by Zoey Parker
“I love you, baby,” I said softly. “I love you so much.” I closed my eyes and tried to imagine what the baby would look like. I saw a baby girl with masses of dark hair from Zane and light eyes from me. She’d be smiling, with chubby cheeks and a little red nose. Suddenly, my stomach wrenched from wanting her so much. It was like she was real, like she was there with me in the woods.
“I love you, baby,” I said in a shaky, unsteady voice. I tried to clench my jaw but I realized my teeth were chattering, making it impossible to stay calm. “I love you, and you’re gonna have a great life, okay? Everyone around you is going to love you and take care of you, and you’re gonna want for nothing.” A little smile forced itself on my face as I thought of my father’s money, tucked away and waiting for me all this time. If I never got my hands on it, I wanted to make sure it would go to my baby. “I promise, everything’s going to be okay,” I said softly.
My body was aching from the ropes twisted around my midsection and I stretched as tall as I could before trying to slink down. No matter how I thrashed against the tree, the ropes held firm. I had no delusions about being able to get myself out of this; I knew it wasn’t possible. But I can keep trying, I thought to myself. I want whoever finds me to know I was trying really hard.
A flash of panic crossed my brain. I’d forgotten exactly how far along I was. I wondered how long my baby would survive after I died. My body was freezing cold and every muscle was aching, but I knew I had to keep hanging on so my baby would stay alive.
“That’s my gift to you, baby,” I whispered softly. I wished I could stroke my stomach and feel the little girl kicking, strong and swift. I wished I could feel her heartbeat. I wished I could feel her warm weight in my lap, so real and alive. She’d be a chubby baby and everyone would laugh at how cute she was. Zane would be the most protective father in the world. I couldn’t stop myself from crying as I imagined what it would be like when she got to be a teenager.
“Baby, your daddy isn’t going to let you out of the house,” I said. “He’s going to protect you and love you and probably threaten every guy who even looks at you wrong.” I swallowed hard. A lump had formed in my throat. I was almost alarmed to discover I’d lost feeling in my toes and my fingers. My body was starting to shut down, and it didn’t hurt as much as I thought it would. It was almost like sinking into a warm, relaxing bath. Stop that, I ordered myself. You have to survive this. You have to live! You have to do as much as you can to protect your baby!
“But it’s hard,” I mumbled. “It’s hard. I don’t wanna… I don’t wanna keep going.” I could feel my body weakening. I could feel that my cells wanted to give up, to shrivel and die. It would be easy. It would be like falling asleep.
A sharp kick in my lower belly made me open my eyes and look around. Suddenly, I was hit with a wave of shame. This is what happens when you start giving up, I thought. Your baby knows what you’re doing. She doesn’t want you to give up.
But I couldn’t make myself stay awake. I felt like a weak, pathetic fool. I felt like the worst mother on the planet and I hadn’t even given birth yet.
“I wish I could have gotten to see you grow up,” I whispered softly. “I wish I could watch you graduate from high school and go to college and get married. And you’re going to college!” I added firmly. But talking to my baby seemed to have taken the last of my strength. When I’d uttered the last of my words, I collapsed and sagged against the ropes that bound me to the tree.
I didn’t blame Zane. It wasn’t his fault he wasn’t able to rescue me. It was the oddest thing: as soon as I decided to give up and let myself die, I started hearing my name. At first, I thought it was the baby talking to me. Then, I realized it was a hallucination. All traces of hope left me, and I found I didn’t even have the strength to cry anymore.
I wished I could remember the Lord’s Prayer. I wished I could remember anything from church, anything that would have helped. But racking my brain was only making me more tired.
Something was tugging at the ropes around my waist. I opened my eyes, expecting to see an animal or something. But it wasn’t an animal.
“Leave me alone,” I mumbled. “Go away.”
Then I heard my name again.
“Hello?” My mouth was dry and my voice was weak, as quiet as it had ever been. “Hello? Is someone there?” My heart started beating faster suddenly, and I felt like I was getting more oxygen in my lungs. I was so cold that I couldn’t feel anything, but a sudden ray of hope shot through me. Maybe I would be okay. Maybe I would manage to survive this.
“Isabella!” The cry was resolute and sharp.
I opened my eyes and saw Zane standing in front of me. Weakly, I started to cry.
Zane’s eyes were wide and he gasped when he saw me. He dropped to his knees and I felt him fussing with the rope around my waist. Then, somehow, it was laying on the ground in a harmless coil. It didn’t even look as threatening as a snake.
“Come on,” Zane said. He pulled me forward and wrapped me in his coat. “Come on, I’ve got you.”
I couldn’t move on my own. Zane was half dragging, half carrying me out of the woods. My teeth were chattering uncontrollably and even though he’d freed me from my bonds, I still ached like I was tied to the tree. My vision was blurred and I could only make out a few shapes.
“Over here,” Zane said in a low, soothing voice. I heard the sound of something opening, like a hinge, and then I was being pushed onto something soft. A car seat. Zane had brought his car, and he was putting me in the passenger seat. “It’s okay,” he said in a soothing voice. “It’s all going to be okay.”
I couldn’t help it. I blacked out.
Chapter 32
Zane
One Hour Earlier
Before I went looking for Isabella, I knew I had to act fast. If these fucks got anywhere even close to me or any of the other members of the family, they’d be in deep shit.
So, I took the liberty of arranging a little meeting.
Rico, Jake’s henchman, hadn’t been working with the family for very long. He was from a blue-collar family down the shore, and he’d come up for the summer to work at one of the family-owned restaurants. Jake had taken a liking to him, and while I hadn’t understood at the time, it had paved the way for Rico to become more involved with the family.
Everyone had been confused at first. Even though Jake was a sniveling, conniving little shit, everyone had always been afraid to criticize him. Jake was Lionel’s favorite, and everyone knew it. Criticizing him was like criticizing the boss, and no one would even dare it if there was a chance it would get back to Lionel. But now, Jake had some brawn to match his brains. Jake hadn’t ever been very tough, but Rico was practically made of muscle. I was sure Jake picked him with some end goal like this in mind. What a fucking snake.
I couldn’t imagine everyone would be shocked to find out what Jake and Rico had done. So, I went ahead and made a few calls.
Lionel had a brother, Guido, who’d had a couple of sons. Technically, they were my cousins, but I’d never seen them like that. They were both older than me, and seemingly wiser. Tommy and Ciro were wily. Tommy had shown me how to pick a lock when I was a kid — he was in his thirties at the time, and he thought it was fucking hysterical when I picked the lock to Lionel’s bedroom door and caught him fucking one of his girlfriends. Lionel had beaten me so badly that I hadn’t been able to sit down for a week, but it had been worth it.
Ciro was even tougher than his brother. They’d both served time, but Ciro had served for manslaughter. Technically, it had been first degree murder, but the family had a couple of great lawyers on call at all times, and they made sure Ciro only served minimum time. He was tough, with a thick muscular neck and tattoos up and down his arms.
Tommy and Ciro were the muscle of the family business. Lionel often sent them out on “errands” — basically scaring the piss out of someone — and they liked it. Ciro, especially, enjoyed torturing someone and beatin
g the crap out of him.
He was the man to call.
“Eh, Zane,” Ciro said when he answered the phone. “It’s been a long time, fucker. How ya been?”
Well, my dad was murdered, my wife was kidnapped, and I think I’m going to have blood on my hands before the night is up.
“I’m great, Ciro,” I said sarcastically. “Jake fucking played me. He stabbed Lionel and his girlfriend, then kidnapped my wife. My wife is pregnant, Ciro. She’s got my fucking baby in her belly, and he means to do her in.”
Ciro laughed. He actually laughed. I found myself clenching my hands into fists at my sides. “I’ll be damned,” he said. “Jake stood up to the boss’s son.”
I rolled my eyes. “Everyone knows Lionel loved him more than me,” I said sourly, kicking at the pavement with the toe of my boot. “Everyone fuckin’ knows it.”
“He’s a pussy,” Ciro said dismissively. “Don’t fuckin’ pay him no mind, Zane.”
“You remember Rico?”
“That fat, stupid fuck?” Ciro laughed again. “What did he get up to?”
“Jake’s using him for muscle. They kidnapped Isabella, and they took her somewhere.”
“So, you want us to take him out?”
For a moment, for a brief second, I almost said yes. Then I realized how badly I wanted to finish the job off myself. “No,” I said. “I want them alive. Just bring them to me alive.”
Ciro laughed again. “You’re a boy after Lionel’s heart,” he said approvingly.
A surge of adrenaline lashed through my body. Was I really capable of torturing Jake and Rico to death? I knew I was. “Bring them alive,” I repeated. “I don’t want no dead bodies. These assholes made my wife suffer, and Jake’s been fucking me on a coke deal for weeks now. He’s the fuckin’ reason Lionel didn’t hand over the business to me. He couldn’t get a handle on his Russian contacts, and now it’s my fault.”
“Don’t worry about that,” Ciro said in a soothing voice. “We’ll get him, boss. Don’t you worry about a thing.”
With that, we hung up. But I didn’t feel much better. I didn’t know where Ciro and Tommy were going to find Jake and Rico, and I didn’t care. All I cared about was seeing them trussed up in front of me like a couple of prize-winning hogs at the county fair.
***
After I ran out of my car, I darted into the woods, yelling Isabella’s name. The night was cold, dark, and damp. I was shivering and I could see my breath coming in a white fog in front of my body. There was no way she could survive this for long; I was in a heavy jacket and I could already feel my toes and fingers going numb. Cold sweat ran down my sides as I ran through the woods, yelling for my wife, praying that she was okay.
Please, God, let Isabella be safe and alive, I thought desperately. Please. I don’t even care that much about Rico and Jake, I just need to find her. You know how much I need her; you know I can’t raise a kid by myself. A kid’s got to have a mother, and Isabella’s the only mother I want for my own flesh and blood.
I stumbled over a fallen limb, falling down and blocking my fall with the heels of my hands. The ground was cold and wet. When I looked up at the sky, everything was under the thick cover of clouds. I knew in my bones it was going to rain soon, and then I’d really be fucked. If Isabella got wet, she’d probably get hypothermia and then she’d be done for. It didn’t matter if I found her after that; her body would start to shut down, and she wouldn’t even be able to tell me her last name.
“Isabella!” I screamed as I plowed through the woods, looking from side to side and calling loudly. I did everything I could to make noise: I whistled, I screamed, I clapped my hands loudly together in front of me. There was no reply. “Isabella!” I yelled again as loudly as I could. I yelled her name until my voice cracked, until my throat was dry and hurting. “Isabella!”
Just when I was about to cry out of desperation, I thought I heard something in the distance. Sprinting forward, I was surprised to land on a dirt road. My heart soared. Bingo! They must have driven in from a back way! Running blindly through the trees, I held my hands out in front of me and pushed my way through the branches.
Finally, in a bit of a clearing, I saw a blonde, slight figure clinging to a tree. When I got closer, I realized she was bound around the waist and midsection with thick rope. Her eyes were closed and her head was hanging forward. Panic flared through my body and I rushed towards her, crooning her name and digging in my pockets for a knife.
When I cut the ropes, Isabella sagged against me. Her body was weak and I could feel how cold her skin was. She was delirious and rolling her head around on her neck, mumbling things like “I’m sorry” and “my baby.” She couldn’t even stand on her own two feet, and even when I wrapped her in my coat I could tell she was shivering violently. Her teeth were chattering so hard I thought they were going to break out of her head.
“Come on,” I said in the most soothing voice I could muster. “Come on, baby, let’s get you inside.” Isabella wasn’t moving her feet, and I had to wrap my arms around her waist and heft her up in my arms. When she collapsed against me, I felt desperately for her heartbeat. “Come on, stay with me. Come on, Isabella, don’t give up. This is going to be okay. Everything is going to be okay,” I said firmly.
Isabella shivered and shuddered in my grip as I eased her into the passenger seat of my car. Her lips were blue and she was trembling. I had to buckle her seat belt. As soon as I could, I blasted the heat in my car and turned on her seat warmer. But as I drove away, back towards Morris, she didn’t show any signs of recovering. Her hands were shaking in her lap and the jacket I’d draped around her body kept slipping down.
“Baby, come on,” I pleaded. “You have to be okay!”
She couldn’t even look at me. I pressed the pedal to the floor and sped towards the county hospital as fast as I could. When I pulled into the bay of the emergency room, she was still shaking. A nurse rushed over to the car and yanked the door open.
“She’s been exposed in the woods!” I yelled loudly. “She’s been exposed and she might have frostbite. Or hypothermia! Please help us.”
The nurse gave me a tired, withering look as she helped Isabella out of the car. “We’ll do everything we can, sir,” she said in a curt tone that made it clear she was used to dealing with hysterical jackasses. “Just remain calm. Please remain as calm as you can.”
“Her name is Isabella Ricci,” I said in a choked voice. “She’s my wife, and she’s pregnant.”
When I said the last word, the nurse’s eyes bulged. I could tell I’d caught her off guard. She lifted a walkie-talkie to her dry lips and barked a command. In a matter of seconds, men swarmed the car with a stretcher and various pieces of medical equipment that looked like something from a sci-fi movie. I watched as the nurses hefted Isabella from the car, discarding my coat and laying her body out on the stretcher. She looked so lifeless, so grey and wan I wanted to start crying.
“Isabella, you can pull through this, baby,” I whispered. “I promise you’ve got this. And I’ll be back as soon as I can.”
With that, I drove away into the dark night. I knew Tommy and Ciro had to have Jake and Rico by now, and it was my goal to make sure they didn’t live through the rest of the night.
Chapter 33
Isabella
There was a field covered in snow, and I was running through it with my arms held loosely at my sides. Even though the world around me was covered in cold, stark white, I wasn’t cold. Rather, I felt warm. My whole body felt good, light, free. When I looked down, I saw my feet weren’t even touching the ground. My toes were barely skimming the surface of the snow, and I wasn’t leaving any footprints.
“This is amazing,” I said aloud. My voice sounded like bells and music. “How is this happening?”
“Mommy!” A little girl with blonde curls launched herself at me and wrapped her arms around my legs. “Mommy, you’re here!”
“Hi, baby. How are you? I missed you
so much!” I didn’t know the words were true until I said them, but suddenly they were truer than anything had ever been in my life. This little girl was mine; she was my flesh and blood. I watched as her face took on a variety of expressions, from exasperated to happy.
“Mommy, I’ve been waiting for you,” she cried loudly. “And now you’re here! Forever!”
“That’s right, my darling,” I told her in a soothing voice as I stroked her silky blonde hair. “That’s right. Mommy’s here forever.”
“Mommy, I didn’t think you’d come,” she said in a soft voice. Then she took my hand, lacing my fingers through her small ones. When she looked up at me, I saw her skin was perfect, free of blemish. She had my blonde hair but Zane’s dark eyes, and her complexion was creamy but much tanner than mine had ever been, even as a little kid. There was laughter and love and light in her eyes.
“Darling, where are we?”