by Zoey Parker
Zane sighed. “I loved my brother, Jake. I mean, he’s a little shit. And sometimes I think Lionel likes him more than he likes me. It’s like that shit from The Godfather.”
“I’m sure your father loves you very much,” I told Zane. “You’re his son. It’s in your blood.”
“Shit ain’t like that in the real world, princess,” Zane said. “Shit ain’t this good. You know that, don’t you, honey?”
I blinked. “I’m not sure I do,” I said. “All families love each other.”
Zane shook his head. “You got a lot to learn,” he said softly. “You got a lot to learn.”
I blinked. Suddenly, I wasn’t in bed with Zane anymore. I was in the back seat of the Mercedes, with Jake and Rico. And we were going towards an unknown destination. I wondered again if they were going to kill me.
“Zane loved you,” I told Jake. “He told me things were difficult, but you should know he loved you.”
“If you don’t shut her up, I’m gonna blow her head off,” Jake said to Rico in a low voice. “Can you keep her from talking?”
Rico turned around. With surprising force, he kicked me hard in the shin. I cried out as pain bloomed in my leg and tears came to my eyes. Awkwardly reaching down, I tried to wrap my bound hands around the throbbing pain but I couldn’t. Rico laughed as tears leaked out of my eyes and fell down my cheeks.
“You hear that, bitch? If you don’t stay quiet, I’ll do worse,” he threatened.
I glared at him but I didn’t speak again. Rico gave me a satisfied smile and turned back around. “Yo, boss, where we goin’?”
“Like I’d tell you,” Jake said dryly.
The minutes faded into hours. I was only slightly aware that we were outside of Morris, perhaps even outside of New Jersey. We drove past field after empty field, and then finally the fields turned into trees. There were hardly any road signs or traffic lights, and I felt all traces of hope leaving me.
No doubt about it, Jake was going to kill me. It was just like in the movies; he’d drive me to a remote location, make me get out of the car, put a gun to my head, and that would be it.
I shuddered with fear.
“Hey, girl, we’re here,” Jake said, as if confirming my fears. “Ready to take a little walk?”
He slowed the car and turned off on a dirt road, leading towards the woods. I shuddered as I watched the sun disappear behind the clouds and the trees. I could already feel a difference in the air; it was cooler, damper than the air back at Zane’s house.
“Please don’t hurt me,” I begged, feeling pathetic.
Rico threw his head back and hooted. The car turned down an unmarked path and Jake yanked the gearshift to a halt. The tires stopped with a grinding screech sound that ricocheted off every single filling in my teeth.
“We ain’t gonna hurt you,” Rico said. He looked at Jake. “Right, boss? We ain’t gonna hurt her.”
Jake climbed out of the car. “Get her,” he said, pointing to Rico. “And don’t take all fuckin’ day. We gotta get out of here soon.”
I shuddered as Rico opened my door and grabbed me, hauling me to the ground with his bulky body. “Come on,” Rico hissed under his breath. “I ain’t got all day waiting for your fat ass to get out of the car.”
My cheeks burned in shame as Rico wrestled me to the ground. I could barely walk — my legs were so weak — but I managed to stay upright. The air smelled good. It was fresh and cool and clean, and for a moment, I took a deep breath and tried to relax.
Jake slapped me hard across the face. “We ain’t gonna kill you,” he said with a grin. “Just in case your boy comes through with that money. But we ain’t gonna take care of you neither,” he added, grimacing at me. “Tie her to that tree,” he instructed Rico.
No matter how I twisted and turned in Rico’s arms, he held me firm. He dragged me across a bed of pine needles and with some rope, bound me to a giant tree.
The bark dug into my bare skin and I whimpered. “This hurts,” I said in a whiny voice. “You tied me too tightly!”
Jake grinned. He climbed back inside the car and rolled down the windows. “Sorry, Blondie. Can’t risk you running off again!” He threw his head back and hooted at his own joke. “You’re gonna suffer, sweetheart. You and that baby in your belly are gonna suffer, and then you’re gonna die. You got that?”
A chill ran down my spine. They did mean to kill me. They just weren’t going to shoot me. Maybe life wasn’t like a mob movie after all.
For a second, I didn’t think they were actually going to leave. But then Rico climbed in the car. Jake rolled up the window and turned the key in the ignition. The headlights practically blinded me and I closed my eyes, screaming at the top of my lungs. If they heard me, they showed no sign of caring. Zane, please find me soon, I begged. The sun was going down and I was already shivering. I couldn’t imagine how cold it would be after dark. Please, Zane. You’re my only hope.
Chapter 30
Zane
When I got to the house, the driveway was empty. My heart sank.
“It ain’t a joke,” I said under my breath. “He shot my fuckin’ father. If he thinks that’s a joke, then I’ll be butched.” I decided to search the house, just in case Jake had left me any clues as to where he was headed. Climbing out of the car, I saw something that made my mouth go dry. “Shit,” I muttered. “What the fuck is that?”
Walking a few feet down the sidewalk, I saw a body. It was an old woman, a woman I recognized. She was someone I’d seen from time to time when I went out to get my mail, or when I kicked a girl out of my house in the wee hours of the morning. She’d been shot in the head. Blood was pooling around her body and her skin already looked like wax. Jake’s third victim, I thought grimly to myself. What a fucking motherfucker he is!
“I’m sorry,” I said to the body, feeling inadequate. Jogging back towards the house, I kicked open the front door. The house looked perfect, just as I’d left it. There was no sign of a struggle. I checked the stairs for blood, wondering how Jake had managed to wrangle Isabella outside so easily. She wasn’t a small woman, but he wasn’t a huge man either. I had to imagine she was so frightened that she either went with him willingly, or he’d surprised her.
Bounding up the stairs two at time, I checked my bedroom for signs of anything foul and unusual. It was a mess: the bed wasn’t made and the drawers had been yanked open, exposing my clothes. That fucker, I thought, realizing Jake must have gone through my drawers, looking for money or a gun. I shook my head, relieved I kept my gun in a secret hiding place: taped to the underside of the bureau. I reached below the bureau and yanked it out, sticking it in the back of my pants.
I’ll get you, asshole, I thought. I was raging. I couldn’t ever remember being this angry. I hadn’t even been this angry when I suspected Lionel was going to pick Jake over me. I’d never felt like this; I’d never felt this horrid sense of betrayal.
And Isabella. Suddenly, I regretted being so harsh with her. I knew that maybe, if I’d been a little kinder, this never would have happened. She never would have tried to leave if I’d shown her the love and support she deserved. But there was no time to wallow now, no time to keep blaming myself. I had to figure out where Jake had taken her, and I had to figure it out fast.
I ran back downstairs and grabbed a few bottles of water from the fridge, along with a sandwich I’d made and hadn’t eaten yet. I figured Isabella would be dehydrated when I found her, and she’d need to eat to keep up her strength for the baby. Jake was a monster. Sure, the family had done some unsavory things in our day, but we’d never hurt a woman before, especially not a pregnant woman.
“There’s a special place in hell for you, Jake boy,” I said as I shoved the foil-wrapped sandwich and bottles of water into a cooler. “And you ain’t gonna be happy when you get there.”
Finally, as a last resort, I checked the dining room. There was nothing missing, but I saw something glinting in the carpet. My heart leapt into my th
roat when I realized it was Isabella’s half of Gianni’s locket. Jake must have dragged her down the stairs, and I imagined it had come off in the struggle.
“I’ll give this back, as soon as I find you,” I promised, tucking the necklace inside of my pocket. “I promise.”
Five minutes later, I was back in the car. The sun was starting to set and I knew I had to get to Isabella fast. The nights in this part of the country got real cold, especially at this time of year, and she was bound to get sick if Jake left her exposed to the elements. I could have killed him; I could have ripped him apart with my bare hands. I couldn’t believe the man who had been raised as my brother would drag my wife and unborn child outside and leave them there. It was medieval, barbaric. The kind of thing he deserved to be tortured for.
On second thought, I ran back into the house and grabbed my tool box, throwing it in the back of my car. When I caught Jake, I was going to make sure he had a very painful time left on earth before departing for hell. A sick grin twisted upon my lips. I’d never been filled with this kind of vengeance.
At first, the violence in the family had made me a little sick. I’d never understood the pleasure Lionel and Gianni took from torturing people. I’d always thought it was a little Roman, a little excessive. But now I understood. The desire to rip Jake apart limb from limb was growing like hot air in my belly. I felt like someone had very literally lit a fire right underneath me, to keep me going, to make me care.
My phone buzzed in my pocket. I relished answering this time, hearing Jake’s voice, knowing I was closing in on him. As soon as Isabella was safe, I was going to rip him apart. “Hi, Jake,” I said in a calm, even voice. “I assume you’re calling to let me know the random is tripled?”
Jake laughed heartily. I wanted to reach through the phone and strangle him. “We dumped Blondie in the woods,” he said with a cackle. “If you find her, she’s yours, Zane!”
I gritted my teeth and let out an animalistic, growling sound. “Fuck you,” I snarled. “Just going to let her die, are you? That’s real classy, Jake.”
“I thought you’d appreciate it,” Jake said. I could picture the very same snarl on his face that I was wearing. “So, you better find her. You know, the nights around these parts of town get real, real cold.”
“I know that, shitwit,” I said, growling again. “Why the fuck are you doing this?”
“Because I want to see you sweat,” Jake said. He laughed. “And because you were really getting on my fucking nerves about that coke deal. You really thought I was going to fucking help you! You really thought I gave a shit about what happened to your status in the business!” He laughed uproariously. “Like I would ever give a shit about you, Zane,” Jake sneered. “You should have learned not to be such a fucking pest. You’re not a man at all. You’re a sniveling, conniving little brat.”
I was seething by the time Jake was done with his statement. “Fuck you,” I replied again. “I’m in the car now, and I’m driving. I know I’ll find her, Jake. And when I do, you’re dead fucking meat.”
“Yeah, right,” Jake said casually. “You ain’t gonna find her. We did a real good job of hiding her, didn’t we, Rico?”
I shuddered. “You let Rico touch my fucking wife?”
“Maybe that’s not all I let him do,” Jake said. I could hear him smiling through the phone. “Maybe it was. Guess you’ll have to find out yourself, won’t you?”
I hung up. I knew Jake hadn’t been on the road with me when he called me the second time. When he was driving, he always used a speakerphone and the quality of his voice wasn’t as good. Only one hour had passed and I knew he couldn’t have gotten very far out of town. Still, the sun was going down and I had my headlights on. It was freezing cold outside, and Isabella had only been clad in a thin blouse and leggings.
I shuddered. If I didn’t find her, she and the baby growing inside her belly would die of hypothermia. I knew it as well as I knew the scars on my own body. Jake had done this very carefully. There was a chance I would still reach her, but it would take me well out of the way, with my house unguarded.
I was glad I’d swung by and grabbed my gun. Hold on, Isabella, I’m coming, I thought as I pressed my foot to the gas pedal and sent the Porsche hurtling down the highway outside of Morris.
I counted the mile markers, trying to calculate how far Jake could have gotten. His car, a Mercedes, was nice but I knew mine was faster and it likely wouldn’t take me as much time as it had taken Jake. Plus, he was carrying Rico — who was heavy — and Isabella.
When I got to mile marker seventeen, I parked my car on the side of the road and ran into the woods. It was fully dark now, and I knew I had to find her as quickly as possible.
“Isabella!” I yelled as loudly as I could. “Isabella! I’m here! It’s me, Zane!”
Chapter 31
Isabella
As I watched the taillights of Jake’s car fade to a dull red glow, I shivered. It’s just you and me, baby, I thought to myself. We’re here alone.
I hadn’t thought it was so cold when Rico first dragged me out of the car. But now that I was alone, I could feel the cold sitting on my skin like an uncomfortable sheath. I must have been panicking or full of adrenaline, but either way I’d thought it wouldn’t be that bad. I wouldn’t be that cold, just a little uncomfortable.
Damn. I’d been wrong. Now that the sun was setting, I was absolutely freezing. I’d always felt cold, even in the summer, but this was far from what I was used to. Goose bumps prickled over my whole body and I cursed myself for only having dressed in a thin top and jeans. I rolled my eyes. I’d thought the worst thing that had ever happened to me was being ignored by Zane after our first night together. God, had I ever been wrong.
“I’m sorry,” I said to the empty air around me. The woods were eerily quiet; there was no buzzing, no humming, nothing to indicate that I was surrounded by life. I shivered. I knew the woods were full of bugs and animals, but right now I didn’t hear anything. Maybe it was because of the cold, or maybe Jake and Rico had scared them off.
“I get why you’re afraid,” I said softly. “They scared me, too. But they’re gone now. You can come out now.”
I laughed to myself. I was going crazy; talking to the woods like this! I should be ashamed. It was as bad as when I used to flounce around as a little girl, hell-bent on talking to my stuffed animals, and crying when they wouldn’t talk back to me. Mom had always said I’d been a weird child. I didn’t think she was correct; I was a weird adult. As a child, I’d been normal, just a bit imaginative.
I was so cold. I could feel the tip of my nose getting cold, the fat on my upper arms getting cold. My legs were cold inside of my jeans and my feet were sore from standing on them. Rico had lashed me so tightly to the tree I could barely move. I was balanced on my tiptoes and every time I sank down, pain shot through my calves and thighs.
“I’m sorry,” I said again. But this time, I didn’t know who I was apologizing to. The baby? Myself? My dead parents? “God, I’m a disappointment,” I added sadly, hanging my head.
My hands were still bound in front of me, but thick rope was wrapped around my torso and midsection. The tree Rico had found was gigantic. I guessed it was at least two hundred years old. When I looked up, leaves and branches obscured my view of the sky. In the distance, I could see the North Star shining on in twilight obscurity.
“Zane, please hurry up,” I begged. “Please, please, please!”
I closed my eyes, like I was making a wish. A sharp, painful memory struck me. Once, when I was a little girl away at camp, I’d been desperately homesick. I missed my mother. I hadn’t wanted to go to camp but Janice had talked me into it and I was stuck there. One night, I snuck away from the bonfire and stood alone in my cabin. Even now, I thought I could smell it: dust and little girl sweat and pine needles. We had watched The Wizard of Oz earlier in the day since it had been raining during the hour we’d normally have spent swimming. I’d never seen it
before, and couldn’t wait to try something out. Even though I had stained tennis shoes instead of ruby slippers, I’d hoped it would work.
I’d stood on the floor of the cabin, closed my eyes, and said, “There’s no place like home” over and over again, spinning in a circle on the dirty floor. My imagination must have been pretty good as a little kid because for a moment, I could have sworn I was home. I could almost smell Mom’s fresh cooking and feel the soft comforter on top of my bed.
But when I’d opened my eyes, it hadn’t worked. I was still at camp, and there were still two weeks to go before I could go home.
Now, I couldn’t escape the fact that I was stuck in the forest. Something moved inside my belly and I cried out — I still wasn’t used to feeling the baby move. I tried to shift downward, taking the rope away from my lower belly. Even though Rico and Jake had hurt me, I didn’t want them to hurt the baby. I wanted to protect it with all my life, to make sure it would be okay no matter what.