Approaching the parking lot, Emily turned back to deliver one final blow. “I don’t want this kid,” she yelled back at him. “Damn you.”
“It’s all your fault!” James yelled hatefully, his eyes locking onto Lauren. In a blind rage, he rushed at her. “You ruined everything!”
He shoved Lauren hard toward the road.
It happened in slow motion. Lauren, caught off guard and weak from stress, stumbled backward. She fell hard onto the asphalt, right into the lane of traffic.
The last thing she saw was a car speeding toward her, its headlights blinding in the twilight.
Emily couldn’t grasp how this happened so fast. She stared at Lauren on the road, blame instantly crushing her chest. If I hadn’t dragged James’s pregnant mistress into this, Lauren would be safe at home. Now she lay helpless, and the baby’s fate hung in the balance.
Then, the screech of tires tore through the air.
The driver swerved violently at the last second. The car spun, tires smoking, and came to a halt just feet from Lauren’s prone body. It was a miracle the retreat was rural; on a highway, she would have been gone.
The driver, pale and shaking, got out and ran toward them. Sarah was already on her knees beside Lauren.
“Don’t move her!” Sarah commanded, her voice steady despite the chaos. She called Lauren’s name, checking for consciousness but avoiding touching her spine or neck. Any wrong move could be disastrous.
James tried to flee the scene, scrambling toward the woods, but Kevin was faster. He tackled the coward, pinning his arms behind his back.
“Let me go!” James squealed, struggling like a trapped rat. “It hurts!”
“Try moving again, and I’ll hit you,” Kevin promised, his voice dark. “And it’ll hurt a lot more.”
James, a coward at heart, froze. He valued his “pretty face” too much to risk a beating.
Susan ran up to Kevin, screaming like a banshee. Despite her age, she was spry, aiming to hit Kevin to free her precious son.
“You brute! You’re hurting my James!” she screamed, swinging her small fists at Kevin’s back.
Kevin dodged the blows without letting go of James.
“Let my James go!”
Emily turned to Susan, fury rising like a tidal wave. Even now, with a pregnant woman lying on the asphalt, Susan defended her son. Emily stepped between Susan and Kevin, glaring down at her mother-in-law.
“Touch Kevin again, and I don’t know what I’ll do!” she threatened, her voice shaking with rage. “Instead of staying out of it, you’re trying to save your son from his consequences? Your James is a monster who nearly killed his child’s mother, and you’re defending him?”
“Because James is my beloved son!” Susan declared proudly, chin up. “Who’s to blame if he’s unlucky with women?”
“What’s wrong?” Emily raised an eyebrow, incredulous. “Me? Her?” She nodded at Lauren’s unmoving form.
“You ruined my son’s life! You should’ve kissed his feet for noticing you.”
“Should I have carried him too?” Emily asked sarcastically. She saw Susan was obsessed with her son; no matter his actions, he’d always be the victim in her eyes.
“You’re ungrateful!” Susan jabbed a finger at Emily’s chest. “Look at yourself! You’re pitiful to look at!”
“Then why did your perfect man marry someone like me?” Emily wondered aloud. She wasn’t a supermodel, but she had a kind face, framed by lively blonde curls, and deep blue eyes that many found captivating.
“After Lauren, so vibrant and fiery, he wanted a quiet, docile girl who’d worship him,” Susan admitted with a sneer.
“Well, that’s how it was,” Emily said bitterly. For three years, she’d idolized her husband. She thought they had a perfect family. In reality, James merely tolerated her because she was convenient.
“And if that fool had been smarter…” Susan glared at Lauren on the road. “Everything would be fine now. God, I hate her!”
“For what?” Kevin asked, stunned, looking over his shoulder.
“Lauren’s pregnancy ruined my plans,” Susan confessed, tears of frustration in her eyes. She’d dreamed of seeing Europe, and now that money would go to lawyers and child support. Michael was no help, caring only for himself. Only James understood her dreams.
“Lauren’s not the only one responsible for the pregnancy,” Emily smirked darkly. “Your son was very involved, so he’s equally accountable.”
Just then, the wail of sirens cut through the air. The police and an ambulance arrived.
Kevin handed James over to the officers, explaining the assault. Witnesses from the retreat gathered, backing up the story. Susan initially interrupted, trying to pull the officers away from her son. Eventually, an officer’s patience ran out, warning her she’d be detained for obstruction of justice. Susan stepped back, pale. She loved her son, but she loved her freedom more.
Emily approached Lauren as the paramedics worked. The expectant mother was conscious but looked gray with pain.
“Sarah, what do the doctors say?” Emily asked quietly.
“She needs to go to the hospital now. Abdominal pain,” Sarah whispered, her face grim.
The medics carefully placed Lauren on a stretcher and loaded her into the ambulance. Suddenly, Lauren called out weakly.
“Emily!”
“What’s wrong?” Emily hurried to the back of the ambulance.
“My apartment keys are in my purse,” Lauren said, her voice barely a whisper. “Go there.”
“Why?” Emily was surprised.
“There’s a big, beautiful flower in the living room,” Lauren said, clutching Emily’s hand. “Water it, please. Just today. It’s really important.”
The doors closed, and the ambulance sped away.
Exhausted, the friends left the hospital late that night. They’d waited hours for the doctor, who finally confirmed Lauren and her baby were stable, though she needed strict bed rest.
Loyal Kevin waited outside in the car, engine idling. “Alright, ladies, where to?” he asked as Emily and Sarah climbed in. “Home?”
“No,” Sarah said firmly. “We’re going to Lauren’s place.”
“Why?” Kevin was puzzled. “Can’t the flower wait till morning?”
“You see?” Sarah looked at him, surprised. “Lauren didn’t mention that flower for nothing.”
“You think?” Kevin asked skeptically. “She was in shock. Probably not thinking straight.”
“Kevin, don’t annoy me,” Sarah warned. “If I say today, it’s today.”
“Alright, honey, don’t get mad,” Kevin raised his hands in surrender. “I just thought…”
“Kevin!” Sarah cut him off. Sighing, she added, “Don’t be upset. Even if it’s just to water a flower, it’s a chance to search Lauren’s place for the dashcam.”
Emily, silent in the back seat, staring out the window at the passing streetlights, spoke up. “Sarah, what if James destroyed the dashcam long ago?”
“Why keep evidence against himself?”
“I didn’t think of that,” Sarah admitted, deflating slightly. “So, Ethan will need a miracle to prove his innocence in court, especially since Steve rigged everything to make James the victim.”
Emily punched her knee in frustration. “Life’s so unfair!”
“Don’t give up yet, friend,” Sarah turned and tried to hug her over the seat. “Let’s hope your ex is arrogant enough to keep a trophy.”
“Judging by his actions, he is,” Kevin muttered, turning the wheel.
At Lauren’s apartment, they headed straight for the large pot in the corner of the living room.
“I don’t get it,” Sarah said, touching a leaf. “Why water it? It’s fake. It’s plastic.”
“I told you, Lauren wasn’t thinking straight,” Kevin reiterated.
Emily looked closer. She grabbed the stem and pulled. The entire artificial plant lifted out of the pot, revealing a hidden compartment at the bottom. Inside lay a thick folder of papers.
“What’s this?” Sarah asked, eyes wide.
“Let’s see,” Emily opened it on the coffee table. She scanned the contents. “Here’s a district permit, a land lease, environmental inspection reports.”
Sarah flipped through the stack. “Girls, these are all the car wash documents,” Kevin summarized, whistling low.
“Why are they at Lauren’s?” Sarah wondered.
“Where else would he keep them if not with his mistress?” Emily asked, connecting the dots. “I could find them at home, and James didn’t want that. He didn’t expect us to meet Lauren.”
“What a creep,” Sarah fumed. “Serves him right.”
“Too bad there’s no dashcam or memory card in this pot,” Emily said, rechecking the empty plastic bottom.
“What’s stopping us from searching the rest of Lauren’s place?” Sarah asked, hands on her hips, surveying the room. “We’re already here.”
“Feels wrong,” Emily shrugged, hugging her arms. Even though Lauren was the “other woman,” rifling through her drawers felt like a violation of privacy she wasn’t sure she could stomach.
“Wrong?” Sarah scoffed, stepping over a pile of magazines. “Sleeping on the ceiling is wrong—the blankets fall off. This is necessary justice.”
“She’s right,” Kevin chimed in, closing the folder of documents. “If there’s more evidence here, we need it. Lauren won’t mind; she sent us here.”
“Fine,” Emily sighed, yielding to logic. “But let’s be quick.”
They tore through the apartment, checking drawers, shelves, and boxes, but found nothing else of value. No memory cards, no cameras.
“Let’s wait till tomorrow and ask Lauren directly,” Emily suggested, wiping dust from her hands. “If she has the dashcam, she’ll give it to us.”
“Fine, we’ll wait,” Sarah agreed, disappointed. “But I’m taking one last look around, just in case it’s in plain sight.”
“Sarah, really?” Emily chuckled softly. “If Lauren hid documents in the bottom of a fake flowerpot, the dashcam is in some secret spot too, not on the coffee table.”
“Still,” Sarah insisted, hurrying out of the living room.
“Wife, I’m with you!” Kevin followed faithfully.