When I opened my eyes again, the world was blindingly bright. I was back at the toll plaza, watching Paisley wave her hand frantically at the collector. This time, I decided to let her play her game to the very end. In my past life, I was racing against the clock to file an emergency appeal for our company. I was stopped at this exact highway exit because Paisley, our junior accountant sitting in the back, had scrawled “SOS” on her palm in bright red lipstick. The filing deadline was less than twenty-four hours away. Heart hammering against my ribs, I’d left her there to explain the "joke" to the police while I sped off with my boyfriend, Benjamin. We made it to the courthouse with minutes to spare. I saved the company—and Benjamin—thirty million dollars. But at the victory dinner, Benjamin didn't toast to my success. Instead, he got me drunk, dragged me into his car, and drove back to this very stretch of highway. “Paisley is just a girl, Brooke. She’s playful. What was the harm in playing along?” he’d hissed, his eyes cold. “If you hadn't abandoned her here, she wouldn't have tried to walk along the shoulder. She wouldn't have had that accident.” Then, he pushed me out of the moving car. I remember the smell of burning rubber and the agonizing roar of an eighteen-wheeler before everything went black. … Now, as a state trooper roughly pulled me from the driver’s seat, the phantom pain of being crushed into the asphalt flickered across my skin. I was alive. I was back. The passenger door flew open, and Benjamin was pulled out next to me. He wasn't looking at the officers; he was looking at the backseat with a doting, indulgent smile. “Don’t be scared, Paisley. It’s okay,” he cooed. Paisley was sitting in the back, wearing an oversized, ruffled pink sundress that made her look like a giant toddler. She was waving her hands, the lipstick "SOS" smeared across her palms. An officer stepped toward her, his voice softening. “Ma’am, it’s alright. Is someone hurting you?” Paisley blinked, her lower lip trembling. Her eyes welled with tears instantly. “The bad lady… she’s scary!” she whimpered, pointing a manicured finger at me. I took a deep breath, forcing my voice to remain level. “Officer, this is a misunderstanding. We work for the same firm. We’re on our way to a critical court filing. There is no kidnapping.” The officer turned back to Paisley. “Is that true?” Paisley shook her head, a tear rolling down her cheek. “No! She’s mean! She wouldn’t let me put my car seat in the front! Make the police-man take the bad lady away!” The officer paused, glancing at the backseat. There it was: a bright pink booster seat, covered in plush charms and pacifier clips. His jaw tightened. “Is this some kind of joke?” he barked. Paisley recoiled, diving into Benjamin’s arms as he moved toward her. “Benny! He’s being mean to me!” Benjamin glared at the officer, his protective instinct—the one he never seemed to use for me—flaring up. “Watch your tone. She’s just sensitive. She likes to play. Is that a crime?” The officer’s expression went stone-cold. “We received a distress signal. Under the circumstances, you’re all coming down to the station for a formal statement.” At the word station, Paisley let out a piercing shriek. “No! I’m a good girl! I don’t want to go to jail!” She clung to Benjamin’s neck, rubbing her face against his chest like a kitten. Benjamin stroked her hair, his voice a honeyed whisper. “It’s okay, princess. I’m right here. I won’t let the mean man scold you.” When he looked at me, the warmth vanished. “Brooke, you’re the head of legal. Fix this for her.” His voice was hard, echoing the tone he used right before he murdered me in that other life. “You have to pay for what happened to her,” he’d said then. I clenched my fists, the memory of broken bones throbbing in my mind. I didn't argue. I simply nodded. I wanted to see if, by indulging her this time, we’d ever make it to the courthouse at all. At the station, Benjamin insisted I handle everything for Paisley. I sat through the interviews, took the reprimands from the sergeant, and signed the behavioral warnings. It took three agonizing hours. By the time we got back to the car, it was nearly midnight. Paisley refused to let go of Benjamin, so he climbed into the backseat with her. She let out an exaggerated yawn, snuggling into his shoulder. “I’m sleepy… I want my comfy bed.” I started the engine, my voice flat. “We’re driving through the night. Since you’ve delayed us so much.” Paisley stiffened, her voice turning into a high-pitched whine. “Is Brooke-y still mad at me? I didn’t know I wasn't supposed to do that…” Benjamin immediately jumped to her defense. “Brooke, for God's sake, let it go. It already happened. Why are you being so petty?” “She’s just a kid,” he added. He had said that a thousand times since Paisley joined the firm. When she reversed the cost and bid columns on a million-dollar proposal? She’s just a kid. When she accidentally sent a private client’s bank details to a vendor? She’s just a kid.Even when she forged signatures on a series of tax documents that led to the thirty-million-dollar fine we were currently fighting? She’s just a kid. That thirty million was the lifeblood of the company Benjamin and I had built together over seven years. I had spent weeks without sleep gathering evidence for the appeal. Meanwhile, Benjamin had taken Paisley to Disneyland for a week to help her "recover from the stress" of being audited. In the rearview mirror, I saw Benjamin carefully unwrapping a lollipop for her. “Here you go, sweetie. Eat this and try to sleep.” They giggled and whispered in the back, the tinkling of the toys on her car seat filling the cabin. I, the actual girlfriend and partner, had been relegated to an Uber driver. As the car sped down the dark interstate, Paisley suddenly slammed her hand onto my shoulder. The steering wheel jerked under the impact. “Hey! Open the sunroof! I want to sing a lullaby to the forest animals!” I gritted my teeth against the dull ache in my shoulder. “No. There are low-clearance bars and construction overhangs on this stretch. It’s dangerous.” Her face fell into a pout. She grabbed Benjamin’s arm and shook it. “Benny, I want to sing! Tell her to let me!” Benjamin, swaying under her frantic shaking, frowned at me. “Brooke, it’s just a window. Be a little nicer to her.” When I didn't move, he huffed, reached forward from the back, and shoved the sunroof toggle himself. A rush of freezing night air slammed into the car. Paisley cheered, standing up in her seat and sticking the upper half of her body out of the roof. She began to belt out a nursery rhyme, her voice shredded by the wind. I kept my eyes locked on the road. In the distance, the silver glint of a height-restriction bar appeared in the high beams. “Benjamin, there’s a bar coming up. Get her down.” “It’s fine, I’m watching her,” he said dismissively, eyes glued to Paisley’s laughing face. The bar was approaching fast. Paisley was waving a stuffed teddy bear in the air, oblivious. “Benjamin! Get her down NOW!” I screamed. He finally looked up and panicked, reaching for her waist. But it was too late for a graceful exit. I slammed the brakes and yanked the wheel to the right. The car screeched, tires smoking as we spun. The side of the car scraped against the guardrail with a deafening metallic roar. Benjamin managed to yank Paisley down just as we cleared the bar, shielding her in his arms. The car slid for another hundred feet before coming to a dead stop in the emergency lane, facing the wrong direction. Paisley was catatonic, her mouth open in a silent scream. Benjamin frantically checked her over. “Are you okay? Paisley? Does anything hurt?” Once he saw she wasn't bleeding, he snapped his head toward me. “What the hell is wrong with you? You almost killed her!” I reached up and touched my hairline. My fingers came away wet and sticky. My head had hit the frame. The front tire had blown. The bumper was crumpled, and the side mirror was dangling by a few pathetic wires. The cold wind whistled through the cabin, stinging the cut on my forehead. I ignored his shouting. I pointed at the flat tire. “The car is dead. We need to call a tow to the nearest station and catch a train. We can still make it to the courthouse before they close today.” “No! I’m not going!” Paisley suddenly wailed, leaning out of the seat. “Benny, my bear! Mr. Buttons fell out!” The bear she’d been waving was gone, tossed into the darkness when I swerved. Benjamin turned back to her, his voice melting. “It’s okay, honey. I’ll buy you a new one. I’ll buy you three.” “I don’t want a new one!” she sobbed, her eyes red. “I want Mr. Buttons! He’s my best friend! You can’t leave him!” She glared at me with pure venom. “It’s Brooke’s fault. She drove like a crazy person and threw him out.” Benjamin’s face darkened. He reached forward and shoved my shoulder. “Go find it.” I stared at him, incredulous. “Are you kidding? It’s pitch black on a high-speed interstate. It’s suicide.” “If you hadn't waited until the last second to warn us, she wouldn't have been scared and she wouldn't have dropped it!” Benjamin shouted, his logic warping into something unrecognizable. “This is your mess. You fix it.” Looking at his distorted, self-righteous face, I felt a strange sense of calm. I wasn't surprised anymore. I glanced at my watch. “If we stay here, we won't make the filing. The company will be liable for the full thirty million.” He waved his hand dismissively. “Stop using the paperwork as an excuse. If we don’t make it today, we’ll go tomorrow. Go get the bear.” I looked at him, and I stopped seeing the man I loved. I saw a stranger. “Fine,” I said quietly. I got out of the car and began walking back along the guardrail. The mountain wind felt like a blade against my skin. I used my phone’s flashlight to scan the tall grass beside the road. “Good luck, Brooke-y!” Paisley’s voice drifted over, chirpy and triumphant. I could see her through the window, wrapped in a pink fleece blanket, sipping from a thermos of warm milk Benjamin had prepared for her. A few minutes later, a set of headlights slowed down and pulled over into the emergency lane behind our car. A young man stepped out. “Hey, do you need help?” he called out. He saw me shivering by the rail and immediately grabbed a spare tire from his trunk. He worked quickly, then walked over to me and pressed a hot travel mug of coffee into my frozen hands. He looked toward the car, where Benjamin and Paisley were huddled together, laughing about something. His eyes narrowed. “Miss, it’s dangerous to be out here on foot. Whatever you’re looking for, it isn't worth your life.” A lump formed in my throat. A total stranger was showing more concern for my safety than my boyfriend of seven years. Benjamin was letting me risk death for a three-dollar stuffed animal because a twenty-five-year-old woman wanted to play "baby." It took until dawn for Paisley to finally agree to leave, only after Benjamin promised her a trip to the toy store. She didn't find the bear. Neither did I. As she climbed into the car, she shot me a look of pure malice. The rest of the drive was eerily quiet. In the rearview mirror, I saw her whispering into Benjamin’s ear, her lips brushing his skin. He was nodding, smiling, occasionally chuckling at whatever "secret" they were sharing. We reached the final toll plaza at 4:00 PM. A state trooper was performing routine checks. He leaned into my window. “How many passengers?” “Three,” I said politely. Suddenly, a giggle erupted from the back. “Liar! There are four!” Paisley tilted her head, her expression hauntingly innocent. “There’s a person in the trunk. A person who doesn't move.” The officer’s entire body went rigid. His hand dropped instinctively to his holster. “Everyone out of the vehicle. NOW!” My skin crawled. I stepped out with my hands raised. “Officer, please. She’s my colleague. She has a… she likes to make up stories. It’s a joke.” Paisley jumped up and down, looking offended. “I am not lying! Mr. Policeman, Benny knows! Ask Benny!” Benjamin was forced onto his knees on the other side of the car. When the officer questioned him, he looked at Paisley, then back at the cop, and nodded seriously. “Yes. Paisley doesn't lie.” A cold clarity washed over me. This was what they had been whispering about. They wanted to punish me for the "bear." They wanted to see me squirm. I leaned into the role. I made my voice sound frantic, desperate. “Paisley, stop it! This isn't the time! If you keep lying, they’ll take us to the station!” “Don't you talk to her like that!” Benjamin snapped from the ground. Paisley pouted, smoothing her skirt. “Oh, wow. Policemen are so easy to trick. I was just kidding! It’s not a person in the trunk…” The officer began to exhale, but Paisley blinked, her smile widening. “It’s a person… and a big jar of special white powder!” The air turned to ice. The officer’s eyes sharpened. “What powder?” “The happy powder!” She clapped her hands. “I love to drink it. It makes me feel so floaty.” She pointed at me. “But Brooke says the powder is bad for me. She won't let me have any. She’s so stingy!” I stood up abruptly, a fake protest on my lips, but the officer was already on me. He slammed me against the side of the car, wrenching my arms behind my back. “Officer, it’s baby formula! She’s talking about formula!” “Shut up!” He shone a tactical light into my eyes, blinding me. “ID out. Tell me what’s in this car, or things are going to get very ugly.” My collarbone was pressed hard against the metal frame, pain blooming in my chest. I didn't struggle. I let out a shaky breath. “Officer, please. I’m an attorney. My credentials are in my bag. We have to get to the courthouse by 5:30… please, just take me there, and I’ll cooperate with everything!” The officer wavered, looking between my professional attire and Paisley’s ruffled dress. “She’s going to run again!” Paisley sang out. “She ran when we hit the rail, and she’s running now. She’s a fugitive!” Just then, the officer at the front of the car shouted. “Luminol hit! Captain, we’ve got a positive for human blood on the front bumper!” Clink. The handcuffs snapped shut around my wrists. The officer shoved me down onto the pavement. “Don't move!” The lead officer grabbed his radio. “Secure the scene. Call forensics and K-9. We’ve got a possible 187 and narcotics transport.” Benjamin finally realized the gravity of the situation. His face went pale. “Wait… no, that’s not… we were just…” “Quiet!” a cop barked, shoving him down. Benjamin trembled, his mouth hanging open, too terrified to speak. I closed my eyes and counted the minutes. I could feel the clock ticking toward 5:30. The forensics team arrived fast. They carefully popped the trunk. A heavy silence fell over the plaza. Then, the Captain walked toward us, his face a mask of fury. “What the hell is this?”
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