Page 108 of Resist

“Overdosing seems like a better way to go than the way she chose.”

“Get out!” I scream at him at the top of my lungs as he stares at me with the slightest of smirks.

“I take it that’s a no, then?”

“No!” I scream and slam the door in his face, the clicking of the locks accompanied by his chuckle on the other side of it.

The tears flow furiously. The want and need to pay him off, to get him out of our life and secure Lucy in mine is so tempting I can taste it . . . but the stack of bills on the table, the proof that my sister once was alive and fighting the battle he’s obviously given up on, tells me it’s not possible.

I can’t work any harder, do anything more than I’m already doing to try to prove I’m the suitable one to adopt Lucy.

It takes me a few moments to cool down so that my hands aren’t trembling and my pulse isn’t racing, and when I do, I grab my cell phone.

“Social Service Office, Priscilla Jengle speaking.”

“Hi, Priscilla—it’s Vaughn Sanders.”

“Someone’s ears must be burning.”

“Excuse me?”

“I just received a very disturbing call from Brian.”

Dread drops like a dead weight through me, my mind already assuming the worst before she speaks.

There’s nothing I’d put past him.

“Disturbing?” Deep breath, Vaughn. “How about the notion that he was just here—at my house. That he offered to give me the right to adopt Lucy in exchange for two hundred thousand dollars. He tried to get me to buy her from him. Buy her! I’m not sure if there is anything you can say to me that can top how disturbing that is.”

She tsks, and the sound comes through the line in unmistaken disapproval. “Hmm.”

“What does that mean?” I ask, trying to rein in my anger.

“It’s funny that he was just telling me you made that exact same offer to him.”

I burst out in disbelieving laughter without even thinking about how it sounds to her. “You’re kidding me, right? What in the hell would I want the two hundred thousand for?”

And then it hits me.

“Well, you are under quite a lot of financial stress. Stress you incurred to try to help Lucy’s mother. Two hundred thousand dollars would go a long way to help pay down your debt . . .”

“Are you kidding me? Are you actually implying that I’d sell Lucy to pay down my bills?” Toe the line, Vaughn. Be calm. She’s the one who makes the final decision. “What about Brian? What about his reasons? You can get a whole lot of drugs for two hundred thousand.”

“All of his tests have come back clean.”

“Test him right now,” I demand. “He was just here. He’s going through withdrawals.”

“That’s not how random drug testing works.”

“So, let me get this straight. He comes to my house, propositions me, and when it doesn’t go the way he wants to, he calls you to cover his tracks.” I blow out a sigh, marveling at his stunt and her naivete. “And you believe him.”

“No one said I was taking sides.”

Bullshit.

“But since he called you first, you’re more apt to—”

“I’m not impressed with your tone, Ms. Sanders.”