It was over in seconds.
Miranda sat up quickly, opened the passenger door, and spat the man’s come onto the curb by the car. She wiped her mouth on the back of her hand. “I thought I told you not to do that.”
The man grinned at her. “Sorry.”
“Yeah? Well, why don’t you just get me over to TJ’s on Broadway like you promised.”
“Is that it, then?”
“Yeah, that’s it,” Miranda said, “what do you want? Me to say ‘I love you’?”
The man didn’t respond. He put the truck in gear and pulled out onto Winthrop.
Less than forty-five minutes later, Richard and Jimmy saw Miranda coming out of TJ’s.
“There she is!” Jimmy pointed to a red-haired girl. She looked too thin to withstand the winter wind, pale and frightened. Too young to be out alone on a Saturday night. Her clothes hung on her thin frame
