t remember anything like that,” he says. “You sure about that?”
“Very sure.”
He sighs. “I don’t think so. Can’t let you back there. Cops want to take a look at it, haven’t called it a crime scene yet, but they’re gonna. And I’ll be in deep shit if I let you in.”
I start to sweat slightly. I’m pretty sure he can’t legally keep me from the truck, but I’m not positive. Because the cops are involved, I know things are a little up in the air. I don’t want to push it and make things harder. I know I have to move on to Plan B. I reach into my back pocket and take out fifty dollars. I put it on the counter and slide it to him. He watches the money with a raised eyebrow.
“Please,” I say. “They’re very important papers.”
“Well, now,” he says, taking the cash. He counts it right in front of me with a small smile. “Must be real important, trying to bribe me.” He puts the cash into his pocket. “But I already said no.”
I gape at him. “But, hey, my money.”
“Bribe’s a bribe, even when it don’t work.” He leans against the wall, crossing his arm. “Besides, I suppose you wouldn’t want me telling the cops you tried to bribe me into seeing that truck.”
My heart starts hammering in my chest. I’m on the verge of freaking out and I don’t know what to do.
“Please,” I say. “Don’t do that.”
“I might not.”
“Listen, the truth is, I need something from there. It’s about the Carters. They might be involved in this, and we’re afraid they can bury it, cover it all up, and if I don’t get in that truck, it all might blow up in our faces, and I’m scared. He almost died because of me, and—“
Roy holds his hands up, interrupting my word vomit. I don’t know what the hell I’m thinking telling him the truth like that. For all I know, he’s on the Carters’ payroll, and I just screwed us even worse.
He looks at me as I stand there, sweating and feeling like an idiot. I’m not built for this kind of thing. I’m a nice girl, not the kind of person who has to regularly bribe junkyard owners into seeing a wrecked truck. I have no clue what I’m doing. If he rats me out to the cops, or tells the Carters, I just made things so much worse for Lucas and we’re both screwed.
“Did you say the Carters?” he asks me, lowering his glasses.
“I, uh, I don’t know, I just—“
“You did,” he says. “This is about those bastards, huh?”
I pause, surprised, eyes wide. “Yes,” I say. “It is.”
He leans toward me, a little smile on his face. “Is this going to embarrass them?”
Hope blossoms in my chest. “Yes,” I say. “It really is.”
“Good.” He grins at me. “I hate those fucking rich snooty assholes. Go ahead, go around back. Truck’s in the second row on the right, just up front. Should be open.”
I want to scream with joy. “Thank you so, so much.”
“I’ll be in my office, playing music real loud. We never met or talked. Got it?”
“I got it.”
“Seriously,” he says, looking at me hard. “You never saw me. I’ve been in my office for hours, music real loud.”
“Got it. Never saw you.”
He nods. “Get on with it.” He turns and heads into the back room.
“Thank you!” I call out as I run back out the front door, pulse pounding in my chest. I hurry around the side, slipping through the gate, and go around. I count the rows and easily spot Lucas’s truck sitting at the end, right in the open.
I gasp when I see it. I can’t believe how wrecked it is. I have no clue how he could have survived that. I walk over and manage to pull the door open. The truck is a mess of twisted metal and broken glass, and I have to be careful.
The camera isn’t on the dash. That doesn’t surprise me, I figure the cops would have grabbed it if it were. I start looking around under the seats, but there’s broken glass all over.
I brush it aside and check under the driver’s seat then the passenger’s seat. I nearly scream when I see it lodged underneath the passenger side, covered by some debris, but definitely there. I reach in and grab it, cutting my hand on some glass, but it’s worth it.
I pull the camera out. It looks like it’s still in decent shape. Scratched up and the base is broken, but the main head looks like it’s in one piece, though the lens is cracked. I shove it into my bag and quickly leave the junkyard. I get into my car and drive fast.
I shouldn’t be surprised that Roy hates the Carters. Everyone in
this town hates those assholes. I’m just lucky as hell that it worked out.
I drive as fast as I can back to the hospital. I have my laptop and some cables handy. I park and carry it all in my bag, heart beating fast in my chest. When I get to Lucas’s room, I find him awake and smiling, holding Noah in his arms, with Alice looking on.
“Mia!” Alice says, getting up. “Look at him. He seems totally fine.” I hug Alice and grin at Lucas.
“He sure does,” I say. “He says he’s had worse.”
“I have,” he grumbles. “Don’t know what all the fuss is about.”
“You almost died,” Alice chides him. “This is serious.”
He grumbles then goes back to playing with Noah. I catch his eye and give him a nod and a smile, which he seems to understand immediately. He looks over at Alice.
“Hey, would you mind taking Noah for a second?” he asks.
“Of course.” She takes him.
“And could you two, uh, get me a soda, maybe?” He grins at her a little.
She looks between the two of us and smiles. “Of course. We’ll be back in ten minutes.” She leaves, giving me a wink.
I blush and give him a look. “You could have been a little more subtle.”
“Nah. Better she thinks we’re being dirty in here.”
“Dirty?” I sigh, shaking my head as I get out my laptop and the camera. “You can barely move.”
“Please. I can still make you moan.”
I bite my lip a little and can’t help but smile. “Maybe later. Let’s do this first.” I put the laptop in his lap. He adjusts his bed, sitting up some more, and takes the cables and the dashcam.
“Let’s see here,” he says to himself as he plugs it all in. I unlock the laptop for him and he does the rest, uploading the video in maybe two minutes tops.
“That’s it?” I ask him.
“That’s it,” he confirms. “Now, let’s watch.” He opens the video files for that night and we skip through as he’s driving back home from my house. Most of the video is of the road, his headlights shining.
He slows down as he starts to drive more erratically, taking turns very fast. Suddenly, another pair of headlights appears right next to his.
“I remember this,” he says softly. “I think I remember. He pulled up next to me.” Lucas scrunches his face. “But I can’t remember who it is.”
“Was it Caleb?” I ask him. “Did you see Caleb?”
He shakes his head slowly. “Not Caleb’s car.”
We keep watching. The two trucks drive next to each other and hit a sharp curve. Suddenly, Lucas’s truck loses control, skids out, spinning. The video goes wild at this point, but it’s clear that by the end, the truck smashes against a tree and comes to a stop. At that point, the video cuts off, because the camera must get thrown from the dash and ends up under the seat.
Lucas frowns at the screen.
“That’s it?” I ask him.
“No. That can’t be it.” He rewinds it and we watch again.
He goes through it twice, each time slower than the next. As we watch, he goes frame by frame during the point that the truck is spinning toward the tree. Suddenly, he stops it and points.
“There,” he says. “Look.”
I squint. The frame is blurry, but there’s what looks like the back of a truck driving away. He zooms in on the image and takes a screen shot.
“Do you have Photoshop?” he asks.
“Yeah,” I say. “Right there.” I point at the icon.
He opens the image in Photoshop and starts to mess around with it. After a few minutes, we’re both staring at what’s clearly a license plate, and the numbers are legible.
“Where’d you learn that?” I ask him.
“Lots of down time when I was in the military. Used to mess around a lot in Photoshop.” He shrugs.
“So this is the person who did this to you.”
“Yep,” he says. “And I bet that if we go to the Carter house right now, we’ll find this truck parked in their driveway.”
I laugh a little bit and kiss him on the lips. He pulls me closer, holding me tight, kissing me deeply.
It’s at that point that Alice decides to come back in.
“Oh, sorry, didn’t know you two wouldn’t be done,” she says.
I blush like mad but Lucas just laughs. He saves the image file and shuts the laptop lid before Alice can see what it is. I take it from him and put it all back in my bag as Alice hands Noah back to Lucas.
We don’t talk about the license plate with Alice and Noah around, but we both know what we need to do next. When he’s ready, we’re going to get out of this hospital, and we’re going to prove that it was the Carters. Maybe it was Caleb or maybe it was Dylan, but it was one of the brothers that drove Lucas off the road. All we need to do is find the matching plate, and we’ll have all the proof we’ll need.
I just have to trust Lucas. No more going back to the Carters, no more keeping him at arm’s length. He almost died because of me, and now I’m going to trust him to take care of me. I’m his girl, and that’s all that matters to me.
I feel good sitting there with Alice and Noah and Lucas. I actually feel like this is almost normal, like we’re a happy little family. I hold Noah when Lucas gets tired, and we spend the afternoon laughing and being happy.
A weight feels like it lifts from my chest. He’s going to survive and maybe, if we’re lucky, we can beat this. We can get the Carters off our backs and move on with our lives. Maybe we can even save the nature preserve.
I feel hope for the first time in a long time, all because of Lucas. I just need to trust him. I just need to let myself feel what I’m feeling. He’s going to take care of me, and I’m going to finally get what I need.
27
Lucas
Three Weeks Later
I squeeze Mia’s hand in mine as we stand side by side outside of the Brokerage Inc. headquarters. It’s set back in a small strip mall in the center of town. The front looks pretty rundown, surprisingly for what’s supposed to be the center of the Carter family empire.
“You ready?” I ask Mia.
She nods her head once. “I guess so.”
“Good.” I grin at her and turn back to the door.
I’ve been out of the hospital for a week now. I’m not fully healed, not even close, and my body is still a patchwork for bruises and scars, and my arm is still in a sling. But none of that matters. I’m free and alive and that’s very bad news for the Carter family.
I push through the front door and step into the office. It looks like a normal reception area. The secretary sitting out front is an older woman, maybe in her late fifties, with thick blonde hair and a face splattered with makeup. Mia follows me inside, standing close.
I can feel her nerves, but that’s okay. She has every right to be nervous. We’re going up against the Carter family, and this moment will make or break us.
The secretary smiles as I approach.
“Afternoon,” I say to her. “I’m here to see Mr. Carter.”
She frowns slightly. “Do you have an appointment?”
“I don’t,” I say. “My name is Lucas Baker and I’m here with Mia Hayes. He’s going to want to see us, I think.”
She does her best to give us both a smile. The names don’t ring a bell, but I wouldn’t expect them to. She doesn’t have anything to do with the Carters and their shitty business dealings, I’m sure.
“One moment,” she says before standing and heading into the back.
I look at Mia and she tries to smile. “What if he doesn’t want to see us?” she asks.
“We’ll go back anyway.”
She bits her lip. “What if this doesn’t work?”
“It will work.” I squeeze her hand just as the secretary comes back.
She gives me a confused little smile but doesn’t sit down. “Okay, head on back,” she says.
I grin at Mia and we follow the secretary into the halls of Broke
rage Inc. In theory, this is supposed to be a money lending operation, though it’s pretty empty. I spot maybe three other employees. I have my suspicions about this place, but that’s not why we’re here. Frankly, I don’t care about his shady business dealings. I only care about Mia.
The secretary knocks on a door then steps back. The door opens a second later, and Mr. Carter himself ushers us into his office.
He shuts the door behind us and gestures at the chairs in front of his desk. “Have a seat,” he says. We all sit down in our spots and he leans back in his chair, eyeing us. “I have to say, I’m surprised to see you two here.”
“I’m sure you are,” I say.
He gives me a look. “What can I do for you guys?”
He’s still trying to play the genial businessman, with a fake smile and an open demeanor. He probably thinks that letting us back here was a good move on his part, a way to keep pretending to be a good guy.
But that’s his first mistake, because we know better.
“We’re here for a simple reason,” I say. “I want you to get your sons to leave us alone. And Mia wants you to back off of the nature preserve.”
He smiles slightly wider. “I don’t have any control over my sons,” he says. “And Mia knows I can’t do any such thing.”
“Actually, Mr. Carter, you have a lot of control over your sons.” I lean toward him, staring into his eyes. “But we’re not requesting. We’re demanding.”
He laughs softly, arching his fingers together. “Interesting. Why do you think you can order me around, Lucas Baker? You’re just some washed up military guy, home to raise a motherless child.”
I look at Mia. “Show him,” I say.
She nods, looking nervous.
Mr. Carter looks amused. “Mia, dear, you shouldn’t be here. We gave you plenty of chances.”
“I think you’ll want to see this,” I say to him.
Mia pulls a folder from her bag and passes it across the desk to Mr. Carter. He gives us a bemused look before opening the folder. “Okay, what am I looking at?” he asks.