Where the fuck am I, I wondered as my heart started to pound. How long have I been here, and what do they want with me?
The thought was enough to make me start crying, but I knew that I had to keep my head calm. If I wanted a chance at escape, there was no way I’d be able to do it as a weak, sobbing mess. I was going to have to figure out exactly where I was and what to do, not just get upset and wait for someone to come rescue me. As I looked around the room where I was being held, I tried to make sense of my surroundings. There was a small, grimy window a few feet off the floor, but the other walls were blank. I was lying on a mattress that smelled like it had seen better days, and it was freezing cold. Plus, my stomach was aching, and my lips and tongue were so dry that they were both cracked. One thing was certain – I clearly hadn’t been given any water since someone had kidnapped me.
Kidnapped.
The word alone was a shock – the kind of thing I’d always thought could never happen to me. And yet, here I was, trussed up like a prized pig. Waiting for someone to find me.
That is, if anyone even realizes I’m gone, I thought as a chill ran down my spine. What the hell is going on?
The sound of a door opening and closing made my heart stop. I tried to lift myself off the grimy mattress and look to the door, but just lifting my head was a struggle.
“Awake, I see.”
I closed my eyes and took a deep breath. This is it, I thought. This is the person deranged enough to kidnap me.
“Look at me.”
I forced myself to open my eyes. From the stern, authoritarian voice speaking, I half-expected to see a female drill sergeant standing there. But instead, it was a pretty, petite, blonde girl with her hair tied back in a loose ponytail.
“So,” the girl said, leaning closer and putting her hands together. “You were out for a really long time!” She threw her head back and laughed. “I had no idea that ketamine would work so well!”
“Ketamine?” I blinked. “You…you drugged me?”
The girl laughed again. It was a high, cheerful sound that filled me with dread. She snorted and shook her head, tossing her bright blonde hair over one shoulder.
“You’re not really too bright, are you,” she said casually, sitting down on the edge of the mattress. From the angle where I lay, it was a struggle to see her clearly. “I bet you don’t even remember me!”
I didn’t reply.
“We’ve met before,” the girl said in a sing-song voice. “In fact, it was pretty recently, too! But like I said, you’re obviously pretty stupid. I have no idea what James sees in you…although maybe he likes stupid girls!”
The mention of James’s name sent my heart leaping into my throat and I blinked.
“Oh, yeah, I bet he’d really like to see this,” the girl said. “I’m Emily, by the way.” She batted her eyelashes at me, almost like she was flirting. “You remember me, don’t you? From the Christmas party that Langdon threw?”
I closed my eyes and just as I was about to take a deep breath, Emily struck me across the cheek. The blow was sharp and painful and I winced.
“There’s no way I’m going to let James marry someone like you,” Emily said. “So, you’d better get used to it.”
Despite the fact that I was bound and confined to a small, cramped, and dirty room, for some reason Emily’s taunt was what made me realize that she was truly psychotic. There was no way she was going to let me leave…unless I figured out how to manipulate her.
“Emily,” I said. “Trust me. We’re not getting married.”
Emily gave me a cold look and rolled her eyes. “Obviously,” she said. “Were you even listening to me? He wouldn’t marry someone like you – you’re not even from new money!”
“We broke up,” I said flatly, looking into her eyes and trying to search for an ounce of humanity. “He dumped me. In fact, maybe it was because he misses you and wants to get back together.”
Emily stared at me for a long moment, squinting into my face. “You’re lying,” she said.
“I’m not.” I made my eyes wide and tried to look as innocent as possible. “Trust me, Emily – I have no reason to lie to you. James and I are finished. Completely done.”
Emily bit her lip. “I don’t believe you,” she said slowly. “I think you’re just telling me that because you want me to let you go.” She leaned in close and I caught a whiff of musky, floral perfume. “Well, Hanna, I can tell you right now – that’s not going to work.”
“Call him,” I urged. “Ask him whether or not he broke up with me.”
Emily’s cheeks turned pink and she twisted her mouth into an angry shape of confusion.
“No,” she said. “Why would I bother doing something like that?” She laughed, but this time there was no humor in her voice. “You’re obviously just trying to manipulate me!”
Emily lunged toward me, hands outstretched and her fingernails drawn into claws. I barely managed to twist to the side as she landed on the bed, her legs flopping over mine and pinning me down. As I tried to wriggle free and break loose of my bonds, Emily climbed on top of me and wrapped her hands around my throat.
“Now,” Emily said. “Don’t lie. Tell me the truth, Hanna!”
“You’re choking me,” I gasped, trying desperately to breathe. My lungs were on fire as I gasped and choked for air. Emily’s hands grew tighter around my throat. Little black spots appeared in front of my eyes and just as I thought I was going to pass out, there was a loud bang. Emily took her hands away and leapt backward, crashing onto the floor in an unceremonious heap. I heard a bunch of voices and loud sounds, but every time I struggled to sit up, I felt that I was going to lose consciousness.
“Hanna!” James’s voice yelled. “Oh my god, are you okay?”
And then, just like that, I was in his arms. James pulled me close and held me tightly for a second before putting his fingers to the ropes knotted around my wrists. He grunted and strained for a moment, then reached into his pocket and pulled out a knife.
Cops and detectives flooded into the room in a massive wave of blue uniforms. It was surreal – for the second time that day, I thought I was about to pass out.
“What’s going on,” I croaked, closing my eyes and resting my head against James’s shoulder as he cut the ropes binding my wrists. As soon as my hands were freed, James rubbed the skin on my wrists until blood gushed back into my hands. It was painful at first, but being able to move again was extraordinary.
“Shh, don’t talk,” James said. He gently set me back down on the bed and grabbed my ankles and knees, cutting the rope around my bare skin. As soon as I was freed, I began to shake and shiver. James took his coat off and wrapped it around my shoulders, holding me close.
Emily was screaming as one of the cops dragged her out of the apartment. As I looked at James with wide eyes, I suddenly remembered that he and I had broken up. He’d dumped me – and it was clear that nothing between us could ever be the same again.
“It’s okay,” I said, trying to push James away. “You don’t have to do this. I’m okay now.”
James buried his face in my hair. “Now that I found you, I’m never going to let you go,” he whispered fiercely into my hair. “And you’ll never be alone again.”
I knew that he was lying, but in the moment it felt so good to believe him that I nodded and closed my eyes, lulled into a sense of false safety by the feeling of his arms around me.
The next few hours were a blur. The cops wanted to talk to me – James insisted that we take a few moments, then meet them downtown – and they had already gotten a confession from Emily. She’d admitted to the whole thing: bribing a bartender to pass me a drugged drink at the bar, then holding me hostage in a dirty apartment for over forty-eight hours. I was still feeling dazed from the intense dose of ketamine that she’d slipped into my drink, and talking to the cops was a surreal experience.
After Emily was led away in handcuffs, the main detective sat down and looked me in the
eye.
“Hanna, I know you’re not feeling well, and I swear we’ll get you to the hospital soon. But first, you need to come downtown and answer a few questions for me – do you think you can do that?”
The last thing I wanted was to spend time in a grimy police station: it would be like torture. But I knew I didn’t have a choice. If I wanted to put Emily behind bars – and clear James’s reputation – I knew that I’d have to comply.
As soon as I nodded, the detective had James bring me downtown. In the back of his car, James handed me a bag.
“This isn’t much,” he said. “But it might help for a little bit.”
With a frown, I looked down into the bag. There was a brand-new pair of plush snow boots, a parka, a scarf, and a hat as well as jeans with the tag still on them and a cashmere sweater that looked as soft as a cat.
“Why did you bring me clothes?”
“I wanted you to be comfortable,” James said quietly.
As his car rolled on through the dark Boston streets, I realized there were a million things I wanted to say to him. I was still angry and hurt…but mostly, now, I was just confused. If he didn’t care about me at all, why the hell had he gone to so much trouble to find me and bring me warm clothing?
But I couldn’t muster up the courage. I was still in pain, dehydrated, and exhausted from my ordeal. In fact, it took all the energy I have left to change into the clothes and pull on the parka and scarf. Everything fit perfectly, and I snuggled up against the warm leather car seat as we approached the police station.
To my surprise, when Nick pulled to a stop, James put his hand on mine. “I’m coming in with you,” he said. “I’m not leaving until this is all over and settled.”
Then why did you hurt me, I thought as I climbed out from the back of James’s car, carefully avoiding the black piles of icy sleet and snow on the streets. Why are you doing this, dangling me around like a fish on a hook?
I looked up at James, wishing that he could read my mind. But of course, that was impossible. After all, what words could I even say? James had clearly acted out of guilt – he didn’t want me to be cold and alone, and he obviously felt responsible for my well-being since he’d broken my heart.
But how was I supposed to tell him that just being around him like this was more painful than being tied up in Emily’s dingy apartment? In ordinary times, I wouldn’t have thought twice about telling him to fuck off. But these weren’t ordinary times. My strength was gone, I felt sick and cold and exhausted, like I’d never be well again.
And before I got the chance to speak, James guided me inside the police station and waved to one of the detectives – the man I’d seen leading Emily out of the small apartment.
“Hanna, this is Detective Patterson,” James said. He gave me a friendly, concerned smile. Just seeing his handsome face light up made my heart ache like a burn that I’d rubbed salt over. How can he be acting so normal, I thought as Patterson led me down the hall and into a small room. Doesn’t he know that everything between us is ruined, and that it’s never going to be the same?
Chapter Seventeen
James
Waiting in the small, cramped police station was torture. Every time I heard the sound of a door opening, I’d look up, hoping to see Hanna. But I’d been there for hours, with no sign of her. Patterson hadn’t even emerged from the small room where he’d taken her as soon as we’d arrived.
As time stretched on, I tried not to think of the groveling I would have to do in order to get back into Hanna’s good graces. The way she’d looked at me in the back of the car had chilled my blood. She’d looked at me like I wasn’t really even there, like she was watching a mirror for signs of a ghost. She’d looked pained and wounded and exhausted, and I’d wanted nothing more than to sweep her into my arms and kiss her and tell her that everything was going to be okay.
Except, I had no idea whether or not things were going to be okay. I knew that I’d never be okay again if Hanna didn’t forgive me…but my own well-being didn’t matter nearly as much to me as Hanna’s did.
After three hours of sitting in the waiting room, I saw Patterson’s large frame walking toward me.
“Mr. West, I need to ask you a few questions,” he said. “If you wouldn’t mind coming with me, please.”
I got to my feet and followed Patterson down the narrow, fluorescent-lit hallway. He showed me into a small room. Hanna sat in a green chair made of fake leather and metal. When she saw me, she began to tremble.
“It’s okay,” I said. “He just wants to ask a few questions. Did he ask you to leave?”
Hanna opened her mouth to speak, but shut her lips after a few moments. She shook her head.
“Do you want some water?”
Hanna nodded gratefully. I went into the hallway and filled two white paper cones with fresh water from the cooler, then brought them into the room and handed one over.
“Be careful,” I warned. “If you haven’t had water in a few days, you might get sick.”
Hanna nodded, but she drank the first cone in one gulp. I handed her the second cone and watched as she took a tentative sip.
“God, I can’t believe they won’t release you to a hospital,” I said angrily, shaking my head. “You shouldn’t be here – there could be all kinds of things wrong with you!”
“I’m fine,” Hanna said in a small voice. Despite the fact that she was obviously sick, there was still a bright spark of determination in her green eyes. “I swear.”
I didn’t have the chance to speak again before the door swung open and Patterson sauntered inside. He sat down in the third chair and cocked his head to the side.
“Mr. West, you ever hear of a Jessie Harrington?”
“The last name is familiar,” I said, frowning and leaning forward. It was hard to tear my attention away from Hanna.
“You dated her sister, Emily, for a while,” Patterson continued. “At least, that’s what my reports show.”
I slapped my forehead. “Oh, god, yeah,” I said, shaking my head. “The Harringtons are old family friends of my father’s.”
“But you never met the younger sister, correct?”
I narrowed my eyes. “What does this have to do with Emily?” I asked slowly. “She’s the one who kidnapped Hanna.”
Hanna turned to me with wide eyes and shook her head. “No,” she said. “Jessie and Emily are twins. I don’t know what happened, but—”
“What Ms. Parker is trying to say is that Jessie apparently went crazy and stole her sister’s identity,” Patterson said smugly. “And she’s the one who’s been sending threats. It must’ve started sometime after the Christmas party, who knows – maybe Emily mentioned you to her sister.”
Hanna looked irritated at having been cut off, but she nodded.
“Don’t you see, James,” Hanna said slowly. “Jessie’s the one who messaged you.” She gulped, gripping the edge of the table and licking her dry lips. “She even moved to London while you were staying there. All of those pictures of you were taken by her, or by people she hired.”
“Holy shit,” I muttered, raking a hand through my hair.
“Yeah,” Patterson said, snorting as if he couldn’t quite believe that this was all real life. “And apparently, they had a falling out years ago. Emily only found out when one of her credit cards was declined – Jessie had used the whole credit line herself.”
“Holy shit,” I repeated. “I can’t believe that.”
Hanna turned to me. “I knew there was something not quite right about her,” she said slowly. “I mean, she reminded me of the girl from the party…but I could tell there was something off.”
The realization was stunning. Never in a million years had I imagined that one day, someone like Jessie Harrington would come into my life and turn everything upside down. Thinking back on it, I’d never noticed Jessie. Although she and Emily had been identical twins, Emily had always been friendly and outgoing. When my father had hosted huge part
ies, Jessie had hung around in the back, staring down at the floor.
“I think I’ve always known,” I said slowly. “I just feel like the world’s biggest idiot for not realizing it sooner.”
Patterson shrugged in a casual way that made me angry. “Look,” he said. “At the end of the day, we hear a lot of shit like that. The important thing is that no one got hurt.”
I glanced over at Hanna. “She needs a hospital,” I said. “She was drugged, and she hasn’t eaten in days.”
“I’m fine,” Hanna insisted. She got to her feet and tossed the paper water cone in the trash. “I’d really like to just go home, if that’s okay.”
“No,” I said firmly. “You’re going to the hospital, right now, and that’s that.”
Hanna glared at me, but she didn’t argue again. “Fine,” she muttered. She turned to Patterson. “Do you need anything else?”
Patterson shook his head. He closed the folder in front of him and tapped on it with one hand. “Looks like this will be an easy fix,” he said. “She’ll be charged with stalking, assault, and kidnapping.” He raised an eyebrow. “And looks like your reputation will be good as new.”
The Xmas Conquest Page 15
