by Nicky Shanks
Mac nods and takes a deep breath, sitting on the front steps with a smile. “At least. I don’t need any more trouble from any of them.” He looks over at Veronica, who crumples up into a ball and sobs on the front porch.
I feel sorry for her.
I miss Oliver.
The needle that Mary sticks into my neck stings for a few seconds and then everything slips away again.
Darkness.
Chapter Twenty
Casey
Oliver is so pissed at me I feel it before he even steps off the plane. Luckily, my leg was only fractured from Mac’s fists pounding into my calf and I was able to get out of the hospital with a soft cast and crutches in time to meet him at the airport.
I lost the love of his life. He trusted me with her and I fucking lost her.
There he is.
He looks like he’s just woken up.
What kind of man sleeps when the love of his life’s been kidnapped?
My fists ball up at my sides. “Oliver,” I say through gritted teeth. “My car is parked outside in the private entrance.”
He nods and snatches my keys. “Thanks,” he grumbles. “Bye.”
“Hey, what the hell?” I manage to grab some fabric of his shirt before he storms off. He doesn’t like that I’m touching him and his eyes confirm the anger he holds for me in seconds. “Get the fuck off of me, Casey,” he warns me. “I’m meeting someone. I need to go.”
“I’m coming with you,” I demand. “I lost her, I’m helping you.”
He growls and almost lunges too far at me. He’s able to restrain himself at the very last minute. “I’m trying my best here not to choke the life out of you. Please, don’t follow me.”
“Talk to me, Oliver,” I yell, not giving a shit who can hear me. “Tell me why you won’t let me help you. I want to hear you say it out loud, man.”
His body whips around before I can even finish my sentence. He leaps at me and forces my body against the wall of the hangar we’ve entered. He puts his arm across my chest and holds me with little effort against the cold metal, and I want him to punch me.
“Do it. There’s nothing you can do to me that I won’t deserve.”
He exhales slowly, keeping his grip against me. “You are so fucking dramatic; do you know that? Grow some balls. Own up to what you’ve done. You’ll never be trusted again. Not by me…and sure as fuck not by her. You’ll never see her fucking face again.”
I thought he was going to spit on me, but instead, he lets go and throws my keys at my chest. They fall to the ground and make a clinking sound at our feet. “I have a ride. I’m a rich asshole after all, right? I do no good, I only do evil? Well…just remember that Julie will always choose me over anyone else. Haven’t you learned that by now?” I don’t know what to say and he knows it. “Like I said, take a fucking hike.”
“I’m going to follow you.” My mouth moves before I can even figure out what the hell is going on. “You can’t stop me from helping you find her, Oliver. Take my help and then make good on your promise. I’ll help you and then go away.”
He knows it’s a good idea.
Two is better than one.
Well, one and a half since I’m not at full capability.
“I tried to save her, Oliver.” My hands rise in the air in a surrendering pose. “I tried to get her away—this is what they did to me before they took her. I tried to save her, I really did.”
He waves his hands in front of my face. “I’m done with the excuses. You can help me, but I don’t trust you. I’ll use you for bait or whatever I want to do with you, get it? After I get her back and the disgusting pricks that took her get what’s coming to them…you’re gone. Understand?”
I nod. “Understood.”
He groans and turns toward the waiting car. I try my best to keep up with him on my crutches, but he has to wait for me to get into the car and that pisses him off even more. He slams the door behind me as I fall in and see Julie’s brother, Randy, on the opposite bench seat of the extra-long town car.
“Mr. Anderson.” He nods at me and I notice that he looks like Julie, only a few decades older. “Nice of you to join us since you helped get us into this mess.”
Oliver clears his throat. “Let’s focus on why we’re here.”
Randy takes in a deep sigh. “I had a tracker on her phone when she was living with me.” The glare he gives me makes me realize I’m giving him the same look. “Because of what happened with her stupendous ex, Brandon.”
I scoff and try to be a part of the conversation. “Yeah, making her marry him was a low-life thing to do in my book.”
The two of them look at me with anger and confusion. The color drains from Oliver’s face and Randy’s face is so red it looks dangerous.
“What did you say?” Randy seethes. “She’s married?”
Oliver puts his head in his hands. “How can you even know about that?”
“She told me.” I shrug my shoulders, happy to be the only one with a secret nugget of knowledge about Julie. I want to smile but I don’t even fucking dare crack a smirk. “I assumed you knew.” I look at Oliver and he frowns. “But I’m guessing you didn’t know.”
I know he doesn’t know.
I’m celebrating inside.
“Of course I didn’t know,” he snaps at me, and I get the feeling that he’s lying. “I would’ve confronted her about it, don’t you think?”
I wait for a few seconds and collect my thoughts. Calling him out isn’t going to help me any; he’s already made up his mind about never letting me see her again. Rocking the boat now isn’t going to get me where I want to be.
I hold up my hands. “Okay, I believe you. But, I’m sorry to be the one to tell you like this.”
Oliver glares at me. “You know what, you little—”
“Dammit!” Randy slams his hand down on the seat next to him. “Fucking stop it, you two little immature idiots! Take this seriously or I’m going to do this on my fucking own!”
Oliver and I both cower and the car goes silent.
The sound of Oliver’s phone ringing startles all three of us.
“Let me talk to Julie,” he demands when he answers it. “I will find you and—”
Silence as he listens to the other person on the phone.
“Where? I don’t give a shit about anyone but Julie. …Now you’re negotiating hostage prices? What kind of monster have you become?”
I realize he’s talking to Veronica, and Randy and I both glue our ears to the one-sided conversation.
“How many do you have? Jesus. Fine, I want all three of them. If Julie is hurt in any fucking way—” He pauses, and his jaw clenches. “I’ll need time to get that kind of money. …Fine. Two hours. Send me the directions. Casey is coming with me. …Fine, no police.”
Oliver looks at Randy, and he shakes his head but Oliver doesn’t care.
“Casey and I will come alone. I give you the money, you give me the three of them, and we’re done. Let me talk to her. Now.”
I hear a high-pitched shriek in the background, and Oliver stiffens. “Julie!”
He says a few choice words out loud as he drops the phone to the seat beside him.. “Dammit! They let me hear her voice and then hung the damn phone up!”
“I’m going with you, you’re not going alone,” Randy demands. “Not with someone who can’t help protect you. Jesus, Oliver, he’s on crutches.”
“She wants both of us,” he says. “I don’t give a shit about anything but Julie.”
Randy nods in agreement. “How much does she want?”
“Three hundred grand. It’s not just for Julie.” Oliver looks at me and his eyes are bloodshot with anger. “They have Brandon and Heather too.”
“What? Why would they be there?” I scoff. “That doesn’t make sense.”
“I asked them to look after Julie, just like I asked you to look after her. I knew I couldn’t trust you, so Brandon agreed to help me out too. I’m fucking glad t
hey did, because at least she knows someone was trying to save her.”
My face flushes with heat. “You’re such a dick.”
“Enough!” Randy yells. “You’re going to get nowhere by doing this shit! Julie is out there and she’s in danger and you two are fighting like old women.”
Oliver shakes his head. “I’m done with the subject. I asked them for a favor, they agreed. The end. You don’t get a say in how I live my life with Julie. Neither of you do.” Oliver’s gaze turns to Randy and he crosses his right foot and rests it on his left knee. “Since she’s going to be my wife soon.”
Randy looks defeated. “I tried my best to keep her away from men like you. You’ve proven me wrong over and over again, so I guess this time I’ll just let it be.”
I want to shake some sense into him.
Is he serious?
“I’ll take that as a blessing.” Oliver snorts. “They sent me the directions. Casey’s car is back at the airport, so we’ll have to use the rental car. Is it parked at my apartment still?” I nod. “Good. Let’s head there and grab it. I have a phone call to make.”
Randy tells the driver where our direction has changed to and I try to listen in on Oliver’s call.
“Three hundred grand. …I don’t fucking care, just get it! I only have two hours. Make it happen or you’re fired.”
He hangs up the phone and I pretend that I’m looking out the window, but he knows better.
“I fired your father from taking care of the company’s money,” he tells me with a wicked smile. “I gave him a severance and sent him on his way. I haven’t replaced him yet, so getting money is difficult right now, apparently.”
I glare at him. “My father is better off without you, trust me. Maybe now he won’t be a completely stressed mess every night.”
He laughs. “Maybe so.”
How can he be so calm and collected when he knows Julie is out there?
When we pull into the parking garage at Oliver’s apartment, Randy tries to quickly prep us for what we’re about to do. We go and hand off the money at the same time Julie, Heather, and Brandon are being handed over. Not that I care about the other two, but I won’t let Julie get hurt…that’s what I’m here for.
I keep telling myself that I tried and I didn’t do anything wrong.
I’m not sure if I’m right, but I have nothing else to hold onto.
“Casey!” Oliver snaps his fingers at me. “Let’s go.” He climbs out of the car and I try my best to follow him. Once again he’s waiting for me to hobble to the rental car and slam myself inside next to him. I buckle my seat belt and we look back at Randy, who looks more worried than he really should be.
“What’s his problem?” I ask as Oliver peels out of the garage.
He shrugs. “He’s worried for Julie. Plus, he can get fired for letting us go alone.”
I snort. “Not like you care.”
“I really fucking don’t.” His voice has no emotion. “You know what I care about.”
His phone rings and his hand jabs into his pocket to find it. “What?” he answers. “Good. I’m going to drive up to your office. Have someone you trust bring it out to me. …I don’t care who the fuck it is, Vernon. Do it yourself for all I care.”
He hangs up the phone and sighs. “We have to make a stop for the money.”
He says this like it’s no big deal.
A round, bald man in his fifties leans into the open window when we pull up to a tall, sleek glass building in downtown Rockford. “Here you go, kid.” He lays a bag on my lap. “Three hundred thousand in cash, but you have to explain to Martin, the bank manager, why you’re doing this at a later date. For now, I pulled the lawyer card and that only gets us so far.”
Oliver nods. “Thanks, Vernon.” He speeds off almost before the poor man can get his head out of the open window.
I don’t say anything about how easy it is for him to just want that kind of money and he gets it within thirty minutes.
I don’t ask questions I don’t need to know the answers to.
We drive for forty-five minutes until all of the houses disappear and we’re turning down muddy, dirt-packed roads. My leg is killing me, but I put it in the back of my mind and focus on Julie and how to get her back. Who knows who else is with Mac, Veronica, and that other woman now. Oliver and I have no idea what we’re walking into, and I haven’t mentioned the third person at all.
He doesn’t care.
Honestly, I don’t either.
“There.” Oliver points to a small, broken-down shack off his side of the road. “I think that’s it. Are you ready for whatever happens after we get out of this car?”
I rub my hands together. “I’m ready.”
He scoffs. “Just let me do all the talking and you help them to the car when they give them to us, okay? Julie sits in front with me, no arguments.”
I nod. “Okay.”
“Can I count on you this time?”
I growl. “Are you really going to start this with me right now?”
He opens his car door and gets out, not worrying about waiting for me to catch up this time. He stops in his tracks when Veronica comes outside with Heather—her hands are tied behind her and she starts to sob when she sees us.
“Heather, it’s gonna be okay,” Oliver says, holding out his hands so Veronica can see he’s without a weapon. “I brought the money. Come down here and count it so we can get everyone home and you can go live your pathetic life somewhere else.”
Veronica laughs. “I brought this one out for good faith. The boy has some injuries and he can’t move so well.” Oliver clenches his jaw tightly. “This one is the least wounded.”
“If Julie is hurt, I’ll fucking end both of you,” Oliver growls.
“Well, she’s a little banged up too.” Mac laughs and comes through the door behind Veronica. His face is swollen and bruised; Brandon must’ve given him a good run for his money before he was subdued. “Don’t worry, it’s nothin’ that can’t heal.”
“You fuckin—”
I pull back Oliver by his jacket and nearly fall over. Mac laughs as we struggle and Oliver glares at me, but he knows I was right to catch him.
“Here,” Veronica says as she pushes Heather off of the small front porch and into the dirt. Heather sobs and finds her balance, standing up and running for Oliver. He opens his arms for her to run into, not even thinking about who she is—or was—but just as someone who needs to feel safe. She finds his shoulder and buries her face into it and I start pulling her away and taking off the gag around her mouth.
“Brandon is bleeding a lot in there.” She gasps for air and looks up at me. “Julie’s been punched in the face and that guy tried to break her pinky finger.”
Oliver growls. “I told you not to fucking hurt her!”
Mac laughs more. “Collateral damage is all. You understand, boy.” He eyeballs the bag lying on the ground at my feet. “That my money?”
Oliver scowls. “You’re not getting shit until I get Julie in my hands.”
“Well, she’s still recuperating from being knocked out for the second time, but as soon as she’s coherent enough to recognize you, I’ll be happy to fetch her,” I hear someone’s familiar voice say behind us. “Hello again, Mr. Jackson.”
Oliver and I both turn; Heather buries herself against my shoulder this time.
“Mary?” he gasps. “What the fuck is this?”
“She was at the house when they took Julie,” I finally tell him. “Do you know her?”
“She’s the nurse from the hospital when I got into that wreck. What are you doing here? Someone better start explaining what the fuck is going on here.”
Mary laughs and I put my arms around Heather instinctively, just in case this crazy bitch tries something. Her wicked laugh makes my stomach hurt and Heather whimpers into my shoulder so badly that her body trembles and it’s hard to keep her still.
She’s scared out of her fucking mind.
&n
bsp; And she should be.
“You really don’t remember me, Oliver?” Mary scoffs, disgusted. “You took my virginity in high school and told everyone about it…only we never had sex. Remember me now?”
Oliver looks confused. “O…kay. So what? That was years ago. Were you that hung up on me that you had to find me years later and help kidnap my fiancée?”
She spits on the ground at our feet. “You ruined my life! People never looked at me the same…my own parents never looked at me the same!”
He holds out his hands for her to back up. “Whoa, look. I’m sorry I did that to you. I was a selfish asshole back then. I can’t make it up to you…all I can say is I’m sorry, okay?”
“Hey! All we promised you was money, you little bitch! What the fuck did you bring a gun for?” Mac yells at her, but all I can see is the shine of a metal object in her hands. I turn Heather away so she can’t see what’s about to happen.
There’s a loud bang and Heather screams so loud that my ears ring. My hearing doesn’t come back until it’s too late.
They’re gone.
Chapter Twenty-One
Brandon
I feel like I have the worst hangover of my damn life.
The sour taste in my mouth is horrible enough to make me want to puke, but there’s nothing there. It takes a few minutes to focus and remember where I’m at and what’s happening around me.
Shit.
My hands are tied behind my back and my legs are in front of me, bound with two different ropes. Julie is to my right, her body crumpled on the floor because she’s still passed out from whatever was injected into her neck that I heard them talking about before I passed out. Heather stirs next to me, and she starts to panic when her own reality starts to set in.
“Hey, I’ll get you out of this,” I say to her. “Don’t panic. Just breathe in and breathe out, okay?”
She nods but doesn’t dare open her mouth.
“When we get home, we’re taking the longest, hottest shower of our fucking lives.” I laugh and cough, hoping that it makes her feel a little better. Her eyes fall on Julie and they open wide, so I make a shushing sound and shake my head. “She’s fine; she’s still knocked out. Did they stick something in your neck to make you fall asleep?”
