Mother, May I?
Part 3
By: ioanhoratio
A/N Thank you so much for the awesome support! Dine89, bluelilyrose, pretty7, webdlfan, rapidtetv, Lindsay1234, afrozenheart412, rhymenocerous, and laurzz!
"My name is Justine Cadence, and I need your help to save my son's life."
The declaration slammed Lindsay in the chest, and she had to resist the urge to gasp. A wave of cold reality flooded over her as she realized it wasn't in a dream that Lindsay had seen the woman's face, but a nightmare. It was a face very similar to that of the man who had killed Lindsay's friends, and had nearly destroyed her own life.
"Exc...Excuse me?" she stammered through the deafening roar in her ears.
The woman looked around as if she was going to be attacked at any moment by some unseen force. She brought her intense gaze to Lindsay's face and begged, "Please, ma'am. I know you have every reason to despise me, but if you would please spare me a few minutes?"
Lindsay felt panic begin to clog her throat. The look of desperation in her eyes tore at a place in Lindsay that she had worked hard to overcome; it was the look of a mother whose heart had been ripped out.
"I can't," Lindsay breathed, she quickly turned back to the car and re-clipped the top buckle on Lucy's car seat, the latch was being stubborn.
"I get out Momma," Lucy stated, confused by her mother's actions.
"No baby," Lindsay chided lovingly.
"Yes, Mommy, I wanna muffin," Lucy reminded her mother stubbornly.
"We'll get one later, we have to go Lucy," Lindsay tried again, ignoring the woman who was hovering just out of Lucy's view.
"No!" Lucy cried, disappointment being translated to utter heartbreak in the mind of the toddler, "You pwomise me, mommy."
"Later, Lucy," Lindsay grumbled firmly, trying to stay calm.
Lucy began to wail in earnest, but finally Lindsay heard the click of the lock sliding in place, and she shut the door, muffling her daughter's cries.
"Wait, please," the woman began following Lindsay around the car, "I know you have no reason to listen, but I can't...I have to try. He's my baby. Please, I don't want to loose Danny."
The muscles in Lindsay's body tensed, and a deep sense of shock caused a pounding in her head that spread through her body. Her mind blanked of any reasonable response, and she was left with the impulse to simply run away from the woman, but she was frozen. "D-Danny?" she forced out, her voice sounding strangled, as she turned to face the woman.
"Please," the woman cried, her tears falling from the corner of her eyes when she would blink, "all I ask is a moment."
Lindsay forced air in and out of her lungs, reminder herself that she needed to keep her wits as she was hit with a wave of reality if the form of her son hiccuping beneath her skin. She stroked her belly and nodded at the woman, indicating for her to continue.
Not wasting this opportunity, the woman wiped at her tears and began, "I'm sorry for this, truly, please know this is my last resort. It's clear I don't need to tell you who I am. My son, Danny, is on death row because of your testimony."
"He's on death row because he brutally murdered four people," Lindsay snapped angrily, her emotions running the spectrum. She wasn't going to stand here and be accused by this woman. She turned to the car and slid in behind the wheel. She reached awkwardly for the door but was stopped.
"I'm sorry," the woman moved in her way, her face now pale, "I didn't mean it that way."
"Move please," Lindsay said through clenched teeth. Lucy's wailing having died off to whimpering as the toddler was baffled by the unusual behavior of her mother and this stranger.
"Please, what I meant was that what you say carries a lot of weight. I know what Danny did was wrong...
"Stop," Lindsay interrupted her, wincing when she heard the name, "Stop calling him that."
The woman stood speechless for a moment, her confusion clear. Lindsay took her hesitation as a moment of action, and pushed passed her, grabbing the door and pulling it closed, cursing the fact that she had left the window cracked due to the stifling New York heat.
Driven once again into action, the woman spoke through the window, "I'm sorry, I don't understand, but you need to listen to me please."
Lindsay had no choice but to do just that as she struggled with her shaking hands to get the key into the ignition.
"Dan...my son, what he did was terrible, but you have to understand it's my fault. I failed him. I wasn't the mother I should have been, I let terrible things happen to him. I know he needs to be punished for what he did, but please, don't let them kill my baby. If I could, I would die in his place. You could talk to them, or write them a letter, or something, asking them to consider taking him off death row..."
Lindsay couldn't handle another moment. She didn't want to hear that Daniel Cadence's life had been difficult, she didn't want to hear him called someone's baby, she didn't want to know anything about him. The key turned over, starting the engine, and she wanted to do nothing more than push the gas pedal and floor it out of there, but the reasonable side of her that reminded her of the two precious lives in her care forced her to wait since the passing traffic made it difficult to just pull away from the curb.
Seeing that her chance was quickly slipping away, Justine Cadence pulled a card out of her pocket and shoved it in the crack of the window. "If you can, please give me a chance to explain. My cell phone number's on the card. I'll be in New York for three more days, please, I am begging you one mother to another." Her voice was sad, pleading for hope.
Unable to respond to her plea, Lindsay saw an opening and pulled out, hoping the woman would just get out of the way. She couldn't focus on much so she just began to drive. Her whole body was shaking now, and almost as an after thought she reached for here seat belt. She stopped at a red light, and looked in the rear view mirror, worried for a moment that she would see the woman following her.
"Momma?" the tiny voice of her daughter called, her apprehension clear.
Lindsay felt her heart break at the fear in her daughter's eyes. Unwelcome thoughts of Lucy in trouble, desperate from her mother's help began to invade her mind. She knew no matter what her child ever did, Lindsay would do everything in her power to protect her, to love her, and care for her. Lindsay bit her lip, she didn't want anything in common with her.
"Mommy's...mommy's here," she forced through her clogged throat, the roller coaster of emotions she'd been on for the last ten minutes left her feeling sick and disoriented.
"Mommy sad," Lucy declared, her childish sensitivity allowing her to feel her mother's pain. Her tears began anew, this time a manifestation of her concern for her mother.
That pushed Lindsay over the edge and her own tears began. Cursing the hormones racing through her body and struggling with her inability to stave her reaction, she knew there was only one person who could help her now, only one person that she need desperately to see. "Should we go see Daddy?" she sniffled.
"Yes!" Lucy bawled sadly, her voice loud, unable to control her volume due to her overwhelming emotions.
Lindsay tried to get control as her cell phone dialed Danny's.
"Hey babe! Ya ears musta been burnin' 'cause Don an' I were ju..."
At the sound of his voice, the tentative hold Lindsay had on herself snapped, and she began to sob.
"Babe?"
She was unable to answer.
"Lindsay w'as wrong? Calm down babe...try an' calm down...What happened? Are you ok? Lucy? Please babe, ya gotta take a deep breath and talk to me"
"Lindsay," Danny tried again, "where are you?"
"Dr...Driving," she finally said.
"You're driving? Pull over right now an' I'll come to you," Danny commanded.
Lindsay shook her head, then realized Danny couldn't see her. "No, I don't want to."
"I'm serious," Danny tried to interrupt.
"No, I'm close to the lab."
"Well, how close is close?"
Lindsay wasn't actually sure if what she had said was true, she only knew she was afraid to stop for fear that woman would be close behind. Glancing out the window, she realized she really was close. "I'm a block away."
"Fine," he sighed, "just be careful. I'll see you in a minute."
Feeling a bit calmer, Lindsay focused on driving safely the last block and trying to assure her upset her daughter. Relief flooded Lindsay as she pulled into the garage and saw her husband standing there, waiting for her. She put the car in park, scrambled out of the car and threw herself into his arms.
Thanks for reading!
So what will Lindsay decide to do? Is that the last we've seen of Justine Cadence? When will we get to Danny and Lindsay? Hmm...