CHAPTER 21
Once their plane touched down, Penny and Gabe disembarked and headed to retrieve their luggage. Penny was feeling somewhat apprehensive on facing Shane once again but Gabe had put her fears to rest. She had no reason to feel the way she was, he mentioned, and that everything will work out. She just had to have a little faith. Crossing through the airport, Gabe lead her towards the parking area where he had left his car before taking the flight to New York. After seeing the line up at the car rental kiosk, Penny was relieved they didn’t have to wait. Once Gabe remembered where he had parked, they made their way over to a black BMW and he took out his keys and pressed the button to open the trunk. “At least it will be a comfortable drive” she said as she picked up her bag to place it in the trunk. “Nothing but the best. Gets a little hard on the ass on such a long drive” Gabe responded with a grin and a chuckle. He leaned down to pick up his bag when he felt something hard hit him on the back of the head. The last thing he heard was a scream before everything went dark.
Marcus had been waiting for an hour until the plane landed. He had a few weeks to track down his target and with a little help from a few of his associates, it wasn’t hard to find out where she was. Marcus never really cared much for this type of work, especially when it concerned women. But his finances were a bit strained lately and turning down this job would’ve been stupid. Besides, he wasn’t doing anything extreme, just picking up and dropping off. When his contact in New York told him his target would be accompanied by a man, he decided he would need extra help. Not that he couldn’t take care of it himself but it was wiser with another set of hands. He picked up Jeremy at a seedy bar in the lowest part of town and with the incentive of a few bills, he was more than willing to help. Once he spotted his target, he directed Jeremy to the woman while he would take care of the man she was with. Jeremy had the chloroform ready and Marcus had his trusty club at hand and within minutes, part one of the job was completed. Marcus left the man where he fell and helped Jeremy carry the woman to the van they had stolen and left the scene. Once he dropped off this particular little package, Marcus decided he was going to take a nice long vacation somewhere far away. He did his part, now all he needed to do was finish it and drop her off and get his money. The farther away he was from Lynesse when this was done the better. He didn’t trust her to keep his part in this quiet if anything went wrong. The last thing he wanted was to end up in jail because she couldn’t keep her mouth shut.
Lynesse was full of nerves and jumped at every noise she heard. It wasn’t time for Marcus to drop off Shane’s little tramp but it didn’t matter. She was excited and scared at what she had done but she knew it was something that needed to be taken care of. She needed to remove what he believed was someone he wanted so that he could realize it was her, Lynesse, that he truly wanted to be with and loved. Lynesse played the scenario in her mind countless times with Shane always at her feet begging her forgiveness for being blind to his feelings for her. As Lynesse sat and daydreamed, she didn’t hear the door open with Marcus entering while carrying a limp figure over his shoulder. She contained a giggle of excitement, “Put her in the room, last door on the left”. She followed Marcus to the room and watched as he laid the woman on the bed. Lynesse went forward and began to shackle her arms and legs to the bed. The last thing she wanted was this person to find a way out and ruin everything she had worked hard planning. “She should be out for a couple hours, at least” Marcus said as he left the room with Lynesse behind him. He wanted to leave as quickly as possible and get as many miles between them as possible. Once back in the living room, Marcus turned to Lynesse and inwardly cringed at the look on her face. She looked like the cat that just swallowed the canary. “I want the rest of my payment now” he said, itching to get out. “As agreed, once the job was completed you will get the rest of your money” she said as she walked towards the couch. Lynesse laid down feeling satisfied that everything went smoothly. All she needed to do was keep that woman closeted away for a couple of days until Shane came to his senses. She needed to be very careful now. “My job is done. I picked her up and brought her here. That was the agreement” Marcus stood above her looking down at the woman who laid on the couch looking smug. Lynesse looked up at him and smiled, “No. It’s not done. Someone needs to be here when she wakes up. She can’t know that I’m involved in any way. Once Shane is mine then you can let her go. Drug her and drop her off somewhere. No one can know that I had a hand in this”. She stretched, stood up and walked towards the table where her purse sat. Picking it up, she turned and looked at Marcus. He didn’t look too happy but if he wanted the rest of his money he will do as he’s told. “That wasn’t part of the plan and you know it. We had an agreement” Marcus said with a lethal tone in his voice. “Plans change” she said and walked out the door. Marcus stared after her. How the hell did this happen? Marcus was about to walk out the door and chase her down but then thought twice about it. He knew she could make things real bad for him, being a wealthy bitch, she would walk away while he would be rotting in a cell and there was nothing he could do about it. Or could he? Marcus sat down on the couch and started to find ways to cover his ass. If things went wrong and he ended up going down for a scheme she concocted, then he was going to make sure she went down with him. Feeling a little less agitated, he picked up the remote control and turned on the tv. Things were going to get interesting and, for once, he was at the front of the line. He didn’t like being double played by anyone and Lynesse was going to find that out soon enough.
CHAPTER 22
Gabe woke up with a splitting headache and people poking and prodding him. He tried sitting up but felt woozy. “Easy there, buddy. You’ve got a bump on your head and you’ve been out for a while” a voice from nowhere, it seemed, said to him. Gabe tried to focus his eyes on where the voice came from. Staring down at him was a guy in a blue uniform. “What happened?” he asked, trying to remember. “It would seem that you fell and hit your head” the guy in the blue uniform said “Someone passed by, saw you lying here and called 911”. Gabe didn’t remember falling down. He did remember putting his luggage in the car, heard a scream then all went dark. Penny! “Where’s Penny” he asked. “Who’s Penny”? the medic asked. He looked around when he said the name but no one came. “What do you remember?” he asked while helping Gabe to sit up. “We were putting our luggage in the car and I felt something hit me and then I heard her scream. Everything went dark after that” Gabe was beginning to panic. What the hell happened?! “You were the only one we found here” he said “Are you sure there was someone else? Could it have been a tire screeching you heard instead?” “No! We came together from New York. She’s got to be here somewhere” Gabe didn’t like this one bit. He didn’t think Penny would leave him lying here on the ground, at least he was hoping she wouldn’t. The medic looked at him and found that he wasn’t just imagining it and there was someone else who wasn’t anywhere to be found. “Someone call the officer over here” the medic yelled to anyone who would be listening. Once the cop showed up, the medic began telling him what Gabe had said and soon enough, the cop was asking Gabe questions regarding the ‘missing woman’. Gabe told him everything he knew about Penny, about their trip and the last time he had seen her which was….when? “How long have I been out for?” he asked, hoping it wasn’t long at all. “We don’t know really” replied the medic “What time did your flight arrive?” Gabe told him the time and taking into consideration the length it took to go to baggage claim then the parking lot and the time he was found, they estimated around an hour and a half. “God! She could be anywhere!” Gabe exclaimed. This really can’t be happening. Why would anyone take her? “I need to call my father. He is expecting me and is going to want to know what is going on” He dreaded telling Shane about what had happened and that Penny is missing. If he was close to the edge before he left, this will certainly give him the incentive to walk over it. He had no idea how he was going to explain it. “Once we ge
t you to the hospital to get checked you can call anyone you want” the medic said. “I don’t need to go to the hospital. I feel fine, really” he needed to get out of there and to Shane’s immediately. The longer he sits here the harder it’s going to be to find her. “I’ll put out a missing person’s report on the woman, sir. It hasn’t been that long so I’m sure we’ll find her soon enough” the officer said, then turned towards his car to call it in. Gabe knew how those things normally turned out and he wasn’t about to just sit around and wait until he got the bad news. He needed to get up and get going, needed to start doing something besides being transported to a hospital where he knew time was precious. Against the medic’s advice, Gabe got up and made his way to his car. Before he turned the key, he picked up his cell and dialed his father’s number. If Shane still wasn’t up to par the last thing he wanted to do was shoot him in the foot, so to speak. He sighed when he heard his father on the other end. “Hello dad? We have a problem” Holten heard it in his son’s voice something was wrong “What happened?” Gabe took a huge breath, “Penny is missing”. And with that, he began to tell his father what happened. After hanging up the phone, Gabe put his head back against the seat, “Cathy is gonna kill me”.
CHAPTER 23
Penny felt awful. Her mouth was dry, her head hurt and her body was aching. She knew she wasn’t in an accident so she couldn’t understand why she was feeling this way. Trying to sit up, she realized that her hands and feet were bound. ‘What the hell?’ she thought as she tried to focus on her surroundings. Looking around, she noticed a dresser, side table, a lamp, a window and a chair in the corner. She knew she was on a bed but…whose bed? Panic set in. Penny tried to remember what had happened but all she could remember was her and Gabe at the airport, putting the luggage in the car and then…’Oh my God!’ She remembered seeing Gabe get hit on the back of the head by some huge guy, then smelling something awful, then…lights out. Tears began to well up as Penny remembered Gabe sinking to the ground. ‘Oh God please let him be alive. Please! Testing her bindings, she started to struggle but soon realize she wasn’t going anywhere. Feeling frustrated, she began to yell “Hello! Anybody?! Hello!” Her head felt like it was going to split open but her yells didn’t go unheard. Hearing footsteps walking down the hall, Penny started feeling a bit apprehensive. The door opened and she recognized the form in the doorway “You!” she said “Where’s Gabe?! What have you done with him?! Gabe! Gabe, can you hear me?!” Penny yelled herself hoarse and her throat was beginning to hurt. Marcus walked up to her and stared at the tiny woman lying helpless in bed “He’s not here” was all he said. He turned to leave but Penny needed water “Can I have some water?” she asked, hoping she would get some. Marcus stopped and looked over his shoulder “Are you gonna stop screaming if I do?” “Yes” was all she could say. Her throat was so sore and dry, she couldn’t say anything else if she wanted to. Her efforts were wasted on yelling. “Wait here” he said, smiling and left the room. ‘Smartass. I’ve been abducted by a fucking comedian’. Penny was trying to figure out why she was here in the first place. She surveyed her surroundings more hoping she would find a clue as to where she was. The more she looked, the more she saw only a bedroom. A regular, badly decorated, small bedroom. “Someone should fire the decorator” she said as Marcus entered the room with a glass of clear liquid. As he walked up to her he smiled, ‘this one’s got sass’ he thought as he sat next to her and held up the glass so she could drink. “What’s so funny?” she asked between sips. She knew that if she could get him talking maybe he will let something slip and tell her where she is and why she was there. All he did was smile. When she had finished drinking, he stood up and turned to head back out the way he came. “Why am I here?” she called after him, needing to know at least that much. Marcus looked over his shoulder once again “You pissed someone off” was all he said before closing the door behind him.
CHAPTER 24
When Holten hung up the phone, he was feeling stunned. He was relieved to know that his eldest son was fine but he didn’t know what to tell Shane. Should he tell him? Holten decided to wait until Gabe showed up so that they both can be there when he heard the news. “This is not good” he said to himself. Where the hell could she have gone? Holten didn’t like speculating on anything until he heard all the facts and once Gabe got here, he was going to hear everything.
Shane got out of the shower feeling human once again. Although he still didn’t feel up to par, he was beginning to become himself and able to accept the fact that Penny just didn’t want to see him again. Yea, it hurt but what could he do? She had asked him not to contact her and he will respect her wishes even if it’s the last thing he wanted to do. Feeling a bit breathless, he sat on the bed and started reliving the times he and Penny had spent in it. The way she laughed, the way she touched, the way she felt. Shane let out a long sigh and began to get dressed. He knew he needed to get a grip but forgetting her was something he just couldn’t do. He felt too much for her and thought too much of her. Shane headed downstairs and made for the kitchen. He knew his father was still here and even though he wasn’t in the mood for any company, the old man was stubborn. Walking in, he saw his father behind the stove, cooking up a storm. “Since when did you know how to cook?” he asked as he made his way to one of the stools at the counter. He didn’t think Holten knew how to boil water let alone create any kind of meal. “There’s a lot about me you don’t know” smiled his father. “I used to cook a lot when your mother and I were together. It was something we enjoyed doing together” Shane looked at his father as Holten was transported back to memories that Shane never knew. “Mom cooked too? How come she never did when we were around?” Shane never remembered his mother ever in the kitchen let alone making a meal. He always remembered her quietly in a chair, reading a book, getting ready to go to some event or yelling after him after some heart stopping stunt he pulled. It was always the cook that made the meals. Even when they went on vacation, they never left home without him. “When you were about six, her health began to fade. Some days she was strong to attend the charities that were close to her heart and other days, she only had the strength to sit up. The disease was eating away at her and there was nothing we could do but keep her happy and comfortable. Cooking just wasn’t possible for her anymore” Holten plated a pan friend chicken breast with herbs, boiled potatoes with vegetables that he found in the fridge and handed it to Shane. “Here, eat this. It will strengthen you up” and Holten handed him a fork. Shane took a bite and was surprised that it was actually edible. Holten smiled at his son’s expression “Not everything I do is bad, you know” and handed Shane a glass of juice. Leaving less than half a plate, Shane thanked his dad, got up and made his way to the backyard. He needed air and someplace to think. Holten watched him leave and began to clean up. His heart went out to his youngest son and he felt a tear well up in his eyes. “Damn old age” he said to himself as he wiped it away and started the dishwasher.
CHAPTER 25
Lynesse walked into the mansion feeling extremely good about herself. Soon the word will get out that Shane’s little tramp is gone and it will seem that she wants nothing more to do with him. “And that’s where I step in” she smugly said to herself. Soon Shane will see that it’s Lynesse that he really wants and all she has to do is wait for him to come through the door and beg her forgiveness. Walking up the stairs, she stopped a maid as she was passing by “Where is my husband?” she asked not really caring about the answer. Her and Holten’s marriage is more convenience than anything else and what he did or where he went was none of her concern. “Mr. Somers is at his son’s, Madam” replied the maid. She really didn’t like conversing with Mrs. Somers, she always had some kind of look in her eyes that made the maid wary. “Son’s? What time did he leave for Gabe’s?” “No, Madam. He is at Mister Shane’s this evening” and she continued to walk down the stairs. The faster she can get away, the less chance of the Mrs. wanting to continue their discussion.
“At Shane’s? Why would he go to Shane’s? They haven’t spoken to each other in years” Lynesse didn’t like it. She didn’t like it one bit. If that old fool tries to ruin her plans she will be sure to make his remaining days on earth miserable. No one ruins her plans. No one! Lynesse continued upstairs to her suite of rooms. ‘I’m going to need to change before leaving for Shane’s. Who knows what that old man is telling him’ She walked into her closet and chose an ensemble that was very fetching on her. As she held it up to herself and looked in the mirror, she began to smile “He won’t resist me wearing this” and began to undress. Once Lynesse was ready to leave, she hesitated. She’d admit she was impulsive but she wasn’t stupid. For what reason would she have to go to Shane’s now? “You need to be smart, Lynesse” she said to herself and she stared at her reflection. “If you show up knowing something you’re not supposed to, everything you’ve planned will go to hell”. Instead, she decided to lay low for the evening and wait until Holten got back. She would get some explanation as to why he was at Shane’s and then she would run to his side. Yes, that decision was better than her first and she rang for the maid. She needed to know exactly when Holten came home. Feeling good about herself, she slipped out of her clothes and donned her robe. She was just going to relax and wait and then she can proceed. As soon as she sat on the chaise, the maid entered and Lynesse gave her the order. Once the door closed, she laid back and waited.
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