Arnie laughed and dramatically bent forward resting his hands on his knees.“Good one, Sarah-Jane.Holy fuck, you almost had me believing that little speech.”He stood up straight, pretended to wipe tears from his eyes, then narrowed his eyes menacingly.“You can’t prove I took this photograph.You can’t even prove I was there.Let’s play a little Russian roulette, shall we?Monday next week, you’ll give me another thousand dollars, or the police will receive that photograph.”He leaned toward her and breathed deeply as he ran his nose against her neck.“God, you smell good, Sarah-Jane.See you on Monday.”
Pixie stood paralyzed, unable to gather her thoughts.The way his nose had rubbed against her skin made her feel sick.The sight of the knife in her hand, proof that she killed a man, made her so lightheaded, she reached out to the wall for support.
She needed some time.Some peace.Something that would take away the stress and panic while she decided what to do.
Drugs had done that for her once, and she couldn’t possibly ...
It would only be this once, right?
She knew how to control it now.She knew which drugs were easier to quit.There had been no drugs in her system for so many years, it would only take a small dose to grind the edge off.
It was a good idea.
Pixie snapped back into the moment and shook her head furiously.No.There was no way she was going back to that.
The elevator opened and a couple of neighbors got out.Pixie jumped in and focused on getting back to the apartment.Folding the paper as she walked, she headed for her bedroom where she hid the photograph in the back of one of her pattern books.
Then Pixie reached for her phone and dialed a number she hadn’t had reason to call in a while.
“Hello.”The sound of Justin’s deep voice took her back to a place she didn’t really want to be, despite the fact he was the third part of the Trent and Cujo triumvirate who had saved her.
“Justin, it’s Sarah-Jane.”Justin was the only person who ever called her that.Even when she had wanted to escape it and simply be Pixie, he’d challenged her to not let her past take control of who she was.
“Sarah-Jane,” he said in surprise.“It’s been a while.How are you?”
“That’s why I’m calling.I haven’t relapsed once, but today I need help.I’m about to do something stupid.”
“Meet me at the usual spot.I’m on my way,” he said, and she heard a door slam.“Do you need me to stay on the line with you until I get there?”
Tears pricked the corner of her eyes.No questions, no explanations—Justin would be there for her.“No, but I’ll call back if that changes.”
A car engine revved loudly.
“Okay.See you in less than fifteen.You got this.I know you do.”
Pixie hung up the phone and headed out to meet her sponsor.
It would be a cold day in hell before she’d let Arnie send her back there.
* * *
There wasn’t much time left on the flight from Toronto to Miami, so Dred took a last look at the band’s priorities list before the flight attendants started the annoying “shut down electronics”announcements.It had taken Sam the better part of a week to pull together an organized agenda of all their bookings and activities for the next six months.It was ridiculous to think it took him that long.Shouldn’t it all be on a fucking calendar?With all the money they were paying him, Sam had hired an assistant, although Dred suspected her hiring was more to do with her Playboy looks than her organizational skills.
To cancel appearances, they could use the excuse that the new album was taking way longer to complete than expected, and that planning for the tour was running behind as a result.And from what he could figure out, it would cost them nearly two hundred thousand dollars in penalties to get out of contracts, but it would put time back into their schedules, so to Dred, it felt like the right thing to do.
He typed a quick email to the rest of the band requesting their input.
His thoughts drifted to Petal, and he wondered where she was and how she was doing.Amanda’s behavior was abhorrent.Who left their child with someone for twenty-four hours, and then rocked up three days later with the hint of color in their cheeks suggesting a quick spring break to the Caribbean?Not that he minded in the slightest.Looking after his little girl had shown him what it would be like to be a more permanent part of her life.The toughest part was letting Petal leave with Amanda.His initial thoughts of getting Amanda to agree to adoption made him feel ill.And handing her back to a mom who clearly didn’t care for her child’s welfare set his heart on fire.
Unrepentant, she told him he could either get over it real quick or she’d never let Petal stay with him again.When he’d been a child, one of the hardest things to handle was the total lack of control over his situation.Not knowing whether there would be enough food, whether his mom would be there in the morning, whether he’d be safe.He hated the out-of-control feeling he had when it came to Petal.Amanda held all the cards, because even though Canada respected fathers’ rights, it would be hard to convince a judge to give him full custody of a baby.And while he didn’t want to rock the boat for Petal’s sake, he didn’t want the next twenty years to be a perpetual state of acrimony and what was tantamount to blackmail.
He shut down his laptop and packed it away, anxious to make a hasty exit from the plane.Sam had arranged for him to fly commercial, but the airport was aware he was flying in and was sending a representative to get him through the airport quickly.He looked at his phone.With a bit of luck, he’d be at Pixie’s condo by six.Just in time for her to get home from closing the studio.Thank heaven for Sunday hours.
It had been a week since he’d held her in his arms, and he was beginning to realize that all the time they spent video-messaging each other was a poor substitute for the real thing.
Miami airport cooperated with his mission.After the plane landed, Dred quickly made his way out of the airport with the agent’s help.The limo he’d booked sped across the city until he was standing by the buzzer at Pixie’s condo.
His phone vibrated and he checked it.
