by Rye Hart
I didn’t want to wake her though, and I decided to leave her be until morning.
I was worried that Ryan was freaking out about being a father, which was why I wanted us to sit down and talk things through. We hadn’t spoken about things at all since the night I told him, and his worry was becoming apparent. If he had some answers to his questions, he would probably feel better, and that meant we could spend our time together planning and laughing instead of worrying and tip-toeing around the subject.
Sighing, I shuffled into my bedroom.
I sat on the edge of my bed and kicked off my shoes. I was ready to get some sleep. My body was still humming from the pleasure of the night and I needed to get to sleep before I riled myself up again thinking about it. But my phone vibrating in my purse caught my attention. I pulled it out and saw I had a few missed calls from my boss along with a very long voice message.
Great. What in the world did Lionel want?
“Grace. It’s your boss. I’ve tried calling you a few times to no avail. I need you to come in on Saturday this weekend. I know it’s a bit late, but you can consider it your make-up day for the personal time you took. Trevor quit today—we’ll talk about that later—but now I’m short-handed. I’ve got some interviews on the books, but they aren’t until next week. Thanks again.”
I groaned and flopped myself down onto the bed. So much for spending quality time with Harper this weekend. I shot Amy a message and asked her if she was free Saturday to watch Harper. I’d pay her for her time, even though I knew she would turn the money down. I wasn’t ready to ask my mother to start babysitting full-time again like she had been. She and I still needed to sit down and talk some things through.
Once she got her temper under control.
I tossed my phone off to the side and didn’t bother taking my clothes off. My eyes were already fluttering closed, despite the fact that my phone was vibrating. It was probably Amy responding to my message. Or maybe it was Lionel calling again.
Whoever the hell it was though, they would have to wait.
Because I needed sleep.
CHAPTER 25
RYAN
Staring at the window, I was watching the clock on the wall count itself down. It was the day of the robbery and we had agreed to meet exactly four hours prior at my house. I wanted to run down the details of all the plans and make sure everything was going to go according to plan. I wanted to make sure the guys had the four major plans memorized and to make sure no one planned on going off-book.
And right at nine o’clock, Kenneth and Jesse pulled up.
They came through the front door and the three of us got changed. We were in black from head-to-toe, with black ski masks as well as Halloween masks. We had wide-brimmed hats to shadow our eyes, which would conceal our eye color enough for frantic people to not be able to identify it.
“Do we need to run down the plans again, or are you guys good?” I asked.
“Let’s just get this shit over with. I’m ready to be done with you,” Kenneth said.
“Couldn’t have said it better myself.”
“Jesse, is the second car planted in case we need it?” I asked.
“Planted late last night. It’s a black Lincoln LS. Right where it’s supposed to be.”
“Good,” I said. “You made sure the plates you took for the getaway car were clean right?” I asked.
“Yeah dude, this isn’t my first rodeo,” Jesse answered, sounding irritated.
“I’ve got the electrical equipment in my bag. It’ll take me just shy of eleven seconds to take out their electricity once I can get the box open,” I said.
Jesse and I piled into the getaway car. Kenneth took off down the road, sticking to all the back roads like we’d talked about. I said a silent prayer that this would go as planned and by tonight, I’d be on my way to a new like with Grace, Harper, and our baby.
The car came to a stop and it was go time. I climbed out and went over to the side of the building I pried the electrical box open, hooked up all the wires I needed to, then waited until the time was right. Kenneth’s hand was hovering over the back doorknob as I cut the power to the whole damn place, then he yanked the door open.
“Kenneth. Vault. Jesse and I have the front,” I said.
I tossed the bag to Kenneth and he got to work getting the vault open.
Jesse and I burst into the darkened main lobby of the bank. We pulled our guns and popped off a couple warning rounds before we saw the security guards go for theirs. Jesse, aimed at them and warned them not to try anything stupid before disarming them. .
“Everyone get down and shut up!” Jesse said.
I could see people trying to run back to their offices, but with the power cut they wouldn't be able to call for backup. Jesse went over andtook the radios off the waists of the security guards. He kicked the radios into a corner before he stomped on them with the heavy heel of his steel-toed work boots.
“You good?” I asked.
He smiled at me and nodded.
“What do you want?”
The moment I heard her voice, I froze. I panned my gaze over to her and I couldn't believe my eyes. What the fuck was Grace doing here?
This was her damn day off!
Jesse strode past me and wrapped his arm around Grace. I watched as he pulled her into an office, scared that he might hurt her. The whole point of us doing this bullshit on a Saturday was so she wouldn’t be here.
That and I knew she would fight.
Which meant she would get hurt.
I couldn't believe it. I was frozen to my spot as Jesse pointed a gun in her face. She was clicking the button underneath her desk furiously, but it wasn’t doing any good.
Then, Jesse started giving her orders.
I looked around the room at all of the tear-stained faces. Mothers holding their children and husbands holding wives.
What the fuck had we done?
“What the hell, you guys?”
I whipped my head around and saw Kenneth coming through the doors.
Fuck. He was going off-book.
“Get to the car,” I said.
“I’ve got both of the bags loaded and you two fuckers are in here dancing around?” he asked.
Then his eyes panned over to Jesse who was still waving his gun at Grace.
“Who’s the bitch?” Kenneth asked.
“Don’t know, don’t care. You got the bags filled?” I tried my hardest to make it sound like Grace was someone inconsequential.
“Yep. In the car. We gotta get out of here though.”
“Then get Jesse and let’s get the hell out of here,” I said.
Kenneth went back to pry Jesse out of the room and I kept my gun trained on the people in the lobby. I was ready to jump at a moment’s notice. If they tried to hurt her for any reason, I wouldn’t hesitate to kill both of them. That was the mother of my child they were hovering over, and I wasn’t going to have her harmed in any of this.
Not after the lengths I’d gone to in order to keep her safe.
I watched as Grace followed orders. I had no idea what the fuck Jesse was doing, but I needed to stay put and let them do their thing. As long as she didn’t fight back, she would be unharmed.
Then, I saw that look in her eyes.
“Don’t!” I said.
Kenneth looked back at me as Grace lunged for Jesse.
She was wrestling for his gun as she elbowed her arm into Kenneth. It knocked the wind out of him and took him to the floor. I went racing for her office, ready to pull them out and get us the fuck out of here.
But Grace reached for Jesse’s face and tore his masks off.
Oh, fuck.
This was really bad.
“We have to get the fuck out of here,” I said.
Grace whipped her head around and looked at me, like she didn’t believe her ears.
“We have to take her. She’s seen Jesse,” Kenneth said.
“Leave her. We have to go now,” I
said.
“Not a fucking chance,” Jesse said.
He twisted his hands into Grace’s hair and pressed his gun into her temple. There was a fire in her eyes along with fear. She was trying to be strong, but all I could think about was how Kenneth wouldn't hesitate to kill her.
“This wasn’t part of the plan,” I said.
“Neither was this bitch seeing my face,” Jesse said.
He dragged her out of her office and Kenneth shoved me toward the door. I could hear the police sirens off in the distance. I started running all of our plans through my head, trying to figure out how to mold them and bend them and break them so that Grace would be free and we could get away without being harmed.
But we all couldn't pile into the same vehicle.
“Stop. Stop, stop, stop!”
I pulled Jesse off Grace before he punched me in my face.
“I don’t know that the fuck’s wrong with you, but I’ve had it up to here,” Jesse said. “She’s fucking come with me and Kenneth.”
“You’re not taking her anywhere,” I said. “None of this was part of the damn plan! Why did you come into the fucking lobby?” I yelled at Kenneth.
“Because I figured you would bail on us,” he said plainly.
The sirens were getting closer as Jesse walked around the car with Grace in his arms. He tossed her in before shoving her over as Kenneth yanked open the driver’s side door. Before I could hop in, they took off down the alley with the mother of my child as a hostage.
The first thing I had to do was find a car to get the fuck out of this place.
Then I had to chase them down and get Grace.
No matter what happened to me, she couldn’t be harmed.
And if something happened to her, I would hunt them down to the ends of the earth.
CHAPTER 26
GRACE
“Stop it! Stop! What are you—?”
“Shut the fuck up,” one of the guys said.
“Damn, that woman can scream,” the other one said.
A rope tied my wrists and bound my ankles before a blindfold was tied around the back of my head. I was shaking in fear as I was tossed into the back of a car. My side hit the cente hump of the floorboard and I groaned out in pain.
What in the world was happening?
I was petrified and all I could think about was Harper. I wished I could call her. Hell, I wished I could call Ryan. He would find me. He would know what to do. He could take care of Harper until I could find a way out of this insane situation, give my statement, and get home to my child.
The pain in my side was blinding.
“Where the fuck do you think Ryan’s going?” the guy asked.
“Who the hell cares?” the other guy responded.
I froze in the back seat and tried to calm my swirling mind. Either my ears were playing tricks on me in my panic, or one of the guys had said the name Ryan. I had thought that the voice of the third guy was familiar but I was refusing to belive it. I was refusing to believe that he was exactly what my mother had warned me about; no better than his father. It couldn’t be. I wouldn’t believe it. He couldn't be that kind of man. They were talking about a different Ryan. They had to be. My Ryan was good and honest, a hardworking man who loved my daughter and loved me. He wouldn’t do something like this. He was a construction worker, who worked with his hands and made an honest paycheck so he could send his little brother to school and provide for the family we were creating.
The car came to a halt and I slammed my head against something hard. I felt the room tilting even though I couldn't see. The two guys climbed out of the vehicle before a door at my feet ripped open, and I felt a pair of hands wrap around my ankles.
“Stop. Please. No!”
I kicked at him before a pair of arms wrapped around my waist.
“Get that bitch in the house.”
I was flailing, trying to do my best to get away. But with my legs and arms bound and nothing to see to figure out where I was, it was useless. I heard a door slam somewhere in the distance before my body was tossed into a chair, then I felt something tugging at my arms and legs.
“Yep. Like that. Bind the ropes at her wrists to the ones at her legs.”
I tugged and pulled, trying to make it harder on them. But a hand came down around my neck and squeezed. It made it hard to breathe and I felt my vision fading, and soon I was tied to a chair I couldn’t get up from.
“Get the money in here, go get rid of the car, and find us another vehicle. I’ll stay here.”
“On it.”
My jaw was quivering with fear as the door opened and closed yet again.
The silence was deafening. I heard the legs of a chair scraping along the floor. Tears flooded my cheeks and soaked into my blindfold, and I could hear a chuckle emanating from in front of me.
“Why are you doing this?” I asked.
“You saw one of our faces. You’re a loose end now,” the man said.
“I won’t tell anyone. I’m really good at keeping a secret.”
“You all are, until you aren’t,” he said.
“Please,” I said. “I have a child. And another baby on the way. I’ll do anything. Just let me go.”
“Fuck. You’re pregnant?” the man asked.
“Please,” I said as my body began to tremble. I’ll do anything. Anything you ask. Just let me go home to my baby. Let me live my life. I’ll quit my job at the bank. I’ll move out of town. I’ll tell the police anything you want me to say, or I’ll leave before they can get to me to take a statement.”
“Shut up,” the man said.
“Please. Help me,” I said.
“Shut up, woman.”
“Help me! Somebody, please! Help me!”
Then a crack against my temple shot a searing pain through my head, and everything else went black.
I saw Harper running around in the backyard. I felt my hand resting on my protruding stomach. I felt an arm slip around me and I looked up, but instead of seeing Ryan I saw a black ski mask. A mask with a clown face over it and a wide-brimmed hat.
I began to scream and another blinding pain brought me back into unconsciousness.
Looking down, I saw my stomach, bleeding from my belly button. I looked up and was in a hospital, surrounded by men in masks. Black masks, blue masks, Halloween masks and painted faces. One was telling me to push and the other was knocking me against the head. A familiar voice in the corner was yelling at them to stop.
I started shrieking, crying out for Ryan before yet another piercing jolt knocked my head back.
Now, I was in the middle of a field. My stomach was flat and I was in a beautiful yellow sundress. Harper was picking flowers off in the distance and calling out for me, but a looming storm was on the horizon. A big black wall was coming for us, decimating everything in its path.
“Harper! Get over here! We have to go!” I said.
“But Mommy! The flowers—they’re so pretty!”
“Harper. Stop moving. Harper! Don’t!”
I watched the black mass take over my daughter, crushing her in its path as I sank to my knees.
I didn’t know what was going to happen to me, but I accepted my fate. I knew my mother would take care of Harper, but I knew she would never be the same, growing up without her father or her mother. I only hoped my mother would respect my wishes, the rules I wanted Harper to grow up with and the mindset I wanted to instill in her.
Over and over I apologized to the child within my body, tTelling him or her that everything would be ok. I prayed to whatever God would listed to get me out of this situation and back to my daughter.
Then, the blindfold was tugged from my face.
“Wakey, wakey,” one of the men said. “Time to pay up.”
CHAPTER 27
RYAN
I dumped the back up car and wracked my brain as to where the hell those assholes might’ve taken Grace. I had no idea how I was going to fix this shit, but I knew I had to g
et her out of this alive. Jesse was way too eager to follow Kenneth’s orders and Kenneth was a bombastic nightmare. They wouldn’t go easy on her, and every second that passed by meant there was a greater chance she was already dead.
I’d been calling their phones, but they weren’t answering. Fuck. Those assholes must’ve made some bullshit plan behind my back. I bet they were going to try and steal from me, to take off with all that fucking money for themselves. They probably had a separate safehouse somewhere only the two of them knew about, and that was where they probably had Grace.
But if they were still in the city waiting for the heat to die down, it meant I could pinpoint where they were.
I hotwired another car and stuck to the back roads of the city that weren’t being patrolled. I went by their old houses, in case they had defaulted to one of their familiar places. I dodged the police when I saw them coming around the corner and I sat in the shadows, waiting for opportunities to check out other places.
But they were nowhere to be found.
Using the spare keys under their mat, I got into their apartment. The two of them lived like fucking pigs. Pizza boxes everywhere and opened beer bottles on the fucking floor. It made me angry just looking at it as I started rifling through their trash. I pulled out bills they never intended on paying and porno magazines they were probably beating off to. These men were the bottom of the fucking barrel when it came to men, and I was ready to set their fucking place on fire.
Until a green piece of paper called my name.
I stuck my hand into the bottom of their fucking garbage and grabbed it. I opened it up and smoothed out the wrinkles, but there was nothing on it. I dug through the trash to try and find another piece of green paper, but it was nowhere to be found.
Then, I had an idea.
Running around their apartment, I tried to locate a pencil. Finally, I found one tossed in a corner, the eraser practically chewed off the end. I ran back over to the sticky note and lightly began to shade the note. Gradually, an address slowly appeared in relief on the paper.