I Hate You, Marry Me

by Jamie Knight

  But as I’m pleading, he puts tape over my mouth, so I can’t really talk anymore.

  The next thing he does is blindfold me, so, now, I’m totally in the dark. My heart is pounding, and I’m worried that I might actually die. I’ve never seen Landon lose control like this, and there’s no telling what he’ll do.

  Chapter Thirty-One

  Robert

  I feel kind of bad that the argument I’d started at the table had driven Savannah to leaving the restaurant, but I also feel this intense need to make my point to my parents and Joseph. I’ll just have to make up with Savannah later.

  “Why did you come in to the factory back then and ruin everything?” I ask Joseph directly.

  I didn’t realize how much I want an answer from him. I thought I just wanted to get all mad at him and give him a piece of my mind, but now I see that what I really want are answers.

  “I didn’t come in with the intention of messing things up,” Joseph responds.

  “Well, you did. You messed things up quite nicely, in fact. That resort you built tanked and now the land is going to waste.”

  It just sits there, gathering dust, not being used for anything.

  “Robert, I’m sure he had good intentions. I don’t think Joseph meant for anything bad to happen,” my mom pipes in.

  “Well, bad things did happen. If had left well enough alone, then no one would have had to have lost their jobs like that. You cut off most of the town’s workforce. That plant employed a whole lot of people,” I tell him.

  I’m sure he is well aware of what happened, but this could be the first time someone actually threw it in his face. Joseph is starting to look ashamed. Good, I think. He should be. What he did was underhanded and greedy.

  “I didn’t – I didn’t want things to end up like that,” he says. “The deal didn’t work out the way I had anticipated. The whole reason I built the resort was because I wanted that to replace the jobs that were lost when the plant was closed. Its closing was inevitable.

  “Less and less car parts are being made stateside, and I thought I could get ahead of the whole thing and keep the town from being another victim of the future. Instead, it became a victim of my bad business deal. I couldn’t get the interest that I wanted, and, by the time I realized it was a crap shoot, it was much too late to reverse the mistake,” Joseph explains.

  I’d never considered Joseph’s overall plan. I had assumed he didn’t want the resort to fail, but my main concern was the fact that he had fired everyone in the plant. What I had witnessed was people out of work and struggling to make ends meet.

  “Really, Joseph. You don’t have to explain the situation. I’m sure you meant no harm,” my dad says.

  It looks like he can’t help but be magnanimous. My dad has always been such a nice guy, and I guess I shouldn’t fault him for that.

  “I know I never meant to hurt anybody, but it’s clear to me that my intentions mean almost nothing. I’m sorry I came in and nearly bulldozed your way of life and the ways of life for others. I can’t fix the past, but I hope we can take this as an opportunity to move forward,” Joseph apologizes.

  I feel a sense of relief and peace at his apology. I’d been holding on to the anger for years and, now, I finally have the chance to let it go.

  “Okay,” I say, agreeing to finally move past this grudge I’ve held.

  Well, maybe not move past it completely, but I am willing to at least start the process. I hold out my hand, and Joseph and I have a handshake.

  The table gets back to a sense of normalcy and my parents and Joseph make their way back to their prior conversation. I sit back in my chair and realize that Savannah still hasn’t come back from her breath of fresh air.

  It’s been a while. I check my phone and see that she hasn’t texted or tried to call me. I decide it would be a good idea to check on her. I hope she isn’t too upset with me.

  I get outside, but I don’t see Savannah anywhere, which means she must have left. Fuck, she must be really upset.

  I’m such a heel for messing up the family dinner. I could have spoken to Joseph privately about this. I do feel better, but it sucks that it was at the expense of Savannah’s feelings.

  I go back inside and let everyone know that she’s left.

  “I think I’m going to head out. You guys enjoy the rest of your dinner.”

  I say goodbye to the parents, who congratulate me once again, as well as Joseph, who says he’ll enjoy dessert with my parents before they leave, and then I head home.

  When I arrive, though, I don’t see her there, either. I had told her where the spare key was, so that she would have been able to get inside. I guess she didn’t want to spend the night with me – not that I blame her.

  I take a seat on the couch and pull out my phone. I dial Savannah’s number, but there’s no answer. I get her voicemail and leave a message.

  “Hey, Savannah. I’m calling to make sure you got home okay, but I also wanted to apologize. I shouldn’t have started that argument at dinner. I got the closure I wanted, but I hated that I made you so upset. Please call me or at least let me know you got home okay. Hopefully, we’ll talk tomorrow. Uh, bye.”

  I hang up and put my phone down. It’s only been a couple of days that I haven’t spent alone, but I’m pretty sad that I’m back to where I was last week. I know I have no one else to blame but myself, however. I’ll just try calling Savannah again tomorrow.

  I wake up the next morning and check my phone. Savannah hasn’t sent a return call or text. I call again and make myself breakfast, waiting to see if she’ll call me back within the hour.

  I eat my yogurt and fruit and then check my phone again, but there’s no change. I’m starting to get a little worried. I know I made an ass of myself last night, but I didn’t think Savannah would just freeze me out like this. I’d hope she’d let me know she was safe and at home.

  There’s a knock at my door, and I see that it’s Brent, here for our morning run. I’m not really feeling it this morning after everything that’s happened. I let him and give him a rundown of what’s going on.

  “I had dinner last night with Savannah’s dad and my parents and Savannah and I got a little hot under the collar and started this whole big argument and Savannah left the restaurant,” I tell him.

  “Then when I finally went outside to check on her, she was gone. I thought she had just gone home, but she hasn’t answered my calls or texts and I’m worried something happened. She’s on crutches because she twisted her ankle and – I don’t know – I may have made a really big mess of things.”

  I manage to spit that all out and Brent nods.

  “So, you haven’t actually been by her apartment?” he asks.

  I shake my head. I’ve actually never been to her place. I’m going to need the address.

  “You have this look on your face suggesting to me that you don’t know where she lives. I’m sure we can figure it out though,” Brent reassures me.

  I don’t want to freak anyone out, so I choose Nicole as the perfect person to text. I just say I want to surprise Savannah and that I’d never actually gotten her address from her. She sends it to me no problem, along with a message of good luck.

  I also feel like Nicole won’t ask too many questions because she feels bad about her part in getting us expelled. I’m not really mad at her, but sometimes that doesn’t mean anything.

  I’m about to head out, ready to storm over to my wife’s apartment to make sure she isn’t dead, when Brent stops me.

  “Just in case she’s just mad at you, why don’t we pick up some flowers to say sorry?” he suggests.

  I point at him because that is a beautiful idea.

  “Yes, perfect. There’s a flower shop close by. I don’t know what her favorite flower is, but I’m sure we can figure this out.”

  If she’s willing to take me back, I need to spend more time getting to know more about Savannah. We’ve been so busy trying to get our lives in order th
at I feel like I’ve neglected actually learning about her.

  Brent and I pick up the flowers and head over to Savannah’s apartment. It’s a lot fancier than mine – I mean, there’s a doorman. We can’t just make our way up, which is what people end up doing in my place half the time.

  We approach the doorman and I tell him, “We’re here to visit Savannah King. I have a little surprise for her.”

  “That’s nice, but I’m sorry to say that she isn’t here. In fact, she hasn’t been home in a few days.”

  Most of those days were spent at my place. In fact, I don’t think she’s gone home since the night before Vegas, but it’s concerning that she didn’t come home last night.

  Where did she spend it, then?

  “Would you like to leave a message?” the doorman asks me.

  I shake my head.

  “I’m sure I’ll run into her later today,” I tell him.

  Brent and I leave the lobby of the apartment building and stand outside.

  “This isn’t good, Brent. Where could she be?”

  “We should go back to the restaurant and see if anyone saw her last night. It’s a long shot, but maybe they heard or saw something.”

  I agree with Brent. We head back to the restaurant and go inside to talk with the staff. A few of them were there last night and none of them know what Savannah did after she left the restaurant. So, I’m in the same spot I was in before.

  We go back outside, and I lean against the brick walls of the restaurant building.

  “What do you think happened?” I ask Brent.

  I already have all the bad scenarios running through my head. I should have checked on her sooner. Why didn’t I?

  Oh, that’s right. Because I was too busy being a spoil sport and making the entire dinner uncomfortable for everyone.

  “I don’t know, but maybe if we look around, we’ll find some kind of clue. This is the last place we saw her, so it’s the place to start,” Brent says, obviously thinking more logically than I’m able to do at the moment.

  I push myself off the wall and slowly wander around the building.

  I don’t see anything immediately – I mean, I’m not even sure what I’m looking for.

  I find myself in the alleyway next to the restaurant and, as I’m looking at the ground, I see the crutches Savannah was using lying there. I pick them up, because this is in no way a good sign.

  She wouldn’t just leave these here. Something bad happened here; something really bad.

  “Brent!” I call out.

  He comes over and I show him Savannah’s crutches.

  “These are the ones I lent her. I’m sure Landon has something to with us.”

  Landon seems to be the source for all our problems. Why can’t he just stay out of our lives. What could he have done to her?

  “Let’s go see Seth. We were planning on it anyway. Seth might have an idea for where Landon could have taken her.”

  Brent is having all the good ideas today.

  I need to start thinking more clearly. If something has happened to Savannah and she needs help, I need to keep my head above water so that I can make sure she’s okay.

  Brent and I head over to Landon’s office and find Seth’s office. He’s sitting at his desk, getting some work done.

  “Hey, guys. Why don’t you two take a seat?” he says.

  While Brent and I sit down, Seth gets up and closes his door.

  “I don’t want anyone to overhear us.”

  He takes his seat again and looks between Brent and me.

  “Have you found anything out?” I ask.

  “I couldn’t find the fake tests. He didn’t just leave them lying around unfortunately and I don’t think he trusted anyone in this office to help him or, if he did, they’re really good at keeping a secret,” Seth informs us.

  Damn! I need results now.

  I lean forward and let Seth know what’s going on.

  “We need to figure out just how involved Landon is. Savannah’s been missing since last night and we found her crutches in the alleyway outside of the restaurant where I last saw her. I’ve tried calling, texting, we stopped by her place – she’s gone. I think Landon got to her and Lord knows what he’s done to her. I need your help, man. We’ve got to find her immediately.”

  This is absolutely crazy. I never thought that fake marrying Savannah would get this insane.

  “Okay, there aren’t too many people in the office today, so we might be able to sneak our way into Landon’s office,” Seth says. “We just need to be discreet and make sure no one sees us. I’m sure there are people here who would report this all right back to him.”

  Seth looks behind Brent and me and says, “Let’s go.”

  He gets out of his chair and motions for us to follow him. We make our way through the office and to the top floor. Luckily, we don’t run into anyone that has any questions for us.

  Seth pulls out a bobby pin and starts using it on the lock. I’m surprised he has one and he must see it on my face.

  “My wife is always leaving these around the house, and I’m picking them up. Looks like this one really came in handy,” he explains.

  “Sure did. Also looks like you held on to some of your bad habits,” I comment.

  Seth used to break into a lot of places. Not to do anything bad, per se. He wasn’t a thief or a vandal, but he did find himself in a lot of places he wasn’t supposed to be in.

  “And bingo!” he whispers. “Looks like I still got it.”

  We go inside Landon’s office, and the three of us each take a different area to search. I get his desk drawer and I’m shifting through all the papers he has.

  I don’t find anything relevant to Savannah or me, but not everything appears to be on the up and up – not that I’m great at business or anything. I do know a little about accounting however, and there are things here that one would find… suspicious, to say the least.

  “Hey, guys. Come here,” Brent says.

  He calls us over to the filing cabinet.

  “You said that woman’s name is Nicole, right? The one who Landon blackmailed?”

  I nod.

  “Well, he has her class schedule in here.”

  I take the paper Brent is holding up and look at it. It is indeed Nicole Jones’ schedule.

  Brent continues to shift through the cabinet and pulls out another paper.

  “I found the test,” he announces.

  In my excitement, I grab it from him a little aggressively, but this is the exact evidence we need. This test combined with having Nicole talk to the dean should be enough to get Savannah and me back into the school.

  The only problem is that I have no idea where Savannah is. I want to celebrate this find with her, but, where is she?

  I’m too fucking worried to even feel happy about this breakthrough.

  “Is there anything else in there?” I ask. “Maybe something that could tell us where Landon could have taken Savannah?”

  Brent keeps digging, but he doesn’t appear to find anything. Landon’s desk was another dead end.

  I don’t know what to do next.

  Would Joseph know anything? I wonder.

  But I doubt it.

  The fact that he wanted Savannah to marry that creep showed me he’s a little dense. I doubt he’s even entertained the idea that Landon may be capable of kidnapping his daughter.

  “What do we do now?” I ask.

  “Actually.”

  Seth looks like he’s thinking through an idea.

  “Landon has been working with this investment banker guy named Brad lately. He could maybe know something. He’s a really good guy and I’m sure if we told him what was going on, he would help us any way he could,” Seth suggests.

  It feels like a long shot. An investment banker Landon’s been talking business with?

  Then I figure that he’d probably know more about Landon than the three of us, so it’s at least worth talking to him. I don’t want t
o leave any stone unturned.

  “Okay, let’s go talk to this Brad fellow,” I say, and Brent nods his head in agreement.

  “Cool, perfect,” Seth says. “Let’s just go back to my office really quick and then we can get ourselves over there. His office is not too far away from here.”

  We go back to Seth’s office, and he grabs whatever he needs. Next, we leave Landon’s business and head towards wherever Brad is.

  I hope this guy has the information we need. The longer I don’t hear from Savannah, the more anxious I’m getting.

  Chapter Thirty-Two

  Robert

  As we’re on our way to Brad’s office, I’m constantly checking my phone just in case Savannah ends up calling and we find out she’s been okay this whole time. I highly doubt that will happen, given everything we’ve already found that’s pointing to Landon, but it’s a tiny bit of hope at the back of my mind.

  “You should call Savannah’s father,” Brent suggests. “He should know what’s going on and what Landon is up to.”

  I don’t really want to call Joseph for a myriad of reasons, the main one being that he seems to be enamored with Landon. The one interaction I had with both of them showed me that. I don’t think he’ll even believe me.

  Plus, there’s probably still tension from last night. But Savannah is his daughter and he deserves to know that she’s missing and might be in danger. If I was in his position, I’d want to know.

  “Yeah, I’ll talk to him, but we can go see him after we talk to Brad,” I say.

  I think it would be better to tell Joseph all of this in person. We’re not yet operating with a full deck of information and, if I’m going to convince Joseph that Landon is a total piece of shit, then I’ll need a good amount of evidence.

  We get to Brad’s office and we’re directed to where he is. Seth knocks on the open door and the person who I’m assuming is Brad looks up from his desk.

  “Seth, hey,” he says. “Come in, guys, take a seat.”

  He motions for us to enter his office.

  The three of us shuttle ourselves in and get situated.