If I Say No (Say Something #2)

by Brandy Jellum

  “Lily!” I shout, entering the house without knocking. I step into the middle of the foyer and look around. I’m trying to decide which direction I should head in first.

  Lily appears from the room to my left and walks towards me. Her face is bright red and she is gritting her teeth. “What’s the matter with you, Reid? Why are you acting like a crazed madman?”

  “What’s the matter with me?” I exclaim. I throw my hands in the air and walk in a circle. I set my hard stare on her and release a frustrated sigh. “I should be asking what the hell the matter with you is.”

  She raises an eyebrow and shoots me a questioning look. “I’m not sure I know what you’re talking about.”

  “Ollie,” I say plainly.

  “What about him?” I notice the hesitation in her voice. I pinch the bridge of my nose and say a silent prayer, hoping I don’t break anything. I take a few deep breaths before looking at her again. “Oh,” she says softly. “I take it that Joe has talked to you.”

  “This is crazy. You cannot be serious.” I raise my voice. “He’s your so-”

  “Mom?” A boy’s voice calls from the top of the stairs. “Are you okay?” I turn to the voice and find a spitting image of the woman in front of me. My heart catches in my throat and all I can do is stare. I never thought I’d see him again. And now here is, standing several feet away from me, and staring at me like I’m some sort of evil man. “Who’s that?” he asks.

  “No one, Ollie.” Lily answers him. I feel my heart shatter in a million pieces. She never told him about me. I didn’t want to think it was possible but I now I know she did. The realization that the little boy I once had a remarkable bond with is now a stranger. Just like his mother is. I can’t breathe and I struggle to make a coherent thought. “I’m fine, sweetie. Just go back to room and play.”

  Ollie takes one more look at me before following his mom’s orders.

  The air is thick with tension. I see something out the corner of my eye in the living room and notice Agent Larson watching us. “It’s his fault, isn’t it?” I say.

  I start walking towards him. Lily’s gaze follows mine and she starts after me. “Reid…stop!” she says forcefully. I stop walking and keep my eyes locked on him. “Devin had nothing to do with this.”

  I look between the two of them, watching as he sits back down on the couch and propping his leg up. “I won’t let you do this,” I say harshly, without looking at her.

  “That isn’t your decision. He’s my son.” I snap my head towards her and she glares at me.

  “He’s my nephew,” I rebut. “Wait, a minute.” I let the anger roll off of me. “That’s right, you never told him about me.” I inhale a shaky breath and try to hide the pain. “After everything…” I say softly.

  “I’m so sorry. Honestly, I am. I just thought it was for the best,” She whispers the last past.

  I grit my teeth. Deep down, I know she’s right, but it doesn’t mean it hurts any less. It hurts like hell. The pain I feel turns to anger. “The best, huh?” I snap. “You think that not telling him he has an uncle was for the best. Yet you’re willing to expose him to his psychopathic father.” I laugh. “You really have your priorities mixed up.”

  Lily’s face drops for a moment but she quickly pulls herself together. It was a low blow, I know that, but I couldn’t stop myself. “I’m only going to say this once then you need to leave.” She straightens her stance and stares directly into my eyes. “My son, my choice. If you don’t like the plan, it’s not too late to back out. Otherwise I’ll see you at the wedding.”

  “Lily…” I step towards her. “Just list-”

  “Leave,” she says sternly. “Now.”

  Without any argument, I turn and make my way to the front door. Everything is a mess. I shouldn’t have reacted as strongly as I did but it’s too late to change that now. I’m not going to back out. Hell no, that isn’t even a possibility. Especially if Lily follows through with her plan. If I back out, the whole this is off. The wedding…everything. They’ll come up with a new plan and I won’t have the slightest idea about it. If I back out, I may never see Lily again after my outburst, and I can’t have that.

  I climb into my car and just sit for a minute trying to gather my thoughts. I see the front door open and Agent Larson appears. Great. He heads towards my car as quickly as he can with his leg and I roll down my window. He hovers above me and I shift uncomfortably in my seat.

  “I understand you’re upset with the plan,” he says, getting straight to the point. “But if you ever do that again, that’ll be the last thing you do.”

  “Is that a threat?” My mouth overloads my thoughts and I’m not quick enough to stop it.

  “No, I don’t make threats,” he answers. “Only promises.” I gulp. The look in his eyes makes me uneasy. “You’re not the only one who’s been in hell and hurting,” he adds before hobbling away.

  I start my car and pull away with those words repeating in my head. The last thing I see before pulling out of the driveway is Ollie looking out a window from the second floor. I feel a piece of my heart break even more as I speed away.

  CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT

  IT’S THE DAY OF THE WEDDING…or the fake wedding, rather. I am a bundle of nerves. Even though it isn’t the real deal, I keep pretending and telling myself that it is. Whether she realizes it or not, every word I say to Liza today is going to be from my heart. I haven’t written anything down or rehearsed it at all. I plan to wing it in front of a few hundred people. It might be stupid, but I just hope she can grasp the sincerity and honesty of it.

  I’m glad my mother pushed to have us say our own vows, regardless of the reason behind the wedding, but I can’t help wonder what Liza might say. On top of everything, I’m afraid as well. This whole thing will be for nothing if my brother doesn’t make his move. We may think this is the way to get a step ahead of him, but Rhett is smart. The wedding may draw him out, but not for the reason we’re hoping. Anything is possible.

  Many of the guests I don’t even know; there are agents, too, both in plain clothing among them and hidden away out of sight. The air in the room is thick with tension as I get ready. My mother fusses with my tie and my hair. She knows something is off but stays uncharacteristically silent. She’s been standoffish for the last few days, in fact, keeping locked in her room.

  It was just over a week ago that it all happened, but Isaac seems to be doing better already. Marco and I have spent the last day bickering with him over the fact that he needs to be at home recovering instead of being one of the groomsmen, but he isn’t having it. His wife wasn’t much help. In fact, she’s helping him, letting him use a cane to hobble around the room and check all the windows. I have a feeling they’re hiding even more details from me. It makes me even more uneasy.

  “It’s almost time,” Marco says.

  My mother runs her hands over my hair one last time and takes a step back. She takes a deep breath and her face pales. “Mom? Are you okay?”

  “I’m fine.” She pats me on the chest. “Just a little tired. If you boys think you can behave until the ceremony, I think I’ll head downstairs and check on everything one last time.” She drifts out of the room.

  Marco sidles up to me. “She doesn’t look well. What have the doctors said?”

  “You know her,” I tell him. “She says she’s fine. Regardless of what they say. She’s off treatment right now which is a good thing. But she’ll never be one hundred percent.”

  There’s a knock at the door and Eli walks in.

  “Thirty minutes until the ceremony starts,” he says loudly. He walks across the room to the makeshift bar and pours himself a drink. He turns around and looks at me. His face says everything it needs to. He is not happy about this, even if he’s the one who helped make it happen. He doesn’t like putting Liza at risk any more than I do. If I was angry about her little mission with Marco, he was enraged over it. I have never seen him so worried and so angry at Liza before.
He scolded her, but she took it in stride. He holds up his drink and nods to me. “Anyone else?”

  I laugh and shake my head. “Not me, man. I’d like to be sober on my wedding day.”

  ”It’s not like it’s real.” He narrows his eyes at me and gulps down the rest of his drink before slamming the glass down on the table next to him. With as much force as he used, I’m surprised it didn’t shatter.

  “How’s Liza doing?” I change the topic, knowing he just came from her dressing room. I chalk up his behavior to the amount of alcohol he’s already consumed. Four glasses down, and he’s pouring another. I want to suggest he lay off the booze because we need to be alert, but I decide against it. It’s best to just leave it alone.

  “She’s fine. I think she might be getting a case of the cold feet though.” He smirks. I’m starting to come around to liking the guy but I’m not going to lie…there are still times I want to bash his head in with a chair. This is one of those times. “Relax pretty boy, she’ll be there,” he adds.

  “Alright big guy,” Marco steps in. He takes the glass from Eli’s hand and sets it down. “We need a clear head.”

  “Right.” Elias clears his throat and adjusts his tie.

  I go to stand across the room, keeping an eye on Eli, and watching the clock. Time seems to be crawling. The longer I stand there saying and doing nothing, the more my focus shifts back to my brother, and I really don’t want to focus on him right now.

  The door bursts open, and Devin wobbles across the room on crutches, his leg still recovering from the bombing, straight toward me. His eyes are crazed. He looks absolutely panic-stricken.

  “Tell me she’s here!” he shouts as he reaches me.

  I take a step back when he tries to grab my jacket. “Tell you who’s here?”

  “Lily!” His body shakes. Our noses almost touch. “I was gone for less than five minutes and when I came back she was gone.”

  ”What the hell?” I shout and he glares at me. “Why wasn’t anyone standing outside her door?”

  “Agent Lee was,” he says. “He’s missing too.” His eyes are filled with panic and fear. I can see his body shaking and it rubs off onto me. I feel sick to my stomach. “She knows she is isn’t supposed to leave the room.” He doesn’t direct this to anyone, just speaking out loud to himself. “She isn’t supposed to leave under any circumstances until the ceremony starts. And then, only then, was she allowed to leave- with either Joe or me.”

  “Maybe she’s in Liza’s room,” Eli slurs. The alcohol is starting to inhibit him. I shake it off. Lily has no reason to go there. They haven’t even met yet, so it doesn’t make any sense.

  “Joe’s checking there now.”

  Agent Johnson storms into the room and shakes his head. “She wasn’t there.”

  My body tenses and the anger and worry radiating off Devin starts to affect me. “Maybe Agent Steve, or was it Lee, is a bad man?” Eli says. I hold my breath. I know Eli is a little out of it but he has a point. What if Agent Lee has flipped side or my brother is holding something over him? What if he did something with Lily?

  “The building’s on lockdown, and we’re searching every room. In the meantime, we just have to keep looking,” Agent Johnson says. I swallow the lump down my throat and let Eli’s suggestion sink in.

  My cell phone rings just as I’m about to bring it up, and a chill runs down my spine. The room falls silent as we stare at it chirping on the coffee table. I can feel everyone’s eyes on me.

  The phone stops momentarily only to start ringing again.

  “Answer it,” Devin says coldly. “Put it on speaker.”

  I reach down and pick up my phone. I don’t recognize the number, but we all understand who it is. I hesitate, my finger hovering over the answer button before stabbing the one for the speaker phone.

  “Hello.” The word explodes out.

  “Hey, little brother.” Rhett’s voice comes through the speaker phone.

  I glance around the room. Everyone here is tightly wound.

  “Should I say hello to everyone else in the room?” No one answers. “No? Well, I’m going to anyone. Hello, everyone. Hello, Devin.”

  I see Devin clench his jaw and his body goes rigid.

  “Oh and is Jack there? No, wait…Zach—is that his name? Oh, I’ve got it: Isaac. I sure hope he’s doing better than he was the last time I saw him.”

  Marco’s jaw is twitching, and his eyes stare hard toward the phone.

  “What do you want, Rhett?”

  “I’m sure by now you boys have noticed a certain guest is missing.” He laughs into the phone.

  “What have you done with her?” The rage burning in Devin’s eyes seeps into his voice.

  “Don’t worry, lover boy.” My brother laughs again and goose bumps dance across my arms. “She’s safe…for now.”

  It’s time to face the music.

  “No more games, Rhett,” I say. “Tell me what you want.”

  “Oh, I think you know what I want.”

  “I’ll come. You can have me as long as you let Lily go.”

  “Seeing as how you’ve involved the FBI, we need to figure out a way to make sure you come alone—if you want Lily alive, that is.”

  “Tell me where.” My voice is flat.

  “You have fifteen minutes to get to the club. I’ll have someone meet you there. When I’m sure you’re alone, you’ll get the final meeting place.”

  “Fine. I’ll go alone.” All eyes are on me.

  “I mean it, Reid. Alone or she dies.”

  The phone clicks, and the line goes dead.

  This is what we’ve all been waiting for, what my brother has been planning. He found some way to get in here and snatch Lily from right under our noses. My bet is on the missing agent. I have no choice to go alone, regardless as to what anyone has to say.

  “If you think you’re going alone, you’re a bigger idiot than I thought.” Liza’s voice breaks my trance. She isn’t in her wedding gown.

  ”Why aren’t you––”

  “I’m not an idiot. I knew something had to be up if they were looking for Lily. I changed as soon as they left.”

  “You’re not coming with me.”

  “You don’t get to tell me what I can and cannot do.” She crosses her arms over her chest and glares at me.

  “No, but his brother can.” Eli walks toward Liza.

  “Stay out of this.” Liza and I speak at the same time.

  Eli sends me a dirty look and continues over to Liza. He reaches out and she brushes him off.

  “Can I have a minute alone with Liza, please?” I say.

  One by one, they leave the room. Eli and Liza stare at one another a moment, but he finally turns to go. It’s only Liza, me and Devin.

  “Make it fast, Reid,” Devin says, before he closes the door. “You don’t have much time.”

  Liza and I watch each other from across the room. Neither of us moves to break the silence first.

  She shifts her weight from one foot to the other without breaking eye contact with me. Her gaze is sharp, fierce, and unwavering.

  “Don’t go,” she whispers. “Stay here with me.”

  “I have to go.”

  Liza’s face drops and I see her rub her arms. She looks down at the floor and back toward me. “So that’s your choice then?”

  I cross the distance in long strides. I pull Liza toward me. She struggles to break free, but I don’t give in until she’s pressed against my chest. “There’s never been a choice. It’s always been you. When will you understand that?”

  I feel her body relax against mine and I press my lips onto the top of her head. I let her go and see the tears in her eyes. I wipe them away as they slide down her face and press my lips gently to hers. “That may be true,” she whispers against my lips. She pulls away and I stare down into her green eyes. “But you’re choosing her now.”

  “I don’t have a choice.” My heart breaks. I don’t like being the reason s
he’s crying. I don’t like that she thinks I’m choosing Lily over her. “If I don’t go, he’ll kill her.”

  “If you go, he’ll kill you.”

  “Maybe.” I caress her cheek with my hand. “Maybe not. It’s a risk I have to take. I have to go, Liza. I have to try and put an end to this once and for all. If I don’t, we’ll never be safe.” My voice is shaky and I don’t know if it’s because I know Rhett could kill me or because Liza wants me to come back. “I promise I will come back to you.”

  “Don’t make any promises you aren’t sure you can keep.” Her voice is soft. The tears stream down her face.

  “Fair enough.” I place my finger under her chin, turn her head toward me, and kiss her gently. I cup her face with both of my hands and look into her eyes. “I will promise you this, though: I love you more than my own life, and I will spend every chance I get showing you just how much that means. More importantly, I will do whatever it takes to come back to you.” I press my lips against hers and taste the salt of her tears. “I love you.”

  I kiss her for as long as I can.

  CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE

  I MAKE IT OUT OF THE BUILDING with little time to spare. The conversation I had with Liza replays over and over again as I jump into my car. Before leaving, Joseph attaches a small tracking device to one of the buttons on my sleeve, and Devin slips me a small listening device. I just have to turn it on when I finally find Rhett, and they’ll be able to hear what’s going on.

  My clammy hands grip the steering wheel as I ease out of the parking lot and merge into traffic.

  I glance at every building I pass, looking for anyone that may just be one of my brother’s men. I glance in the rearview mirror repeatedly to make sure I’m not being followed. I head toward the club. It’s closed now. Most of the staff is at the wedding venue, either working or as guests. Ten minutes to go, and I’m seven miles away. I press the pedal to the floor and send up a prayer that there are no cops lurking along the route.

  I pull up in front of the club just in the nick of time. My phone rings, and my voice is shaky as I answer. “Hello.”