Sweet and Salty (Marshall My Heart #1)

47. Chapter Forty-Seven

CHAPTER FORTY-SEVEN

L aura

My heart pounds in my ears, drowning out the sound of my feet against asphalt.

Not Mom. I’m wrong. I’m sure I am, but I have to check. I can’t lose her, too. Not after Ma. I can’t take a chance.

Without waiting for Jesse, I throw open the door of the St. Olaf Medical Clinic, frantic, the handle scraping my palms. “Mom! Are you here!”

Jesse steps in behind me. “Are you okay?”

I don’t answer. I don’t have time. I push through the empty waiting area and open the door that leads to the exam rooms. “Mom!”

Then I see her, at the far end of the hallway, in the open door to the break room. My heart splinters into a thousand pieces.

Mom stands still, hands in the air. She doesn’t turn to see me, but from the set of her jaw and the way not even her eyes shift in my direction, I know.

She’s in danger. That bitch Esme and that dickhead animal abuser who ruined Jesse’s life have put my mom in danger.

I’m going to kill them. With my bare hands. I wish I had my rolling pin with me.

I unleash a scream and rush toward the break room door, but then a figure steps into the doorway. I stop mid-stride, the screech dying in my throat, as every nerve ending on my body is set alight.

Honestly, my vision is so red and my hearing so filled with buzzing, I’m shocked I can recognize his face and voice.

“Hello, Laura,” Chris says, leveling a pistol at my chest. “I see I finally have your attention.”