Page 25 of Silver Sinner

It's difficult not to cry as I start locking up the back, sweeping through the diner toward the front where Maddie still sleeps soundly.

I'm exhausted and Maddie needs care. She doesn't deserve to be cooped up here, but I can't afford after-school care.

Ideally Amanda would never give me a closing shift, but she believes in being fair to all employees, so I can't fault her.

"Maddie?" Waking her up is the last thing I want to do, but I'm gentle about it as I scoop her up into my arms.

She's exhausted enough that her head lolls onto my shoulder and she only grumbles as I carry her with me out of the diner.

Thank God I brought the car.

Cold night air chases away the heat from work as I cross the small parking lot and unlock my car.

Maddie remains asleep as I ease her into her car seat and buckle her in, kissing her warm forehead in apology for how stressful the day ended up. It's on me.

I should have planned better.

Definitely shouldn't have let her have three milkshakes.

My stomach tightens with guilt as I close the door, but as I reach for my purse, my fingers brush my bare hip. No purse.

Shit. I left it inside.

Glancing at Maddie to ensure she's still asleep, I turn and hurry back into the diner.

It takes me half a second to unlock the door and find my purse on the counter where I left it.

It dangles from my elbow as I hurry back outside but as I slide the key into the door, a soft clang of metal upon metal drags my attention from the diner to my car.

Two men clad in dark jeans and even darker hoodies huddle around the front door of my car, pushing into one another.

"Hey!"

One jumps suddenly and as he turns to face me, I glimpse the other with some kind of metal wire in his hand that she's shoving down into my car door alongside the window.

"Hey, that's my car! What the hell do you think you're doing!" Yelling as loudly as I can, I rush toward them in a spur-of-the-moment decision, as if being loud and rapidly approaching them would somehow scare them away like they're birds.

No such luck.

The one breaking into my car doesn't even flinch and the other charges toward me, meeting me halfway in the parking lot.

As I take a breath to yell again, his fist suddenly flies at my face, and his knuckles crack against the edge of my eye socket. The blow knocks me off my feet and I fall hard, barely able to get my hands out to protect myself.

The diner keys clatter to the ground, my purse lands with a soft thump, and I end up on the ground where the man towers over me and delivers a sharp, powerful kick to my abdomen.

The pain barely reaches me as all air is shoved out of my lungs from the blow, because through tears I glimpse the car door being wrenched open.

"No!" A strangled cry escapes me. Stone and gravel cut into my palms as I struggle to stand, reaching out to my attacker as he sprints for the car. "No! Wait! My baby's in there! Take the car, just give me my baby! Wait! Wait!"

Neither of them hear me, or if they do, they ignore me.

Both men throw themselves into my car and the engine hums to life as I climb to my feet and sprint toward them.

Terror grips me like a vise and the only single thought in my mind is getting Maddie out of the car.

"Wait! Wait! My kid! Give me my baby!"

The car screeches to life and races out of the parking lot before I can reach it, but that doesn't stop me.