We called a cab to take James and the boxes of stuff back to our apartment. I decided to go on with Brick and Bruiser to my mother’s house, and I was determined not to leave without Pooky.

I hadn’t seen the Pomeranian in a couple of years, having avoided my family home as much as possible while Blake was still living there. He was my mum’s fourth husband, and the worst stepdad of them all, but they’d broken up recently so the odds of facing him down were slim.

Having Bruiser and Brick behind me made me feel a lot braver, though.

It was only another short train ride until we reached her suburb. The lawns looked like they hadn’t been mowed in weeks, and I wondered if mum really was having money troubles again. I could never tell with her whether she was in real debt or had just blown her weekly budget at the casino.

I took a deep, calming breath and walked up to the front door, Brick and Bruiser on my heels. I knocked and waited, hearing some clattering before the door opened.

“Emma, baby!” Mum held her arms out wide to embrace me, but I didn’t accept it and eventually her arms fell to her side as she gave my two bodyguards a cagey look. “It’s so good to see you again, sweetie. Are you here to sort out all that awful lawyer business, or did you just come for a visit?”

“I haven’t come for a visit in years, Mum,” I said flatly. “Where’s Pooky?”

My mum’s mouth paused in an ‘o’ for a moment before she answered. “Oh, poor Pooky is in at the vets. Terrible thing, but you know the health issues purebred dogs have. Can’t take her home until I’ve got the funds to pay for it, of course, but that inheritance is coming in at the perfect time. I’ll never have to ask to borrow off you again!”

The money had hit my bank account that morning, but she didn’t know that.

I narrowed my eyes. “It’s my money, Mum. Not yours.”

“Well, that’s neither here nor there, but the lawyers will sort that out. Now, did you want something?”

“I want Pooky,” I said firmly. “Let me know which vet she’s at and I’ll go get her. I’ll pay all her medical bills, but I want to transfer ownership to me. I want to take her home.”

Leticia edged into view behind mum, her eyes darting over the guys I’d brought with me.

“Hey Leticia.”

“You didn’t bring that guy with you?” Leticia asked. “The one who tried to kill me?”

“He didn’t really want to hurt you,” I lied. “Just scare you a little.”

“Are these guys here going to cause trouble?” Mum asked, gesturing at Brick and Bruiser.

“We’re just here to talk,” I said. “And to get Pooky.”

Mum sighed and stepped back. “Come in, baby. It’s time we had a talk. Leave your boys outside.”

“We go where Emma goes,” Bruiser said sternly, and Brick nodded gruffly.

“Fine, but the first sign of trouble and Letty will call the cops.”

Leticia brandished her phone like a weapon. I nodded, and we walked into her home.

My mother’s house was nothing like Dave’s family home. There were no pictures of me anywhere, no knickknacks. There were a couple pictures of my mother from her youthful modelling days, but very little evidence she had any children at all.

We entered the lounge, where the TV was playing on mute, the subtitles announcing that another war had broken out and this summer was projected to be the hottest yet.

I clenched my jaw and trained my eyes on my mum, feeling her looking at me like she was dissecting me. It hurt so deeply that only days after my father had died – even if I hadn’t really known him – that this was the welcome I received. She’d never been there for me emotionally. I’d always just been free labour for her. Babysitter, cook, cleaner, and as an adult, a source of infinite credit when the banks cut her off.

A case of theft: this story is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.

“Things have been hard since Blake left, baby-girl,” Mum said, her voice sounding so sad in the same practised way I’d seen her get money from her husbands before turning around to blow it on fresh nails or hair. “The mortgage is so high, and we’re just not keeping up. If we don’t get our share of that inheritance, we’ll be out on the street. You wouldn’t do that to your own mother and sister, would you? You wouldn’t be so spiteful as to cut us off like that. You’re a good girl, Emma. I know you’ll do the right thing.”

I closed my eyes and breathed deep. This was what it was like being the daughter of an unrepentant narcissist. But with the guilt of Dave’s murder hanging freshly over my head, my anger felt like it was being smothered by a thick blanket.

“I want Pooky, and then I want you out of my life for good,” I said, snapping my eyes open again. My voice was calm, and my nerves felt like steel. I felt almost like another person. “I’m finished with you. Your problems aren’t any of my business anymore. Once I leave this place, I don’t want to see or hear from you again.”

My mother gasped. “Emma, baby, you’re not in… some kind of gang, are you?”

The fear in her voice made me pause for thought. If she thought I was in a gang, it would make it much more likely I’d leave with my plan as a success.

“The less you ask about that, the better,” I said neutrally. “It’ll be better for everyone if we have no further association after today. You’re going to drop the lawsuit, you’re going to go bother your other children when you want something, and you’re going to tell me where to get Pooky.”

She chewed on her lip nervously, her red lipstick making a smear on her teeth.

“Where’s Pooky, Mum?”

“I needed the money, Emma baby.”

“Don’t call me baby,” I gritted out through clenched teeth. “Where is she? What did you do to her?”

“She sold her,” Leticia cut in. “She’s in her cage in the garage. One of Blake’s friends was going to pick her up later today.”

I felt a white-hot fury blaze behind my eyes, and if I’d had a plasma rifle in hand, I didn’t know what I would do with it.

“Get her,” I snapped at Leticia, and she jumped into action, scrambling out of sight, and returning moments later with Pooky in a carrier.

Bruiser stepped forwards and took the carrier.

“Emma, I’ve got to give her to them. The dog is going to settle a debt I really can’t pay unless I have either Pooky or the inheritance money.”

Poor Pooky was cowering and whimpering in her cage.

“I don’t care, Mum. Your debts are not my problem. But you’re transferring ownership to me. I want a written statement.”

She looked like she was about to argue, but Brick cracked his knuckles, and she pulled out a paper and pen and started writing.

“Who would buy her anyway? She’s like fifteen years old,” I muttered under my breath.

“Dog fighters,” Leticia answered me. I looked at her in shock.

“What?”

“She was selling her to Blake’s friends. They were going to use her as bait in a dog fighting ring.”

I stared at my mother in absolute horror and disgust, a thousand percent sure my decision to cut her out was the correct thing to do. This betrayal dismissed any doubt in my mind.

“Emma, take me too,” Leticia begged. “I need to get out of this place.”

I looked at my half-sister and felt nothing. Absolutely nothing. I’d looked after her for years. Cooked for her, taken her to after school events when Mum couldn’t care less, bailed her out of countless situations. I’d let her stay with me and had tried multiple times to give her a good start in life, to offer her the support nobody had ever given me. Of all my siblings, she was the one who was closest to me, and yet she’d never shown me any loyalty. She’d turn around and throw me under the bus just as quickly as she’d decide to pound on my door seeking sanctuary. She was as bad as my mother, always out for number one. There was no way I wanted her anywhere near Newtopia.

“You’re twenty-three, Leticia. Get a job, move out, stand on your own two feet,” I said. “I’m not bailing you out. You lost any affection from me when you threatened me at my house. We’re over.”

“Uh, Emma,” Bruiser nudged me and pointed to the TV.

“Isn’t that your apartment? That’s James, isn’t it?” Leticia asked.

James was indeed standing in the background, holding a box as a man was being led out of the building by police. It wasn’t Jackal, though; it must be the neighbour who had stolen the safe.

The subtitles summarized the situation succinctly: Body Found in Dumpster – Suspect Detained.

“Should we head back?” Brick asked uncertainly, looking to me to make the final decision.

“It would probably do more harm than good,” I said, although I really wanted to get back to check on Jackal. “We’ve got other things to do. We’re done here.”

I took the note my mother had written, folded it up, and slipped it into my back pocket before heading for the door. My priority needed to be to get us a safe place we could transition to. We needed Jenny set up somewhere safe where no-one could find her or disrupt her, and a place Jackal could lie low until we could get the Nexus operational again.

“Emma, baby, don’t leave like this,” Mum called out to me. “If you take that dog, I’m dead.”

“I’m not your baby,” I said, taking one final look back at the woman who had birthed me and yet somehow never managed to love me. “And for the record, you’re dead to me already.”