Page 154 of Beautifully Shattered
“No!” she screams so loud, time speeding up once again, and I know other shoppers must have heard her.
“Run,Tahli!” I yell, watching the horror in her eyes as she panics.
I sprint forward, no longer scared of my mother, only terrified she will hurt Tahli.
My mum lunges, grabbing Tahli before I can reach her, just as Maggie comes charging our way.
With rough hands, Mum yanks Tahli backwards, her small frame so easy to move as she slams into Maggie, who catches her in a death grip, and my mum whips around to face me, rage twisting her face.
“You can’t have her. She’s mine. Not yours.”
“You’re not fit to be a mother,” I snarl, closing the distance fast, enjoying the panic that flashes in her eyes, and the way she stumbles back. “Tahli is coming with me. Do whatever you want with Maggie. I couldn’t give two fucks what happens to that bitch!”
“No!” Mum lunges for me, and I brace myself for the impact, but it never comes.
Instead, Ringo’s hand shoots past me, fisting the front of Mum’s blouse as he leans close, his voice a deadly growl.
“What the fuck did I say to you last time?” he snarls, walking her backwards towards my sisters. “I told you I’d make you go missing. I wasn’t fucking joking,Priscilla.”
When my mum’s calves hit the trolley, she gasps and tries to slap at Ringo, but he ignores her attempts, his eyes snapping to my sisters, who are now boxed in by JD and Jols behind them.
“You remember me, Tahli?” he asks calmly, and as I peer around him, I see Tahli nodding. “It’s time to come with us now. Abbey will take better care of you than your so-called mother ever did.”
“You can’t have her!” Maggie snaps, fisting her hand in Tahli’s hair and yanking it back so hard that Tahli cries out.
“Let her go, Maggie!” I storm forward, but Jols reaches her first, grabbing Maggie’s hair and giving her a taste of her own medicine.
The moment Maggie cries out, she releases Tahli, and my little sister bolts for me, flinching as she passes Mum, who tries to grab for her, but Ringo’s grip on her is ironclad.
And just like that, Tahli is in my arms, her frail, trembling body collapsing against me as she falls apart.
“Let’s go,” Ringo snarls into my mum’s face. “You’re coming with us too.”
Part of me doesn’t want Mum and Maggie anywhere near us. I don’t even want to see their faces, but I know we need to deal with them, and we can’t do that inside a supermarket.
“No! Stop! Help! I’m being kidnapped!” my mum shrieks, her voice high and panicked.
Ringo curses, looking like he’s a breath away from knocking her out. And I kinda wish he would.
“Someone call the police!” a woman screams from somewhere, and I know this situation is about to turn bad, and fast.
“Leave them!” I call over my shoulder, clutching Tahli tight as I hurry down the aisle. “They’ll keep.”
“You sure?” Ringo asks, and I nod.
“Let’s just get Tahli out of here,” I say, and Ringo nods back before shoving my mum into the shelves, while Jols does the same with Maggie.
Then, we run.
I know there are cameras in here, but I don’t care. My face has been splashed all over the news. Let them run their fake stories again. I know the truth, and so does Tahli.
“Do it now!” Ringo barks, his voice low and deadly as he sprints next to me, snapping orders into his phone.
I have no idea who he’s talking to, but the next second, a window-shattering boom explodes from the carpark as a car goes up in a ball of fire.
Screams echo around us, shoppers scattering, the distraction now drawing attention to the blast. People run and hide like the supermarket is under attack, giving us the perfect cover to get away.
Now I understand why Ringo insisted we take the van today. He planned this from the start, prepared to haul more people with us than what we came here with.
