Forget Cinderella (True Loves Fairytale Book 1)

by Tracey Champion

  After I finish, I still have more time. I make coffee and eat breakfast. Some yogurt and breakfast cookies. Then I take my iPad and open my Kindle app to read.

  Tyler has not arrived yet when the doorbell rings. I look at my phone and the time is only a quarter after nine. When I look through the peephole, I see it’s Niki.

  Jordan told me not to be alone with her. I hesitantly open the door. “Hi Niki, I can’t let you inside until Tyler arrives. Are you okay talking out front?”

  “Sure that’s a great idea we can take a seat in the chairs.” Jordan had allowed me to purchase a patio table with an umbrella and chairs. I chose them in a cream color that when we sat on them we wouldn’t get burnt.

  I follow Niki to the chairs, but I don’t get far. A strong hand grabs me. I feel two things happen. The first I can see and feel is a cloth covering my nose and mouth. The smell is sweet. Then I feel a tiny prick on my neck before everything goes black.

  Jordan

  Seth called me early this morning to inform me that his phone alarm went off. An alarm associated with Bulldog Protection and Investigation’s computer system. The system him and Amber put together. The same system that has government contracts and data. We fucking can’t have this happen. If anything gets out my career is over. Shit! I might go to jail depending on what has been leaked.

  I hated having to tell Cara to stay at home. I just can’t have her here. The alarm is working at the house, so she’s safe. Amber is keeping track of my system in hopes that too doesn’t shut down. Tyler should be with her soon. He just left to be there when she meets with Niki. I wanted him to be early.

  We have been fighting the computer system for the past hour. Tyler has left, and Seth isn’t sure if someone has hacked into the system or bugged it. Either way we can see something going on and then the system shuts down. There’s nothing Seth has been able to do. Neither Seth or Amber can access anything.

  “Do we know if there’s anything being tracked or stolen...” I pause when a loud alarm goes off. Amber turns off the alarm as I watch the color drain from her face. She looks white as a ghost.

  She says nothing and begins pounding away at her laptop. “Nothing. Absolutely nothing.” Her eyes fix on mine, and I see sheer horror behind them. “Jordan your alarm is down. I can’t get into it at all.”

  No! I left Cara at the house. I pull out my phone and call Tyler. He should be close to the house by now. “Tyler you at the house?”

  “No man, there was an accident on I-17 I’m going pretty slow.” I feel sick.

  “My home system is down. I don’t care what you have to do. You’re closer get to my house now!” I bark the order to him and hang up. I frantically dial Cara, but I get her voicemail. I call three more times with the same result.

  I watch the computer screens turn black. Did they just shut down? Seth looks like he’s thinking the same thing. I check my phone again to GPS Cara’s phone. Her location is the house, or her phone is still at the house.

  The computers come back to life as a message displayed on the screen. Your job is still number one to you. I have your girl. Warned her you can’t protect her. Now I will get what I want. Revenge.

  My phone rings “Cara.”

  “No man, I’m at your house. The front door was wide open, and she’s gone.” Gone. My Cara Mia is gone. Travis has her. I fucking failed her.

  “Look for any clues please.” Time must have stopped. My heart is beating hard in my chest. I think I might lose the damn fucking thing. I don’t say anymore to Tyler and tighten my grip around my phone.

  “The fucker has her. He fucking took Cara.” I don’t know why I freeze, but I do. “That motherfucker took Cara.” Everyone in the room stares at me waiting for something.

  “Seth I need you to track the GPS chip in the watch. We have to find her.” Ryan tries to block me from leaving, and I attempt to deck him. Ryan knows me too well, and blocked me. All I can think about right now is finding Cara.

  “I will boss as soon as I figure out the system and can tap into it. Hopefully, where ever she is the chip works.” We don’t have time for this. I should have brought her here with me.

  CARA

  My whole body feels stiff when I wake. My head is pounding and as hard as I fight to open my eyes I can’t. The only thing I can do is fall back asleep. The vibrations and rocking motion help me sleep.

  I can smell something sour. My eyelids are heavy when I try to open them. I can see I’m in a room, but not Jordan’s house.

  I hurt terribly when I sit up. I can sit up, but my wrists are bound to a metal headboard with rope. I can’t untie myself. Shoot I have to be careful how I move, the ropes are tied extremely tight to my wrists. I’m surprised I have any circulation in my hands.

  I take a look at where I am. I’m on a bed in what looks like a bedroom. I’m not in a basement. There’s no air-conditioning or fan in the room. I can’t tell if I’m still in Arizona because the room is just uncomfortably hot and I can’t see outside.

  There’s a ringing in my ears because my head hurts so much. I try to listen for any noises and hear silence. I can’t remember how I got here. I wonder if Travis is the one who has me.

  Nothing within the room stands out. I realize after what feels like forever, I’m in the master bedroom. There’s a bathroom off to the side. I should probably scream at whoever has me that I have to use the bathroom. I’m not certain if I need to pee, or vomit.

  My head hurts, and my stomach is twisted in knots. I can almost smell the vomit, or my mind is playing a trick on me. The room is stuffy and way too hot. I realize now my mouth feels like cotton. When I run my tongue inside my mouth and on my lips, I really feel sick.

  I have nothing better to do than to sit on the bed. My arms are spread out. I tug on the ropes to attempt to loosen the knot, but only tighten them. I won’t be trying that soon. My wrists feel on fire.

  I panic when I hear heavy footsteps. The door opens slowly and in walks my nightmare. Travis Gunthrey. “Hello, Cara. Glad to see you’re finally awake.”

  He strolls over to the bed, and I kick at him. “Tsk, Tsk, Cara, bad idea.” Travis leaves the room.

  I don’t know how long he’s gone for. I can hear him when he returns. The heavy footsteps. Travis enters the room, and I see two things. The gun on his hip and rope. “You kick me, and I will shoot you, Cara. I don’t care about you.”

  I want to kick at him and fight. Jordan promised me I was safe. He will find me. Travis takes my right leg first and ties it tight to the post. He repeats the same thing with my left. The rope is loose enough for me to stay seated upright, but not enough for me to kick him.

  When he’s done and pleased with his work, he leaves me. I was given no time to talk to him. I’m beginning to sweat in the room. I hate how I’m sweating. The material of my dress around my boobs is sticking to me. I feel like I need air because the room is stuffy.

  I must have been stuck in the room for hours. I only can hear myself breathing. I want Jordan. I should have made him take me to the office. I want to be with Jordan.

  I can’t see anything outside the only window of the room. I can see light. Which is a good thing and bad. My bladder is killing me. I really have to go to the bathroom. I tried screaming for Travis a while ago, but I heard nothing.

  “Travis please I need to use the bathroom,” I scream again. This time, I hear those awful heavy footsteps. The door opens quickly and slams into the wall. He’s mad, and he’s holding his gun in his hand.

  “Really, you have to scream at me? I don’t care about you Cara. You can pee on yourself. Shit! I’m only after one thing.” I watch his movements like a tragic horror movie. He raises the arm holding the gun and points it at me.

  “I want my revenge. I can achieve that with you now that I have you. Won’t matter at all to me if you’re dead or alive.” I’m terrified as he continues to point the gun at me.

  “Jordan will find me, and you will pay for this,” I yell back. Please f
ind me Jordan.

  “The only thing he will find is your body.” Travis twitches, and there is a loud Pop!

  Everything goes black as the gun went off. Maybe Travis is right.

  Acknowledgments

  To God always.

  To Mark, my hubby, for backing me and encouraging me to do what I love. For dealing with my many silent facial expressions and expressing your concern. “Book related not you.” As always for loving me for being me.

  To Kylie who listened to me talk about certain pieces. For being the reason I wrote the ending how I did. “I hate you,” and walking away from me. Proudest mommy moment ever. To Alex for just being around.

  To my mom, one of my biggest fans, thank you. You read my book, you bragged about me writing, and it means so much to me. You were even a pain in my butt for holding out on my birthday present and for that gift, you would be with me when I publish my book means a lot to me. To my Dad for giving me life and being my friend. Lastly to my step-dad for my love of reading. I love it, I am an avid reader because of you and I would not change that for the world. Thank you for gifting me with the love of books. Mom, thank you for helping me get those books, magazines and comics even if I drove you nuts to get them.

  To my baby sister Christina for putting up with me. For playing with me and my wild imagination. For being there when I needed you the most without question or hesitation. Know that I love you and that you will always be a hero to me.

  To my cousin Sierra. All I can say is Thank You. You were the first person really there for me. You saw things no one else was willing to see. You made a choice to defend me when no one else would and for that I am truly grateful.

  To Rachel, what can I say? Thank you so much for my cover. I wanted something that would mean the world to me. Something that was not a photograph, but something personal and you gave that to me. Thank you for being that little girl who made me smile when I picked on her not because I was being cruel, but because I cared. Thank you for being my sisters BFF. You will always have a place in my family.

  To Cassandra Dawn, first off thank you for being my BFF. Thank you for putting up with my stories in high school. For being there in my ups and downs. For sticking with me through our personal ups and downs. Most importantly for allowing me to bring Mikeala to life. (Mikeala is a baby girl born into heaven May 9th, 2009. I was honored to be there for the birth and more than honored to give her life in my story.) I hope I made you proud of me for what I did for you. It means the world to me to honor you in such a way.

  To my Ms. Kimmy you of all people put up with my wild imagination. You never stopped me and never once thought I was weird. Well, you never told me. I am so thankful to have met you and to have you in my life. To have your support behind me always. Our friendship would not be what it is if you had not talked to the older girl making mud pies on the slide.

  To my Grandmother for always being there when I needed her. Thank you for listening to me complain and for listening to me talk endlessly about my book. For encouraging me and for even wanting to read my story. You have always been there for me no matter what. I love you.

  To Sharon Barksdale.thank you for listening to my story pieces. For putting up with my endless questions and for proofreading my book. I don’t think the book would have been as good without you backing me up. Plus a big huge Thank you hug for motivating me to write the book and to finish it.

  To Karen Berlin Petrosino , my Facebook buddy, my “Is there more.” I wrote a little piece of my story in third person and put it in my group. I actually had this whole story lined out in my head. Karen, thank you for wanting more. I don’t think I would have ever taken this story and put it out on my computer had you not liked my little piece.

  To Petra and Averie You all know who you are. Thank you for dealing with me and either taking the time to read my story or deal with my idea concerns. I needed to feedback and the encouragement.

  To Lynn Kinney what can I say? I went to Naughty Nashville expecting from the day I purchased my ticket to be going solo. Then I met you. You dealt with my fangirling (no I am not shy). You still deal with me fangirling, my stress, my ugly, and you encourage me when I need it the most. Thank you from the bottom of my heart. Putting the final touches on this alone would have been my undoing and to know I can call you means more to me that you will ever know. Love ya, girly.

  To Kelly Tucker and Amanda Hall, thank you for the help you gave me in finalizing my book. The pieces that were worked on and you’re input.

  To Kim Holden, I wanted to make my character Cara a reader whom other readers could relate to. To use a book that had a profound affect upon the reader. Thank you for giving me the permission to mention your book Bright Side within mine. I am so grateful that I got to meet you at UtopYA 2015 and I cannot wait to continue with my book. I am humbled with how awesome you are. Thank you.

  To Amy Donnelly, OMG! You have dealt with my book drama, my drama and edited my work. My book would not have turned out the way I wanted if I hadn’t found the right person to edit the story that I clicked with. I appreciate the wisdom I learned from you to make my story better. I didn’t want a good book, or a great book, I wanted an EPIC book. And I got that with you.

  To Emily thank you. Thank you for allowing me to read chapters of my book to you. Thank you for encouraging me and for being my friend. I am glad to have you at my side.

  To Tammy Becraft thank you so much. You helped me create the wonderful teasers I shared all over Facebook. I don’t think I would have gotten as far and done as good without the help you gave me.

  To my ladies who are in the BOOK BOYFRIENDS group I run thanks to Aim (Thank you for that honor). You all have helped me in some way or another. You may not know it, but by answering the reader questions you answered many of mine. You are an amazing group of ladies and I am so glad to know each of you.

  To those that have followed me in my group for my book, thank you. Even if you never commented on my comments but you liked what I posted, thank you. My endless posts about what page I was on and how many words I was at. The times I needed visual help and you played a part in picking that visual item. Thank you.

  A big shout out to the ladies of The Tequila Shooters. OMG! Thank you, you ladies and your KA talks, you allowed me to pop in and encouraged me and that is something I can’t thank you enough for.

  I may not have thank you by mentioning your name. But to each and every one of you that encouraged me, motivated me or told me that I got this Thank you. If I could hug each of you I would. Just know that I owe you one if we ever do meet.

  Lastly to the readers. We live in a world where sometime we need to escape reality and get lost in someone else's story. I hope you enjoy this read as much as I enjoyed thinking about it, putting the plan in motion and writing it out. I may be an author, but I am always a reader at heart. I wrote a story that if I were just a reader I would want to read as much as you.

  About The Author

  Tracey Champion was born and raised in Phoenix, Arizona and now reside in Tennessee with her husband and children. She is a stay at home mom, homeschool teacher and support for her family. Tracey is a hopeless romantic who’s first love story was Dirty Dancing and Pretty Woman. She has a love for anything Disney. Tracey began writing in elementary school and wrote more in high school. Her passion will always be with in the stories whether she writes them or reads them.