by Rachel Angel
“What do you want?” Detective Holmes asked in an authoritative tone.
“I want what the boys have,” the muffled voice said.
“What the boys have?” Dad asked. “What is that?”
“They know,” the muffled voice said. “Bring it to the warehouse by the Falls of Heartbreak in 24 hours or Dr. Hillshire will die.”
“What is it that the boys have?” Dad asked. “Be more specific or you can’t get what you want, too. Think about it. Let us know!”
“The boys’ favorite new toy,” the muffled voice said. “Bring it or kiss your shiny new bride good-bye, Triton.” The screen on the television went blank.
Detective Holmes said, “I got a trace of the call. Coming from the Falls.”
“So call the cops on them?” Drake asked, “Like we should have done before?”
“No, deliver what he wants,” Detective Holmes said. “Your shiny new toy. Ring any bells what that could be?”
I looked over at the Twins, and they were thinking the same thing I was. Our new toy was Haven.
The kidnappers wanted Haven.
Fuck. Like we would hand Haven over to them…
Chapter 7
Tristan
“Shit,” Drake said, “He’s not answering.”
“I knew we shouldn’t let Max be alone with Haven,” I said. “He’d take any opportunity to seduce her.”
“We don’t even know if Haven is safe with him. Remember what Megan tried to do to Haven? Sell her off into slavery in some faraway place…no fucking way!” Dillon said.
“I still need him to open the flash drive,” Drake said, “If we ever get a chance to get away from Dad and the detective, I’m going to try to hack it again.”
“Tristan,” Dillon said in the back passenger seat of my Cadillac Escalade. “Where are we going? Dad didn’t explain anything to us, only you. Drake and I still need some details.”
“We have 24 hours to get the kidnappers what they want,” I said. “Less than that now. Dad and Detective Holmes don’t know what the kidnappers are asking for. Thank God. Dad thinks it’s the pricey new condo we bought together near school. It’s our latest largest purchase. How much was it?”
“About $5 million for the largest condo in the new luxury high-rise,” Drake said.
“That sounds significant enough,” Dillon said.
“Dad and Holmes do not know about Haven and us,” I said. “And they would never find out, if I can help it.”
“How would the kidnapper know about Haven and us?” Dillon asked. “Only we know…Max, Megan…”
“Unless someone leaked our secret out,” Drake said.
“Max!” I yelled. “It had to be fucking Max who leaked the secret. He wants Haven for himself…he said he saw her first before she ever came to Heartbreak Falls…before Haven’s mother even met our father. He said he fell for her before she even knew of us.”
“Damn!” Dillon said. “Had we known he was some kind of Haven superstalker, we would never have let her meet him.”
“So,” Drake said, working on his laptop, “You think Max is involved? I know Megan most likely was. She wouldn’t have had Diamond Triton’s diamonds stashed away in a secret compartment in her New York suite.”
“It’s the same kidnapper,” I said. “The one who kidnapped me and killed Mom. We never did find her killer, and now they’re back…kidnapping our new stepmom and now they want Haven…the newest Triton girl.”
“They killed Mom,” Drake said. “A Bradshaw. Why would Max Bradshaw kill a Bradshaw? You are implying he was the one?”
“He would have been your age, Drake,” I said. “About 12 or 13 years old. It couldn’t be Max. But you’re right. Why would a Bradshaw kill a Bradshaw?”
“Damn,” Drake said. “That didn’t work. This flash drive is hack-proof. We definitely need to get Max to open it.”
“Well, we’re here,” I said, “The Bradshaw Mansion. No doubt Max is with Haven, too.” I got out of the Escalade and waited for Dillon and Drake to join me at the front door.
I was about to ring the doorbell when the door swung wide open, as though Max was expecting us.
“Max…” I began but stopped. Max wasn’t the one who opened the door. Roberta, their housekeeper, was standing at the door.
“Is Max here?” I asked. “We need to see him. It’s urgent.”
Roberta shook her head. “No, he left.”
“Did he have Haven with him?” I asked. “My stepsister? Blonde, beautiful …”
Roberta’s eyes lit up, “Oh, Max’s girlfriend. She was here. They were…” she blushed.
That got my heart rate going. They were doing something that made Roberta blush like a schoolgirl? Fuck Max. I knew what that meant.
“She left with Max,” Roberta said. “Max… never smiled so happily. Haven… she’s good for him. Makes him so happy.”
I bet. My blood was boiling. He had probably fucked Haven. Finally scratched that itch he’s had since he first saw her and wanted her. I’ve never felt so possessive and jealous than I did at that moment.
Haven was ours. Not his. And she would never become his, even if he was behind the kidnappings.
“Hey,” Drake said, “Keep it cool. I know that look. I’m boiling mad too.”
“Never should have trusted him with Haven,” Dillon said.
I looked at Roberta, putting on the charm. “You look so pretty today, Roberta, any special occasion?”
She blushed looking at me. No woman could resist my charm when I lay it on. “No, just working.”
“Well you look pretty and happy,” I said.
“Oh Mr. Tristan, you’re just flattering me. Come in. All of you. I baked some cookies for Max, my boy, but he and his girlfriend were in a hurry so they didn’t eat it.”
I looked at the Twins. Then we came into the house.
Roberta led us into the sitting room where we sat down on an ancient leather sofa that probably had been around since Queen Victoria was alive. While Drake and Dillon sat on the sofa, I got up and walked with Roberta to the kitchen. “Let me help you get the cookies,” I said. “You know I just got into cooking and baking myself lately. Haven introduced us to it, and I have taken a special interest in trying to be a somewhat decent cook.”
Roberta laughed. “You, Mr. Tristan cook? You don’t have to.”
“No, I want to. A man who can cook will be a worthy man for a woman, wouldn’t he?”
She was giggling.
I looked over at Drake and Dillon. They were already on it.
Chapter 8
Dillon
Leave it to Tristan to charm an old lady like Roberta. If he had to, he would probably even go as far as fucking her to get what he wanted out of her. Tristan was that dedicated.
If he wasn’t Tristan and a Triton, he probably would be an excellent spy. He had no qualms about anything, but getting the job done and done right.
That’s probably why Drake and I respected him so much. Yes, he was our older brother by about a year, but he acted more like a parent. What he went through when he was kidnapped really changed him from a pampered crybaby heir to a tougher human being. Like he could shut down his emotions. Become like a robot when he wanted. Except when it came to Haven.
She brought out all of his emotions. It was as if she unleashed everything he’s ever felt that had been bottled up inside of him. He hated her in the beginning. Now he can’t live without her. Like the air he breathed.
It was like that for me, too. I’ve never felt so much for a person before. Haven consumed me. I love and want everything of hers. If I have to, I’d give up my birthright for her. I’d stop being a Triton for her. Get myself disowned so I’m not related to her so that I could be with her. She was all that mattered to me. It didn’t matter that the world saw us as stepsiblings. I love her more than life itself.
There was no fucking way I would hand her to anyone… let alone a dangerous murderous kidnapper who wanted to exchange her fo
r her mother. I’d rather go in her place instead.
Chapter 9
Drake
Leave it to Tristan to charm the old bat who was the gatekeeper to the Bradshaws. Tristan was a trooper, and a true leader. He would take one for the team if and when he had to. Always has.
I would never forget what he sacrificed to keep Dillon and me safe. If it weren’t for Tristan, we would probably have been killed in his place. Tristan was the one the kidnappers took that day they came into our house.
They took Mom first. Then they found Tristan, sitting casually in front of the large television in our game room, just playing a video game. Tristan heard the commotion downstairs and quickly hid me and Dillon inside one of the secret closets we had built in our room.
Then he diverted the kidnappers’ attention to him, telling them we were away with Dad. It was just Mom and him at the house. They took him and left, thinking one Triton heir was enough to get their message across.
At 14, Tristan already had the leadership qualities that few would ever have. He was steadfast and devoted like no one I had ever met. If he set his mind on something, by darn he was going to accomplish it too.
Bringing Haven into our fold as ours…that was a surprise to all of us, though. It was that one thing that even Tristan didn’t anticipate… falling hard for her. If he could shut down all his emotions and feelings he might’ve stood a chance, but he couldn’t. Haven broke through all his walls. His body responded to hers, and he couldn’t help it. That was why he was like a caveman to her…his id or ego side was out and dominating when it came to Haven.
Even I had a hard time controlling my primitive side. With Haven…God, all I wanted to do is love her. Touch her. Kiss her. Fuck her all the time.
As much as I tried to hold back, even with the threat of Tristan pummeling me to death, I couldn’t. I’d never wanted someone as badly as I wanted Haven. Even when I knew it was forbidden.
I tried to reason with my logical side, but it was no use. I was crazy in love with my own stepsister, even if it was taboo and frowned upon. Nothing can change how I felt about her. No therapy, no threats… least at all…no fucking kidnappers.
They will never get the chance to even see her.
*****
I made my way up the stairs from the sitting room to Max’s room.
I had to close my eyes briefly as I stepped in. The room was a complete mess, especially the bed. Yeah, Max had fucked Haven. They had sex… plenty of times. The entire room smelled of it.
Luckily I wasn’t Tristan or I’d be destroying everything in this room right about now. But I wasn’t immune to it too. My blood was boiling, and I wanted to punch Max, kick him in the balls. If we lived a hundred years ago, I would have challenged him to a duel…and kill him.
But we were in the present. And I was smarter than that. So I took a deep breath and walked into Max’s room.
It was a typical guy’s room. Except for the photo of Haven and her mother at a red carpet event… the same one Tristan had of her before she ever came to Heartbreak Falls.
Haven was beyond gorgeous in that photo. Her dress was also see through although she probably didn’t know it since it was a trick with lighting, and I could see her perfect breasts clearly…breasts I’ve licked and devoured so many times.
I grew hard just thinking about Haven.
I looked closer at the photo. It was torn from a magazine and even had writings on it…from different guys from school saying how fucking hot she was. I took the photo down from the wall in his closet where Max had pinned it in hiding, behind some shirts. It was the same one in the boy’s locker room, that was pinned on the bulletin board. Max had snatched it from there, probably trying to protect Haven’s dignity from the guy’s locker room creeps.
At that, I would give some points to Max for being a gentleman. If there was one thing I couldn’t stand, it was guys who were jerks to women. Mom was a classy woman who raised me to respect women. While Tristan was who he was, independent and his own person even at a very young age, I was more of my mother’s son as the oldest of the twins. So…I learned to be more gentle, more refined than my other brothers because of it.
And because I was a mother’s son, I recognized that of Max. He was raised to be a gentleman, too. He did treat Haven like a gentleman, which was why I did go along with him dating Haven in public.
He definitely cherished Haven. I could tell by how he had hidden this photo in such a secret yet intimate area, only for his eyes to look at, dreaming of being with his dream girl. He had it just as bad as us Tritons.
Max couldn’t be behind the kidnapping of Haven’s mother. He wouldn’t risk doing anything that would jeopardize his chances with Haven. But he knew about the flash drive. He knew that Haven would be in danger because of it.
What was in this thing I was keeping near me, hidden in the inside of my coat pocket?
Why would Max have the password for it? What does Max have to do with the people who wanted what was on the flash drive?
It had something to do with being a Bradshaw. It had to be. Megan’s purse was sent to him as if he knew what to do with it. Megan was involved with the kidnappers.
I looked around Max’s closet. He definitely knew how to live it up. A male version of Megan, he had leather jackets, blazers, jeans, shoes, accessories, t-shirts, and suits from the latest designers. He even had a table displaying his watches, wallets, pens, and gold cuff links like a department store would, in the middle of his huge walk-in closet.
I remembered when we were kids how huge his closet used to seem before he filled it out with clothes and fashion. We would hide in it during hide-and-seek, behind his large collection of toys.
Max, being the only child of Betty and Bruce Bradshaw, had never had to share. Whenever he wanted a toy, he would get it and be the only one to have it. His closet was filled with every toy a boy could want.
Now it was cleaned out, and only his essentials were in it… clothing, accessories, and stuff a guy needed to look good. No toys here.
Nothing indulging except this one magazine photo of Haven.
Haven was the only thing, toy, or person he wanted.
It hit me then.
Fuck. Why didn’t I even think of it?
I quickly texted Tristan and Dillon that I figured it out.
Me: Meet me at the door.
Dillon: On my way.
Tristan: OK
I quickly walked out of Max’s room, leaving no trace behind me as I made my way down the stairs to the front door of the Bradshaw Mansion.
Dillon was already there, standing with a smile on his face. I joined him as Tristan walked towards us, taking a bite out of Roberta’s cookies and handing a glass container filled with them to Dillon.
“Thank you so much for the cookies and walking me through how you made them. I will try to bake this at home. You are such an angel!” He kissed her on the cheeks, and she blushed deep red.
We all thanked her for the cookies and left.
Chapter 10
Tristan
“Good timing about getting out of there,” I said. “I just received a text from Dad and Holmes. They traced the call to an exact location at the Falls. One of the old abandoned warehouses Triton Industries had. Dad assumed we went to get the deed to our new condo to hand over to the kidnappers. Ha! If only it was that easy. Wake up, Dad! Kidnappers do not kidnap your wife just to get the deed to a condo.”
“Hell no!” Drake said. “Dad can’t be that naïve.”
“He sent me the location we’re supposed to make the drop of the deed,” I said.
“So we’re supposed to go there, drop off the deed, and they’ll hand over Dr. Hillshire?”
“Supposedly,” I said. “Sounds like something’s off.”
“Sounds like there’s more to it,” Drake said.
“Hey guys!” Dillon said from the back seat. “You want to know what I found at Max’s?”
“Yeah, what did you find?” I
asked.
“There are secret doors everywhere, and there is one from the sitting room itself, behind the bookcase is a door. I went in and kept walking and walking. Thank God you kept Roberta busy because it was a long tunnel. Guess where it led?”
“Where?” Drake asked.
“To the building on Main Street… the one Dr. Hillshire’s Office is in. There’s an underground tunnel that goes from that building to the Bradshaw’s mansion.”
“No!” Drake and I said at the same time.
“Could have been used for the Underground Railroad or maybe Prohibition parties,” Drake said.
“Well,” Dillon said. “You know how you didn’t see Dr. Hillshire go out of the building in any of the security cameras.”
“Right!” Drake said. “Because she didn’t. She may have been taken from her office into the tunnel that ended up at the Bradshaw Mansion.”
“Who owns the building?” I asked.
“A company called Monroe Management,” Drake said. “Which owns and manage several commercial real estate properties in town.”
“Did they know about the tunnel to the Bradshaw Mansion?” I asked.
“Don’t know,” Drake said. “Have to question them for that.”
“No time for it right now,” I said looking at my watch. We have 20 hours left to hand over Haven to the kidnappers in exchange for her mother. How the hell are we going to do that?”
“We don’t even know where Haven is?” Drake said.
“She’s with Max,” Dillon said. “Wherever he is.”
“Call him,” Drake said.
“Would he even answer?” I asked. “Knowing that he probably already knows we’re after him.”
“He’ll answer alright when he hears this,” Drake said. “The reason why I text you guys to meet me at the door to head out is because I figured out the password to the flash drive.”
“You did?” I asked.