by Mina Thorne
“What does it look like? Get back into your cage, you little beast,” she spat.
Taylor stepped around her and grabbed my wrist. He twisted my arm behind my back and marched me towards the room again. I struggled and fought against him, but I couldn’t get away.
As we reached the open door of my prison, I realized Becca had never run. She was standing in the doorway in front of a woman I didn’t know.
She was sobbing and pulling at the woman’s jacket. Her eyes were pleading, and she was begging the woman.
“Please, Mom, I’ll do anything…just let me go home!”
Shock hit me like a gut punch, and I realized it was Becca’s mother. She was the figure we’d pushed down before I’d escaped, she was one of our captors.
Her own mother.
Bile rose in my throat and stained my tongue bitter and acrid. I nearly gagged as I began to put the pieces together.
The three of them were in this against us. They had conspired to have Becca come after me, they had hidden her after the fire, and they had kidnapped me.
I just didn’t know why.
“My mom did this,” Becca sobbed as Taylor shoved me back past them into the room. “My own mom did this to us!”
“Oh Becca, stop being such a drama queen,” her mother said with a horrible, cold voice. “You did this to yourself. I can’t have you running around doing crazy shit and getting caught. We can’t risk you talking to the cops and ruining our plans.”
Becca cried out and sagged backward onto her cot. She put her head into her hands and began to shake as she sobbed her grief.
“What plans?” I asked, desperately trying to keep them here so I might have another chance to run. Or at the very least, so I could understand why they had us here.
“You don’t need to worry about that,” Elaine said, and Taylor smirked behind her. They were standing behind Becca’s mom in the doorway, and I had the sudden, horrifying realization that they were about to leave.
I felt as if I was going to suffocate if I spent any more time locked in this room, so out of desperation, I made one last, mad run at the door.
Becca’s mom threw something into the room, stepped back, and Taylor’s hand reached out to pull the door shut.
It slammed hard, spinning the room back into darkness until my eyes adjusted again. I pounded my fists against the metal surface as I heard locks click shut and then nothing.
They left us alone again in the room that had become our prison.
And like Becca, I sagged down onto my knees and began to cry.
Chapter 86
Becca and I sat in silence in our misery. It was punctuated every once in a while by a sniffle or a moan of emotional anguish, but otherwise, it was complete.
After what felt like a few hours, I finally spoke.
“What is going on?” I asked.
“I think I’ve been lied to,” she replied. “They told me so many things about your father… I guess I mean our father. I’m starting to think none of them are true.”
“Do you think they’ve sent him a ransom note?” I asked. Money was the only thing I could think of that might motivate them.
“Probably,” she replied. “I know I’ve said it before, but I feel like I need to repeat it. I’m sorry for everything I did to you. I had no idea they were like this. I had no idea they were feeding me lies.”
I told her it was okay, like I had many times before, but this time I meant it more than the rest. This time I could see how she’d been used by her own mother and her mother’s sick friends. Becca had been taught to hate my family from an early age, me showing up had just given her an easy target for that hatred.
I was falling back into silence when I remembered that Becca’s mom had thrown something into the room. I sat up and rolled off the cot, my arms and legs aching from the struggle with Taylor.
“What is it?” Becca asked and sat up on her cot.
“Your mom threw us something,” I said and started to feel around until my hands found it. A plastic shopping bag. “I think it’s food!”
I stood up and carried it to Becca’s bed; we dumped it out and looked it over. It was. More cheese slices, granola bars, and bottles of water.
But to us, it was a feast.
We couldn’t eat as much as we wanted though, we knew we had to ration it out. We didn’t know when they’d come back with more, and there was always that underlying fear that they’d never come back.
We allowed ourselves to eat some hard cheese, and I swore food had never tasted so good. I let each bit swirl around on my tongue; I reveled in the flavor of it and indulged my senses as I ate it.
I thought about how quickly your world narrowed when you were trapped, and how everything that had seemed impossible or like such a big problem before was nothing in here.
Nothing mattered other than surviving and escaping.
We finished our small meal and fell back onto our cots and into silence. We had been together long enough that the silence was as comfortable as the words in between. We didn’t need to speak to each other now. We shared a strange kind of communion as prisoners together.
I fell asleep and began to dream. The images were fractured and violent, sending me into a spiral of fear and terror. It was one of those dreams where you need to run, but you can’t. My legs were stuck, and I was unable to escape whatever it was that was after me.
I was flailing around in my dream and began to fall.
I cried out, and my eyes snapped open, blinding light hit me like a brick to the face. I cried out again and cowered against the wall. I was terrified it was them returning, our psychotic kidnappers.
Across from me, Becca was awake and trembling in fear. Dark figures filled the doorway and cast long shadows into the room. They filled the space, and my heart froze in fear until I heard a voice.
“Stephanie Montgomery? I think we’ve got her!”
Voices broke out beyond him, and other figures flowed into the room. I saw somebody reach down and help Becca to her feet and felt strong arms hook under mine to lift me too.
It happened so fast I couldn’t process what was happening. I was surrounded by people all talking at the same time, and it took me a few moments to realize they were dressed in police gear.
“Are you saving us?” I asked at last. “Are we free?”
“Yes, Miss Montgomery,” the man who was carrying me said. “We’re here to save you.”
I let him help me through the hallway and down to the door I’d tried to open. The one I’d almost escaped through until Elaine and Taylor had blocked my way.
I pushed his hands away when we walked through, and I rushed up the stairs I found on the other side. The air was fresh, and I could almost taste my freedom.
Once I reached the top, I found myself out in an open warehouse with police and paramedics waiting for us.
I was approached by one of the emergency responders who put a blanket around my shoulders and began to walk me away.
Behind me, Becca was led out. She was sobbing as the remaining paramedics gathered around her to hold her up.
I heard a commotion ahead of us, and people began to move apart for somebody running towards me.
“Steph!” I heard my name being called over and over.
“Steph! Babe!”
I stumbled to a stop and watched as Barrett, Rome, and Whitt broke through the crowd and surrounded me at once with their hugs and kisses and desperate voices.
“We didn’t know what happened to you,” Barrett said and lifted me into his arms. “We were fucking frantic, babe. And then David got a note demanding he give up his company…”
“They threatened to kill you,” Rome said with tension and anger in his voice. “I was going crazy.”
“I’m so glad you’re back,” Whitt said and leaned to kiss my forehead. “I was losing my fucking mind.”
“Where is she? Where’s my daughter?”
Dad and Kit pushed through, and I lit up when I
saw them. They asked me a million questions as Barrett walked me out of the warehouse.
I couldn’t answer them all. I was so overwhelmed. But one thing came to the surface of my mind.
“How did you find us?”
Dad looked over and said, “Those earrings.”
“These?” I asked and touched the diamonds they’d given me for my birthday.
“The fitness tracker app has a locator too,” Kit said, embarrassed. “It wasn’t something we would normally look into, but we were desperate.”
“What took you so long?” I asked, not wanting to make them feel bad but feeling a little angry that I’d been there for so many days without rescue. “In fact, how long has it been?”
“Five days,” Barrett said and shifted his arms around me. “Five miserable days.”
“We couldn’t find you at first,” Kit said. “It was strange like you’d fallen off the face of the earth.”
“Then suddenly last night we got a blip. It took us a little while to convince the cops that it was a lead, but here we are,” Dad said.
“The room they were in probably blocked their signal,” the cop next to the paramedic said. “You must have stepped into the right spot or something.”
“I got out,” I replied. “Becca’s mom, Elaine, and Taylor came to check on us, and I escaped for a few minutes.”
“This was their doing?” Dad roared and clenched his fists. “Are you fucking kidding me? Did you hear that?”
He looked at the cop, and the cop nodded. He pulled out a notepad and asked me for more information as the paramedic checked me over.
I was painfully aware of the fact that I smelled awful, and I needed a shower, and my hair was greasy and hanging dank around my face.
When we’d finished up with the police, the paramedic declared me healthy, but they suggested I get thoroughly checked at the hospital.
Rome picked me up in his arms this time and carried me to the car while Barrett and Whitt fussed on either side of us. Dad and Kit followed along.
“Where’s Mom?” I asked, suddenly realizing she wasn’t there to see my release.
Dad paused and cleared his throat. He looked at Kit and back at me.
He seemed nervous when he said, “We didn’t tell her this time. She and Reg decided to take a week off and go to Mexico, so we didn’t want to bother them.”
I relaxed and nodded my head. “Thank you. She would never have let me live it down.”
“There was that too,” Dad said, and we kept walking. “I wanted to handle this our way, just the family. As long as we did everything in our power to get you back safe and sound, there was no reason to bring your mom into it.”
I leaned my face against Rome’s chest and smiled. Dad had said just the family, as in the people around me at that moment.
It wasn’t that Mom shouldn’t be involved in my life, but in this case, Dad chose to protect me from Mom’s anger and anxiety.
I appreciated that.
And I loved the feeling of being part of a group, part of a close-knit family who looked out for each other and cared for each other.
All I wanted to do now was get home though and wash the last five days off of me.
Chapter 87
The first shower I had at home was, by far, the best shower I’ve ever had in my entire life.
No exaggeration.
I cried as the water hit me, hot and searing but refreshing. It felt like the entire five days ordeal was being washed from my body. The tears released the tension and fear that had been built up and felt like they’d taken over my mind.
They streamed out of me, and with each sob, I felt stronger. Whole again.
I stayed in the shower until my skin began to prune, and my boys started to pace rapidly back and forth from my bedroom to my bathroom.
They were so worried about me that I didn’t think they’d ever let me be alone again. It was cute, and it was something I would love forever. I would never feel unsafe as long as I had them by my side.
I finally turned the water off and stepped out of the shower. Barrett was holding a big, plush towel for me and the other two boys were next to him with my robe and slippers waiting.
“Now this I could get used to,” I laughed as Barrett helped dry me off. “It just took me being kidnapped to get this kind of treatment.”
“You’ll be treated like a queen for the rest of your life,” Rome said and held my robe open. “It shouldn’t take you being put at risk for us to do that for you.”
“You’ll never be in danger again,” Whitt told me, dropping my slippers. I slid my feet into them and smiled at the three boys I loved so much.
They surrounded me and kissed me again and again until I felt like I was floating in their adoration and love.
But as much as I wanted their attention, I needed sleep. I took their hands and led them to my bed so I could fall into a sleep filled with dreams instead of nightmares.
* * *
“According to the police, they’ve been planning this since they found out you were coming back,” Dad said one Saturday morning a couple of weeks after my rescue.
We were sitting in the bright sunroom with our usual breakfast spread laid out on the table before us. Kit sat next to him, sipping her coffee, and I had my three boys with me.
As much as Dad had only been lenient because he’d felt so guilty for cheating on Mom, he’d allowed the three of them to be with me for so long he wasn’t able to stop us now.
We were pretty much inseparable and spent most of our free time together, but I never thought I’d get enough of them.
Once in a while I’d do a date night with one of them on their own, it was up to me though. I could always tell when one of them needed extra attention.
I’d settled back into school and had become a little bit notorious for having survived not one, but two violent life-threatening events.
Becca had been investigated and arrested. They’d taken her into custody for the fire, but I’d refused to allow anyone to press charges. Dad had fought with the police and used his lawyers to ensure Becca wasn’t charged with anything more than the lowest offenses.
We also managed to get her into psychiatric care instead of going away into prison or punished as a juvenile offender.
The biggest news though, of course, was that Elaine, Taylor and Becca’s mom had been plotting to take over Montgomery Holdings for years and years. Elaine had met up with Becca’s mom back in the day. She’d found out about Dad and Becca’s mom’s affair and had used it against her.
And then she’d slept with Dad and stolen him right out from under Mom’s nose.
There was some talk that she might have been behind the fire at the club, the one that had started the beginning of all our family misfortune in the first place.
Unfortunately, too much time had passed, so there was no forensic proof. And of course, Elaine was never going to confess.
“They’ve been planning the kidnapping?” I asked. The three of them were in custody and were most likely going away for a long, long time. They’d all tried to turn on each other, but they hadn’t garnered any sympathy.
The only setback their awful plan had experienced was when Becca had gone off script and attacked me in the locker room.
Becca had been raised on the most disgusting stories about our father though, her own mother, Elaine and even Taylor had filled her head with the worst kinds of lies.
They’d all bubbled up to the surface when she’d gone crazy and attacked me. She’d led such a tortured life. It was almost expected for her to lose her mind like that.
And in a strange way, it made me feel better. It was easier to understand her motivations when you could see how crazy her upbringing had been. Once I saw how they’d cultivated their hatred of our family and how it had led to her exploding on me.
“Yes, I’m sorry,” Dad continued. This goes back long before you were born, though. Taylor’s dad used to be my father’s business partner. I ne
ver knew this. Your grandpa was a real son of a bitch, and he cut Taylor’s dad out of their business and renamed it Montgomery Holdings. They’ve struggled with money all this time, and in spite of Taylor’s success in tennis, he held us Montgomerys responsible.”
“That’s so fucked up,” Barrett said. “Almost as fucked up as my obsessive mother. I still don’t know why she was so desperate to sink her hooks into you.”
“You mean other than the fact that I’m a real catch?” Dad laughed. Then he grew serious. “I’ve been thinking about that a lot. I think she always had anger towards Steph’s mother. She had this unhealthy jealousy and obsession to take over her role in my life and this town. She wasn’t well, and I was a real piece of shit back then. It was a bad combination.”
“You managed to stay married for a while though,” I replied.
“I was a busy man, and I enjoyed being a father to Barrett and Roland,” Dad said.
“And we thank you for that,” Barrett said. “I know if Roland were here, he would thank you too.”
Roland had gone back to his studies. He’d convinced his boyfriend to move with him, and part of me wondered how much studying he actually did. His Instagram feed was filled with partying and life in the city and filled me with envy.
I couldn’t wait for my own college life to start, and since we’d begun applications, I figured the four of us would end up in the same place.
“I’m just glad you’re okay,” Rome said and shook his head in disbelief. “It’s been so crazy since you moved to Harrisburg… I hope it goes back to its normal, boring way of life now that they’ve been caught.”
“We’ll never forget what happened,” I said and grabbed Whitt’s hand in mine. He, most of all would never forget. He wore the scars of the fire worse than I did. “But we can move ahead and make our lives exciting in our own ways.”
“Yes, no fires or kidnapping but plenty of excitement,” Whitt grinned at me. He was back to playing football and was mostly recovered, but the scar on his thigh would never disappear. Neither would mine, the very few that I had on my body from the fire.
