by Zoey Parker
“Fuck you,” I spat into the receiver. “You don’t fucking know who you’re messing with here!”
The voice laughed. “Oh, Zane,” Jake replied. “Don’t you think I understand who you are by now? You’re a little hotheaded prick and you don’t think about shit before you move your mouth. You got the biggest fuckin’ mouth in New Jersey, and I don’t think you should be flapping it around anymore.”
“Fuck you,” I replied. The phone kept banging up against my ear and I realized my hands were shaking. “I can’t fucking believe you, Jake. You’re a sonuvabitch, do you know that?”
Jake laughed again. “I’m whatever you say I am, brother,” he replied, putting a cold emphasis on the last word.
“Were you one of the men who tried to kidnap Isabella behind Maison Bridges? Did I punch you in the face, Action Jake?” I was so angry I could spit.
“Like I’d tell you anything,” Jake said with a snort. “It doesn’t matter. Even if that had been me, would that change anything now? I don’t think it would, you fuck.”
I felt dizzy and groped for one of the columns outside of Lionel’s house. I felt like I was going to faint, or vomit again, or pass out. Get your shit together, Zane, I ordered myself. This kind of shit happens in the business all the time. You’re just lucky it didn’t happen sooner.
“You have twenty-four hours to get me the money before this sweet little blonde of yours gets it,” Jake snarled into the phone.
“Where do you want it?”
“Business headquarters,” Jake said. “Nice to see you’re coming around, Zane. Maybe this will be more of a pleasant transaction than I thought.”
“Don’t fucking bet on it,” I snapped. “And don’t fucking touch her. Don’t lay a fucking finger on her!”
Jake laughed. “She’ll be dead if you don’t get me the money,” he replied. Before I could answer, he’d hung up the phone.
I felt like my world was collapsing. Fuck. What the hell was I supposed to do now? When did Jake grab Isabella? I cursed myself for ever locking her up in my bedroom. I probably deserved this. I thought I was so great, thought I was on top of the world. God fucking damn it!
A chill ran through me as I realized Jake hadn’t been fucking around. If he wanted to hurt Isabella, nothing would stop him. He didn’t have a conscience, and he definitely didn’t feel compelled to listen to me when I warned him against something. Jake had always been like that. He’d always done his own thing, marched to the beat of his own drum. I’d always been jealous. Even though I was tough, I’d always listened to Lionel. I’d always done exactly what he wanted me to do.
And that’s why Lionel preferred Jake, I thought bitterly. And look how well that treated him in the end. I knew my father preferred his foster son to me, but I didn’t realize how angry and bitter it would make me after his death. I was willing to bet anything that until the moment Jake had plunged the knife in Lionel’s gut, Lionel would have said he was the better son.
It was all fucked up. None of it made sense. Nothing in the world made sense anymore.
Maybe Lionel can help with this, I thought, turning around. The realization that my father was dead hit me like a ton of bricks. He can’t help. He can’t help with anything ever again. Because he’s dead. Jake killed him. Your foster brother killed him.
I’d never felt so alone in my entire life. I knew I had to stop feeling sorry for myself and go get Isabella. She was the future; she was carrying my child.
“I’ll keep you safe,” I mumbled as I looked up to the sky. “I’ll keep you safe because I couldn’t keep Lionel safe, or Terry safe. I’ll protect you and our child until my dying breath.”
Chapter 27
Isabella
Behind my gag, I shrieked as the man carried me out of Zane’s house. When he’d first come to get me, I naïvely assumed he was going to keep me inside. Like maybe tie me up in the basement with a sandwich and a bucket and a couple of paper towels. Like the movies. But it brought my level of horror and panic to a whole new level when I realized he was actually carting me outside.
“Yeah, right,” the man snorted. “I’m not leaving you for shit.”
My eyes gaped when I saw a car in the driveway. It was a late model Mercedes. Not as nice as Zane’s car, but not horrible either. The trunk was open and I screwed my eyes closed when I realized he had plans to put me inside. I started screaming behind my gag and kicking furiously. I felt his arms waver and there was a terrible second where I thought he was going to drop me on the concrete driveway. Miraculously, he managed to keep me in his arms, despite my struggling.
“Quit moving, bitch,” he said under his breath. “You’re a lot heavier than you look, you know that?”
When he started to lower me into the trunk I kicked and struggled as hard as I could. My hands were numb from the horrendous zip ties binding them together and I could feel the edges of the duct tape peeling off my face from perspiration.
The man frowned at me. He reached down and ripped the tape off.
I spat out the handkerchief sodden from my spit, and gagged. “I’m pregnant,” I said.
He stared at me. Then he laughed. “Hey, Rico, get a load of this.”
Another man — he was short, burly, and angry-looking — walked over. I guessed he’d been sitting in the driver’s seat of the car the whole time. “What the fuck, man?”
“This bitch says she’s pregnant.” The first man laughed.
“Oh, Jake, you really done us good this time,” Rico said.
Jake. The man who kidnapped me was Jake. I knew I’d heard that name before, but I couldn’t remember where. Maybe something Zane had mentioned…
“You’re Jake?” I looked at him with my eyes wide. “Can you please release my wrists?” I held up my hands. They were turning purple from lack of blood. “This is really tight, and it hurts.”
Jake smirked at me. Then he lifted his hand and before I knew it, a stinging blow landed on my cheek.
“You’re a cunt,” he said smugly. “And you’re lying about being knocked up.”
I shook my head, feeling damp tendrils of blonde hair sticking to my neck. “I’m not lying,” I said. “I swear. It’s Zane’s baby. He married me so the baby would be protected.” I was shaking with fear. Under any other circumstances, I never would have admitted my condition to either one of the men. But now, I was worried. I was worried they were going to kill me. If I told them about the baby, though, they might want to spare my life. They must have known Zane would go ballistic if they hurt his unborn child.
“I don’t know, Jake,” Rico said with a smirk. He reached forward, between my bound arms, and caressed my lower belly. I shivered at his touch — his hand was rough and scratchy, and I hated the feel of his hands on me. “I don’t think she’s kidding. She seems pretty fat down here.”
“She’s fucking lying,” Jake said. “I can smell it.” He leaned down and twisted his lips into a cruel smirk. “She’s not fucking pregnant. She’s worried we’re gonna hurt her!”
Jake and Rico craned their necks and threw their heads back in fierce laughter. I began to cry uncontrollably. The tears flowed freely down my face and snot dribbled from my nose into my mouth.
“Please help me,” I begged. “I don’t know anything!”
Rico eyed me. “Jake, I don’t think she’s lying,” he said in a softer voice.
Jake shifted his weight from one foot to the other. “What makes you say that?”
Rico glanced at me. He looked more cautious than he had before. He looked almost wary. “I don’t know, man. My sister, she was pregnant. And she…looked the same. Something similar about them.”
Jake snorted. “Your sister is a fucking slut,” he said. “This girl looks real high class, like she don’t take no shit from no one.”
“Her lips are all puffy,” Rico said. “And look at her tits!” His eyes practically bulged out of his head. I felt a red flush covering my cheeks and I screwed my eyes closed, desperate to be a
way from Rico’s prying eyes. “They’re huge!”
“She is pretty fuckin’ chesty,” Jake said with a laugh. “But Zane likes his girls to have real big tits. That don’t mean nothing.”
Rico shook his head. “I really don’t think she’s putting you on, man. I think she’s fuckin’ knocked up. And if that’s Zane’s kid…” He trailed off, giving me a nervous look. “Come over here, man.”
Jake gave me a long, hard look. I could tell he was reluctant to leave me, even though I was tipped over on my back, in a car truck, with my hands bound at the wrist. There was no way I’d be able to wriggle out of that situation and he knew it. Finally, Rico and Jake walked a few feet away. I could hear their muttering, hushed voices but I couldn’t tell what they were talking about. I couldn’t even make out the words. Finally, I realized they were speaking Italian. After a few moments, Jake walked back to the car.
“All right, we believe you,” he said, shifting his eyes downwards. “This changes the bargain, though,” he added, giving me a wicked grin.
Jake disappeared and Rico stood there, towering over me. He looked at me with a smirk on his face, then reached into the trunk and grabbed my swollen, painful hands. I cried out in pain but Rico snipped through the tight plastic with a pair of wire cutters.
“Get up,” Rico said. When I didn’t move, a look of anger flashed across his face. “I said get the fuck up!”
“I can’t move,” I mumbled. “My arms hurt too much.” Rico grabbed me and hauled me out of the trunk until I was standing shakily on both feet. I looked up at him and whimpered as I tried to rub my hands together, desperate for more blood in both of them. The feeling of pins and needles was hurting me and tears leaked out of my eyes as we stood there.
“Are you fucking psycho?” Jake walked back over and smacked Rico on the back of the head. “What the fuck is she doing out of the trunk?”
“She’s pregnant,” Rico said with a shrug. “She can’t be in the fuckin’ trunk like that, man.”
I almost laughed when I realized that we were still standing in the middle of Zane’s driveway. Zane had a big house in a nice neighborhood, but that didn’t mean people weren’t watching us. I shuddered as I looked around, craning my neck to see if one of his neighbors was outdoors. If I could only get away, if I could only shout for help.
Jake and Rico had their heads bent over something that was inside the car. From where I stood, it looked like a planner or some notes or something. They were speaking in Italian again, and I couldn’t hear any of their words from where I stood.
My heart jumped into my throat when I saw one of Zane’s neighbors slowly walking down the street. She was an old woman who I’d seen before a few times, and I waved and jumped up and down, trying to get her to notice me. The woman slowly lifted her head up and it seemed for a moment like she was staring straight at me.
Please let her see me, please let her see me, please let her see me, I begged silently as I jumped, trying to shake and wave my arms in the air.
Finally, the woman frowned. “Dearie?” she called in a small, elderly voice. “Are you all right?”
“No!” I exploded, breaking into a run and bolting down the driveway. When I whipped my head back, Rico and Jake were still crouched in the back seat of the car. “I need help! Please! Please help me!”
The old woman looked at me again and frowned. “You shouldn’t be outside without a coat,” she said. But she made no move towards me.
My heart sank when I heard Rico and Jake’s footsteps pounding the pavement behind me.
“Hey, bitch! Get back here!” Jake grabbed my arm and yanked me away from the woman who could have saved me. “Where the fuck do you think you’re going?”
I twisted as viciously as I could in his arms. “Away from you!” I yelled. “Help! Help! This man is trying to kill me! Help!”
The old woman stared at me, incredulous. I wanted to run up and shake her by the shoulders, yell in her face to make her help me! But when I heard the soft pop I knew she hadn’t been staring at me. Her frame crumpled to the ground and blood trickled out of a single wound to the head. She hadn’t been staring at me; she’d been staring at Jake.
Jake grabbed my arm and yanked so hard that I thought it was going to come out of the socket. “You’re a cunt,” he whispered in my ear. “I ought to slice you apart, limb from limb, just for trying to run away from me. You ain’t going nowhere, honey. You’re mine,” he added in a nasty growl. “You’re not going anywhere.”
“Boss,” Rico called. “We better get going!” He glared at me. “So, you thought you could take yourself a little walk, did you?”
My chin quivered and I felt a fresh wave of tears start in my eyes. I wasn’t going to apologize to those fucks, but I didn’t want them to hurt me or the baby.
“We’re gonna have to put you away,” Jake said. He gave me a nasty grin. “We’re gonna have to put you away real good, girl.”
“Yeah,” Rico echoed.
From what I could gather, Jake was definitely the brains of this operation. He seemed smarter, more streetwise than Rico. I could tell he wanted me dead, but he was afraid of Zane.
I knew if I could figure out a way to threaten them, they’d leave me alone. “You know Zane will kill you when he finds out what you’ve done, right?” I tried to make my voice sound casual. “He’s going to hunt you down like dogs and kill you.”
Rico shook a little. I could tell he was afraid. But Jake took a step forward and gave me a powerful backhand across the face. He hit me so hard I saw stars. For a moment, the world around me was fuzzy and I thought I was going to pass out.
“Bitch, you think we don’t know that?” Jake smirked at me. “Why the fuck do you think we’re hiding you away?”
I blinked, my eyes filling with salty tears. “Please don’t hurt me,” I begged. “Please. I’ll do anything.”
“Anything?” Rico leered at me. “What does that mean?”
I shuddered, immediately regretting what I’d just said.
“Anything, eh?” Jake laughed. “I got an idea, Rico.”
Rico grinned at him and I felt my stomach twist into knots. “And what would that be, boss?” He winked at me and I glared.
“Oh, she doesn’t have to do anything,” Jake said. “How boring. Don’t be so fucking nasty, Rico. You aren’t going to rape Zane’s wife.”
I felt an odd sense of relief wash over me. But I had the feeling Jake wasn’t finished tormenting me yet. “What are you going to do?” I asked softly.
Jake reached forward and stroked my chin, letting a finger linger on my neck. I shuddered and shivered and tried to move away but it was futile. He could do whatever he wanted to me, and he knew it.
“Yeah, boss, what are you gonna do?” Rico hopped from one foot to the other, looking like some kind of demented puppy.
Jake glared at him. “Don’t be so fucking stupid,” he said dismissively to Rico. To me, he said, “You think Zane will save you?”
I didn’t know. I had no idea whether or not Zane would save me. I knew I was just a burden to him, just a mere annoyance. Just a distraction from the things he really wanted in life.
“I think he will,” I said, trying to keep my voice strong and steady. “I definitely think he’ll save me.”
Jake smiled, showing all of his teeth. I dared myself to look into his dark eyes and hold his stare for as long as I could.
“You really think Zane will save you?” He looked at me, up and down, letting his eyes linger on my chest.
I shuddered again. “I hope so,” I said. “After all, you need your money, right?”
“Damn straight,” Jake replied. “Rico, this one ain’t so dumb after all!” He let out sound that sounded like a cry of joy. “Hold on a second,” he said to me in an oddly formal tone, as if I was just waiting for him to do me a favor. Pulling his phone out of his pocket, he dialed a number and held it up to his ear.
“Yo, Zane,” Jake said. He winked at me and I felt my
heart plummet to the bottom of my ribcage. “Deal’s changed. That’s gonna be double the money. I just found out Blondie here is carrying a special load.”
I set my lips in a thin line, determined to look as strong as possible. In reality, the situation was absurd. We were standing in Zane’s driveway, with a dead body on the sidewalk not twenty feet away. My heart went out to that little old lady. She probably had a family; she probably had grandchildren. And now they wouldn’t get to grow up knowing her. Jake had ended her life in less than a minute.