Page 78 of Born into Chaos

“I don’t understand. What do you need us for? Are you holding us for ransom?”

Shane lets out a harsh laugh. “You must think I’m a fucking idiot,”he mutters, and even though I know how much trouble my ass is in right now, I can’t bring myself to kiss his and tell him I think he’s a criminal mastermind. He’s right. I do think he’s a fucking idiot.

“I’m selling her,” he says, pointing a finger at Samantha, “and then I’m getting rid of you and getting my ass as far away as I can.”

My grip tightens on the sweet baby in my arms. “You’re what? You can’t sell her, you bastard.”

“She’s my daughter. I can do whatever the hell I want with her.”

I nearly vomit at the thought of who might be buying a baby and what they plan on doing to her. He sees my disgust and waves my fears away like I’m overreacting.

“Relax,” he tells me. “They can’t have kids and they want a baby.”

“Then why don’t they adopt?”

He sighs, evidently annoyed at having to answer my questions. “The man has a police record.”

“For what?”

Shane looks over at me. “Why the fuck does it matter?”

“Don’t you even care about the kind of people you’re handing your baby over to?”

He shrugs and sits in the chair by the window. The ugly, floral curtains are closed, but they’re thin enough for me to see the occasional semi-truck drive by on the highway we’re facing.

“She’ll be fine. He sells drugs, but he was put away for murder. It was work related, though, not personal, and he did his time, even got out early on good behavior.”

“So he’s a murderer and a drug dealer? That’s who you’re selling Samantha to?”

His eyes narrow and the gun he’s still holding is pointed at me when he says, “Her name is Erin, and you’re one to talk. You were raised by criminals, drug dealers and murderers, and look how amazing you turned out.”

“Fuck you,” I tell him, covering Samantha’s ears as I say it, knowing my family is nothing like the assholes he’s doing business with. I kiss her head and gently rock her in my arms. There’s no way in hell I’mletting her go. I’m not sure how I’m going to stop it or what I’m going to do, but she’s staying with me.

Shane laughs and reaches for the bag of food he’d brought, digging around until he finds a candy bar. He eats it while going back to ignoring me. I put my focus on Samantha, trying to remain as normal as possible with her so she doesn’t get upset. I play peek-a-boo with her, smiling when she gives a deep belly laugh, and then I talk to her in Russian so Shane can’t understand me. I tell her how much Vitya and I love her and how my entire family is searching for us. It’s as much for her benefit as it is mine. I can’t afford to fall apart yet. She needs me, and I need to keep it together for her.

When she starts to get fussy, I give her a bottle and then change her diaper. She falls asleep soon after, and I curl up on the bed next to her, wrapping my body around hers while she sleeps. I don’t remember falling asleep, but the next thing I know I’m jerking my eyes open, disoriented and terrified. The room is dark, the only light coming from a small lamp in the corner, and my heart doesn’t stop racing until I look down and see Samantha still cuddled up next to me. Her small chest rises and falls with her breaths, and when I’m convinced she’s okay, I let out the breath I’ve been holding.

I keep my hand lightly on her chest as I look around the small room. I can’t see Shane, but when I glance behind me, there’s a light coming from under the bathroom door. Without giving myself a chance to debate the pros and cons, I very carefully lift Samantha up, cradling her to my chest as I inch off the bed. My shoes are still on, but I don’t waste time getting my jacket. I do stop and grab the pink fuzzy baby blanket that’s still lying on the bed, though. Tucking it around her, I hurry to the door and quickly undo the chain, cringing when my shaky fingers make the chain rattle softly against the door. Refusing to turn around and see if the bathroom door is still shut, I let go of the chain and turn the deadbolt before flinging the door open and running outside.

“It’s okay,” I whisper to Samantha when she starts to fuss about being jostled around. Scanning the nearly empty parking lot, I eye the area we’re in. I can’t see anything beyond the highway in front of us. It’sa remote location and nothing is within walking distance. Knowing we’re running out of time, I turn and head for the motel’s main office, figuring I can convince whoever’s on duty to lock the doors while I call Vitya. If I can just get in touch with him, then everything will be fine. I know he and my family will take care of the rest.

We’re almost to the door, so close I can see the bored teenager behind the counter with his head buried in his phone, when I feel someone fist my hair right before a hand is clamped over my mouth.

“Stupid fucking bitch,” Shane growls in my ear, dragging me backward, giving me no choice but to walk with him or risk falling and hurting Samantha. He manages to get us both back in the room without anyone spotting us, and then he slams the door shut, scaring Samantha and making her scream. Pissed at me and now annoyed that there’s a baby crying, he rears back and smacks me across the face hard enough to have me spinning around. I clutch Samantha against my chest, protecting her as I hit the wall and then slide down onto my ass.

We’re both crying by the time I hit the ground. Shane squats in front of me. He’s tired and mad and scared. It’s not a good combination for a man who has no experience handling high-stress situations. He’s in over his head. We both know it.

“My family will pay you whatever you want if you let us go.”

“No,” he corrects. “Your family will kill me the second they see me. I’d rather have less money and a chance at a future.”

“They will find you and kill you,” I tell him. “It won’t matter where you go. You’ll never be able to run from them.” I try to keep my voice calm and believable when I say, “I can help. I can convince them to not kill you. They’ll listen to me.”

He thinks about it for a second and then shakes his head. “I don’t think so. I was watching you at the grocery store. I saw the way he looked at you. He’ll never let me live after taking his woman.”

“But you haven’t hurt me,” I quickly say. “One smack across the face, that’s it. I’ll tell them it was my fault, that I mouthed off. Trust me when I say they’ll believe it. They know how frustrating I can be.” I lie my ass off, trying to convince him that my family won’thurt him, that they won’t be out for blood because he dared to lay his hands on me, but for once in his life, Shane is actually using his brain. He knows my family will kill him. He was dead the second he put his gun to my head. He still thinks he has a shot at running, though. He’s very wrong about that.

Samantha starts screaming again, and when he looks down at her, I shield her from his view as best I can and place a protective hand over her head.

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