by Ashley Jade
My father backed up and hit me over the head with the gun, blood trickled down my face and I became dizzy.
He backed us up further. “See? Look what you made me do. Now I told you—do not talk about this here. I will contact you when I’m good and ready. And if you contact the authorities, I guarantee you; I will kill her before they ever take me. Now, say your goodbye's, lovebirds."
Jacob cursed under his breath before looking at me. “Leah, I will get you out of this. I promise. I will do whatever it takes. I'm so sorry—” he started to say, before I cut him off.
“I know,” I said, my voice starting to crack now.
Nothing else mattered anymore. I knew I was never going to see him again once my father took me out of these woods. I just had to keep Danny and him safe for as long as I could. It was my only option.
He looked me in the eyes. “Leah, I love you.” His expression was a combination of both anguish and fear.
His words caused both a flutter and twinge of despair in my heart.
I knew he couldn't mean those words. Even if he cared about me on some level now, I knew he couldn't truly love me.
Love wasn’t selfish, nor was it a threat or something to barter with. Love was something that took over and controlled you, never the other way around.
I knew that now.
Therefore, Jacob would never love me—because he would always love money and control more. His letter made that perfectly clear. What he was feeling at the present moment, was a combination of guilt and pity.
I needed him to take care of Danny, though. I knew he'd be willing to do that for me, at least.
I gestured my head toward Danny. “If you love me, then please take care of my brother.”
He moved closer to Danny. “Of course. I promise.”
My father yanked on my arm. “Time to go.”
I planted my feet on the ground. I still had one thing I wanted Jacob to hear. Two things actually. I needed him to know— that even though he didn't really love me—I still loved him with everything I had in me.
And I also had to try and protect him. “Jacob, I love you—mark, my words—”
I saw something flicker in his eyes and I silently prayed that he would be able to figure out my secret message.
I didn't have time to see if he registered what I was really saying, because my father picked me up, put me over his shoulder, and took off running.
I looked up and tried to fight the awful, gut-wrenching feeling tugging on my heart.
The one telling me—it would be the last time I would ever see Jacob or Danny again.
Chapter 22
“Time to wake up now, princess,” my father sneered.
I opened my eyes and adjusted to the dimly lit room. I must have passed out at some point during our travels, either that, or I was drugged.
I look around at my surroundings. One thing was certain, I'd never seen this place in my life.
It looked like it was an underground factory of some sort. Or, it used to be because it was converted to some type of living dungeon area now.
I shuddered, it was frightening.
That feeling only intensified when I looked down and noticed that my hands and feet were tied to my chair. “Where are we?”
My father narrowed his eyes at me from across the room. “You know I can't tell you that.”
He began making his way toward me with some sort of tray in his hand. Food maybe? He took a seat across from me and put the tray on the table.
I tried to wiggle around the restraints. “I'm not hungry.”
I went still when my father lifted the top off the tray and my blood ran cold.
It certainly wasn't food he was trying to serve me.
A hypodermic needle, along with a bag of what looked to be heroin laid there, waiting.
He really was going to kill me like he did to my mother, or at least, it appeared that way right now.
I lifted my head and looked at him. “Please don't kill me.”
“Relax,” he said. “I'm not going to kill you. You're still my bargaining chip against Jacob. Who still hasn't budged by the way. Even though, it's been over 24 hours.”
He began mixing up the heroin and drawing it into the syringe. “You wouldn't know that, though, because I gave you a tranquilizer. But, I'm going to do you one better now. And trust me, you'll thank me for it."
How could he do this to me? How could he hate me so much?
“Before you do that. Can you just tell me why? Please, Dad,” I begged, hating that I was starting to sob now.
He pulled up a chair and looked at me, and I saw a flicker of what looked to be— kindness? Or maybe, remorse—flash in his eyes, before he spoke, “I suppose it is about time we've had a heart to heart.”
He lifted a shoulder in a shrug. “You know you really do remind me of your mother, Leah. She had a good heart, way too good for the things I put her through.”
He looked up and sighed. “God, that woman was the most beautiful woman I have ever laid my eyes on. Inside and out. She was headstrong, stubborn, yet kind and soft. Her smile could light up the entire world. She was my world, Leah.”
He shook his head and closed his eyes. “I was never good enough for her, though, but she loved me anyway. I let my own insecurities ruin that. I never felt good enough for her, that's why I became a drunk. My self-worth was nothing and I had a wife and a daughter to support, on a janitor's salary. I knew it was only a matter of time before your mother would up and leave me, she could have any man she wanted. Ironically enough, my drinking caused my worst fears to come true.”
His face hardened. “She was going to leave me, I knew it was coming soon. But I thought, that if I made more money and became a better provider, it would stop it all from happening. Boy was I wrong—but obviously, I didn't know it at the time. So, I made a deal with the devil....otherwise known as Richard Sand. That deal gave me something that alcohol never could.”
He looked down. “That deal made me feel like I was worth something, for the first time in my life. People didn't look at me like some pissant janitor anymore. People looked at me like I had power and control—like I was someone important. The feeling was so powerful, I didn't even need to drink anymore."
“You got your self-worth by destroying the lives of innocent girls. Don't you feel any remorse for that? You may not have been the one to physically do it, but you ruined them—"
He cut me off. “I know, Leah, and a big part of me hates myself for it.”
He ran a hand through his graying beard. “God, You sound exactly like your mother did, when she found out what it was that I was up to. Hence, why she started drinking. Which destroyed me. I was doing this for her, in my own fucked up way. I know it was wrong, but I couldn't stop. Not until I had enough money. My goal was 50 million.”
He sat up in his chair. “I figured that would be more than enough to set us up for a great life, especially with Danny being the new addition to the picture. I told your mother we would leave, and never look back. I told her that I had one more girl to take and it would all be over. I had 49 million saved up in my private offshore account.”
His gaze traveled over to me again. “You were going to get me to that 50 million, Leah. I saw the way all of the men looked at your mother. Your mother was beyond captivating. Every man was drawn to her, even when she was a drunk. I would never let another man have her—but what better way to make a guaranteed million, then offer them a miniature version of her—” he said before I cut him off.
I felt like I was going to throw up. “But I’m your daughter! My god, you're sick—”
He raised a hand, silencing me. “I know, Princess. However, despite what you may think, and despite how I treated you all those times I was drunk, I never had any intention of letting those men touch you. I was going to steal the money. I told your mother the plan. She seemed to go along with it. Or so I thought.”
He pinched the bridge of his nose. “Unfortunately, by tha
t point, our marriage was on its very last thread. Even in her drunken state, she’d had enough of me. Either that, or she just didn't trust me not to do it in the first place. I can't say I blame her. Because instead of alcohol, I was drunk with power. I was so far gone, I didn't know how much your mother hated me.”
His voice dropped to a whisper, “I didn't know that her hate, could make her come up with a plan that was supposed to keep me away from her, you and Danny forever. I didn't know that she made a deal with the same devil I did. At least, her intentions were noble, at first. She just wanted to protect you and stop my business from happening. Stop me from hurting any more girls.”
I tried my hardest not to break down and stay strong. “So she did it then? She came up with the plan to kill Jamie, along with Jacob's dad?”
His expression turned solemn. “Yes. I just thought it was a regular last minute transaction. A quick 20,000 dollars. Nothing more, nothing less.”
I opened my mouth to tell him off, but he held up a hand. “In regards to you, I knew Richard was pissed about me increasing the bid. Mark played his part like a champ, though. He was the other bidder by the way. It was only a set up to get Richard's money, though. Then, I was going to steal it from him. I figured it was the least he could do for me.”
He blew out a breath. “Anyway, in terms of Jamie, I did what I was supposed to do and delivered Jamie to the designated spot. Middle of the night, in the woods. After that, I left and went to the bar to drown in my sorrows over losing your mother. She filed for divorce that day.”
His gaze turned sinister. “Imagine my surprise, when I'm sleeping off my drunk state in the parking lot of the bar, and I wake up to police officers arresting me for murder. Imagine my surprise—when my own little girl, sat on the stand and begged the court to put me away forever, so I couldn't hurt her anymore."
I looked him right in the eyes. “I don't regret it. You may not have killed Jamie, but you deserved what you got.”
He seemed to consider this for a moment before replying, “I disagree with that, but that’s a given. Anyway, as soul-crushing as that was. Your mother was the real one who tore out my heart and soul.”
His nostrils flared. “I found out that she was having an affair with Richard while I was in prison. I wrote her and told her that he was a child rapist, was into prostitutes, and would never, ever, love her, but she told me that I was wrong. She told me that he had changed. That he didn't have sex with girls or prostitutes anymore. She said that he only had sex with her—that he only wanted her now. She said that he loved her and she loved him.”
He chuckled and shook his head. “I told her, to stop hitting the bottle and not to kid herself. She became angry and cut off contact with me for a few years. It killed me, but I still had Mark keep tabs on her. I'll get into that in a second, though.”
He turned in his chair to face me directly. “I know you want to know what happened to her Leah, and I will tell you. But first, I should probably explain how your boyfriend is involved in all this. Mark came to visit me in jail, and we formulated a plan. We were going to blackmail Richard for his billion dollar company and split the profits. Mark was the perfect accomplice. Richard was close to him for years, and he was and is the head of the security team at Sand Corp. More than that, he was the only one that Jacob didn't destroy—because he never suspected a thing."
“What do you mean?”
His forehead wrinkled. “Oh, you didn't know? Jacob decided to take out all the CEO's who were involved in our little auctions. Everyone he suspected, anyway. He is the CEO of an internet security software company—so it was fairly easy for him to narrow down who was involved. Not to mention, the guy’s one hell of a computer programmer and hacker. Richard struck gold when his son developed the software for Sand Corp—at only 15 years old. He’s got some serious skills. Anyway, for the entire six months after his father died, Jacob was a tyrant. He sought to destroy—and destroy he did. Those companies were ruined, and their stocks plummeted. No one likes a pedophile.”
He took a breath. “There were five men involved in my auctions. But he only thinks it was a group of four. He has no idea about Mark. Mark's good at covering up his tracks, seeing as he's the head of security at Sand Corp. It was easy for him—in fact, Mark made it look like another member of the company had stolen all the evidence for me. Poor guy, he never saw it coming. Mark's just that good. So good, Jacob will never see the bullet headed straight for him either—after he gives me the company of course.”
Tears streamed down my face and my voice cracked. “Please, Dad. I will do anything you want. Please don't kill Jacob.”
He shushed me. “Princess, you should be thanking me. You read that letter. That's all he wants from you. However, I'm starting to think that Mark may have overestimated Jacob's feelings for you—seeing as how he still hasn't signed over the company to me yet.”
He flicked an air bubble out of the syringe and I cringed. “Anyway, you want to know about your mother, right?"
I winced and nodded.
“So, after she went whoring around for years with Richard, she finally realized I was right. She finally figured out that she was nothing to him.”
He crinkled his nose. “Besides, her looks had faded. Heroin will do that to you after a few years. Now, imagine my surprise when she contacted me again, begging for my forgiveness. She told me what Richard had turned her into and I was heartbroken for her—truly.”
His hands clenched at his sides. “That's when I started threatening Richard. I told him that I was going to ruin him. I told him that he wouldn't stay alive forever and that Jacob was now my target—since he destroyed the person I loved most, I was going to return the favor. The fucker knew I had contacts on the outside, too. He knew I had an un-accessed bank account full of money. Certainly enough to pay off an assassin.”
He tilted his head back and snickered. “He asked what he could do to save Jacob, his one, and only son. Apparently they were quite close. I told him—nothing would save him, it was going to happen and when he least expected it. He, in turn, told me that he would kill my wife. I told him...go for it, it seemed like she didn't really want to be living all that much anyway—” he said, before I cut him off.
“So Richard killed mom?” I asked, trying to put the pieces of the puzzle together.
He shook his head. “No, Princess. Let me finish.”
He shrugged. “The fact that I was so willing to just throw my wife away, made him take my threats seriously. Before I knew it, he was offering me the company and a guaranteed exoneration—in exchange for Jacob's life.”
He rubbed his chin. “It made me reconsider. But he told me to wait until he was dead first. Apparently he had some kind of heart condition, the irony. I told him, to go fuck himself. He protested and we came to a very long and drawn out standstill.”
He raised a finger. “In the meantime. Your mother kept contacting me. She was beside herself. She didn't want to live anymore. She hated what she had become. I can't say that I blamed her. She told me that if I ever truly loved her, I would kill her—I told her, to lay off the dope.”
He looked down at his feet. “She continued to beg and plead. I got a letter from her every day. She said that she was too much of a coward to do it herself. Then, I called her and she told me that Richard had tried to attack you. She begged me to end her misery after that. She said it was for protection as well as a plea of desperation. She was obviously out of her mind, completely mental. Too bad you weren’t a psychiatrist back then, she could have really used one.”
He crossed his arms. “Anyway, she said that Richard would take me more seriously if I took the life of the person I love the most. She said it would make my threats toward Jacob more credible. She also told me that you had turned 18, and got accepted into med school.”
He gave me a small smile. “I was so proud of you. I know that doesn't mean much, but it's the truth. I never imagined that I would be the father of a doctor. She told me she
knew that you would take care of Danny, and said all the ducks were in a row. She just needed the pain to end. She said she purposely started an argument with you to make sure you and Danny left the house and it was the perfect time to do it. So, I told her I loved her one last time, and I had Mark put a hit out. She went comfortably. She wasn't in any pain anymore. It was a mercy killing.” He paused. “Richard's however, wasn't.”
“You killed Jacob's dad?” I asked, bewildered.
“No. Mark did. Years after he killed your mother. We couldn't have things looking too suspicious. Plus, I wanted to to wait until the company’s stocks and net worth had risen and it was over a billion dollars. That kind of money will make a person very patient, even one sitting in a jail cell. I also wanted to make sure that everything was in place like Richard promised beforehand. Mark assured me it was.”
“Jacob said that his father was on his deathbed when he told him everything. So how did he die? I'm assuming it wasn't via a bullet.”
He began tying a tourniquet around my arm and my stomach turned sour. “Slow poisoning. Mark had to be smart about it. It had to be gradual and untraceable. Luckily it was, autopsy showed it was his heart condition that killed him.”
I blinked back hot tears. “Dad please don't do this. Please.”
Without warning, he plunged the needle into my vein. “Princess. I'm not doing this to hurt you. I'm doing this to save you. I know you're in pain. I'm not trying to kill you—I'm trying to numb you. I'm trying to get Jacob out of your system. I'm trying to make you come to your senses about him—just like your mother did with Richard."
My head started spinning, my ears started ringing, and I immediately threw up.
“Yup, the first hit's always the best. Or so I'm told,” my father said before I fell into a euphoric bliss.
Chapter 23
“Leah. Come on, let's go see the stars,” Jamie's said as she grabbed my hand.
We ran into the woods and stopped at her favorite tree. I jumped up and down frantically. “Look, Jamie. I see a shooting star. Make a wish.”