by Eve R. Hart
I woke up feeling sluggish and still drained. I also had a small crick in my neck from sleeping upright on Cade, but I wasn’t about to say anything.
We met up with Reed later that night. It was no surprise when he said he wanted to go to Big Tony’s. Apparently Reed was a fan of the local brews Tony had on tap. I wondered just how many he’d tested out the weekend before. Big Tony had this habit of pushing things on people. Not in a way to get people drunk, but he was proud of this town and anything that came out of it. Since I knew his friends had started a small brew-house on the outskirts of town, it wasn’t hard to see why he was so excited to share their craft with everyone.
I, however, had only had the pleasure of smelling them. Tony was a stickler when it came to underage drinking. You wouldn’t think so looking at the man, but he totally was. Despite the fact that he hated paperwork and let me work under the table, he ran the place with the kind of care that I wished all places did. I suspected it had less to do with the law and more to do with keeping his patrons safe. Which, come on, kind of made me like the guy even more.
Hanging there at the bar was the exact thing I needed. I laughed with Cade, Reed, and Tony. They made me forget my worries for a few hours. They helped to ease my pain and I knew those feelings would last on even after this night was over.
It had been a simple, easygoing night, but it became so much more to me.
I didn’t think I even realized it at the time, which made it even more special.
At some point, Tony had disappeared into the back, exclaiming that he had something we all had to try. I tried to warn Reed, but he didn’t seem to think I was being serious.
He was caught in Tony’s trap much like I was.
I crossed my fingers and prayed that Tony came back with something that didn’t make us all gag. And to be fair, most of his creations weren’t so bad. But there was always that one…
“What is this?” I asked skeptically as I eyed the plate that was now sitting on the bar top in front of us.
“Wing nachos,” Big Tony replied with pride in his voice.
He stood there on the other side of the bar with his muscular arms crossed over his chest. I think there was a smile hidden somewhere in his hairy face.
Okay, wing nachos. It appeared that he’d taken the house boneless wings and tossed them on top of a plate of cheese nachos. There was a big blob of sour cream in the middle and a few scallions scattered about. In theory, it didn’t sound that bad.
Reed and Cade looked at me and all I could do was shrug. All at once, like we were making a blood pack or something, we went in. The moment it hit my tongue, I began to sweat.
“How much hot sauce did you use on this?” I asked with a wheeze as I reached for my water.
“I made a new sauce,” he said with a twinkle in his eyes. “Well, sort of. I took the house sauce and kicked it up a notch with this stuff that Mario found.”
“Is it from hell?” Reed choked out.
That was all it took to have me laughing. Which of course, caused me to choke on what I still had left in my mouth.
“Is it too hot?” Big Tony asked sounding genuinely shocked.
“Have you tried it?” I asked and I knew I couldn’t hide the shocked look on my face.
“Yeah,” he grunted as he reached for the plate. He grabbed up like four chips, none of them touching the sour cream, and then shoved them in his mouth. He chewed a few times and there was no change in his face. “What?”
“It’s a bit spicy,” Cade cut in sounding a little hoarse.
“Nah,” Tony said with a shake of his head.
He grabbed two fresh glasses and filled them full of some light amber colored beer. Then he slid them in front of Reed and Cade with a wink. They didn’t hesitate to down half of the beer. And I was left there to suffer feeling like there was an inferno in my mouth because the cold glass of water I had was doing nothing for me.
“I’ll dial it down a notch next time,” he told us and then walked away, leaving us to suffer in misery.
After we cooled down, we all had a good laugh about it.
I ended up driving us back to the motel because Tony had supplied Reed and Cade with quite a few full samplings. They seemed to have a good time so I didn’t mind. They weren’t exactly drunk but they were tipsy enough to drive down memory lane. I rather enjoyed listening to their stories and I ended the night with my gut sore from laughing too hard and my cheeks stinging from smiling so much.
I fell asleep in Cade’s arms and we didn’t even have sex. While I missed him being inside of me, there was something about it that told me there was more between us. Sex, while amazing and out of this world with him, wasn’t the thing that linked us together.
I could have sworn I heard something strange in the background of my dreams. I didn’t think I’d been out all that long and getting my eyes open seemed to be a problem right now.
There it was again. Some kind of buzzing.
I snapped awake the moment I realized what it was.
My phone.
I didn’t have to search long since the room was dark and all I had to do was find the source of light that glowed from the screen. I reached out and unlocked my phone.
I had two missed called from Silvie.
What the heck was she doing up this late at night?
Something had to be wrong.
With a shaky hand, I called her back. It rang once and the voice that answered on the other end wasn’t the one I’d expected to hear.
“Listen you little bitch,” Carl snarled right away. “I tried to do it nicely but you just had to fuck that all up. I’m out of time and I need the money. So, you’ll get here or you’ll never see your sister again.”
I choked back a sob even though I didn’t understand most of what he was talking about.
“Never wanted this fucking kid. Got stuck with her just like I got stuck with your little fag ass.” I swore I wouldn’t cry at his words. He’d made it clear how much he hated me since I could remember. But now he was talking about Silvie and what I knew in my heart all along, was now right in front of my face. “Get here and once you get the money transferred into my account, I’ll let Silvia go.”
I could hear her crying my name in the background right before the line went dead.
No, no, no!
I didn’t know what to do. All I could think was that I had to get to her. I had to save her.
Cade will know what to do.
And while that was more than likely true, I was hesitant. It was probably the biggest mistake not to wake him. Not to tell him what was going on. If I woke Cade, he’d get Reed. Then they both would be pulled into my mess. They’d already had to deal with it enough.
As quietly as I could, I dressed and then fished Cade’s keys out of the pocket of his pants that were on the floor. He shifted in his sleep but didn’t wake, and I held my breath the entire time.
My phone buzzed in my hand and when I looked at the text, I noticed it was an address. I didn’t recognize it and I couldn’t figure out why he wanted me to go there instead of to the house.
You’ve really done it this time, haven’t you, Carl?
Things had gotten worse after my mom died. As if it was possible, he’d gotten even sketchier. I had no clue what he was into and I didn’t want to know.
As I got into Cade’s rental and started it up, I prayed that he would forgive me for this. For stealing his car. For not waking him. For trying to keep him safe.
It took me less than two hours to get to the outskirts of Atlanta. This was a part of the city I wasn’t familiar with and I would have gotten lost if it wasn’t for the freaking turn-by-turn directions coming from my phone. Thank you modern technology. I kept my eyes on the road and ignored the couple of calls that came in. I was sure it had to be Carl. He wasn’t known for his patience. And while I probably should have answered them, I was too shaky to take my hands from the wheel.
A shiver washed over me as I drew near. The
building, made of brick, looked as if it was barely standing. In fact, there were a few walls that had started to crumble already. If I had to guess, I would have said this place had once been some kind of small factory.
I wasn’t even quiet as I parked and approached the open doorway. Even if I had caught Carl by surprise, I wouldn’t have known what to do next. He was bigger and stronger than me, even in an unexpected situation, I wouldn’t have stood a chance.
Nothing mattered but getting Silvie out safely.
“Stop right there,” Carl called out after I’d made it a few feet into the big room.
It was dark and I could barely make out the two figures a few feet in front of me. It was clear that Carl was standing and I could only assume that Silvie was in the chair next to him. That was the moment that Carl shifted and I didn’t miss the flash of metal that reflected the moonlight that came in from the dilapidated roof.
“You are going to call that rich blood of yours and get him to put a million dollars into my account.” There was a smugness in his tone, as if he were saying he’d won already.
Maybe he had. It wasn’t like I saw another way out of this. Not to mention the fact that he knew about Reed, or that was who I assumed he was talking about. The pieces started to slide together and I was kicking myself for not seeing the same thing that Cade had.
“And once the money’s there?” I asked trying to stall.
“I’ll walk away. But if you don’t do it, your little sister here will get the same end that little Perry shit got.”
I gasped. I knew I should have held my shock in, but I couldn’t. My mind was spinning. Cade had been right and I wasn’t sure how he had seen it. I couldn’t seem to put the pieces together.
“Such a little dumb shit,” he spat out at me. “Perry worked under me. He was peddling pills on that campus.”
“You deal drugs?!” I asked with a shriek. Really, it shouldn’t have surprised me.
“I work for a man that deals drugs,” he said with irritation in his tone. “I have the easy job, I hand shit out for distribution. Keep my hands clean and make money doing it.”
“So if it’s so great, then why did you send Perry to get close to me? To find out information and then threaten me to get him money?”
“Funny thing there,” Carl said. He stepped forward and I could see the evil sneer on his face. The gun was still aimed at Silvie’s head and I could hear her trying not to cry. She had to have been scared out of her mind. It was going to take a lot to make this up to her. If I had just given into Perry, we wouldn’t even be here. But I also couldn’t regret saving my relationship with Reed. I felt so torn. “Once you started running your yap about your family, he figured out it was me who you were talking about. The little bitch thought he was better than me because he was going to get money out of you. Thought his ass could get one over on me by taking advantage of your new little family connection before I could. But I was smarter.”
“What did you do?!”
His laugh rang out hitting my ears too loudly and causing a shiver to run down my spine.
“Well, let’s just say that some of his money might have gone missing. And one thing you don’t do is steal from the boss.”
“Did you kill him?”
“No, I didn’t have too,” he let out a loud laugh. “Just like your momma.”
“What?!” I asked with a gasp.
“Yeah, all I did was wear her down over the years. She took care of it herself after I supplied her with what she needed. Where the hell do you think she got them pills from?” I felt the bile rise up my throat at the sick tone of satisfaction he held.
I had meant to distract him but this wasn’t what I wanted. I didn’t think that I could handle hearing any more answers, not if they came like this.
“Now, I’m done waiting. Call that rich ass brother of yours.”
“H-how is it that you plan to get the money?” I asked as I pulled out my phone and unlocked it. That was as far as I went, I only wanted it to look like I was giving in to his demand.
But wasn’t I?
What other option did I have? It wasn’t like I could save Silvie any other way.
“Going to give you my bank account number so he can transfer it in there.”
It clicked right then. And instead of keeping my mouth shut, I started laughing.
“You know he can trace that right? He’ll know who you are and he’ll find you. Even if you run. Any time you use that account, he’ll know. And it’s not like you can walk into the bank first thing in the morning and pull out a million dollars all at once.”
“Shut up, you little fucker,” Carl roared. The gun swung in my direction, and then his shoes pounded against the pavement as he made his way over to me.
Silvie cried even harder, her muffled screams became louder and I realized she must have been gagged.
If I didn’t want to kill Carl before, I sure as hell wanted to now. How could he have done this to his own daughter?
Rooted in place and struck with fear, I couldn’t run. Even when I felt the muzzle of the gun against the front of my forehead, I couldn’t get my body to unlock.
“Get me the fucking money.”
29
Cade
I rolled over and felt the empty bed beside me.
Even in my sleep, I knew something wasn’t right.
Theon wasn’t next to me. I knew it before I opened my eyes. How the hell had I slept through him getting up?
After the emotional morning he’d had, I wouldn’t have been surprised if he wasn’t handling it well. He’d opened up and told me shit I had a good feeling he didn’t tell anyone. I knew for a fact that he hadn’t told Reed.
But the last thing I expected was for him to leave me.
I sat up and looked around the room. Everything was still dark, even the bathroom. And since I didn’t hear even the slightest noise or sound coming out of the attached room, I knew he wasn’t hidden behind the partially closed door.
What the fuck?!
I jumped out of bed and snagged my pants from the floor. Once I had them on, I went for my phone. Why the hell couldn’t I remember where I’d put it?
Reaching in my pocket to fish out the room key, I came to a dead halt.
My keys weren’t in there.
I rushed out of the room even though I knew the car was gone. I didn’t have to see it with my eyes. And so was Theon.
Fuck, if he had the car, he could have been anywhere.
I rushed to Reed’s room and banged on the door. I hoped no one else was around because I was sure I’d woken them. But then again, I didn’t care, because Theon was missing and I knew that something was wrong.
“Reed, get the fuck up!” I roared.
“What the hell?” he asked with confusion in his tone as he cracked open the door. Strangely, he didn’t look like he had been asleep. Now was not the time to give a fuck about little details like that.
“Theon’s gone,” I blurted out in a panic.
“What? How long?” he rushed to ask.
“I don’t know. He took my car. Can you track his phone?”
“Uh, yeah, I have to make a call but it shouldn’t take long to get a location on it.” I gave him a short nod. I hoped he could keep his calm because I was losing my shit right now. I wouldn’t be any good at finding him if I couldn’t hold it together. I knew this, still, all I could think was that he was in danger and I wasn’t there to save him. “We’ll find him.”
Reed’s words didn’t set me at ease. I knew we could try, and even if we had his location, it might not mean a damn thing. What if he left his phone here? Or dropped it? Or… so many different scenarios ran through my head.
“Go get dressed so you’re ready to go when I have the location,” Reed told me, then he shut the door in my face. I didn’t have time to question my friend’s odd behavior.
I ran back to the room and dressed lightning fast. I took a moment to finally get my phone. There was a part of
me that hoped to find a call or text from Theon there. That maybe he’d gotten a craving for brightly colored cereal in the middle of the night and just ran out to get some instead of waking me up. But of course, that wasn’t the case.
I stood there for a long moment in the middle of the room feeling lost. That wasn’t like me and I sure as hell didn’t like it. I had to put aside my feelings for Theon. I had to get into mission mode. I wouldn’t be any good to him like this and I damn well knew it.
The sharp knock on my door had me snapping back into focus.
I opened it to see Reed’s pinched brows angled down at his phone.
“He’s on the move,” he said as he tossed his phone in my direction. He turned on his heels and started walking to his car. “He’s about an hour out. Headed for Atlanta, I would guess.”
I was right behind him, and just as I’d shut the car door, he was reversing out of the parking space like a madman. The tires squealed as he punched the gas and took off.
“Call him,” Reed tossed out as he got on the highway.
I immediately did, a little shocked that I hadn’t thought to do that before.
“Voicemail,” I grumbled and tried again.
Come on, baby, pick up, I willed him.
But it didn’t work.
It could have been that it was set to vibrate like I’d noticed he kept his phone on.
Or it could have been that he was ignoring me.
Or worse, he couldn’t answer.
I pushed that last thought out of my head and watched the lines on the road blur as Reed sped on.
I didn’t have to look to know that he was going well over the legal limit.
His phone rang in my hand and he quickly hit the button on the screen set into the dashboard there between us. Good thing he thought to link the phone to the rental before now.
“Yeah?” Reed barked out.
“He had two calls come in from the second line on his account a little over an hour ago, but it looks like those went unanswered. A moment later, there’s an outgoing call to that same number.”
The voice that came through the speakers wasn’t one I recognized. Then again, why would I? It wasn’t like I knew who Reed’s people were. I had no clue if this was a friend or someone that worked for him. Guilt spun in my gut and I tried to push it away for another day.
