Page 119 of Shallow

Malcolm determines I’m either serious or psychotic, because he makes a hard right and slams the car into the curb. I don’t even wait for the wheels to stop rolling before I throw open my door and tumble out onto the crackedsidewalk.

“Damn it,” I mutter, pushing off the concrete and sprinting back down the road where I’d seenher.

As I get close, I slow my pace, fighting to catch my breath. She’s squatting near the left rear of her car, staring at the blown tire like it’s an unsolvable wordproblem.

If Susie has twelve apples, and Bobby has four apples, how many pies can Susie make if she steals seven bananas and frames Bobby’s girlfriend for fruitsmuggling?

Answer: none. Because Susie’s ass is rotting injail.

She doesn’t notice I’m behind her, so I lean over her shoulder and survey the damage. “Now that’s a damn shame. I don’t suppose you haveAAA?”

Letting out a startled scream, Taryn’s feet fly out from under her and she lands flat on her ass. “Fuck you,Shiloh.”

“I see Daddy put up the money for your bail,” I say, kicking the tire. “When’s thetrial?”

“Go tohell.”

“No thanks. Already been there. Bad food, and the humidity frizzes myhair.”

Taryn snarls—literally snarls like a dog—and climbs to her feet. “Don’t you have anything better to do than ruin people’slives?”

I narrow my eyes. How easy would it be to kick her feet out from under her and send her sprawling onto her ass again? Maybe I could get Malcolm to accidentally run over her a few dozen times. It’s not like she doesn’t deserveit.

However, I’ve turned over a new leaf, so I suppress my homicidal urges and shrug one shoulder. “Nope. This is pretty muchit.”

“We were perfectly happy before you came back to town and opened your legs.” She stands, and smirks right in my face. “How many times did you offer your pussy to him before he finally caved? Is that your thing, Shiloh? You can’t get your own man so you have to fuck everyoneelse’s?”

All the insults. All the times she flaunted Cary in front of me. All the time I spent locked in a dark closet. All the time I spent lying on a paper-thin cot in a jail cell for a crime I didn’t commit. All that rage travels down my arm and settles into my clenchedhand.

Pulling back my arm, I land a punch to the side of her face so hard that her head snaps back and she tumbles her ass hard against theasphalt.

Just like I wanted to do in the first damnplace.

I said I turned over a new leaf. I didn’t say it was from a differenttree.

“You stupid bitch!” she screams, sitting up and wiping the blood from her mouth. “I can have you arrested forassault.”

I shake my hand, trying to get some feeling back into it. “Look around,” I say, gesturing around us. “Nobody’s here, and even if they were, do you think anyone would stick up foryou?”

She starts to answer when Malcolm appears beside me. He takes one look at Taryn sprawled out like designer roadkill and shakes his head. “Miss West, you’re going to miss yourflight.”

I give him a curt nod and start to follow behind him when a green street sign catches my eye. I don’t know how I didn’t notice it when we pulled up. I read the words again, and the corners of my mouth lift up as I see two familiar outlines in thedistance.

“What the hell are you smiling about?” Tarynhisses.

“You broke down on AlvarezStreet.”

“So? Did you sleep with someone else’s boyfriend heretoo?”

I look up at the sign again, my smile widening. “No. I’ve just met a few people around here. That’sall.”

Turning my back to her, I walk toward Malcolm as he waits beside my open car door. At the last minute, I glance over my shoulder and wink ather.

“Tell Mo and Kong I saidhi.”

Forty-Three

Shiloh