He had done that at the coffee shop, but his plan had a glaring hole. “Wouldn’t they just have gone after Jude then, when they couldn’t find me? Or Brooklyn?”
His eyes lit up, because it seemed this asshole had an answer for everything. “I had a plan for that too! I was going to get them to take Brooklyn. She seemed like a sacrifice that was worth the cost of not losing you, since I knew you’d never get over losing your brother. Even though I know he doesn’t like me.”
I cocked my head. “But what about Brooklyn?”
He shook me softly, as if I weren’t getting the point. And it made me even more frustrated. “Your brother was the only one I knew that could talk you into not testifying. He had to stay alive for many, many reasons. And that way, everyone would have won in the end. I would have talked you into staying in hiding with me, Jude could have stayed at her place while Brooklyn was taken, and the mob guys would have been happy. It would have been perfect,” he said.
My back stiffened. “Did you just say the mob?”
I had to have misheard him, right?
Then again, he did say something about the mafia, didn’t he?
His face went white. “Shit. I’ve said too much. This is why I’m not supposed to be down here talking to you like this.” He looked up at the stairs toward the outside world. “I should go now. I’ve already paid once for stepping out of line. I don’t think next time they’ll go so easy on me.”
I looked at his face, which was nothing but a roadmap of fists. “Why did they do that to you?”
His face warmed at what he perceived to be my concern for him. “I was late delivering you. I spent a few days trying to figure out if I could win you back. Then, at the coffee shop, when I knew it wasn’t an option, I fulfilled my end of the deal.”
“That’s why you weren’t driving your usual car. You knew there was a possibility you’d be locking me in the backseat of one.”
He swallowed hard. “I hated to do that, but if we weren’t going to be together…” he trailed off, maybe realizing there was no good way to finish that statement. “I’m going to go now, but I’ll be back soon.”
He put a finger below my chin and tilted it up before pressing his wet lips to mine. And it took all I had not to puke against his face.
“Are you going to get me out of here, though?” I asked when he finally pulled back. “Now that we can be together, you won’t leave me here will you?”
“Babe,” he said, his tone full of reproach. “If I get you out of here, they’ll kill me.”
“But--?“ What had been the point of all this, if he wasn’t going to get me out? “We could be together, like you said before. We could do that!”
He shook his head. “It wouldn’t work now. Now they’d know it was me who had broken you out.”
“Aiden--.“
“I said no.” I saw that anger flare in his eyes, and knew I had to stop pushing him. For now, at least. “Besides, it’s kind of romantic, isn’t it? Just me and you, down here. Like we’re sequestered away from everyone else. We can really use this as a chance to grow closer, babe.”
This terrified me. He was showing how sick he really was. If he liked having me locked up down here, no matter what he said his feelings were, he wouldn’t let me out. So, the best I could hope for was that he wouldn’t kill me. But if the… mob… how weird was that to think, didn’t want me anymore, he’d just lock me up somewhere else. Where no one would find me.
I started to shake, the emotions, the events overwhelming. He noticed this and softened, cupping my cheeks tenderly.
“Shhh, baby. Don’t worry. I’m here. And it’s not so bad down here. You’ll get used to it before long.” He glanced at his watch. “I really do have to go, but I’ll be back as soon as I can get away.”
I sat quietly as he backed up through the door, unlocked it, pulled it open- leaving a temptingly open space that led to freedom- and then closed it with a sliding thud.
No, of course I wasn’t about to try to overpower him. As tempting as it was-even to get a shot in just once- I had to play the long game here. He kept himself in great shape and I was subsisting on a model diet of calories. No, I had gotten what I wanted today. He thought I was genuine, and I knew where the keys were. I hoped that was enough for now.
But as I heard that lock slide in place, it felt like there was very little hope left to hold on to.
24
Janey
You would have thought that working for so many years, watching two kids grow up spoiled as all hell, given things I’d never have dreamed of, even as an adult, that I would have despised the little shits.
Instead, I’d loved them like they were my own family, like the twins were my niece and nephew and I was just around to help out. I didn’t have much family to speak of, just an elderly great aunt somewhere that I made sure to call a few times a year. When I’d first arrived in Hampshire, it had been hard to make friends. I guess I’d eventually just invested myself so deeply in the Carlisle family that I thought I’d sort of become one.
In truth, it was something I was deeply ashamed of. I think that was why I had taken so against Brooklyn. Like she could see how much I’d capitulated over the years, even seeing myself as an integral part of the family, and it forced me to face that myself. And I hadn’t liked what I’d seen.
Then they fired me, and it forced me to come to terms with the fact that I was just the hired help. Twelve years or not--seeing the twins grow from adolescents to teens and start college or not--the Congresswoman’s “right hand help” (as she’d liked to refer to me on some occasions) or not- I’d just been a faceless employee. One gotten rid of easily enough, too.
I can’t lie. Maybe if it had been Jude in trouble, I’d have been less willing to put myself on the line. The day he fired me, it had brought all that shame to the forefront and forced me to deal with the fact that I had never meant anything to any of the Carlisles. Even as I thought that though, I know I couldn’t have stood by while he was in trouble either. That’s the thing about caring for someone, it’s hard to shake it, even when you know you should. And the Carlisle twins were in a league of their own.
The Congresswoman, I had felt less kind toward as the years progressed. I saw the way she treated the children, knew their fear of her. That was part of the reason I’d held on as long as I had. That was why I had worked so hard to stay in her good graces. I didn’t do anything but bear witness and try to help them in ways that I could. But that seemed better than doing nothing at all.
Seeing her now, returned from prison until trial, forcing her kids out of their own house so she could get in all the drinking and pity partying she could before she was surely sentenced to life, only disgusted me further and spurred me to do what I could to save Lila. To hell with the Congresswoman.
I waited until evening, when I knew she’d be about eight sheets to the wind, and made her a little charcuterie tray with the finest offerings available in the picked-over kitchen. I’d picked up a little tray of finger desserts from the local bakery and added those to the tray. Opening a bottle of wine, I placed everything on a bar cart and pushed it into the atrium, where she’d taken to sitting and drinking the evenings away.
“Mrs. Carlisle,” I trilled as I backed in, pulling the cart in front of me. “I made a little something special for you.”
She looked up from her seat in the center of the room and smiled at the sight. In past months, acting with that much familiarity without her prompting it would have irritated her to no end. But now, with so few supporters and friends left, she had taken to wanting to act like we were friends.
“Janey! You’ve outdone yourself!” She surveyed the bar. “Mini eclairs, how divine.” She popped one in her mouth, rolling her eyes back with pleasure.
“Sit, sit,” I waved her back to her seat. “I’ll fix you a plate and pour you a glass of wine.”
She did as she was told. I looked her over as I made her plate and couldn’t help but think tha
t none of her constituents would recognize her right now. She’d lost weight since she’d been in prison, but the past days of day drinking had made her face puffy and pale. Her carefully dyed hair, tended to on a biweekly basis in her bedroom by a stylist who traveled over an hour to see her, was growing out, showing the dark gray roots and giving away her actual age.
I passed her the glass of wine and a plate, then decided I hadn’t noticed any of this. “You’re so thin!” I cooed. “However did you manage it so quickly?”
“Oh, you know, this and that,” she waved a hand, but looked pleased. “I know how hard you work on your own weight, Janey. It appears you’ve gained a few of the pounds I’ve lost!” She tinkled a little laugh, and I gritted my teeth into a smile. “This cheese is excellent!”
I needed her to invite me to sit. “It’s so beautiful out here in the evenings,” I said.
“Isn’t it?” She turned so she was facing the exterior, and I was left looking at her back.
“It must be so nice to sit here and have a glass of wine,” I said meaningfully.
“Oh, yes.”
To hell with trying to be deceitful. I was obviously going to have to come at her directly. Clearing my throat, I sat down across from her, hands between my knees and looking at her directly. Her eyes widened at the imposition.
“Mrs. Carlisle, if I may, there’s something important I want to talk to you about.”
“What is it?” She took a drink of her wine.
“I heard that Lila has gone missing.”
She nodded, affecting a sad face. “Yes. What a terrible time this is for our family.” She took a gulp of her wine.
“I also heard that Jude and that girlfriend of his are being blackmailed into not testifying against you in order to have her returned safely.”
That caught her attention. She sat up straight, spluttering the mouthful of wine. “Now, now--that isn’t true,” she said.
I could see that she had not expected this, and while the good Congresswoman was among the best liars and bluffers I’d ever met, I think catching her by surprise had gotten me a bit of leeway.
“Listen,” I interrupted her, leaning forward. “I don’t mean to push myself in where I don’t belong, but I want to help you.”
“What could you possibly mean by that?” She asked, but I saw a sharpening in her eyes as she focused in on me.
“I think you should know, first and foremost, that I’m on your side here,” I said. “I know that they’re your children, and I shouldn’t speak ill against them, but they’re spoiled and entitled. They haven’t been nearly as grateful as they should be for all you’ve done for them. How hard you’ve worked for the family.”
Something like relief washed over her face. “Yes!” She raised her wine glass at me. “You are absolutely right, Janey. They are ungrateful.”
“I’m with you on this. One hundred percent.”
“Why are you telling me this? And how did you come to find out so much?” she asked shrewdly.
Even after days of drowning her brain cells in anything with alcohol, she was still astute.
“I found this out by eavesdropping on that Brooklyn,” I said.
“That little bitch,” she muttered into her glass, taking another drink.
“Exactly. And I’m telling you this because I want to help you,” I said.
I grabbed the wine bottle and topped her off.
“Help me?” she asked.
“I don’t know what you might need, but I want in on it. I know it’s unorthodox, whatever it is you’re doing, but I think you’re doing the right thing and I want to help you.” I looked at her steadily. “This town needs you. You can’t go to prison.”
Shockingly, tears sprang into her eyes then. I couldn’t believe it. I’d never seen the old witch shed a tear. Yet here she was, practically crying into her crystal wine glass.
She sniffled. “It does need me. It really does.”
“So, what can I do to help? How can I get involved? I know he’s your son, but Jude fired me the instant you weren’t here to have my back anymore. And if there’s anyone on earth that I would like to see punished, it’s that little redheaded girlfriend of his.”
She peered at me above the rim of her wineglass, considering my offer. Finally, she nodded. “I think you’re right. I do trust you. You’re practically the only person who hasn’t deserted me or lost faith in me throughout all this,” she gave a gurgly little laugh.
Leaning over the side of the couch (for a moment I was worried she was about to pass out and forget all about this conversation), she came back up with a notebook and a pen. She scrawled something on it, tore the sheet out, and passed it over.
“Call this number, tell them you’re in. Say ‘Cherry trusts me’.” She giggled. “That’s my codename. The number on the page is a password. Ask them what they need from you.” She gave me a meaningful look. “You know, you’ll be paid handsomely for this, Janey. You chose the right side,” she said approvingly.
Money. I’d seen where that had gotten her. But, I nodded at her request and assured her I’d get it done quickly. And when I got up to exit the room, finally allowing myself to roll my eyes, I left the atrium with a lot to think about.
Back in the kitchen, I looked down at the page which had a phone number scrawled on it and a series of numbers below. I added the word ‘Cherry.’ and noted it as her codename.
Then, not wanting to waste another moment, I called the number.
25
Jude
Brooklyn and I were basically staring at her phone, willing it to ring, when finally it did. And I never thought I’d be so happy to see Janey’s name pop up on anything.
Brooklyn snapped it up, putting it immediately on speaker. “Hello? Yes! Janey, did you find anything?”
“She’s at the Mountain Overlook Resort,” Janey said breathlessly. “I’m supposed to be delivering something up there to them. I’m supposed to be going up tonight. They’ve got her locked up in there somewhere.”
I immediately put the name into my navigation app. “Got it,” I said. “Anything else you can tell us?”
“You’re not going to be able to get up there in your Honda, Brooklyn. I’m going to take the truck to make this delivery. Why don’t you two ride with me? In the back, possibly?”
Brooklyn and I made eye contact. She was right, if this was up in the mountains, there was no way her Honda would make it up there. The roads had been plowed and plowed again, but it was still not great conditions.
“Okay,” I said. “We’re not planning to call the police until we find her. I don’t want them catching wind if Aiden has someone on the inside.”
I heard Janey writing something down. “Alright. I’ll come pick you both up at seven.”
“Seven?” I said quickly. “I can’t wait that long.”
“They said to come tonight,” Janey said. “And honestly, they don’t sound like people you should mess with.”
I growled. “I don’t care, Janey, they have my sister! God knows what they’re doing to her. Please. I know you’ll have to cover, say you got mixed up with the times or something, but can’t we leave now?”
She was quiet for a moment. “Fine. You’re right. Let’s go now. I’ll slip out without her seeing and be there in no time.”
She hung up, and Brooklyn looked at me in shock. “I can’t believe I’m saying this. But, thank God for Janey.”
I nodded. “Let’s get dressed. It’s going to be cold up there.”
We both dressed as warmly as we could, especially since I had a feeling we were going to be riding in the back of a refrigerated truck of sorts. Plus, we were going into the mountains, and we had no idea what the hell we’d find once we were up there.
I knew one thing for certain, though. I’d either emerge with my sister, or I’d die trying.
But no one—and I mean no one—would lay a fucking finger on Brooklyn’s head.
26
Janey
Then, I waited for her to finish it.
I took my time cleaning around her, making it look as if I were paying great detail with my stupid little toothbrush to the ornate, hand-carved sconces and baseboards in her room. And as the snow poured down outside, I drew in a deep breath. While the Carlisles all liked sleek, flashy cars, even they had to make concessions for the way the weather was up here. So, after the Congresswoman passed out snoring on her bed, I rushed downstairs and snagged the keys for the Bentley Bentayga.
The car the Congresswoman ended up using almost exclusively in the winter.
Brooklyn and Jude were waiting out front of the apartment building when I pulled up. And I could tell by the look on their faces that they were very confused. Even I couldn’t get a damn truck up that mountain with all this snow everywhere. So, we needed to make it look like it was the Congresswoman herself that was coming to pay a visit.
“You snagged her car?” Jude asked as he climbed into the passenger seat. “Good thinking.”
We tried to come up with a plan as we wound our way up into the mountains, but it was difficult to do having so little information at our disposal.
“I think she’s in some kind of basement,” I told Jude as we turned a slick corner, grateful for the car’s all-wheel drive and air suspension. “They kept saying things like ‘down there’ on the phone when they referred to her.”
“Maybe you can go in and do the drop off and scout it out some for us,” Brooklyn suggested. “Get a feel for where things are, or how many people we’re dealing with.”
VENGEFUL ROYALS | A DARK COLLEGE BULLY ROMANCE: HEIRS OF HAVOC Page 16
