I Never Thought I'd See You Again: A Novelists Inc. Anthology by Unknown Page B

catch her breath. Marisa was dead. She’d really been pregnant and she was really dead. All this — all that she was doing was to save her friend, and now she had no one.
    She blinked back the tears, refusing to cry, especially in front of this tough guy who seemed to have no emotion but anger.
    He could have let her walk away. He didn’t have to look for her, to risk his life to save her.
    “You don’t know me,” she whispered.
    “You’re my daughter. That’s all I need to know.”
    Was it truly as simple as that?
    “Gun.” He held out his hand.
    She handed him the .22 she’d stolen, butt first. It disappeared in his pocket.
    “I’ll teach you how to shoot when this is over,” he said.
    Which implied he planned to see her again. The thought felt really, really weird. Almost scary.
    But deep down, in a place she barely acknowledged, an unfamiliar sense of peace began to spread.

Chapter Ten

    Lucky was an amazing cook, Angel noted as she cleaned her plate. “Is there more?” she asked.
    Lucky laughed. “You’ll never go hungry in my house,” he said. “My mama was born and raised in Alabama.” He said it as if it meant something. Angel didn’t know what, but if it meant more of the chicken and potatoes that he’d cooked, she was down with that.
    He scooped more onto her plate and Angel listened to Jake talk on the phone with some guy named Cutler. When he got off, he said, “I have an idea, but it might not work.”
    “What is it?” she asked.
    “I know a criminal defense lawyer who might be able to help you.”
    She stared at him, her appetite gone. “I didn’t do anything wrong.”
    “I didn’t say you did. I want you to get your statement on tape, and the best way to do that, and get it to a judge, is to have someone in the system do it. Maddie is the only one I trust.”
    “Maddie? Your girlfriend?” She sounded bitchy, but right now she didn’t want anyone else involved in her problems.
    Jake shook his head. “She arranged my plea agreement, and sends me jobs now and then since I’ve been out of prison.”
    Maddie . His lawyer. Right .
    “Whatev.”
    “Lose the attitude.”
    Lucky grinned. “I like the attitude, Jams.”
    Angel smiled and took another bite of chicken. Now, she was stuffed. She drank the milk Lucky had poured. Her second glass. She didn’t remember the last time she’d eaten this much food. Except for the Cheerios at Jake’s, she hadn’t eaten since Friday morning.
    “Why don’t we just find Kristina Larson?” Angel said. “The prosecutor? She’ll believe me. I already told her everything.”
    “Who else was there when you spoke to her?”
    “First Marisa went in and talked to her, then I did. She said she didn’t want us influencing each other’s statements.”
    “I meant, who else in her office. A cop? Assistant?”
    “Um, no one, but I assumed someone was watching or she was recording it.” She looked from Jake said, stepping into the room">
“mato Lucky and back again. “What?”
    “I don’t trust her. Either she’s the one who leaked the information about your whereabouts, or someone in her office did. We don’t go there, not without complete protection. That means you have a video statement, you have an attorney, and you have me.”
    “Like I can afford an attorney. I don’t think you can, either.”
    “Don’t worry about that.”
    “And then what? I just . . . wait?”
    “Yes.”
    “But how can we prove that bitch set me up?”
    “That’s not our responsibility.”
    Angel stared at him. “Of course it is! Marisa is dead. She was my best friend — my only friend. Her parents don’t even know. I’m the one who convinced Marisa to go to the police. I’m the one who forced her to sit down with Kristina Larson. She’d still be alive if I didn’t!”
    “It’s not on you.”
    “I thought the Marines were all about honor and doing what’s right.” She pushed away from the table. “I was wrong.” She walked off.
    She