The Lies Between Us (The Devil's Dust #4)(4)

The gavel slams, making me jump.

“I’ve made my decision. Lindsay Cole, you are denied guardianship over Piper Cole. Full custody is granted to Mr. Eric McCormick.”

The air is sucked from my lungs. “No!” I wheeze, shooting up from my chair. I glare at Eric, who is smiling proudly. Stepping forward, I’m more than ready to give myself the treat of slamming his face into that table. My lawyer grabs my arms, stopping me. “You’ll be held in contempt if you touch him,” he warns.

“No. He can’t get away with this!” I scream, pointing at Eric.

My eyes fill with tears as my heart is smothered with the inevitable feeling of being empty. I carried Piper for nine months, had her naturally all on my own. Then he showed up at the hospital, and that was when it all went wrong. He saw how happy she made me, and he knew he could take it away… and he just did. This is a game to him. A tug of war based on control and I just fell on my ass, letting the rope slide against my palms.

***

The courtroom is empty, but I can’t seem to get my ass out of the chair. Everything from the moment I saw Piper’s ultrasound picture, to hearing her heartbeat, and hearing her first cry play in my head. I sob. How did that judge know all that about me? I thought those things were hidden from your record when you turned eighteen. Why didn’t my lawyer fight for me? I narrow my eyes and bite my lip in confusion. I need to know. I demand to know. I stand on shaky legs and walk to where the judge sat. He slipped into a room just behind his stand. I’ve heard voices muffled through the door for the last thirty minutes, so I know he’s still here. I close my eyes and blow out a slow breath. Maybe if he sees how determined I am, he’ll have second thoughts on his ruling. I push the door open and open my eyes. The judge is standing behind his desk, my lawyer standing beside him, and Eric and his lawyer standing on the other side of the desk. Eric’s lawyer is handing Judge Calhoun and my lawyer a big stack of cash. I blink a couple times. Surely this isn’t real.

“You paid him off?” I whisper, looking at the group dumbfounded. That’s why my lawyer didn’t fight for me. That’s why the judge was so uncaring of a daughter needing her mother. He was being paid by Eric and his lawyer. Anger fills my veins.

The judge sighs and snatches the cash from the lawyer.

“Sit, Ms. Cole,” the judge demands.

“No!” I respond firmly.

“Sitting would be in your best interest,” he insists, counting his money. My nostrils flare as I inhale a breath of rage. “What is it you want? Money? Your daughter on the weekends? What? What will it take for you not to have seen this?” The judge sets the stack of cash on the desk and pinches the bridge of his nose.

My face cracks as my lips tremble with humor before I laugh. I laugh so hard, the group of dishonest bastards look at me as if I’ve gone crazy. Maybe I have.

“Oh, God,” I mutter, my laughter gone and my voice cracking with emotion. I run my hand through my hair and put the other on my hip. How can this be? I just walked in on the father of my child paying off my lawyer and the judge handling our custody battle. How many times has this judge and team of lawyers been paid off? How many mothers have lost their kids? How many people lost unfair cases?

My eyes snap to theirs, my blood running ice-cold to the point goosebumps race up my arms.

“You know what? No.” My voice is deadly serious.

“No?” The judge tilts his head to the side, confused.

“No. I am taking this higher. I will get my daughter the right way, and you guys will burn for this. I’ll bury all of you to your f*cking necks.” I point at every one of them as I back my way out of the door. “This isn’t over, Eric,” I promise then hightail it out of there.


Two Days Later

I pay for my pack of gum and leave the gas station, heading back to my car. I had reported the judge and the lawyers, and was waiting on a return call to reclaim my case with someone from the courthouse. They said they’d call me back with the next step, but the sound of their voice made me unsure. Maybe I should go back and demand to talk to someone else. The hairs on my neck suddenly stand as I pop a piece of gum into my mouth. My gaze slowly trails up the street, trying to find what has my body in a sense of alarm, when a green raggedy truck creeps beside the gas station. Men stand in the back, holding large guns. My breath shallows, and people begin screaming.

Pop Pop Pop sounds in the night air. I’m frozen with fear.

“Get down!” a man yells, knocking me to the ground. I look up from under the strange guy who is laying over me and see the green truck come to a stop.

“Did you get her?” one of the guys in the cab of the truck questions.

Sirens sound from afar, and fire spreads from one of the gas pumps.

“It doesn’t matter. We got company. We’ll go to her trailer and wait for her there!” Hearing those words, I knew right then they were sent from the judge and lawyers, maybe even Eric. My heart goes cold, and my hope of having my daughter back evaporates into ash, along with the piece of my heart that just died. I can’t go home. I can’t go to the police. I’m f*cked. I’m alone. All because I wanted the attention of Eric f*cking McCormick. Now I have it, and it’s the last f*cking thing I want.

***

The car is hot and acting as a barrier against the breeze. Well, what breeze there is in the middle of summer in LA. Pulling my hair away from my sweaty face, I fan myself with my hand. I managed to get one guy to stop yesterday, so hopefully I can get another person to stop today. I have been living out of my car for two days now. I haven’t contacted my brother, because I don’t want whoever is trying to kill me to link us and put Tyler in danger. If they haven’t already. Every day, I stop on the side of the road miles away from my old stomping ground and act as if my car is broken down. I’ve been conning men, women, anyone who stops. It’s not something I’m proud of, but what choice do I have? I’m running and I’m desperate. I step out of the car, the back of my legs streaming with a steady sweat from the heat. Popping the hood of the car, I lean against the hot metal that makes up the front bumper. My eyes prick with tears that this is what it’s come to. I lean my head back and close my eyes against the hot summer sun.