My muscles tensed with anger at the injustice of it. I was angry at Dad for orchestrating this madness. And though I couldn’t believe Miranda had the gall to come stake a claim, I had to admit, I didn’t hate seeing her.
Dad wanted us to get remarried. As angry as I was at Miranda for divorcing me in the first place, I’d be open to remarrying her for the lake house. I wanted money from the sale. But based on our last encounterfour years ago, I figured she would likely choose death over remarriage. She had some choice words for me that day, and we hadn’t spoken since.
I scanned the parking lot for her. She’d had a few minutes head start on me, and I could only hope I wasn’t too late. Had to talk to her. I scanned the lot for a few beats, hoping to see her between the cars somewhere. Nothing.
Giving up, I hopped into my truck. As I buckled, a Corolla zoomed down the aisle, heading toward the main drag. White ball cap behind the wheel.
She’s still driving that Corolla?
My gaze followed her car. As she turned right onto the highway, something small tumbled off the top of her vehicle.
I threw the truck into drive.
At the stop sign, I jumped out to retrieve the item. A wallet. Long, gray, with little pink and purple designs on it. My pulse quickened. Part of me wanted to chuck the stupid thing into the hedges and flip off her fading rear end. But another part of me—the dumb part—was excited to possess something of hers.
My natural instinct was to follow her. But doing so would approachpsychotic exterritory. As much as I had loved her, I’d never gone down that path. Didn’t really want to start now.
But, she needed her wallet. She was miles from Ohio.
Before my brain fully granted permission, I was depressing the gas, trying to catch up.
I tried her phone a couple times. It went straight to voicemail. But not before her voice left instructions. “Hey, it’s Miranda. Knowing me, my phone is probably on silent and MIA. But if you leave a message, I’ll call you back whenever I find it.” I swallowed hard as my heart squeezed. Ridiculous how much that voice affected me. Couldn’t believe she still had the same number.
Same car, same number. I wondered if anything about her had changed.
While idling at a busy intersection, I flipped open the wallet. Miranda’s I.D. stared back at me. She had a Ohio address and her last name readHoward.Her maiden name. As sucky as those DMV pictures typically were, hers took my breath away.
There was nothing else inside. No cards, cash, change. Nothing at all.
I frowned.
I dropped it onto the console as Miranda pulled into the turning lane. I still remembered my way around Chicago and knew she was heading straight for the ghetto.
“Where are you going?” I muttered.
My phone buzzed. I glanced at it.
Jules: I cannot believe Dad did this! Please call me. We are on our way to the airport. I’ll have about two hours. I’m worried sick about you! I feel like this was my fault.
I ignored the text and tapped my turning signal.
Ten minutes later, we were deep in the bowels of Chicago. Barred and boarded windows, trash piles on the sidewalks, and loitering individuals were the tamest things you’d see here. Nashville had its own version of the hood. And I’d seen enough images to last a lifetime.
In my twelve years as a police officer, my gun stayed in its holster more often than not. I hadn’t gone into the business out of a desire to fire at humans. But because I’d seen plenty of situations go sideways, the glock 22 at my side never hurt.
Especially now that my ex-wife’s car was smoking.
You’ve got to be kidding me.
What started as a tiny gray strand of smoke turned into a full-on billow in about thirty seconds. Her emergency flashers came on and she pulled into the parkinglot of a boarded-up gas station. She tumbled out of the car and ran to the front to open the hood. She waved a hand in front of her face and coughed.
In true form, she didn’t see me park behind her and step out of the truck. Great to know my lectures about situational awareness made such an impact.
I called out so as not to startle her. “Miranda!”
She looked around the popped hood and her mouth fell open. “Jack?”
“What are you doing out here?”
