CHAPTER 3
CHAPTER 3
I yanked the wheel toward the shoulder.
The SUV jumped the curb, skidded across gravel, and stopped inches from a chain-link fence beside the auto lot.
Lily screamed once.
Then everything went silent.
I turned around so fast my neck burned.
She was still buckled.
Still alive.
Still holding her bunny.
“Are you hurt?” I asked.
She shook her head, eyes wide.
“Did Daddy make the car stop working?”
I could not answer.
The auto lot owner called for Mark, who had been repairing a delivery truck behind the garage. He came over with a jack, work gloves, and the tired focus of a man who had seen enough bad mornings to know when one had teeth.
He removed the wheel.
Then he found the line.
A clean slice.
Not worn.
Not cracked.
Cut.
Mark’s voice dropped.
“Someone wanted these brakes to fail after you started driving.”
My stomach turned cold.
Then my phone buzzed.
Evan.
You missed the turn for court.
Another message came right after.
Don’t make this uglier than it needs to be.
I stared at the words until they blurred.
Mark saw my face.
“You know who did this.”
Before I could answer, Evan’s black car rolled into the lot.
He stepped out like he had been expecting to find me there.
Not scared.
Not relieved.
Annoyed.
“Claire,” he said, smiling at Mark like we were all friends. “She gets anxious. I’ll take her from here.”
Lily grabbed my hand.
Mark held his phone low at his side.
Recording.
I lifted my eyes to Evan.
“You cut the brakes.”
His smile thinned.
“Careful.”
“You cut the brakes with Lily in the car.”
His eyes flicked to Mark’s phone.
“Turn that off.”
May you like
Mark did not move.
“Too late,” he said calmly. “The sheriff already heard you.”
