by Niecey Roy
She stumbled forward, the hem of her ball gown dragging against the dirty floor. “Jeez, yeah, okay.”
Richard’s sneered down at Deborah and paced in front of her chair. “You think you’re so tough, do you?” When she didn’t answer, he stopped pacing to stick his face in front of hers. “Do you?!”
Deborah’s head jerked back, and for the first time, she looked worried. Richard’s transformation was so convincing, I’d jumped at his raised voice.
“Well, let me tell you something, you crazy broad.” Richard paused for dramatic effect. “You’re not leaving here in one piece.”
“Holy shit,” Roxanna muttered.
Richard looked over his shoulder at us and winked. He turned back to Deborah. “We’re going to torture you first. And then we’re going to get that confession.” He motioned at Roxanna.
“Yeah,” Roxanna said, and waved the can.
“You wouldn’t dare,” Deborah said, but her lips trembled.
“Oh, I dare, lady. I dare.” Then Richard made a loud screechy yell and whipped his arm out in a karate punch right next to Deborah’s head. My knees wobbled. The point of this was to scare her into a confession, but his fist had come too close for comfort. She looked a little worried.
Oh my God, it’s working!
My hope died when Deborah said, “I’ll never confess. You’ll have to kill me.”
Richard turned around, his gaze pressing me on what to do now. I had no idea. I had never kidnapped anyone before. I’d never had to physically intimidate someone into a confession. We couldn’t lay a hand on her. No way. Roxanna leaned to look at Deborah from around Richard and waved the pepper spray at her.
“So help me God, I’m going to pepper spray you if you don’t confess, you evil bitch!” Roxanna waved the can again, but she didn’t look menacing. She looked scared.
Deborah laughed maniacally. “You might as well call the police and turn yourselves in.”
Richard spun around and screamed, “Wa-cha!” making Deborah jerk in her seat again. His neck muscles constricted, and his face contorted as he drew his fist back. Lifting his left foot in slow motion, he groaned, “Ooohhh.” And then he kicked out with his right leg in a sloppy roundhouse, screaming, “Hi-ya!”
His right foot connected with the side of Deborah’s chair, knocking it over. It landed on its side. All I could do was stare in horrified wonder, but Roxanna screamed, “What the hell, Richard!”
Richard’s shoulders shook violently, and he stuttered, “I—I didn’t—I was—I meant—I didn’t mean to kick the chair! I was only trying to scare her!”
I shoved him out of the way and knelt beside Deborah, whose eyes were closed. “She’s not moving,” I said, panicked. I looked up at him. “You didn’t actually touch her. I don’t know why she’s not moving!”
“Maybe she hit her head,” Roxanna whispered.
I blinked at the tears forming in my eyes. “I think she’s unconscious again.”
“Oh my God, we are so going to jail.” Roxanna grabbed Richard by the shoulders and shook him. “We are going to jail!”
Grasping the top of the chair in both hands, I sat the chair upright. Deborah’s head hung forward.
“We need to call the police,” I whispered.
Richard shook his head. “I can’t go to jail. I can’t.” His eyes were watery with tears. “I can’t be somebody’s bitch! Look at me!” His jaw trembled. “I will get butt raped in prison!”
Roxanna nodded. “You would.”
“Roxanna! You are not helping.” I said, and we all turned to stand around Deborah’s still body. “We have to call the police. Explain what happened.”
Just then, Deborah’s head jerked back, her eyes wild, and she screamed. And I screamed. And Richard screamed.
And Roxanna’s finger jerked on the trigger of the pepper spray, and the fumes hit Richard right in the eyes. He coughed and choked, and I jumped away from the fumes.
“Oh my God,” Roxanna screeched, and Richard dropped to his knees.
“Oh God, my eyes, my eyes,” Richard moaned. He coughed, his nose dribbling snot.
“Richard, oh God, I’m so sorry.” Roxanna dropped the can of pepper spray, and it crashed to the floor. “Water. He needs water!”
“The sink,” I said, and we helped him to his feet.
“I can’t see! I’m blind!” He pressed his hands to his eyes and stumbled over his feet while we led him to the sink across the room.
Deborah laughed, and I whirled to glare at her.
“Why are you laughing?” I snapped.
“Because the three of you are a train wreck.” She sneered at me. “I haven’t been this entertained since the Three Stooges.”
She was toying with us. This was all just fun and games for her because the end result was me behind prison bars. I twisted on the faucet and pressed Richard’s head down closer to the sink. I was so upset, I couldn’t speak. I splashed water at Richard’s face, and he whimpered, rubbing at his eyes.
“What are we going to do?” Roxanna moaned.
“My eyes are burning,” Richard moaned.
“Hope you have an attorney,” Deborah sing-songed.
I pushed Richard out of the way and threw up in the sink.
We got Richard cleaned up after I washed the vomit down the sink. Roxanna’s hands shook as we pressed a cold washcloth to his eyes. “What are we going to do?” she asked.
My mind had been working like crazy while Deborah sat in the corner, quiet as a mouse, as if this were just another day at the office. Maybe she really was crazy. It made sense. She’d been like a dog with a bone ever since the wedding, so fixated on me. If she had left me alone, we all could have moved on with our lives. Instead, she was tied up above my boutique, and none of us would ever be the same.
I couldn’t stop apologizing to Richard, whose eyes were red-rimmed and watery. Yes, Roxanna had pulled the pepper spray trigger, but I was the reason he was here in the first place. I was the one who’d dragged them all into this stupid, stupid plan. I needed to fix this. I had to.
“I’m, uh, going down to use the bathroom,” Richard said, pocketing his phone in his pants pocket.
Roxanna dropped to the floor against the wall and hugged her knees to her chest. She muttered something I couldn’t hear, and I figured it best to leave her alone for awhile. We were all in shock. What the hell were you thinking?
We already had trespassing, assault, and kidnapping against us, why not add a big, fat bluff to the list?
I picked up my cell phone from the counter near the sink and dialed Jeremy’s number. When he answered, I said simply, “I have your mother.”
“What?” he asked. “Lexie?”
I sighed, hoping this wasn’t going to be a long conversation in order to get to the point. “Are you alone?”
“Yes. Well, for the moment.”
“Good. You need to keep it that way.” I tapped my foot on the dusty wood boards. “I have your mother, and you aren’t getting her back until you bring me the contract she made me sign.”
His silence was deafening.
“Jeremy, did you hear what I said?”
“You’re serious?” he asked, and my eyes bulged.
“Yes, I’m freaking serious.” What I said sounded crazy, but he needed to catch up, and quick. I dropped my voice to a heated whisper, “She’s confessed everything, on a tape recorder, and unless I get that contract in one hour, I’m going to leak it to the media. And you don’t want that. Your dad doesn’t want that. Your mom sure as hell doesn’t want that. Because if the media gets ahold of this, you all can say goodbye to any political future you or your dad might have had. You’ll probably get disbarred. Someone might even go to jail. Bring me the contract, Jeremy.”
I sounded so much tougher than I felt after the disastrous events of the night, but I was tired. Tired of the Buchanans, tired of the mess I’d made—so damn tired.
“Let me talk to my mom.”
I glance
d over to the corner where Deborah sat. Her head rested against the back of the chair, and her eyes were closed, but her fingers tapped the arm of the chair, so she wasn’t asleep. I turned my back to her and whispered. “No way in hell. You bring me what I want, and then you can talk to her.”
“Lexie, I don’t know what you’re doing, but this doesn’t sound like you,” he said.
My heart rate rose a notch, and then another. I was so worked up, I had a hard time breathing. “No, this isn’t like me. And you know it. And your mom knows it. And everyone freakin’ knows it. You people did this to me! Do you even understand what is going on? Get me that damn contract or I’m sending this recording to Channel 5, I swear to God.”
“Okay, okay. I’ll get the contract.”
“Thank you,” I said on a sigh. “Because I’m on my last thin string of sanity, Jeremy, and I have had it with you people.” I unclenched my fist—my fingernails had left their mark on my palm. “We’ll make the exchange at my boutique. One hour.”
“One hour,” he repeated.
Before I ended the call, I said, “I’m going to trust you to do the right thing, Jeremy, and keep your word in this.”
“I’ll be there, Lex.” He sounded tired. He had no idea what tired was—he’d never kidnapped anyone before.
Richard appeared at the top of the stairs, and I opened my mouth to ask him if he was okay, but Gen stepped from around him and into the room.
“What are you doing here?” I asked, blinking.
“Richard called me. What the hell were you thinking?” she fumed, glancing over at Deborah, and then to Roxanna’s pale face where she still sat cross-legged on the dirty floor. “Are you crazy?”
“It got a little out of hand,” I admitted.
“You pepper sprayed Richard, you kidnapped Deborah, and this is not good,” Gen said.
“I don’t need a rehash of tonight’s events,” I whispered. “It’s under control.”
“Yeah, it is. Because I called Leo.”
My knees almost gave out. “What the hell did you do that for?”
Roxanna scrambled to her feet. “He is going to be so pissed.”
The sound of footsteps on the stairs had us all whirling to the doorway. In stormed Leo. He took one look at the dingy room, the toppled over chair with Deborah restrained to it, Roxanna muttering to herself, and Richard’s puffy, red eyes and growled, “What the fuck?”
The room smelled of dust, pepper spray, the sour stench of my vomit I’d washed down the sink, and sweat.
When his gaze connected with mine, he looked so mad, I averted my gaze. The wood floor creaked under his shoes, and when he stepped in front of me, I had no choice but to look him in the eyes.
His stare was hard, wordless, as if calculating what he would say. Finally, after an agonizing too-long minute, he said, “Gen, take your friend and Roxanna and wait for us down in the office.” He jerked his thumb toward the door. “And you,” he said to me, “we need to talk.”
The others shuffled down the stairs, but I stayed on the steps to tell him what my brilliant plan to fix things was. He listened, but stared at the wall over my shoulder, and wouldn’t look me in the eyes. I felt like I faced a firing squad, the verdict guilty. He offered no sympathy, no vote of confidence, only a hard set to his jaw while the muscles worked in his neck, telling me there were no good thoughts running through his head.
“I’ll meet with Jeremy. You go wait in the office. Now.”
I nodded weakly and hurried to do what he said. Leo followed behind, but stood next to the back door to wait for Jeremy. It hadn’t occurred to me what would happen if we were caught, or if Leo found out we’d used his van. It hadn’t crossed my mind about the trouble I’d put myself, my friends, his business in by using his company van. His security firm would be ruined. His dad’s business would be ruined. His parents would hate me, Leo would hate me, everyone would hate me. And I’d deserve it from behind prison bars. I gulped at the lump in my throat and went to sit in my office with the others.
Matt stood beside Gen in the office. I hadn’t even realized he was there. His arms were crossed, and his brows drawn as he stared at the three of us criminals sitting on the couch across from them.
“What were you thinking?” Gen breathed.
“I had to. She threatened to ruin dad’s business just like she ruined mine. She said she called the city already about writing him up for a bunch of tickets that would make him close.” I sighed. “She’d do it too. I believed her.”
She knelt in front of me and felt my cheek with her hand. “You’re ice cold.”
“It’s my fault,” Roxanna muttered.
I shook my head. “No, it’s my fault. The idea was mine.”
“I didn’t know we were kidnapping anyone,” Richard said, his voice dull. He looked like he was in shock. I think we all were.
Gen stood and went to stand up against Matt’s chest. He put his arms around her, hugging her.
“What are you going to do?” she asked.
“It’s going to be okay. Jeremy’s coming with the contract in exchange for his mom.”
“Hostage,” Roxanna corrected.
I blinked. She was right. We’d taken a hostage. Wasn’t a crime of that nature worth at least five to ten in a maximum security prison? I swallowed hard. “Once I have the contract, everything will be fine.”
Gen stared at me. “You’re probably right. She won’t want that getting out.”
I nodded. “Right. I mean, it would ruin their reputation.”
“So where’s Leo?” Gen asked.
“Waiting for Jeremy.” What I didn’t say was how bad it would be for all of us if Jeremy didn’t deliver the contract after all.
What started with the Buchanans being evil, manipulative, horrible people had ended with our stupidity. Deborah had merely nudged me along, but in the end, if my plan didn’t work, I would be the reason I lost my boutique, and my freedom. The reason my friends might go to jail.
“I need to use the bathroom,” I muttered and stood. No one spoke as I left.
I shut myself into the bathroom and sat against the wall, staring at the door. I didn’t get up until the stairs groaned under someone’s feet. When I stepped out of the bathroom, Leo stood in the hallway talking to Matt. They both looked over at me, then Matt disappeared back into the office. I stayed right where I was, too afraid to move. Too afraid of the disappointment and detachment in Leo’s eyes.
He handed me an envelope. “She’s not pressing charges, and your ex promised to keep his mouth shut. They want this to go away. He’s taking her home.”
He turned without another word, and my heart squeezed into a tight knot. Reaching out to grasp his arm, I said, “Leo?”
“Don’t.” He shrugged my hand off his arm, and it fell to my side. When he turned, I took a step backward, surprised by the ice in his gaze. “I get that I hurt you when I broke up with you, Lexie. I get that you don’t want to trust me again. But this shit you pulled tonight...” He shook his head, and the muscles in his neck flexed with anger. “It was stupid and reckless. Jesus, Lexie!”
“I know, it was so, so stupid. I’m so sorry. I swear, it wasn’t supposed to happen like this!” My eyes pleaded with him to believe me. “It all just blew up.”
“You should have talked to me, trusted me.” He raked his hand through his hair and let out a heavy exhaled breath.
“No, that’s not—”
“You could have sent everyone here to jail, including me.”
“I’m sorry, I am. I—”
“I can’t do this anymore. I can’t keep chasing you around, hoping you’ll let me in when you keep pushing me away.”
He turned his back on me, and I reached for him again. “No, please.” I could hear the desperation in my voice. “Leo—”
“No.” He stopped, but he didn’t turn around. “I’m done, Lexie. If you want to spend the rest of your life getting revenge on your ex’s family and doing stupid crap li
ke you did tonight, sneaking around, fine. Just leave me out of it.”
A sob caught in my throat as he walked away, leaving me in the hallway alone in a dirty ball gown and holding an envelope. I stared down at it, too tired, too disgusted with myself, to look inside at the item I’d been stressing about for months.
I looked up to see Jeremy standing beside the back door, Deborah at his side. He shook his head at me, then opened the door for his mom to step through.
Deborah’s gaze zeroed in on me. “I’d like a moment alone with Lexie.”
“Like hell,” Gen said, and I looked over my shoulder to see her standing behind me, arms crossed.
I touched a hand to her shoulder. “No. It’s okay.” I gestured to my office, and Deborah followed me through the door.
“That man said you had some demands for me. I’d like to hear them.” Her black dress was filthy, but not as soiled as my white gown. There’d be no returning it now. I had no idea what it would cost for the damages.
“I want back in the bridal expo,” I said, crossing my arms. I had the upper hand now, and after the hell she’d put me through, I wouldn’t back down. “I want you to go to the bank and tell them I’m not a bad investment. I want you to tell all your rich friends how great I am, how wrong you were about me. I want you to leave me alone, leave my family alone.”
“Is that all?” she asked, her words dripping sarcasm.
“And then you and I, and Jeremy—we’re finished. This is finished.”
She stared at me, her gaze thoughtful. Then she said, “Fine.”
“Fine,” I repeated.
“You surprise me, Alexis,” Deborah said, with a hint of…respect? It couldn’t be, could it?
“Why?” I asked.
She placed her hand on the door handle and said, “Perhaps I was wrong to judge you not suitable for Jeremy.”
After all of this, after everything she’d done, this was the conclusion she’d come to? Now?
I shook my head. “No, you were right. I was never meant to be a part of your family. Goodbye, Deborah. I hope I never hear from you again.”
