Page 8 of In Her Sights
“Thanks, Moo. I wouldn’t have made it without you.”
“How did such an incredible person like you come from Mom and a guy nicknamed POS?” Molly asked. After Jane’s second husband, Victor, had died, she’d been wild with grief. Impulsively, she’d married Dwayne “POS” Possin just long enough to get pregnant before divorcing him and remarrying her first husband, Lono. Jane’s marriage to POS had been a short-lived mistake, but Molly was grateful for it. After all, Norah had been the result. “That’s a genetic miracle right there.”
“Hey!” Norah sat up straight. Even though she was obviously trying to sound indignant, a grin tugged at her lips. “She’s your mom, too. Fifty percent of your genetic material came from her.” She paused for a moment. “Though I have to admit that being half Lono is better than being half POS.”
Stifling a sudden yawn, Molly stood and reached to pull Norah to her feet. “Well, POS must’ve had some good dormant material, because you turned out pretty perfect.”
Although Norah rolled her eyes, she fought a smile, too. “Thanks, strict nun-teacher person.”
Molly poked her sister in the side, just where she knew Norah was ticklish. “Maybe not completely perfect.”
With a giggle, Norah bumped her with her painfully pointy elbow before heading up the stairs. As Molly followed, her thoughts turned back to her mom, and her smile faded. After the scene earlier, it was even more evident that they needed to have a serious conversation…one that might very well end with Molly having to kick her mother out of their house. Firming her jaw, she straightened her spine. It was past time Jane learned to stand on her own two feet and quit mooching off her kids.
As much as Molly dreaded the scene it would cause, she was going to evict her mom…for all of their sakes.
Chapter 3
At the loud pounding, Molly buried her head under her pillow and whimpered. It felt like she’d just dozed off after lying exhausted but wide awake in bed, stewing about her mom, feeling the usual medley of guilt and resentment and annoyance that encounters with Jane always inspired in her. Now, her eyelids refused to open, her brain fuzzy and heavy with the need to sleep, but whoever was knocking on the door wasn’t stopping. In fact, they were getting louder.
With a sound that was part growl and part pathetic whine, she lifted her head, prying her eyes open just enough to locate her phone where it sat on the bedside table. Even before she grabbed it, she knew it was much too early—barely dawn, judging by the dark-gray cast of the light filtering through her bedroom window.
“Are you serious?” she croaked when she finally saw the time. Apparently, the visitor was serious, because the pounding on the door continued. “Five fourteen in the morning?” She also noticed that she had a whole slew of texts and calls, several from unknown numbers, and she realized that she’d managed to sleep through all the notifications. The latest text was from her mom, and Molly climbed out of bed, now fully awake. Of course Jane was the reason someone was trying to break down their front door at dawn. Of course.
Suddenly, the knocking stopped, and the faint sound of voices—one male and one female—took its place. Someone else must’ve been faster getting out of bed than she’d been. Now that some of the resentment of being woken so early had faded, curiosity was worming its way into Molly’s brain. She debated whether she should get dressed or not and finally decided not to miss any more of the action than she already had.
As she rushed downstairs, she skimmed through her new texts, and her apprehension grew at the same rate as her irritation. Her mom’s messages were typical of Jane, starting two hours earlier and ending forty minutes ago.
Need help. Car died. Pick me up in front of the parking ramp at 3rd and Josephine. Hurry.
In Cherry Creek.
Hurry.
Why aren’t you answering?
I can’t believe you’re going to abandon me in my time of need!
After refusing to let me use your car, too.
You’re a selfish child, Molly.
I can’t believe you’re ignoring me.
If you were in trouble, I’d immediately run to your rescue, no questions asked.
Pausing at the base of the stairs, Molly stared at her phone. Why had her mom been in Cherry Creek, an affluent section of Denver, at three in the morning? She kept reading but just got more and more confused with each text.
I had to move. Now in front of the mall.
This is your fault, you know.
I need you to call Lono. He’s ignoring me.
He’ll pick up if you call. You’ve always been his favorite.
Molly had to roll her eyes at that. Her dad was a smart guy, but he could be incredibly gullible when it came to Jane. After marrying and divorcing her twice, Lono had finally realized that he needed to put some space between himself and his ex-wife and moved back to Hawaii. Now he was married to someone else and had two small kids. Molly wasn’t exactly sure what help he could’ve offered to Jane an hour ago. After all, it wasn’t like he could swing by and pick her up when he lived a seven-hour plane trip away from Denver.
