by Kady Hunt
“That will never happen,” I say.
“It will happen sooner than you think.”
Daniel and I leave the room.
“That went well,” Daniel says, sarcastically.
“Stop stating the obvious, Daniel.”
“What’re we going to do now?” he says. “This was our last hope.”
“Let me think,” I say.
We’ve barely stepped outside the house and gotten to my car, when the phone rings. It’s a blocked number so I pick it up. “Hello Holden,” Pierre says. “How did it go with Mommy Dearest?”
So, he knows that I’m here.
“I have the files, Pierre.”
“Is that true?”
“Yes. Tell me where to bring them.”
“Not so fast,” Pierre says. “Tell me how you got them? Did she just give it to you?”
“What difference does it make how I got them, Pierre?”
“You’re right,” he says. “It doesn’t.”
“So?”
“Did you tell her it was me?”
“Yes, I told her it was you and Natalie.”
“Good.”
“Is there anything else?”
“No,” Pierre says. “Wait for my call.”
And the call ends.
“What the hell?” Daniel says. “You told them you had the files?”
“I wasn’t lying,” I say. “I do have them.”
“No, you don’t!”
“Daniel,” I say. “Trust me. I have something better.”
“Better?”
“Daniel,” I say, grinning. “I know where the files are.”
35.
JAMIE
Pierre ends the call. “He says he has the files.”
Natalie looks at him skeptically. “Are you sure he’s not just saying it?” she says. “Cause I know his mother. And she wouldn’t have listened to some sob story about his girlfriend being taken away.”
“Well,” Pierre glances at me. “What do you think, sweetheart?”
“Look,” I speak, knowing that a lot rides on my next words. “I know Holden’s mom doesn’t care about anyone. But despite her coldness, her sociopathic tendencies, she loves her son more than anything.” I look at Natalie. “Tell me you don’t know that. You know if he threatens to leave her and go separate ways, he can make her do just anything.”
Natalie looks like she’s giving it some thought. “She’s right. The one thing that bitch cares about in this world besides her is Holden.”
“So it’s settled,” Pierre says. “We will keep our promise. We will deliver her unharmed. So long as we get those documents.”
“Yeah,” Natalie says. “I’m kind of bored as it is. Let this stupid little pregnant slut go so we can get back to our lives.”
“It is kind of stupid, isn’t it?” Pierre says, turning to me. “Getting pregnant by the most dangerous boy in the city.”
“I bet she’s regretting it now,” Natalie laughs. “How’s love worked out for you, honey? My advice: get rid of this baby the minute you get home. It’s the only way you’ll survive being in love with Holden Danvers.”
36.
HOLDEN
“Here goes nothing,” I whisper to myself in the dark study and take out the leather bound from in between the shelves and reach in to press the button. The sound of the moving motor is a bit much but I hope it’s going to get lost in a house as big as ours. The shelves start to move, revealing Dad’s secret room.
I turn on my flashlight and go in. Turning on the light might get me unwarranted attention and I want to be as discreet as possible. If someone comes, I’ll just act like a petty thief and make a run for it. I’ve already stepped inside, when I remember something.
I walk towards the shelf right in front of me and take out the leather bound first edition of The Count of Monte Cristo. If there’s anything in this house that I can claim to be my property, it’s this book. Dad used to read it to me all the time. Mom doesn’t even care about books; she has no idea why people even read them. I shove the book inside my jacket and head back into the secret room.
The flashlight shows me parts of everything, but I still have no idea where the vault is. I bet it’s behind one of the paintings, so one by one, I start searching. I’ve almost given up hope when my flashlight reveals a security lock behind one of the Monets. I was right! I’m almost tempted to jump up and down but I don’t.
But before I’ve tried the first combination in my head the light comes on.
Someone starts clapping. “Bravo,” says my mother. “You found the pot of gold, Holden!”
“Mom.”
“Is this your plan?” she says. “Robbing your own mother?”
“Pretty much.”
She takes a seat on the divan and crosses her legs. “I love how passionate you are,” she says. “But your passion, is not consistent with your intelligence, baby; because you may have found the cave full of treasure, but without the secret code, the cave is of no use to you. So how exactly were you planning on getting to the treasure?”
“I didn’t say it was a perfect plan.”
“Didn’t you father teach you anything?”
“You made your son steal,” I say. “Don’t you get it? You’re turning me into something I’m not. But I have no choice.”
“You really want those files?”
“Yes.”
“Are you sure?”
“Yes, Mom. I’m sure.”
She gets up from the divan and walks up to me. “You really love her?”
“What difference does it make to you?”
“I want to know,” she says. “Do you?”
“Yes.”
She looks like she’s trying to get used to that idea but I’m sure she’s still having trouble grasping the idea of love. But then, she turns away from me and walks over to the security panel and punches the code in front of me. Of course I memorize it. The vault opens and my mother takes out an old-looking folder and hands it to me. “This is what you need, Holden.”
It takes me a while to even believe this is happening. I keep thinking this has to be some trap, that anytime now she’s going to tell me she was tricking me and lock me up in a basement forever or something just as drastic. But she’s simply holding out the documents. So, I take them from her. “I…don’t know what to say.”
“Feel their weight,” she says. “Remember, you’re going to have to carry this weight for the rest of your life. I hope you’re ready.”
She says this and leaves the room.
It feels strange.
She didn’t protest; didn’t hug me goodbye or wish me luck.
I guess this means I’m on my own.
“Holden,” she says. “There’s one more thing that you need to fight Pierre.”
37.
HOLDEN
Pierre gives us the location of a remote warehouse that looks like it’s been abandoned for decades. There’s nothing there but big empty halls and old, rusted walls. And even though we
get there before time, there’s no sign of Pierre or Natalie anywhere.
“We’ve been waiting for the past hour!” Daniel says. “Where the hell are they?”
“Look,” I say. “You know they’re going to make us wait, it’s a tactic. They just want to get a rise out of us.”
“Yeah well, they succeeded!”
“You need to calm down, Daniel.”
“Calm down?” he says. “I can’t get over the fact that they might hurt her, how the hell am I supposed to calm down, Holden? And how are you so calm anyway?”
“Because getting frenzied isn’t going to help us,” I say. “We need to keep our wits, Daniel. They could pull anything and we need to be ready for anything. If we let our senses go to shit, we don’t stand a chance against them.”
“You know,” Daniel says. “I don’t even know who you are anymore.”
“What’s that supposed to mean?”
“It means,” Da
niel says. “That you’ve…changed. You’ve turned into some drug lord’s protégé.”
“I am a drug lord’s protégé.”
“And that doesn’t seem to bother you as much as I’d hoped.”
“This is so you, Daniel.”
“Excuse me, what?”
“You think that just because I’m not losing my mind that it means I don’t love her enough or something,” I say. “You just want a reason to hate me because you know she loves me.”
“That’s not true,” Daniel says.
“Oh please,” I say. “If you’d come off your high horse for one second, you’d realize how difficult this is for me. The kind of shit I’ve had to go through just to make sure Jamie comes out okay in the end! You think I haven’t had to make sacrifices? You think I’m fine with being part of some drug empire? Having all those people gunning for me? Jamie is in this because of me, Daniel. How many other people are going to get hurt because of me? You have any idea what it’s like to have that on your conscience?”
He goes silent.
“You’re right, Daniel. I have changed. Because I had no choice. They pulled me into something that I never wanted to part of. Finding out my own mother had been lying to me all this time? How do you think that feels? Finding that the people you were supposed to trust blindly, your parents, Natalie—they turn out to be someone they’re not and I don’t know the first thing about being a drug lord’s heir!”
“Holden, I’m sorry—”
“Hello, Holden.” Natalie’s voice echoes in the empty warehouse.
When I turn to face her she looks just as I remembered, and for a second she seems completely out of place. I feel like she might be playing some kind of prank, that she’s going to fess up now and tell me that but then I see Pierre with a loaded weapon pointed in my direction and a third guy who is holding a tied and struggling Jamie.
“Who’s your friend?” Pierre asks.
“That’s Daniel,” Natalie says. “Don’t worry, he’s clean.”
Pierre gestures to Jamie. “Here she is,” he says. “Just as promised. Not a hair harmed on her body. Even though we could have easily done that. But we always keep our promises, Holden. Do you?”
I unzip the front of my leather jacket and take out the file. “Here,” I say and hold it up for them to see.
“How do we know it’s not fake?” Natalie asks.
“It’s not,” Pierre says, walking toward me with that gun still pointed in my direction. He grabs the document and walks back.
“How do you know?” Natalie asks.
Pierre is checking the contents of the file briefly and then he hands it to Natalie. “I know,” he says.
“Well,” I say. “I kept my end of the deal.”
“Yes,” Pierre says, lowering his gun. “You did.”
He turns to the third guy. “Let her go,” he says.
The third guy pushes Jamie and Jamie starts walking toward us.
My heart feels like someone is playing a game of basketball with it. The panic that was there a moment ago turns into a gigantic stone-like object threatening to make me stop breathing. How I still continue to breathe is beyond me. Something’s going to go wrong, I just know it. He’s not going to let her walk; he’ll do something to hurt her before she’s near us. All of these thoughts fill me with dread and I leave my place and go towards her without thinking. The third guy raises his weapon at me but Pierre stops him. “He’s harmless,” Pierre says. “Stay back.”
I hug Jamie and she looks up at me. “You’re going to be fine,” I say. “Come on.”
I walk back to where Daniel is standing and hand Jamie over to him. “There’s just…one more thing,” Pierre says. “I can’t really let you out of here alive.”
“Pierre,” I panic. “What’re you talking about?”
“Didn’t your dad teach you anything?” Pierre says. “Wait a second…your dad never even told you who he was, or who you were, did he? Tsk tsk tsk. That’s just sad, Holden. I mean, how do you sleep at night? Knowing that both your parents lied to you and led you to this? Sad. So, so sad.” He lifts his weapon hand and so does the other guy. “If only your father had told you never to trust sociopaths, this wouldn’t be happening. But I guess he turned you into some cocky, arrogant prick, who doesn’t know the first thing about this business—and you’re supposed to be the heir? The one who inherits all of that? That doesn’t seem fair!”
“Why’re you doing this?”
“I’ll tell you why,” Pierre says. “Holden. I knew your father since I was a kid. Back when my father used to work for your family. And then I used to work for your dad, which actually wasn’t that bad. But then your dad fell sick and became annoying and your mother started poking her nose into everything and it all fell to her. And you know what it’s like working for your mother, Holden? It’s not easy, that much I can tell you. So, I have all this experience, and a whole bunch of people who’re willing to take my side over your mother’s—so why should I keep working for that bitch? When I can do something for myself with all the money that I’ve earned! And, if I kill you and this bitch girlfriend of yours now, your mother would be devastated but more than that, I would have assassinated the heir!” He walks up to me. “You know what that means, Holden?” he asks. “It means I get to sit on the throne.”
“It will never happen,” I say. “Even if you kill us, there are people who don’t want you on the throne, Pierre. People who know you’re nothing more than a backstabbing, slimy piece of shit, who’s mad at his boss because he didn’t get a fucking promotion.”
I have no idea where these words even came out. I guess being in the middle of a life and death situation makes you creative.
“Every king has to suffer some rebellions,” Pierre says.
“That’s actually true,” I say. “Daniel, take Jamie outside.”
“Don’t you dare move,” Pierre says. “Or I’ll shoot.”
I look right into Pierre’s eyes. “No, you won’t.”
He shoves his gun right into my face and cocks it. “You won’t be so cocky when your brains are spilling all over your friends,” he says. “You think you might want to take back your words, now?”
I grab the gun at the hilt and press it right over my temple. “Do it, Pierre.”
“Pierre,” Natalie says. “Kill the little shit!”
“Go ahead, Pierre.” I say. “Show everyone who’s boss.”
There’s sound of gunfire outside and Pierre loses his attention and the fact that he’s distracted and I’m not, gives me a chance to grab the gun from him and point it towards his face. “You know what that gunfire means,” I say. “Tell your people to leave us alone and you get to leave without getting killed.”
“It’s not possible,” Pierre mumbles. “It can’t be.”
“Would you like to go outside and check?” I ask. “Or will you take my word for it, Pierre? Make up your mind.”
“Pierre!” Natalie screams. “What’s happening?”
I point my gun at Natalie’s foot and take a shot. The bullet pierces her skin and she screams and falls to her knees on the floor, babbling like an idiot. I point my gun at Pierre’s face again.
“You were wrong about me, Pierre. Looks like my dad did teach me a few things after all. Like how to shoot.”
“Pierre!” Natalie yells again, but Pierre is just standing there.
“If you don’t act now,” I say. “Your brains will be the first one that gets splattered. And then, I will do the same to her. You love her, don’t you Pierre? I’m giving you a chance to escape. Just take it. Don’t make me kill you both.”
“Pierre,” the third guy says. He’s bent to assist Natalie and helps her up. “Let’s go. There’s no time.”
Pierre backs away slow. I still have that weapon pointed at him, ready to shoot if he tries anything.
“Okay,” he says. “You win. We’re leaving.”
“Good,” I say. “I was starting to think you guys a
re a bit slow in the head.”
The two help Natalie and before we know it the three of them are gone out the backdoor where they came from.
“What’s going on?” Daniel asks. “I can still hear gunfire outside.”
“Every King has to suffer some rebellion,” I say, almost to myself.
“What’re you talking about?” Daniel says.
“Nothing,” I say. “Just wait here. Take care of Jamie. I’ll be back.”
“Holden no!” Daniel yells. “Don’t go outside!”
But I have no choice.
I hand the gun to Daniel. “This is just in case they return,” I tell him. “You see anyone you shoot first ask questions later, you understand?”
“Yeah,” Daniel says.
I go out the front door and I see them.
Max and his army of people have pretty much gunned down every one of Pierre’s allies.
“Looks like the rebellion is over,” Max says to me and grins.
He’s got blood all over him.
But so do I.
“Thank you, Max.”
Max gives me a big bear hug. “Don’t worry about it,” he says. “It’s my duty to protect you. So, the gunfire really threw them off, huh?”
“Yeah,” I say. “Pierre must have shit his pants when he heard those machine guns. He knew what was going on. After that it didn’t take much to break him.”
“Still,” Max says. “You did good. Considering.”
“Yeah well, I had an advantage over him.”
“What kind of advantage?”
“Pierre thinks I didn’t inherit anything from my father besides the position,” I say. “I used to think the same, but it’s not true. Dad did teach me a lot. He taught me how to stand up to people, and how to not be afraid when everything was going wrong. He taught me how to be calm in times of distress. He taught me to be patient, but he also taught me to be completely impulsive when there’s need for it. He was preparing me for this, even when I didn’t know that’s what he was doing.”