My heart freezes in my chest. One of the only things that’s been helping me sleep at night is knowing my mom has the best representation out there.
Or, had.
“How much was she? Maybe I can help pay for it. I can—”
“No.” Mom shakes her head, her voice firm. She only uses that tone when she’s dead serious about something. “I’m not having you get behind in your classes or miss school just so you can help me afford a lawyer. That’s why they have court-appointed ones—for the people who can’t afford one.”
I bite down on my cheek so hard I taste blood, frustration burning through me like a lick of fire. I know Mom doesn’t want me to give up my life to help her, but it’s not fucking fair. She gave up so much of hers to help me.
Maybe I could win some cash playing poker, but unlike when mom was working too and I just slipped it into her bank account under the radar, now that she’s in prison and her funds are dwindling, she’d definitely notice the extra money and want to know where it came from.
I’d honestly be willing to risk her ang
er and disappointment… if I was sure I’d win. But I’m so fucked up in the head right now, I know I’d be off my game, and I can’t risk losing money she needs.
Which leaves me in the same position I’ve been in for the past three weeks—as a helpless witness to my mom’s destruction.
“Is there anything I can do?” I plead.
“I don’t think so, sweetheart.” She runs a hand through her hair, which looks limp and dull, as if her entire body is worn down from the stress. “Just keep coming to see me. That helps.”
It helps me too. But it’s not enough. There has to be something else I can do.
There is, a voice whispers in the back of my head. Prove it was someone else.
“Hey, Mom…” I glance over my shoulder casually. The guard behind me looks bored as hell, and Lincoln’s waiting outside, so I don’t know who I thought might be eavesdropping. Turning back to face the glass, I ask the question that’s been eating at me for days. “Did Mr. Black ever make a pass at you?”
Her eyebrows shoot up. As far as she’s concerned, this is an abrupt subject change out of left field—which means she has no suspicion that Samuel Black set her up. And why would she? He’s gone out of his way to make it seem like he’s helping her, like he’s on her side.
“No!” She scoffs, but almost as soon as the word is out of her mouth, she purses her lips like she’s reconsidering her answer. “Well, he’s always been a little extra friendly. Happy to have company. But that’s all. I think he’s just lonely. Audrey isn’t the most…” She waves her hand as she tries to think of the word.
Human?
Fully conscious?
She gives up on trying to find the perfect word to describe Linc’s mother and shakes her head.
“He… I think he likes me. He likes to talk with me, and yeah, I’m pretty sure I caught him checking me out once. But he’s never made a move on me or anything. I wouldn’t have stayed if he had.”
I believe that. My mom isn’t the type to be the other woman or to break up a marriage, even if it’s on the rocks already.
What I’m not so sure of, however, is her assessment of Mr. Black’s character. And her claim that he only checked her out once. Maybe she only noticed once, but that’s because Mom is utterly oblivious to those kinds of things most of the time.
Still, it’s a relief to know he wasn’t going after her hard. That he didn’t try to force her or coerce her or anything.
“When you guys talked, did he ever mention… anyone else? Anyone who wasn’t Audrey?”
We’re veering into very weird territory, and judging from the lift of Mom’s eyebrows, she knows it. I’m wondering if Samuel Black ever gave her any hint of his relationship with Iris, but I don’t want to come right out and say the dead girl’s name.
“Low…” Mom’s voice drops as she leans closer to the glass divide, worry pinching her brows together. “Did he ever make a pass at you?”
“No!” My denial is about as fervent as hers was.
Thank God, no.
In fact, up until last week, I kind of liked the guy. He could be a little too friendly, and I knew Linc had issues with him because of the philandering example he set. But I’d always felt like, those interpersonal issues aside, he was a basically decent human being.
Now?