Dane - Book 2: A Foster Family Saga

by Phillips, Avery

  “See, I thought you would say that. Your mother, though, she had more faith in you, figured you wouldn’t want to see her hauled off to a homeless shelter if I get put in prison…or worse.”

  “My mother knows she’s welcome to come with me and not have to worry about your sorry ass another second of her life.”

  “Right.” I heard the telltale click of a gun being cocked and looked down to where a .45 had manifested in Darien’s hand. He pointed the weapon directly at my gut. “Which is why your mother is an idiotic cunt for thinking I won’t take your miserable ass off the face of this earth.”

  “Darien!” That got my mother’s attention. Her eyes were wide, lips peeled back from her teeth in a grimace. “You promised!”

  “You’re not going to kill me,” I said with false confidence. The gun trained on me made me nervous. Even if he had no intention of pulling the trigger, his finger might slip. With all my training and all my strength, I was helpless to do anything.

  “Ha! Not yet, anyway. Dane, I owe some very large debts to some very dangerous people. I need half a million dollars—”

  “Half a million?” Sissy screeched. “You said we would ask for help to pay back the money stolen from the school. I read the papers, Darien.” She wagged a finger at him from relative safety on the other side of the deck. “There was only about ten thousand dollars missing.”

  Darien laughed loud and long, like what she said was the most hilarious joke he had ever heard. “You think this is about that bullshit school? Damn, you really are slow, aren’t you. Dane, here, is going to call Cornelius and beg his daddy to pull together the money. You know how I know? Because if he doesn’t…I’m going to kill you, Cecilia.” With a sharp laugh, he turned the gun toward my mother, and my heart stopped beating.

  Sissy flinched and yelped in fear. I sternly ordered, “Put the gun down, Darien.”

  “Or what? You’ll scowl me to death?”

  “Don’t try me, Darien. The fact that you aren’t dead right now is for my mother’s sake, but I won’t hesitate to break my foot off in your ass. Now put the gun down.”

  “Relax, Dane. We’ll fight later. Just like old times. But I’ve got bigger fish to fry right now. If Big Daddy doesn’t make the money happen in time, well, then there’s no hope for any of us. We’re in the Gulf of Mexico. Do you know where we’re headed? To meet up with those very dangerous people I owe money to. I can’t run from them, and when they summon, they mean business. I have a meeting with a cartel leader in three days.”

  “Not drugs again, Darien. Oh!” my mother sobbed.

  Darien ignored her and continued his spiel. “You’d be surprised at how many people love a taste of that sweet cocaine. Anyhow, I lost the money I owe. Gambling is a nasty habit, son. Don’t be like me.”

  “Why the fuck would I?” I said.

  “If that money isn’t on the yacht and ready to be handed over, they’ll kill all of us. Well, I hope they do. I hear death is preferable when it comes to these guys. Have you ever been raped by multiple men, Cecilia? Oh, that’s right, you have! Ha! That little party we—remember? Fun times! What about you, Dane? Strapping young fellow like you, they might take a liking to you.”

  Sissy covered her ears and shook her head, sobbing. I wanted to throttle him.

  “Don’t talk about shit like that around my mother, you filth! You fucking lowlife! You will get what’s coming to you. I’ll make sure of it. You won’t even have to wait for the drug cartel. They’ve got nothing on what I’m going to do to you when I get the chance!”

  “Get mad, Dane. Get really angry. See what the fuck it does for you. You want to know how a guy like me always comes out ahead of the pack? Because I don’t let petty, bullshit emotions slow me down. I don’t care what you think of me. You think it bothers me that you look down your fat nose at me? What’s really funny, Dane, is you don’t like me, but you can’t do anything about that. However, I don’t feel anything for you, and I can do whatever the fuck I want to you.”

  “What makes you think Cornelius is going to send ransom money, huh? He’s not the kind of man that can be bullied.”

  Darien shrugged nonchalantly, brought up a satellite phone, and held it out to me, and the gun moved back in my direction. “Convince him. I have everything to lose. So, you see, I have nothing to lose.”

  I swallowed past a lump in my throat and reached for the phone. Darien chuckled dryly. The truth was I wasn’t sure whether Cornelius would come off the money or not, but even if he did, he wouldn’t do so before finding out every bit of information he could. That would take time. I couldn’t make a large sum of bills like that manifest overnight.

  Knowing Darien, he wouldn’t hesitate to harm me, but I knew I could take him on, hand to hand. I couldn’t protect my mother if he was determined to kill her, though. Using her as a threat to keep me in line was a smooth move. Darien was aware I couldn’t turn my back on her, no matter how many ways she had wronged me.

  “He’s not going to send the money, but I know someone who will,” I said tentatively. A plan was formulating in my head. It was a wild one, but it just might work. I needed to contact Gervais.

  “I don’t trust you.”

  “You’ll have to. You don’t have a choice. I know Cornelius, and what you expect him to do isn’t gonna happen. But if you let me see what I can do, we might all get out of this mess.”

  “Fine. Work your magic.” Darien threw up his hands, gun pointed in the air. I looked over at Sissy to see her crumbled to the floor on her knees, staring at Darien with accusatory eyes. “Don’t look at me like that, woman. I had to do what I had to do. Come make nice with me.”

  He stretched out his hand, and she obediently crawled across the deck to sit at his heel, nuzzling her face against his fingers. Under normal circumstances, the action might have seemed endearing, but from where I was sitting, it just reminded me of a loyal dog. It was fathomless how this evil man had bound my mother to his will.

  I struggled to compose myself and dialed the number to Gervais, put the phone to my ear, and waited for him to answer. He was expecting me. I had never been happier to hear my assistant’s voice.

  “Gervais, I need your help,” I blurted as soon as he answered.

  “Sir? Where are you? When you didn’t call me back and I couldn’t get in touch with you, I contacted the police. Unfortunately, they said you hadn’t been missing long enough. Remind me never to bother with NYPD. Are you well? Are you hurt?”

  “I’m with Griess,” I replied. That was all I needed to say.

  Gervais sounded intensely protective. “Where are you now? I’m sending someone to get you. I’ll send Rodger.”

  “Yes! But I need you to get in touch with Hanna,” I said carefully.

  “Who is Hanna?” Griess interrupted. “I think it goes without saying that I’ll skin you if you involve the authorities, and the fewer people to know the better.”

  His moderate tone was too soft for Gervais to hear, and my assistant fired another round of questions, trying to find out what was going on. I put my hand over the mouthpiece and said, “Hanna is my—she’s a close friend. Gervais is my assistant, Griess. He handles everything for me.”

  Griess rolled his eyes and chuckled. “Ineptitude at its finest.”

  “Gervais, whatever it takes, I need you to cobble together a quarter of a million from my accounts. Get to Hanna and tell her I need to borrow a quarter of a million, and she needs to get here with the five hundred thousand dollars in cash by tomorrow night.”

  “Seven o’clock tomorrow night,” Griess said.

  “Seven o’clock, Gervais. Seven.”

  “Let me make sure I’m hearing you correctly. You’re kidnapped. The ransom is half a million dollars. I need to send Hanna, Rodger, and the security force and all the manpower we can muster by seven tomorrow evening. To where, exactly?”

  I was thankful Griess hadn’t forced me to put the call on speakerphone, and my assistant and I could speak sem
i-freely. “Where’s the drop-off, Griess? Houma?”

  “Are you daft? I can’t risk going back to Louisiana now. Galveston, Texas. We’re not far.”

  “You’re not far from Galveston, Texas,” Gervais. I could tell he was writing down every detail of information he could. “You’re still on the yacht. Got it.”

  Darien said to me, “Once I’m ready to pick it up, I’ll provide more details.”

  “Galveston, Texas,” I said. “I’ll let you know more once Hanna gets there.”

  “Excellent, sir,” said Gervais.

  “And Gervais? I owe you a raise.”

  CHAPTER 11

  The Walk on Water coasted over the jade-green ocean. I could picture being out on the water on a breezy summer day, enjoying the view with a beautiful woman, but I wasn’t on vacation. I was a prisoner locked back away in Griess’ room. The zip ties were gone, but I didn’t feel free. There was a possibility Hanna wouldn’t help me. I knew the money wasn’t an issue. I was good for it. I could easily pay her back. And while she wouldn’t take my calls, Gervais was thorough enough to ensure he got in touch with her by any means necessary.

  I couldn’t risk involving Cornelius, who would come down with the heavy hand of the law and likely make Darien too skittish to deal, even if he did offer up the money. Unfortunately, there were lives in danger. This matter required delicacy rather than bullheadedness, and I wasn’t sure my father could curtail his normal brash delivery. At least Gervais knew to send my own security detail compromised of ex-military personnel, who were trained and ruthless, though law-abiding. If anyone could get me safely out of this crunch, it was Rodger.

  Locked away, I didn’t know what Darien was doing or planning. The yacht, which had seemed like a nice place when I initially stepped onboard, was turning out to be a dungeon, and I was only allowed one meal for the day when Darien delivered a paper plate with another dry sandwich and stale cookies. Sissy didn’t return to visit, which was completely fine by me. I didn’t want to see her.

  I slept in the room and woke up in the same spot the next day. I sat on the lumpy mattress begging for the crawl of time to speed along. There was nothing to do but wait, until at last we neared the appointed hour and I heard the yacht bump against a wharf. I shot up from the bed and peeked out the window. I could see Galveston beyond the glass.

  “Are we there?” I called out.

  Darien came to the door and said, “We’re here. Call your friend. Tell her I’ll meet her at Benno’s.”

  He handed me the phone and I contacted Gervais, surprised when he immediately conferenced in Hanna.

  “Hanna,” I said breathlessly. Her name floated from my lips like the cure to all that ailed me. I momentarily forgot my dilemma at the sound of her lilting voice.

  “I’m here, Dane. I have the money.”

  “I can’t believe you came,” I whispered, glancing back at Darien, who was watching my every move. “Listen, my stepdad will meet you at a place called Benno’s.”

  “What will he be wearing? How will I know him?”

  “He’s wearing jeans and an energy drink t-shirt. He has sandy brown hair, and he’s about three inches shorter than me. What about you? How will he recognize you?”

  “I’ll probably be the only person lugging in a duffle bag.”

  “Right,” I said sheepishly. “She’ll be carrying a duffle bag, Griess.”

  “Are you okay?” she asked.

  I looked down, feeling shocked by the thought she was worried about me. “I’m fine, Hanna. I can’t wait to see you.”

  She sniffed loudly over the phone and responded, “This doesn’t change anything. I just wanted to make sure you’re not hurt.”

  “I understand.”

  Gervais cleared his throat before the conversation got any more intimate. “Everything is in place, Dane.”

  “Thank you, Gervais.”

  Griess reached for the phone. “All right, kids, let’s get this show on the road. Ms. Hanna, you will take a table outside the restaurant with the duffle bags. You will order a beer, pay for it so that I know it’s you, and walk away. I’ll follow and retrieve the bags, and once I make it back to the yacht, Dane will be free to go. Got it? Good.”

  He hung up the phone with a smirk on his face. “Can’t wait to see what a fine piece of ass she is, Dane.”

  I bristled with the urge to punch him in his smug face. “Get your money so you can get the fuck out of my life.”

  Darien replied, “I will, but there’s one last thing I need to take care of before I go.”

  “What’s that?”

  From the corner of my eye I caught the blur of his hand as he swiftly swiped downward with a blunt object that cracked the back of my skull like a bat striking a baseball. I grunted in pain and slumped to the floor, temporarily unconscious. I came to as Darien was cinching my wrists and legs, right before he unfurled a strip of duct tape and slapped it to my mouth. There was amusement in his eyes. He looked like he was having a blast. I couldn’t wait for the day I got to pay his wretched ass back for every single crime.

  ###

  I didn’t know what was going on at Benno’s, but I had to assume that things were running smoothly. There wasn’t supposed to be a long wait. I wasn’t surprised when about half an hour later I heard rapid footsteps on the deck outside the locked door. Then I heard my mother shout, “Darien!” The sound of her voice scraped my senses as I realized something had to have gone wrong.

  Darien shouted something I couldn’t quite hear, and the door of the bedroom swung open as a body was thrown into the room. Darien quickly slammed it back shut, the key jamming and turning in the lock. I wriggled on the bed, trying to get close enough to the edge to see who was on the floor. Panic and dread sped my heart rate and made my breathing shallow and rapid. I heard the engine to the yacht fire to life, and the vessel lurched forward, accelerating at an unbelievable pace.

  I screamed against the restraint against my mouth, calling for Sissy, Darien. I needed to find out what was going on. We were moving away from the beach, and that wasn’t according to plan. The more I threw around my weight, the closer I got to the foot of the bed. Finally, I peered over, scanning the body of the new captive from head to toe. Red hair spilled across the woman’s face. I saw blood, too much of it, staining her blouse and her arms. It was all over her hands and stained her hair a darker red. Hanna lay on the floor like a broken doll, her arms and legs cinched with ties just like mine, but she was unmoving as if she were already dead.

  I shook my head, breathing faster. He had hurt her. Why had he hurt her? What had happened at the drop-off point? I ran scenario after scenario in my head, and I couldn’t believe Rodger and his crew had let Darien slip through their fingers. My worst nightmares weren’t as bleak as what was happening, as I gulped down my terror, praying Hanna would be okay. It was only a matter of time until I found out what had happened on the pier, but the wait was interminable.

  The key rattled in the lock and the door swung wide. Sissy rushed into the room and made her way to the bathroom. As I screamed again to draw her attention, she raced back out with a first-aid kit, not even glancing in my direction.

  “I have it, Darien! I found it. We’re gonna have to get it out,” I heard Sissy saying.

  The door was still open, but what I saw beyond didn’t raise my hopes. Darien stumbled past the door bleeding heavily. I was anxious to discover what had happened and glad when they both entered the room next. My gaze swept over Darien. His sandy hair was tousled and his skin looked sallow. He appeared weak. The older man lumbered across the room and punched me as hard as he could in my flank. I jackknifed in pain, eyes squeezed shut as air rushed out of my nose in a harsh grunt. I glared back at him, swearing, though the words were incoherent past the tape.

  Darien raised a hand and jabbed his finger in my direction. “You lying fucking cur!” he yelled. “You set me up!”

  The move zapped him of whatever strength he had left, and he sat he
avily down on the bed next to me, while Sissy fussed over him, making flustered, emotional pleas for him to calm down. There was blood oozing from a wound at his hip, hard to see against the darkness of his black hoodie, but his jeans were saturated in brownish-red fluid. By the looks of it, it was pretty bad.

  Darien yowled when Sissy probed the wound. She left the room and returned with a sharp knife, lighter, and a bottle of vodka. I watched as Sissy patiently dug out the shallow bullet, the missile clanking into a water glass when she was done. She worked with nimble fingers, deftly cleansing and sealing the ragged tear in his skin. As she worked, Darien took hearty swigs of vodka straight from the bottle. He would likely make it, but I didn’t care if he lived or died. I prefer the latter. I was worried to death about Hanna.

  “Your bitch of a girlfriend was there, all right,” Darien said, breathing heavily. “But she brought a few friends along. You knew about that, didn’t you, you little prick! Those bastards tried to move in on me when I went for the duffle bag, but they weren’t counting on me having firepower of my own. I got away from them, Dane. I got away from them, and I picked up your fucking tart along the way.”

  He laughed cruelly. Sissy’s hands shook as she put her fingers to her lips and shushed him. “You need to calm down now, Darien. The more you move around and get excited, the harder your heart pumps and the more blood you lose. You’ve already lost enough. Did you get the money?”

  “No, I didn’t get the money, stupid bitch! Didn’t you hear a word I said? Dane had his goons there waiting for me. As soon as I walked up to the restaurant, one of them tried to grab me! I shot him, and then I had to leave the money behind. We’ll have to think of something else to handle the drug cartel, maybe trade these two off. His cunt will probably make an excellent prostitute! Right, Dane? I bet she fucks like a dream!”

  I growled past the tape and jerked my arms impotently. My hands were tied behind me this time.

  I saw my mother kneel to the floor to check on Hanna. Her pale fingers pressed to Hanna’s neck to check her pulse. She gingerly probed at Hanna’s head where the blood was thickest. Sissy’s fingers came away from the wound red and sticky. I closed my eyes in horror.