Impact (Suncoast Society #32)(16)

Well, at least it wasn’t a violent offense. Or drugs. “What did you used to use?”

Sofia looked ashamed. “I smoked pot,” she said. “And I used to drink a lot. I quit it all cold turkey when I found out about the baby.”

“Meth? Crack? Heroin?”

“No, I swear. I could never afford that anyway. Plus they drug test me on probation.”

“So I pull you in for a drug test now, you’re completely clean?”

“Yeah. I was going to AA for a while when I first quit. Then Monroe wouldn’t let me go anymore.”

Tilly didn’t want to admit she still wasn’t letting her guard fully down around this woman. The last thing she wanted to do was get scammed.

“Once she’s finished eating, we’ll get going. Cris will meet us at the lawyer’s office.” The sound of a strange phone ringing caught her ear, and she realized it was Sofia’s cell. Tilly walked over to the counter and looked at the phone.

“It says Monroe.” Tilly adjusted the baby in her arm, propping the bottle against her chest, and picked up the phone despite Sofia’s horrified expression.

“Hellooo?” Tilly answered in a sing-song voice. “To whom am I speaking?”

The guy even sounded like an *. “Who da f*ck is dis?”

Still using her sing-song voice, which would have probably terrified poor Sofia if she knew Tilly better, Tilly said, “Oh, just someone. Who da f*ck are you, *?”

“Where’s Sofia, bitch?”

“Oh, I regret to inform you that Sofia has decided to terminate her affiliation with you, scumbag. I am absolutely the last person you want to mess with right now, because the first thing I want to do to you, douchebag, is string you up and castrate you for starving a motherf*cking baby by selling her formula for drugs. So let me tell you something, buddy. You best pray to whatever god your little punk ass believes in, because we ever meet face to face, you’re going to wish you’d never been f*cking born. Am I clear?”

The man was silent for a moment. “Bitch, Imma gonna f*ckin’ kill you when I find—”

“You ain’t gonna kill jack shit, homey,” she said, trying to keep her voice down so she didn’t scare the baby. “But let me f*cking tell you something. I have money, and I have friends, and I have a massively raging case of anger issues just making me itch to f*cking rip someone’s guts out with my bare hands. I am a native daughter of the motherf*cking state that put ‘stand your ground’ on the f*cking map, okay? I will not hesitate to make sure the rest of your pitiful life is as f*cking miserable as I can make it. I can afford to f*ck your shit up for fun, just because I can. I can make you my motherf*cking hobby, and see, that’s the last thing you want to be, because I’m a sadist. We clear?”

“You f*cking put Sofia on right now, you cunt.”

“Oh, yeah. See, that’s not going to happen, jackass. Buh-bye.”

Tilly ended the call. Then she immediately dialed 911 and ignored the call waiting beep that started a few seconds later, indicating the jackass was trying to call her back. When the operator answered, Tilly played it up good. “Oh my god, the guy next door, it sounds like he’s killing his girlfriend! Please, hurry! He’s got warrants and does drugs and everything, and she has a tiny baby! I can hear the baby screaming! It’s horrible!”

Tilly rattled off the address, then once she knew the operator had the call dispatched to police, she hung up.

She popped the back off the phone and removed the battery. Then she put the stopper in the kitchen sink, ran some water in it, and dropped the phone in to let it soak.

Tilly turned to Sofia with a smile as she once again held the baby bottle in her other hand. “Well, that was fun!”

Sofia wore an expression of wide-eyed terror. “What’d Monroe say?”

“A lot of huff and puff all these *s say when they realize they have no power. He has no idea where you or the baby are. He has no freaking clue who I am. Let me tell you something—he damn sure doesn’t ever want to meet me face to face. And I’m sure he’ll have a lot of fun explaining shit to the cops when they get there.”

“But…I’m not there.”

“Doesn’t matter. Domestic dispute like that, they’ll run him to see if he’s got a record. You said he’s got warrants, right?”

She nodded.

Tilly shrugged. “Good. They’ll pick him up. He keep drugs in the apartment?”

Sofia nodded. “He deals.”

“Cool. I just made some narco detective’s afternoon, then.”

Tilly sat in one of the chairs in the living room and stared down into the baby’s face. She had beautiful green eyes, which were now almost completely closed. She’d nearly drained the bottle, but Tilly could tell she was full from how her sucking had slowed. Setting the bottle on the coffee table, Tilly moved her onto her shoulder, over the burp pad there, and gently patted her on the back.

“Our washer and dryer are in the closet on the far side of the kitchen,” Tilly told her. “Everything you need is in there. Wash all your clothes, and hers. I don’t want them smelling like that place.”

“Okay.” Sofia got up to do it, still cradling her left arm.

Tilly fought the urge to tell Sofia never mind, that she’d take care of it. Even injured, the woman needed to learn to handle life and stand up for herself.