Chapter 6 - Stalked in the Daylight
The court date was set for Thursday. On Tuesday afternoon, I had to take Leo to an authorized, independent pediatric facility for his mandatory court-ordered medical clearance.
The clinic was located on a wide, sunlit avenue lined with medical offices. The sky was a crisp, biting blue. I had Officer Vaughn’s private cell phone on speed dial, but the false sense of daylight safety made my neck prickle with unease.
Every black sedan looked like Marcus’s car. Every gray-haired woman pushing a grocery cart looked like Evelyn.
I carried Leo in his infant car seat, draped with a breathable muslin cover so no one could see his face. My cheek was still a mottled shade of greenish-yellow, the cut on my lip scabbed over, but I wore no makeup. Clara had instructed me to let the court see the truth of their handiwork.
As I exited the clinic doors onto the concrete ramp, a low horn tapped twice.
*Beep. Beep.*
My heart slammed against my ribs. I froze.
Parked twenty yards away in the visitor lot, idling beneath the shade of an oak tree, was a silver Lexus.
The front passenger window rolled down two inches.
Evelyn Vance’s face appeared in the gap.
She wasn't smiling. She was wearing oversized dark sunglasses, her hair held back by a silk scarf. She didn't get out of the car. She just stared at me across the asphalt, her gaze boring into the car seat in my hand like a laser sight.
Then the driver’s side door cracked open.
Marcus stepped out.
His right hand was encased in a thick, white fiberglass cast held to his chest in a dark blue sling. He looked haggard, his beard unkempt, his eyes bloodshot and hollow. He took two steps toward the ramp, raising his left hand in a placating gesture.
“Maya,” he called out across the lot. His voice was cracked, carrying a dangerous, erratic edge. “Maya, just five minutes. Please. Look at my hand. You ruined my life! Just talk to me!”
He was violating the restraining order. Broad daylight. Outside a public medical clinic.
“Stay back!” I yelled, my voice ringing out across the parking lot with a clarity that shocked even myself. I didn't retreat. I didn't hide. I stepped back toward the automatic sliding glass doors of the clinic, pressing the emergency intercom button on the brick pillar with my elbow. “Marcus Vance, you are violating a protective order! Get back in your car!”
Two security guards in high-visibility vests appeared through the glass doors behind me immediately.
“Hey! Back off, buddy!” the larger guard barked, his hand going to his radio.
Marcus stopped. His face twisted into a mask of pure, unadulterated venom. “You think you’re smart, Maya? You think that lawyer is going to save you? That boy is a Vance! He has my blood! You’re nothing without me—you’re a broken, pathetic little orphan who couldn't even keep her own family together!”
Inside the silver Lexus, Evelyn hit the horn again—sharp, frantic. *“Marcus! Get in! Now!”*
Sirens were already spooling up in the distance. The clinic’s panic alarm was connected directly to the precinct.
Marcus spat onto the asphalt, turned, and threw himself into the passenger seat of the Lexus. The car peeled out of the lot, tires screeching against the painted white lines, leaving a streak of black rubber behind.
I stood on the concrete ramp, my fingers white where they gripped the handle of Leo’s carrier.
My hands were shaking, but inside my chest, something had permanently hardened. The fear was gone. The lingering ghost of the woman who used to apologize for burning toast had vanished into the wind.
May you like
All that was left was the mother.
***
