Page 76 of Coast

What if I’d hurt him?

Killed him?

Could I go to jail? That was vehicular manslaughter, wasn’t it? Did judges even care about extenuating circumstances? Lord knew I wouldn’t be able to afford a lawyer to plead my case. I’d be stuck with an overworked, underpaid public defender who just wanted to clear his desk.

I couldn’t take that chance.

If the guy was dead, he was dead. What good would telling anyone about it be?

I moved up and down several streets, and when no headlights came up behind me, I slowed my pace so I didn’t get pulled over. Then reached over to turn on Lainey’s favorite music. That didn’t make my ears feel like they were bleeding or anything. But at least it calmed her crying.

As I sat at a red light, I tried to figure out where I was going.

Back to the motel?

My mind flashed back to that same room, but with all my belongings strewn about, every drawer overturned.

What if that hadn’t been a robbery?

What if someone had been looking for me?

And when they hadn’t found me, tried to find any evidence of who I was?

I didn’t keep any documents in the motel rooms, though. It was out of pure paranoia about someone breaking in or the staff taking it.

I had a small safety deposit box where I kept our important documents and a little bit of cash. Just in case.

They wouldn’t have found a single thing with my name on it. Let alone anything else about me.

But if that had been them, they knew where I lived. Maybe they’d just been biding their time to catch me alone again. And thanks to Coast, I hadn’t been for days.

Something niggled at me until it surfaced fully.

Just an hour or so ago.

Standing in the lot of the motel talking to Carter.

He’d looked at something over my shoulder and had gotten tense.

Could it have been them?

Watching me?

Following me?

Waiting for a chance to sneak up on me?

If either instance could have been them, then there was no way for me to go back to the motel.

Brooke and Tasha were there. Along with their kids. I couldn’t bring a dangerous situation there. A possible shoot-out at a place with paper-thin walls.

I couldn’t afford to go anywhere else for the night. It just wasn’t an option.

Which only left me one place.

Somewhere I really, really didn’t want to have to go.

But for Lainey?

---