“Great! Thank you, Jules.” A pause. “That’s a start. Mom, listen to me and listen carefully. I can’t get there until tomorrow afternoon at the earliest. You’re hurt. You need to go to the hospital—”

“No!”

“She won’t go,” Juleen told him. “She says they’ll ask questions and then take me away.”

“I thought that might be the situation.” Another pause. “So, this is plan B. Mom, are you listening?”

“Yes.”

A sigh over the phone. “When I talked to you the first time, it sounded like you needed immediate help.”

“She does,” Juleen said.

“Mom, I asked Chris to help. He’s much closer to you and he knows L.A. as well as I do. He has a jet. He can get down there in a couple of hours. As a matter of fact, he could be on his way now. If you need protection, and it sounds like you do, there’s no one better who can help you.”

I closed my one good eye. Chris. From the frying pan … My life was a complete and utter mess!

“Mom, are you there?”

“I’m here.”

“Mom, he’ll only help you if you ask for help. I know this is a deal with the devil, but you’ve got to call him. This is not just about you, it’s also about Juleen.”

I didn’t answer, but I knew he was right.

Juleen said, “Give me the number and I’ll call him.”

Gabe said, “He won’t help you, Jules. Only Mom. She’s got to make contact.”

I said, “Give me the number.”

“What did she say?” Gabe asked.

“She said to give her the number,” Juleen said. “I’ll write it down for her.”

“Jules, call me back as soon as Mom has spoken to my dad, okay?”

“Okay.”

“Jules, my dad can be super abrupt and mean. When you meet him, no matter what he says or how he acts, just be calm and super polite.”

“Okay.”

“I’m really giving you the benefit of my wisdom. Please listen.”

“Okay. Let me get off the phone so Mommy can speak to him.”

Hyper-adult.

“I love you, Mom.”

I couldn’t answer. It was getting harder and harder to speak. I could barely stay awake. Juleen hung up and called my ex’s number. It rang three times and then went to voice mail.

Juleen said, “Mr. Whitman, this is Teresa McLaughlin’s daughter, Juleen. My brother Gabe said to call you. My mother is hurt and can’t talk very well, but she will talk to you when you call back. I’ll give you the number of this phone. Please, please call back. Thank you very much, sir.”

I gave my daughter the thumbs-up.

“Now what?” she asked. When I didn’t answer, Juleen said, “Mommy, we can’t stay here. They might come back.”

I nodded and pulled into traffic.

“Where are we going?”