by Nikki Ash
I don’t even want to think about the possibilities of what Marco and Hayley could be going through right now. I’m praying this is all a misunderstanding and they’re safely at one of our friend’s houses, but I would rather expect the worst and hope for the best. While I’m driving I get several texts from our friends and her family saying they haven’t seen or heard from her. Hannah texts saying Hayley posted a picture of Marco skateboarding earlier at the skate park. I forward it to the detective remembering I didn’t mention the park during our conversation. Then I text Cooper, Bentley, and Kaden telling them I think Hayley and Marco were taken.
I get to the neighborhood and drive around looking for anything suspicious. I don’t see Hayley’s car anywhere. I drive by Marco’s old house and it’s vacant. I get out and walk around the house, but it’s empty. I feel my phone buzz and see a text from the detective.
Detective Bradley: Officer found her car abandoned at the skate park earlier and reported it.
Fuck! There’s no way she would have just left her car there.
Me: Hector and Santos had to have taken her!
Detective Bradley: Meet me at your house. Don’t do anything stupid.
I want to keep searching for Hayley, but I know driving around isn’t going to get me anywhere. I need to be smart about this. If it was Hector and Santos who took Marco and her it’s because they want something. I head back home and when I get there the detective is there along with his partner. I think his name is David.
We walk into the house, and as I sit down on the couch to get down to business, David is bent over in the doorway. “Did you see this?”
I get up from the couch and grab what he’s holding. It’s a photo of Hayley and Marco both tied up and looking scared. Hayley looks to have a large bruise on her face. I flip it over and on the back is a note.
I warned you over and over again, but you didn’t listen. Maybe now you will listen. One million in cash dropped off to the park under the bench where the car is parked by 10 a.m. or they will be killed.
“What the fuck! How did I not see this shit before when I came home?” It was dark, that’s why I didn’t see it, and I wasn’t looking on the ground for fucking clues.
“Fuck! Since I didn’t drop the charges, they want money… and I am what? Supposed to sit here for eight fucking hours and wait to drop off the money and hope they’re okay?”
“No, you aren’t,” Bradley says. He’s making calls and trying to get intel on the guys. I feel so fucking useless. I don’t even know where to start looking. This is entirely my fault! If I hadn’t left Hayley to go look at apartments I would’ve been with them at the park and this never would’ve happened. It doesn’t go over my head every time she received a threat she was alone. I should have taken the threats more seriously. I should have insisted the police do something more. I kept thinking the trial would come around and these guys would be locked up with the other two that didn’t get out on bail. I shouldn’t have let my guard down. Now Hayley and Marco are God knows where scared and possibly hurt.
“What do we do?”
“We’re having a couple officers go to Hector’s and Santos’s houses to check things out. We’re also having the tech department pull up the cameras at the park from earlier today. Unfortunately other than a few anonymous threats since the graffiti on her car, there hasn’t been much to go off of.
“I can’t just sit here. The tracker showed her near the industrial building. I need to go there and check it out.”
The front door swings open and I pray it’s Hayley and Marco, but it’s not. It’s Bentley, Cooper, and Kaden.
“What the fuck is going on?” Bentley asks.
“They were taken?” Cooper asks.
“Yeah.” I show them the picture.
“So what the hell are we doing here? We need to go find them,” Kaden growls.
This is why these guys are my best friends. They would do anything for me and the people I love.
“We’re having forensics take the picture. We’re hoping they can pinpoint a location the photo was printed at or taken from,” the detective states, taking the photo from me and handing it to someone on his team.
“A million? We can give the guys that, and they must know if they hurt them, they won’t get their money,” Bentley says.
“Yeah, well, I’m not sitting and waiting seven more hours to find out.” I grab my keys and head out to my truck.
“Wait, you aren’t going without us,” Kaden says.
“Do you have your guns on you?” I ask.
“Yeah, when you said you thought Hayley and Marco were taken, we grabbed them,” Bentley says as we all jump into my truck.
Detective Bradley: I can’t stop you, but if you find them please call for backup. Don’t go in on your own.
I don’t bother texting back. I don’t want to have to lie to a cop, and there’s no way I’m going to find my girl and kid and sit around and wait for him to get there.
We’re driving around the neighborhood for about thirty minutes and I’m getting frustrated as fuck having no clue where Hayley can be when I see the same expensive vehicle I’ve spotted several times now.
“That’s the car,” I point out. “Hayley and I have seen this car parked near us several times.”
I park my truck and quickly text the detective, sending him a live location of where we are.
I take my gun out and take the safety off—the guys do the same thing.
We all walk up along the side of the building. It’s the same warehouse Marco met the guys at but around back. The only way to get to the door is a small alleyway. If it weren’t for the car being parked here I would have completely overlooked it. We stop at the vehicle and look inside. Nobody is in there, but on the floor of the car I can see Hayley’s phone. She has to be close by. When I feel the hood, it’s cold telling me it’s been parked here for a while.
I hear soft footsteps coming up behind us and I turn and point my gun ready to shoot anybody that’s a threat. It’s the detective and several other officers. The detective puts his fingers to his lips and I nod. We walk toward the door of the building, when I hear a woman scream so loud it send chills down my spine. I know I should wait for the detective to give some kind of orders, but I don’t. I try to open the door, but it won’t open, so I step back and shoot the lock out.
When the door flies open the scene in front of me is one I’ll never forget for as long as I live.
Chapter Twenty-Nine
Hayley
Nine Hours Earlier
“Oh my goodness! Marco! You’re like a skateboarding god! Who taught you to skateboard like this?” I’m watching Marco do ridiculously cool tricks using his skateboard and I’m absolutely amazed. The kid is so talented.
“I used to skateboard here all the time before Cooper started the MMA classes, and usually after the classes I would come here to practice, plus my friends and I practice at school during gym.”
I pull out my phone and switch it to live mode to record him doing his tricks and then post it to Facebook. It’s a beautiful day here and getting out helped take my mind off Caleb and the fact that while I’m here with Marco, he’s off looking at apartments.
A little while later Marco comes over to me and sits down.
“Umm… so I have a question,” he says nervously.
“What’s up?”
“Your parents said I can call them Nana and Pop—those are nicknames for grandparents, right?”
“Yes,” I say, pretty sure where this is going but scared if it’s not going in the direction I think it is, I’ll be heartbroken.
“And if they’re my grandparents, it’s like you’re my mom. Right?”
“Well, I would definitely be honored to be your mom if that’s what you’re asking. I know you already have a mom, so I think that would be up to you.”
“My mom wasn’t a good mom. I’m old enough to know that.”
“She wasn’t perfect, but she loved you the bes
t she could.” I seriously hope I’m not botching this entire conversation. I probably should have looked up the right things to say. I’m already messing up this whole parenting thing and it’s not even official yet.
“What if I wanted to call you mom?”
My heart tightens in my chest at his words. “Then you would make me the happiest woman in the entire world, but only on one condition.”
“What’s that?” he asks, nervous again.
“I can call you my son.”
“That would be awesome. Do you think Caleb would let me call him Dad?”
The heart constricts at the idea of Caleb and I being parents to Marco. He’s been close to Marco for so long, I could never keep that title from him, even if he doesn’t want to marry me and formally adopt Marco.
“That is something you would have to ask Caleb, but I’m pretty sure he would be honored. He loves you almost as much as I do,” I say with a playful wink.
Marco laughs.
“Speaking of new names. I have some good news. The adoption went through and on Friday we’ll be going before the judge to make it official. You’re legally mine, kid.”
I reach over and give him a hug and he hugs me back. “I love you, Mom.”
I choke up, but compose myself quickly. “I love you too, Son.”
Marco runs back to the ramps to skateboard some more. I want to text Caleb to tell him about this conversation but don’t want to bother him while he’s apartment hunting. He needs his space. If he needed or wanted me he would be here with us. I can’t make someone try.
I look at the time and see it’s almost dinnertime, and since it’s a school night we need to get home to eat and get ready for tomorrow.
“C’mon, Marco, let’s go.”
“Coming, Mom!” he yells. He has no idea what the significance of those three little letters mean to me. All I can do is make sure I do everything in my power to earn the title that precious little boy has given me.
I hit the button to pop open my trunk. Marco takes his pads off his elbows and knees and then takes his helmet off, throwing it all into the trunk, slamming it closed when he’s done. I hit the key fob to unlock the doors, and just as we are about to get in hands come around me, one hand covering my mouth. I try to scream, but it’s muffled. I’m then blindfolded and handcuffed with my hands behind by back and then thrown into the back of a vehicle where I can hear Marco screaming.
“Cállate,” I hear a man bark out. Marco immediately stops screaming. I shift my body, so I’m touching Marco’s body with mine, letting him know I’m here with him.
The guys talk minimally in Spanish and a few minutes later the car comes to a stop. Since I’m blindfolded I have no idea where I am. Then I remember I have my cell phone in my back pocket. Without being able to see, I try to unlock it and dial whatever number comes up first. But before I can even get it unlocked, the phone is smacked out of my hand and I hear it crack like it’s being stomped on.
“Puta cuidadosa o morirás!” a man spits out before grabbing me and dragging me out of the car. I hear Marco crying and saying something in Spanish. The man smacks me across the face hard and then throws me onto the ground. I curl up into a fetal position while I’m kicked several times in the back and a few times to my ribs. Eventually it’s too much and I throw up. They finally stop and I’m picked up and brought somewhere where I’m thrown onto cold hard cement. I try to stay calm, but my body is aching. I can taste the blood coming from my mouth, but I don’t want Marco to know anything is wrong.
I only know Marco is with me because I can hear him breathing loudly. The place goes quiet a few minutes later, and I take the chance and speak.
“Marco, sweetie, are you okay?”
“Yeah, Mom, I’m okay. Are you?”
“Yes, I’m okay. Do you know what the man said to me in Spanish?”
“He said to be careful or you will die. I tried to tell him to stop.”
“It’s going to be okay, Marco.”
He doesn’t say anything back.
A little while later the door opens and our blindfolds are removed. I’ve read enough books to know this isn’t a good thing. If the kidnappers are okay with letting you see them they don’t plan to let you live. Once my eyes adjust, I see we’re in an empty room in a warehouse and sure enough it’s Hector and Santos along with the two guys who got out on bail. There’s another guy there as well, dressed nicer than the other guys, and I wonder if he’s the owner of the expensive vehicle that has been parked down my street.
“You know why I took off your blindfolds? So you can see who is in charge of your life. Let’s hope you and the boy are worth a million dollars,” one of the men says in his heavy Spanish accent. He takes his cell phone out and snaps a picture of Marco and me.
“And then you will let us go?” I ask.
“We’ll see.”
“Please just let Marco go. You can keep me. He’s just a child.”
“Just a child? He’s the reason for this shit! Him and his druggie mother!”
“He’s a child!” I yell back! The man backhands me so hard tears spring from my eyes and blood coats the inside of my mouth.
“Mom!” Marco yells. He looks so scared. All I want to do is hold him and make him feel safe even if neither of us are.
“Shut up! Both of you!” They put the blindfold back on Marco and then on me.
The door slams shut, leaving us once again in the dark.
“I love you, Marco.” It’s all I can say. I don’t know at this point if we will live or die, but I need him to know I love him. “You are the best treasure ever brought into my life. No matter what happens I need you to know I love you, Son.”
“I love you too, Mom. Thank you for saving me.”
There’s so much more I want to say, but I can’t speak without crying, and I don’t want Marco to hear me crying. My body is in so much pain and it’s hard to breathe. I take a slow deep breath and pray to God somebody finds us soon.
After telling Marco over and over again I will protect him he finally falls asleep with his head in my lap. It seems like hours before the men return. I’m exhausted and it’s got to be well into the night or early morning, but I’m too scared to sleep. I need to protect my son.
I hear the men getting closer. They’re yelling back and forth in Spanish and while I have no idea what they’re saying, it doesn’t sound like they’re very happy. Every few words I hear one I can translate like police and money. Damn it, I wish I had paid better attention in Spanish class back in college.
The voices keep getting closer and before I know it I hear the door swing open. Before I can react, Marco is no longer sleeping on my lap and my shorts are being ripped off me. Marco is screaming out my name and I’m just so thankful he won’t have to actually see me being raped. I’m pushed onto my back and because my hands are still handcuffed, I can’t stop myself from falling backward, my head hitting the concrete hard. I feel dizzy but try hard not to blackout.
“Your boyfriend made a grave mistake, you little bitch. He involved the police. His mistake is your punishment.” He grabs my breasts hard and then spreads my legs so wide I scream out loudly in pain. I can’t just let him rape me. I need to fight, but how can I fight without my hands or sight. I attempt to kick him hard and must make contact, because when my foot hits him, he grunts out what sounds like curse words in Spanish. I take the opportunity to begin screaming again trying to get away.
I expect him to come back at me to take my underwear off, so I bring my legs up ready to kick him again, but instead I hear a loud gunshot ring through the air, what sounds like a door swinging open, and then loud voices yelling, “Police. Put your weapons down.” Suddenly several gunshots go off.
I bring my shoulder up to my face as I try to move the blindfold the best I can, but it’s not working. A few seconds later, hands are on me and I jump, screaming out loud. “Shh… it’s okay, Hayles. I got you.” The sound of Caleb’s voice allows me to relax. He removes
my blindfold, and that’s when I see Kaden, Cooper, and Bentley, as well as several armed police officers all pointing their guns at the five men who are on the ground bleeding, having been shot. It looks like at least two of them might be dead and the others are definitely injured.
I search for Marco and see him curled up in the corner. I get up the best I can and hobble over to him. I can’t hold him, but I attempt to soothe him with my words.
“It’s okay, sweetie. Caleb and the police are here. They saved us.” I sit close to Marco, blocking him in case anything goes bad, hoping my body will protect his.
The officers handcuff the three guys who are alive but injured and another officer calls for more ambulances saying there are several injured. One of the officers comes over to Marco and me, and using a key, unlocks our cuffs. I immediately grab Marco, taking his blindfold off, and hold him tight, vowing to never let go of him. First date? Hope he enjoys a third wheel. College? He better be prepared for me to join him. I might even have to homeschool him.
While I’m holding him and refusing to let go, I feel hands encompass us, and when I look up I see Caleb with tears in his eyes, holding both of us.
“I thought I was going to lose you both,” he says through his tears. “I’m so sorry, baby. I’m so sorry for leaving you guys.”
I’m not sure why Caleb is apologizing. He didn’t do this. He can’t control what those men did. Then it hits me. He blames himself because he left us to go find an apartment, and I know I should be grateful we’re all okay and I should tell him it’s not his fault or at least say it’s okay, but the fear that has consumed me for so long turns into anger. As I get up to grab my shorts, I feel a sharp pain in my side hit me and I double over before blacking out.
Chapter Thirty
Caleb
I fucked up. I know I fucked up, and now I’m going to have to fix this. I walked out on Hayley and Marco to find an apartment in an attempt to push her away. All she’s done this entire time is fight for me, and instead of pulling her closer and leaning on her, I pushed her away. I should have just told her about the flashbacks. I should have explained what was going on in my head, but instead I walked away like a scared little bitch.
