by B. B. Hamel
“Did you ask around?”
“Of course I did. Nobody’s seen her.”
“Keep asking.”
I give her a level look. “May. Please get in touch with Ash and tell him to keep an eye out.”
“I will. But like you said, it’s probably nothing.”
I hesitate. “We pulled a prank on Joel.”
She doesn’t react. “Okay.”
“He didn’t like it. Didn’t react well. I’m worried…” I shake my head, not sure what I’m worried about. “I’m worried, is all.”
“It’s okay. I’ll talk to Ash, but I think you’re overreacting.”
“Thanks, May.”
I leave her office, not feeling better. I’ve been looking for Casey for a couple hours now. I’ve searched every inch of the house, asked almost everyone about her except for the people that genuinely hate me. Nobody has seen or heard from her all day.
“Did you check the woods?” Joel sneered at me when he overheard me asking Connie if she’d seen anything. “Maybe she’s out collecting bugs.”
I wanted to punch his dumb, smug face, but that’s what he wants. So instead, I’ve been quietly looking around.
With no luck. I can’t believe she’d just disappear like this the day after we pulled a prank on Joel. I keep telling her things are dangerous around here, and yet she keeps going off on her own.
I end up back in the living room. Mia’s lounging on the couch, typing on her phone.
“Hey, kid,” I say to her. “You seen Casey around?”
She glances up. “Nope. Sorry.”
“She’s missing.” I sit down for a second, a nervous wreck. “I don’t really know what to do.”
Mia frowns at me. “I’m sure it’s fine. She’s probably just at the gym or taking a hike or something.”
“Yeah, you’re right. Or maybe she went into town with someone. Anyone take the boat out?”
“Not that I know of.”
I shift uncomfortably in my seat. “Look, if she turns up, or if someone says something about her, text me. Okay?”
“Yeah, sure.” She frowns at me. “Want help looking?”
“No, no, it’s fine. I’m just being paranoid.” I give her a charming smile. “See you later.”
“Yeah, okay. See you.”
I walk off. I check the first floor again, checking all the storerooms. I bug Beth, who hasn’t seen her, and even ask more of the staff. Nobody’s seen her, not even a glimpse.
I check the gym and even put my head into all the bathrooms. Nobody, nothing. I check the room again, just in case she snuck back in there. I check the pool, the sauna, even the music room.
“You’re running around like a chicken without a head,” Uncle Toby comments when I pass him in the hall.
“Have you seen Casey?”
“The alien girl? Nah, haven’t seen her.”
I hurry past him, not even about to get into the alien girl thing.
I’m getting desperate, frustrated. I’m about to go bother my parents and ask if they’ve seen her. Maybe she’s up in their room, talking to them right now about the wedding. Maybe they’re just grilling her about her past. I get the edge of the stairs and hesitate, not sure if I want to do this, not sure if I want to bother them if she’s not even in there. I don’t want to ask questions. I know how my mother will react and my father will just think it’s another instance of me showing weakness.
But fuck it. I need to find her and make sure she’s okay. I can handle a little parental scorn. I start to climb the steps when I hear my name.
“Ryan, hey, hold on.” Ash walks toward me, one hand held out. “I’ve got something for you.”
I hesitate. “Found Casey?”
“I did.” His one good eye stares at me.
I stare right back at him and get off the stairs. “Seriously? Where is she?”
“Well…” He trails off. “Here. Come with me.”
I follow him through a series of side halls before we end up at the security center. It’s a midsized room with security monitors all over the place, showing camera shots of the grounds.
“Here we go,” he says, sitting in front of one. He rewinds a video and I spot some figures moving up the back lawn toward the house then disappearing back inside. “Watch.”
I stare at the screen. I watch as two men come out the back. I recognize Wayne and Joel right away.
And over Wayne’s shoulder is a body.
“Could that be your girl?”
My blood runs cold. Her hands are tied, her ankles are tied. There’s a bag over her head. I rewind it, watch again. She’s alive and moving, I’m sure of it, but what the fuck.
“Thanks, Ash.”
“I don’t know what sort of fucked-up game’s going on here, Ryan, but that looks serious.”
“I know. I might need backup.”
He gives me a level stare. “I know you guys have a war going on. I know you all fuck with each other. Pranks, mean shit, but never dangerous. I let it slide, I don’t say a word. It’s not my place. But if she was taken like that…” He trails off, eyes hard.
“It’s too far, Ash. It’s way too far.”
“Yeah. It is.”
I turn away. “I’m going to find out where she is. Back me up or not, either way I’m finding out.”
“Let’s go.”
He follows me out into the hall.
I walk with purpose. I can feel my blood boiling anger. I’m trying to keep a level head, but every instinct is screaming out, every fiber of my body is telling me that something fucked is happening, and I’d better move fast.
I hurry into the living room. Mia’s still there. I walk over and she looks up, eyes flicking to Ash with a frown. “Hey,” she says. “Find her?”
“Where’s Wayne?” I ask. “Or Joel?”
“Uh, I saw Wayne go into the kitchen like two minutes ago.”
“Thanks.”
“Wait, is Casey okay?”
I don’t answer. I keep going. Ash gives me a look but I ignore him. There’s nothing in the world right now but Casey, finding Casey, getting her back.
I push into the kitchen. The staff is busy preparing lunch. “Wayne!” I shout. “Hey, Wayne!”
People look up at me. I think I can see some fear in their eyes but I don’t care.
I can’t care about any of them right now.
“Wayne!” I snap again.
“Ryan.” Chef Beth appears, wiping her hand on her apron. “Are you looking for your brother?”
“I sure as fuck am.”
“He just left, headed upstairs. Is everything okay?”
“Thanks, Beth.”
I walk past her. Ash is still with me, but it seems that Mia is tagging along as well now. Bath frowns at the little procession and decides to join it. Normally, I’d tell her to fuck off and back out of the family’s business, but right now I want everyone to see and hear this. I want everyone to know how far my brothers are willing to go.
I reach the back steps and start climbing. Wayne’s room is on the next floor and I have to assume that’s where he’s going. I reach the landing and spot him just ahead, trying to balance a tray with food on it in one hand and a key in the other.
“Wayne!”
He startles and drops the tray. His sandwich and iced tea spill all over the floor. He groans and curses.
“Man, that looked so good,” he says.
“Wayne.” I storm over to him, followed by Ash, Mia, and Beth. I hear a door open nearby, someone pokes their head out. I don’t bother looking to see who it is.
He looks up at me then plasters a smile on his face. “Hey, brother. What’s up?”
I’m not a fan of sucker punching someone. That’s just not the kind of guy I am. If I hit someone in the face, I like for them to know it’s coming. I like to give them a chance to defend themselves.
But Wayne and Joel didn’t give Casey that chance.
So I punch him hard in the jaw. He grunts a
nd stumbles back, slamming into the wall.
“The fuck—” he manages before I grab him by the front of the shirt and slam my forehead into his nose.
It breaks. It snaps with a satisfying crunch of bone and blood. He screams and I feel Ash grab me and pull me back. I let him, grinning at the fucking piece of shit. Beth and Mia stare, horrified. I can feel his blood, warm on my face.
“Calm,” Ash says. “Okay? Calm.”
Wayne is on his knees, hands to his face. “You broke my fucking nose. Oh, fuck that hurts. You motherfucker, Ryan, what the fuck is wrong with you?” He snorts and blood splatters the carpet.
“Where is she, Wayne?”
He looks up at me and he groans. “Come on.”
“Wayne,” Ash says. “We have video cameras all over the property. You have to know that, right?”
His eyes go a little wide. “Cameras? In this old place?”
“Jesus,” Ash says. “You can’t be that stupid.”
He groans and touches his face gingerly. “Fuck you guys. I don’t need this shit. Fuck, this hurts.”
I struggle out of Ash’s grip and kneel down next to my brother. “Tell me where she is.”
“It was just a prank. A fucking joke, you asshole.”
“You tied her up. You put a bag over her head. Wayne, that’s not a joke. That’s kidnapping.”
He groans again, touches his face. “Fuck, man. It was Joel’s idea, I just went along. I didn’t really know… I didn’t realize how fucking far he wanted to take it. I thought we were gonna scare her, is all.”
“Wayne.” My voice is steady now. “Where is she?”
“The hedge maze. I took her as far as the entrance before I turned back. Joel took her to the middle. Shit, man, I didn’t think…” He trails off.
I stand. I kick my brother as hard as I can in the gut. He doubles over and collapses onto his side.
I turn away from him. “She’s in the maze,” I say to Ash.
“That’s bad.” His face is grim. “Really bad.”
“Has it gotten worse over the years?”
“Much worse. A lot of those wooden trap doors were shut and locked, but they’ve rotted out. You can easily fall through one, especially this time of year with the maze covered in leaves and pine needles. I wanted to bulldoze the whole fucking death trap but your father—” He stops himself. “We need to go.”
“I can get her. I know that maze.”
“Ryan—”
“My father built that maze to break me.” I turn away from him and start walking. “Didn’t fucking work.”
I run down the hall. I hope Mia and Beth and whoever else was watching spreads word of what Wayne did. Everyone in this family knows how dangerous that hedge maze is, everyone knows to stay the fuck away from it. Joel kidnapping Casey and dragging her in there is a huge goddamn deal.
Ash is behind me but I put distance on him. I’m running like a maniac, sprinting as hard as I can. I burst out the back door, past the weird giraffe in the pool, starting to deflate now, wilting like a dying plastic flower. I sprint down the back yard and hit the woods running. I go straight for the hedge maze, stomping over leaves, crashing through the underbrush. I nearly trip on a dead log but I catch myself on a branch and keep going.
I’m running like a maniac. I’m blind to everything but this moment, the fear pulsing through my body. I burst out of the woods with Ash a few paces behind. Up ahead, someone is sitting on the stone bench net to the entrance.
He stands as we approach. He puts his hands up, a smile on his face.
“Guess you—”
I punch him as hard as I can in the nose. It cracks and breaks and he drops to the ground. He lets out a satisfying little shriek as his blood squirts out into the dirt.
Ash sighs. “I’ll take care of him. You go find her.”
“Fuck you, Joel,” I growl.
“Fuck you right back,” he says and snorts up blood. “Oh, you fucking prick. I can’t wait to show Mom and Dad what you did.”
I laugh. It’s the stupidest thing I’ve ever heard. “You must be fucking insane.” I want to hit him again, but there’s no time. I need to get into that maze.
I look at Ash and he just nods. “Go.”
I hurry to the entrance. I stare at it for one long moment. All those happy memories of running and playing inside there come back to me, along with all those horrible ones. The first time my father had those pits dug, falling in and breaking my arm, my brothers working desperately to get me out, lying there in agony for hours. We learned a lesson that day, a hard lesson that hasn’t left us since.
We learned my father is a psychopathic piece of shit.
I step into the maze. The first trap is pretty early on. I skirt it easily. The door’s mostly rotted away so it’s clearly just a big hole in the ground. “Casey!” I call out. “Casey, where are you?”
There’s a short silence. I keep going. I make a wrong turn, double back, skirt another trap.
“Casey!”
“Ryan?” Her voice sounds far away. I realize she’s on the other side of the maze. “Ryan!”
“I’m coming. Stay where you are, Casey. Don’t move a fucking muscle. I’m coming.”
I walk. I bypass a few more pits, mostly rotted away and filled with leaves, but one still has the door covering it, although the door looks pretty flimsy. I make a couple wrong turns, cursing myself for being an idiot. My heart’s racing and I’m so worried that she’s hurt.
“Casey!” I call again.
“Ryan, I’m here.”
She sounds so close. Another turn, another pit. I step around it and nearly lose my balance. I have to grab the hedge itself to keep from tipping back, but I manage to pull and get my balance back. I keep going, around another turn, another, and there she is.
I stop and stare at her.
“Ryan.” There are tears in her eyes, in her voice. “Oh my god. I didn’t think…”
Her hands are tied in front of her. I let out a little angry growl and take a step forward.
“Wait!”
But too late. I step down onto the trap that I forgot was right there. In my anger, my sorrow, my excitement to see Casey, I forgot all about this one.
My foot presses against the door. It flexes and creaks. I grab for the hedge as I feel it buckle underneath my foot.
“Ryan!” she shouts and comes running forward.
I grab onto the hedge as it breaks. My body half-falls into the pit, the door cracking and falling down. It’s about six-foot drop, not enough to kill me, but it could hurt plenty. I grab tighter onto the hedge, the branches flexing toward me, but it holds.
“Shit,” I say.
“Are you okay?”
I haul myself up slowly. I get to the side of the pit and for a second, that horrible, agonizing day when I was a child comes back to me.
But I’m not a child anymore. I can put all that behind me. I don’t owe anyone, don’t need to prove anything.
Fuck them all. I look up at Casey. She’s crouching down next to me, as close as she can get. Her eyes are full of worry even though she’s the one with her hands tied in front of her chest.
“Are you okay?” she asks again.
“I’m fine. Just feel fucking stupid.”
She grins a little. “Thought you knew this maze.”
I give her a look then slowly shift away from the pit. I get toward her then get up. She stands and I pull her against me. I hold her tight for a long moment before untying her wrists.
“Shit,” she says, rubbing them.
“Are you okay?”
“Yeah. I’m fine.” She stares into my eyes. “Joel and Wayne.”
“I know. I broke both their noses.”
She grins. “Really?”
“Really. Wayne first. Then Joel. I suspect there’s more coming. This was… this was way too far. Even for my fucking family.”
“I think he wanted to kill me,” she says. “He couldn’t do it himself, so
he wanted the maze to do it.”
“Goddamn him.” I clench my jaw. “Casey. This… this is fucked. This is so fucked. When we get out of here, we’re going home.”
“No.”
She says it so forcefully that I’m actually surprised. I blink at her and release my grip on her body. “What?”
“No,” she says again. “We can’t go home. We… we need to see this through. Your brother can’t get control of the company. He can’t, Ryan.”
“Okay,” I say slowly. “Okay. I agree. But he tried to kill you for it.”
“We’ll have the wedding tomorrow. We’ll go talk to your parents right now and tell them we can’t wait.”
I stare into her beautiful eyes and I want it, I want it so badly. I want that wedding more than I’ve ever wanted anything before.
And not because of the company. Damn the company to fucking hell. At this point, I’m tired of all that, tired of what it would mean for me. I don’t want to turn into a monster like my brothers, slowly morphed into something less than human, all because of some stupid fucking company.
No, I don’t want it anymore.
I want Casey. I want her. I want this wedding because I need her. Being with her has shown me something about myself, opened something up. I always thought I was just another rich playboy, nothing interesting, nothing special. My only goal in life was to sleep around and end up in control of my father’s company.
Now I want more than that. All because of her.
“Are you sure?”
“Yes,” she whispers.
“I’ll marry you here and now. Right here and now, if you want.”
She smiles. “Let’s do it the right way.”
“Yeah. Let’s do it.”
I pull her against me and kiss her. It’s not part of the act, it’s not part of the game. It’s just my need for her, my pure fucking animal need for her. I kiss her long and slow before we break apart.
“Let’s go get married,” I say.
“Yeah. Let’s get out of this insane maze first though.”
I laugh, take her hand, and lead her back out.
17
Casey
Two days pass before I’m sitting in front of a full-length mirror wearing an incredibly gorgeous designer wedding dress that somehow miraculously fits me and feeling like I might throw up.
