CHAPTER THIRTEEN
Jen
“What are you doing?” Says a voice. “You promised not to hurt my girls.”
“Oh shut up” yells another. “I’m not going to hurt her.”
I slowly open my eyes to find my dad and Melanie looking down at me. I try to move, but my hands are bounded together. I try to move my legs but they also are tied together around my ankles. I lay quietly just blinking up at them, wondering where I am and what I am doing here. My head feels a little foggy and my whole body feels heavy.
My mind turns to thoughts of Ayden and how stupid I have been. “Dad,” I try to say, but my mouth is dry and throat is sore, not to mention how much my eyes sting.
“Sweetie, I’m here” he softly says, his hand smoothing out my hair. He looks over at Melanie, who is just grinning down at me. “She needs water and will you untie her.”
She thinks for a moment and leans closer towards me. “Are you going to do anything stupid, Jennifer? I’m warning you it wouldn’t be in your best interest if you did.” I shake my head, eager to be untied and to stand up. “Okay, you have been warned.” She unties me, taking her time which only adds to my need to be free.
Once I’m free, I sit up and rub my wrists, which now have red burn marks on them. My father walks over with a glass of water and I quickly take a massive gulp. It hurts to swallow and the pain in my chest makes me choke.
“It’s okay” my father says, sitting down next to me and wrapping his arm around my shoulder. “Its okay, this will be over soon. I promise… I’m so sorry.” I rest my head on his shoulder and for the first time in years enjoy embracing him.
“Well isn’t this touching” Melanie’s voice disrupts the precious moment I am sharing with my father and reality hits home. I’ve been kidnapped, obviously by Mel. I was grabbed off the street and taken here, to god knows where.
“Why are you doing this?” I ask, finally looking her in the eye. I’m not going to be scared of her. I will not show my fear and let her win. She is taking great amusement in all of this. And what for… In order to get her drug dealing murdering boyfriend’s money. I guess the last joke is on her, as the money is gone. I’m pretty sure they are looking for me and I will just have to remain calm and in control until they do.
“You know” she quickly replies, I can actually see the greed in her eyes. Her whole composure is cold and hard. She’s changed, or maybe she has always been like this and clearly tricked me into believing she was the greatest aunt ever.
Why has it all come down to this? Why was I so stupid? I never think… I just do what I want and believe what I want. I think back to when I would be angry at my mother for the way she behaved. She wasn’t out of line; it was her way of dealing with the mess she had left at home. I wish I was with her now. I miss Lacey and mother like crazy. Once again Jen knew best and I talked everyone into bringing me here.
I make sure I keep eye contact with her, if I show her fear she will be in her element. “The money?”
My dad’s head whips round in my direction. “You know?”
“Yes.”
He bows his head down in what I can only explain is shame. At least it shows he has a conscience and not an evil person like Melanie. He waits a second before he speaks. “I have no words to explain my behaviour, Jen. Please believe me I never intended to destroy our family.” He reaches out and takes my hand. It’s that moment I realize how much I have exactly missed him.
“I really love this dear diary moment, but I didn’t bring her here for a heart to heart.” My eyes look over at Mel who is standing in front of us.
“What are you planning to do?” I ask. I think I am beyond feeling fear now. She has a plan and I feel as if I’m going to be used as bait for whatever she wants.
A miraculous smile creeps across her lips. “I want to you to contact your mother.” She pulls out her phone. “You tell her to give me back my money or something will happen to you!”
That lump rises in my throat again and I quickly look back at my father. “Why would you want to hurt me?”
“Because she’s jealous” my father quickly says, his arm rests across my shoulders in an attempt to protect me. “She always has been.”
“Jealous!” Melanie snorts.
My father slowly stands up. He looks so thin and distressed. He has aged at least ten years in such a short amount of time. His hair is thinning and turning slightly grey. His face is hollow and the dark bags under his eyes make his face look even paler.
“Yes, jealous” he walks towards her. “You never could accept that I chose my wife over you. You hated the fact she had everything you wanted. The big house, a devoted husband and beautiful children.”
“Devoted husband?” She laughs. “You are nothing but a joke.”
“Face it” he says moving closer towards her. “She has always been better than you…”
Melanie’s hand slams into my father’s face, he remains still on the spot as if it didn’t affect him at all. “Shut up!” she screams. “You are a foolish man. You should be thankful that I’ve let your precious wife and children live.” She looks over at me. “How was your dance?”
“You sent them?” My voice almost nothing.
“Sent who?”
“Men with guns…”
My fathers jaw drops open and his eyes wide. “How could you do that?”
“Because that bitch has my money” she yells as she storms over to me. She grabs a fist full of my hair pulling me to get up. I scream out in pain, it feels as if it is being ripped out of my head. Tears fill my eyes. “Call your mother” she snarls. “And don’t do anything stupid.”
I look over at my father. “Please Mel” I start begging. “Why are you doing this? You’re hurting me.” Her grip tightens and I am dragged by my hair to the other end of the room.
“Because I can” she says, throwing me down on to a chair and finally letting go of my hair. She slams her phone down on a table in front of me. “You ring her and demand my money. You tell her if the money isn’t returned by tonight, she can say goodbye to her precious baby.”
“Mel,” I choke out between my sobs.
"Stop your blabbing" Mel yells at me. I swallow back my words, what is going to happen when she finds the money has gone. My eyes look over at the phone lying on the table. A great relief hits me when I see it’s my phone. Freedom is in sight.
She gives a little laugh as her fingers run through my hair and she leans closer towards me. "Nice thought, Jennifer. You'll find I have removed your boyfriend’s number."
I don't know what to say, but just stare at the phone. There is no escape and she isn't going to give up. My eyes slowly look over at my father, who has sat back down and placed his head in his hands. Is he a victim too? All this time has Mel been pulling the strings? So many answers are needed and I doubt I will ever get to hear them.
"Let’s do this the easy way, shell we?" Mel's cold voice pulls me out of my thoughts. She pushes the phone in my direction. "Ring her!" I still can't move. "Do it!"
I pick up the phone and dial my mother’s phone number. I just stare up at Mel as the phone begins to ring. Instantly my mother answers.
"JEN! Jen, where are you? Why did you disappear? Are you okay? Speak to me sweetie."
My mouth has gone dry and I can't think of a single thing to say especially with Mel standing right behind me. She places a hand on my shoulder and gives it a squeeze.
"Mom" I begin, the tears are beginning to start again. This could be the last time I ever speak to her. "They want the money back."
"Who?" She shrieks down the phone. A pain in my head is beginning to pulsate and I want to be sick. This is my entire fault. I practically walked into Mel’s trap.
"Auntie Melanie and she said if she doesn't then..." My voice breaks and I can't say the words. I hear my mother scream and Mel walks in front of me smiling. She must have heard the blood curdling scream too.
"Jennifer...” says a stern voice.”It’s Ted. N
ow listen to me... Put Mel on the phone." His voice turns to a whisper. "I'll keep her talking and we will track where you are. Just stay strong, we're coming and no one is going to hurt you."
I should feel relief, but I don't. "She wants to speak to you" I mumble, holding out the phone. She quickly takes it. I have a funny feeling she was expecting this. I push back the chair, stand up and run straight over to my father. I collapse in his arms, crying and shaking.
I watch as she paces up and down clutching my phone to her ear. “So sis, how are you? Who is this?” She yells stopping in her track. “Ted? Okay, Ted… You tell my darling sister that I want that money. I will meet you half way and when you drop the money, I’ll return precious Jennifer.” A sly smile curls across her lips and her eyes meet mine. “Do you want to risk it? I’ll meet you tomorrow lunch time… Yep, I know where that is.” She walks over to me and my father, my father holding me tighter. “Be there or something will happen to Jen.” She ends the call and places the phone in back pocket.
I don’t think I have ever hated someone so much. I don’t even understand why any of this taking place. She runs a hand through her blonde hair and lets out a deep breath. “Well, looks like I have to get ready for a road trip.” She turns on her heel and walks towards a door. “I’ll be back in an hour and don’t try anything stupid. Two men are on the other side of this door and will do what ever it takes to stop you running.” She gives a little laugh and disappears out of the door. I hear a lock click and for the first time I can breathe.
I’m not comfortable being locked in a room, but without her here I feel relieved. My eyes wonder around the room. That’s when I notice a makeshift bed on a floor, a suitcase full of clothes and a couple of tatty books on a bedside cabinet.
“Is this where you’ve been staying?”
“Yes,” My father sighs. “When the police came looking for me, Mel suggested I stayed here. At the time I didn’t know about her involvement and thought she was helping me.”
Something clicks in my head and I jump to my feet. My eyes glaring down at him, I am filled with anger. “Why did you do it?”
He bows his head. “Because I’m a foolish stupid man. The first case I took on was easy. The money offered to me helped us buy the house. From then on it began to snowball out of control. More people came to me and business began to boom. I was greedy…” He pauses to catch his breath and with one of his hands he wipes his eyes.
“How did you get involved with this Mario man?”
He looks up at me shocked. “How do you know so much about this?”
“Answer my question first!”
“Okay,” he quickly replies. “He requested me when he was arrested. He had heard about all the cases I had won and how I won them. He offered me a lot of money and I was pretty sure I could win. My ego was huge at this point, I thought…” he shakes his head and gives a laugh. “I thought I was invincible.”
“Then what happened?” I sit back down next to him as I begin to feel weary again.
“Your mother began to get suspicious about all the money I was making and slowly began to piece everything together. She would scream at me to stop, but I thought I knew better. Mario transferred the money the day before the hearing. I always insisted I had the money up front.” He places his head in his hands. “That was the day your mother left with you girls. Everything seemed so normal, I didn’t have a clue she had wiped out the bank account…”
“You lost the case, didn’t you?”
“Yep, no matter what I did nothing was getting the man out of jail. I knew I had to give back the money and raced straight to the bank. It was gone, I went home and you were all gone.” I watched as he breaks down in front of me. “My whole world fell apart and I started drinking heavily. I had lost my family and I owed Mario Lopez over 100,000 dollars.”
“How does Mel fit into this?”
“She dropped by one day while I was in the middle of drinking binge. I ended up confiding in her. She said she would help me and just stuck around. Things began to get worse… The police began to investigate my firm and discovered my secret. Mel said I had to go into hiding.”
I rub my brow. “How did you find out Mel is involved with Mario?”
He gives a little chuckle. “There’s one thing about Mel I know. She never does anything for nothing. During my time with your mother she let me know how much she despised me. I did my own research and found the link. I confronted her and have been here ever since.”
“Why does she want the money so much?”
“Who knows” he casually says.
I look around the room again… My mind fills with more questions. “Why don’t you just go to the police and tell them everything.”
“Believe me I want too… I can’t rid of Mel...” He stops talking and just stares at me. “Will you answer my question now?”
I think about what he asked me. Am I allowed to tell him about Ayden, I think he has a right to know? I suck in a deep breath and tilt my head to the side. All those times I wanted to be near and speak to my dad. I never thought this was how the moment would occur.
“Ayden” I say, just saying his name fills me with hope. “He’s an undercover swat officer. He was assigned to watch me because of threats Mom was getting. He finally told me everything and I persuaded him to bring me here to find you.”
“Why did you want to find me?”
“I thought it was you behind all the threats. Me, mom and Lacey have been moving around for two years. We’ve finally settled and I want to have stable life. I thought if I came here and spoke you, everything would finally end.”
His hand reaches over and grabs mine. “I would never hurt you, Jennifer. I’m really sorry that I caused all this and I promise once we get out of here. I will be heading straight to the station and giving myself up.”
“Talking about this place…” I smile, feeling comforted about his words. “Where exactly are we?”
A little smile plays on his lips. “Home sweet home.”