by Jessica Wood
“I’ll tell you this, you’re a lot smarter than your dad.” The mayor laughed heartily while he stared at me with cold eyes. “My father was in this business for years. He told me I needed to recruit someone to help with the business. I was friends with your dad. He was poor. I figured I had the perfect guy. I didn’t anticipate him becoming a loser, though. How is your drunk of a father, by the way?”
“Don’t you ever—” I moved forward to go and hit him, but Vincent grabbed my arm and stopped me.
“It wasn’t easy.” The mayor looked at us with a baffled expression. “I thought he would have jumped at the chance to make some extra money, what with him having none. But he wasn’t interested in hearing about any of my schemes. He just wanted to go to college, get a degree, and find a good job.
“So why did you have to take that away from him?” The words fell out-of-my mouth. What sort of evil person would deliberately do that to someone else?
“He stole the woman I loved.” His expression changed. “From the moment, I laid eyes on your mother, I knew. She was the one for me. She was my everything. And then your dad stole her, and I begged her to take me back. I told her I’m rich, I have the money, I can take care of her. And she said to me she didn’t care. Money meant nothing to her. She loved your dad and wanted to see where it went with him. Well, I took care of that.” He laughed bitterly. “She never had to worry about having too much money or that she was with him for anything but love.”
“How could you do that? You had Maddie’s mother.”
“Ha, I never loved her.” He shook his head. “She gave me Maddie, who is the light of my life. But I’ve never loved her or felt the same passion as I did for your mom.”
“You’re an evil man.” I stepped towards him unseeing but ready to hurt. My heart sagged with pain and the thirst for revenge and I wanted to make him cry out. I wanted to hear him scream for my forgiveness. I wanted to make him pay. Vincent must have seen the look in my eyes because he reached forward and grabbed my shoulders. I tried to push him off of me, and he tightened his grip. “Let me go,” I growled at him and his eyes pleaded with me to stop.
The mayor looked at us both in disgust and was about to step forward when his phone rang. He frowned and pulled it out and answered it.
“Hello, dear, what is it? I’m busy.” His face paled and I saw him look at me quickly. “They took Maddie? What? How much? Don’t call the police yet.” He hung up and faced me, his face as white as a sheet. “What have you done with Maddie?”
“What are you talking about?” I felt faint as I stared at him. All my worst fears were coming true and I was scared to hear what he was going to say. All of my anger and hatred faded as worry seeped into my heart. I was scared that he was going to tell me that something bad had happened to Maddie.
“Maddie has been kidnapped.” His voice cracked. “They want me to deliver a million dollars for her safe recovery. They called my wife.” He looked away from me. “They said they would kill her if I didn’t give them the money.”
“Who took her?” I heard the words but they didn’t seem like they were coming out of my mouth. I had a bad feeling that I knew who had taken her. Everything around me seemed like it was spinning out of control, and all I could think was, what had I done?
“I was hoping you would tell me that.” His eyes narrowed as he looked at me and Vincent. “Where’s the third brother?”
“Home.” I swallowed hard, not wanting to believe Jared had anything to do with it. He was my brother. I knew he hated Maddie, but he also knew that I loved her. I didn’t want to believe that he could do this to me or to her, but as I thought back to the last few conversations we had had, I started to think that maybe he thought this was the only way. The mayor’s phone rang again and he answered it quickly. “Hello.” He spoke quickly and then he put it on speakerphone so we could all hear it.
“I have your daughter. I want a million dollars by eight p.m. tonight or I will kill her.” The voice sounded calm, and Vincent and I exchanged a worried look.
“Where is my daughter?” The mayor shouted into the phone. “I will have you arrested.”
“You can’t do anything to make my life any worse than it is. But I can make yours a lot worse. Trust me.” There was a sudden noise and then a high-pitched scream. “I will call you back in a few hours. Do not call the police or get anyone else involved, or you will not see Maddie alive again.” And then the phone went dead. We all stood there in shock and fright and I stared at Vincent wordlessly. I didn’t know what to say or do. I had to find Maddie and save her. There was no way I could live with myself if anything happened to her, but I was also scared about what would happen to her kidnapper. I knew I would do anything to get her back safely, but I also knew that it could cost me everything. Because I knew the voice on the phone. I knew who had kidnapped Maddie. It was Jared.
Chapter Thirteen
Maddie
I shivered in the cold room and tried to keep my eyes open, though it was really hard because I hadn’t been to sleep as yet. I pinched myself in an attempt to stay awake and tried not to scream when I saw something scurry across the room. I took a deep breath and tried to calm my nerves. I saw Jared pacing up and down in the corner with a gun in his hands and I looked away quickly. I was scared and frazzled, and I knew I was out of it. I really needed to sleep for a few hours to refresh my brain, but I hadn’t been able to.
Jared had called me twice last night. The first two times I hadn’t picked up the phone as I had been busy with Joey and then with Logan. But when I saw his second missed call, I knew something was up. And then he called a third time, about five minutes after Logan had left, and he had asked me to come down to meet him outside, and now here I was. I looked around the sparse room and thought that it was straight out of a movie scene. I almost smiled to myself at just how surreal everything felt. I felt like I was an actress playing a role, though I’d never practiced being kidnapped before. All my senses were working in overdrive, and I buried my face in my lap for a moment, while I tried to gather my thoughts.
“Do you have any water?” I asked him quietly. My throat was dry and I really needed something to drink.
“No.” he shook his head. He stared down at the gun, and I shivered at the sight of the metallic weapon. “Sorry, I didn’t think about that.”
“It’s okay.” I looked away from him quickly, as I felt my eyes welling up with tears and I didn’t want him to see how upset I was. I couldn’t believe that it had all come to this. Everything I thought I knew about the Martellis was wrong. They weren’t the men I thought they were, and my heart broke at my complete and utter naiveté. My life would never be the same again, and I wasn’t sure how I would ever get past this, and that was if everything went well. I felt like this summer I had grown from a girl to a woman. I’d been so naïve when I had gone to meet Logan at the pier, my only hope had been to impress him and get to know him. I’d been thrilled and excited to finally meet him, and I hadn’t been scared of anything. It had been like one super-duper rollercoaster ride, and now I was starting to worry I was going to fall out and go crashing to the ground. It had been a mistake for me to pursue Logan like some psycho. I had convinced myself that all was fair in love and war, and that he liked me too, but now that everything had happened, I realized that I had messed up. All I had done was ruin people’s lives. And I had gotten hurt in the process as well. Every fiber of my person was crying inside at this moment. For everything I thought I knew that was wrong. For all the love and joy inside of me that had been captured and tied up. I felt tears welling in my eyes, but I wasn’t going to allow myself to cry. I couldn’t allow myself to cry.
“Your father better love you as much as you say he does.” Jared’s voice was harsh. “I sure hope you really are the apple of his eye and he loves you so much, he will do anything for you.”
“He does.” My words were short and simple. That was one thing I was sure of, my dad would do anything for me. “He’ll
pay.”
“He better pay.” Jared sat down and I could see the strain in his face. He looked up at me with tired eyes, and I thought of Logan as he stared at me. “He better pay or there will be hell to pay.” He looked worried and tense. “And it won’t be just me who goes down, it will be Logan, and Vincent as well.”
“Logan doesn’t know anything, does he?” I whispered, scared to hear the answer. My heart raced as I thought of him. How I loved him. How I wished I could replace every worry and fear and hatred in his heart with love, joy, and happiness. I wished I could kiss away all the hurt he had gone through in his life. It killed me to know that someone I loved could have done this to him.
“Of course not.” He shook his head. “You know that.”
“He’ll be worried.” I bit my lower lip.
“Yes, he will.” Jared sighed. “I really wish you wouldn’t have spoken to him last night.”
“I didn’t want him to think that I wasn’t willing to give him a second chance. I love him and he loves me.” I sighed. “I know we agreed that I shouldn’t talk to him until everything was done, but he begged me, Jared. I saw the fear in his eyes, and the love, and I just couldn’t turn him away. I was so angry after the party. I hated him with everything in me. But I understand why he did it. And he finally opened up to me. I just couldn’t send him away. I needed to see him and be with him. I know now that was a mistake. I should have waited a bit.”
“I know.” Jared shook his head, and rolled his eyes. “What a mess.”
“Love isn’t a mess, though.” I smiled briefly. “At least he knows I love him, no matter what happens. And I know he loves me.”
“This is all a hot mess.” Jared jumped up and started pacing again. “I just hope it works. I want this all to work out for everyone, but for you and Logan especially. I want this to work out for him. He’s always been there for me and Vincent. I’m glad he has someone like you, who loves him as much as you do.”
“It’ll work out.” I jumped up as well and walked over to him slowly. “You need to hurt me.” I stared into his eyes thoughtfully, trying to think of how we could escalate the situation.
“What?” He looked at me in shock.
“You need to punch me or scratch me. Then send a photo to my dad so he knows you mean business.”
“I’m not doing that.” Jared stepped away from me and shook his head vehemently. “I’m not going to hit you.”
“It’s not a request, Jared.” I stared at him wildly. “He needs to know you mean business. We can’t let anything happen to Logan.”
“What do you think he’s planning to do?” Jared looked at me, and for the first time, I really saw just how scared he was.
“I don’t know. I honestly don’t know.” I looked down. “If you had told me a few months ago that this was who my father was, I would have laughed. I never would have believed any of this, but now, well, now, a whole lot of things are making sense.”
“He better not hurt him.” Jared gripped the gun in his hand I saw his fingers on the trigger. “If anything happens to Logan, I don’t know what I will do.”
“You need to be careful with that. Is the safety on?” I touched his shoulder gently.
“I don’t know.” His finger moved away from the trigger quickly. “How can I tell?”
“Give it to me.” I took my father’s gun from his hand and checked it. “Let’s just put it down for now. I don’t want anyone getting hurt.”
“I don’t know why you brought the gun.” He trembled as he looked at it.
“I’d rather we have it than him.” I shrugged. “I couldn’t have let Logan go to that meeting this morning if I had known Dad had the gun available.”
“You really love Logan, don’t you?” Jared looked at me in amazement. “I’ve never met anyone, asides from Logan, who thinks about others as much as you do. You’re a real gem, Maddie.”
“Yes. You know that I would do anything for Logan.” This time I couldn’t prevent the tears from falling. “It’s like he’s my other half. He just gets me and I just get him. It’s like we were fated for each other. I know that sounds kooky, but I feel like he was made for me, and I was made for him.”
“Yeah,” he laughed. “I mean, I knew you were sprung on him when we first met at Joey’s, but when you came over to play cards that night, well, that’s when I knew you loved him and he loved you.” He shook his head. “Only God knows why he put you two together. It couldn’t have been a worse match. The two children of two men who hate each other.”
“Come on now.” I tried to laugh. “We were made for each other. And really my dad has no reason to hate your dad, and your dad has every reason.” I sighed. “I just wish that none of this had ever happened.”
“I am glad he has you.” He nodded weakly and gave me a quick hug. “I’m sorry for everything in the beginning.”
“It’s okay, I know why you hated me.” I smiled up at him, genuinely at that point. “My dad is and was an ass.”
“I just can’t believe he was in charge of the whole car theft business all this time.” Jared’s eyes were wide.
“Yeah,” I sighed. “I guess my grandfather started the ‘family business.’ My dad had been trying to recruit your dad all through high school, but your dad just never showed interest.”
“I wonder why my dad never mentions that.” Jared looked confused. “All these years, he’s told us about everything, but it’s like he didn’t even know.”
“I don’t know.” I took a deep breath. “My mom didn’t really know everything that went on between them. Though she said there was a lot of competition between them. And it all blew up when your mom decided to date your dad. My dad was gutted. My mom knew, you know. She knew what happened. But she had been in love with my dad for years and so she never said anything. She was just so happy to be with him, even though he never loved her.” I felt sad as I thought about what my mom had let happen with her silence. “I almost feel like she is just as bad, she was so weak. But she said she used to think that the best thing that happened in her life was your dad stealing your mom away.”
“He never told us he stole her from your dad, either.”
“I guess he didn’t want to look like a bad guy?” I shrugged. “But really it’s my dad who is the bad guy. People steal girlfriends all the time. You don’t ruin someone’s life because of it. My mom thinks that he has just always been plain evil. And now she realizes that a lot of it was her fault for letting it happen without saying a word. That’s why she is helping with the plan now.”
“When did you realize your dad may be involved?”
“When I went with Logan to sell the Toyota. The guy who came to buy it was someone I’d seen my dad with. My dad had said he was a business associate. And when I heard Marty was involved, I knew he did a lot of work for my dad.” I bit my lip and turned away. “It all just seemed to click into place. When I was over at Lucy’s, I heard you and Joey talking about stealing the Bugatti one night, and I was confused as to why Joey was involved. That’s why I pulled you to the side and told you I thought something may be up.”
“I can’t believe I ever trusted that motherfucker.” Jared’s fist curled into a ball. “But thank you for reaching out to me.”
“Yeah, so when Joey invited me to go out on the night of the robbery, I was suspicious. Especially because when he picked me up, my dad said something like, ‘Make sure you stay out for a long amount of time.’ It just struck me as weird. And that he wouldn’t take me home until he spoke to you on the phone, and I realized he was trying to use me as an alibi.” I tried not to cry again. “I just can’t believe my dad had him use me as an alibi. I just don’t know who he is.”
“I’m glad you called me that night. I knew something was up when I called him and he said he was with you. I knew there was no way you would be out with him, unless something was wrong.” Jared spoke slowly. “Logan always said Joey was trouble, and I always kind of knew. But I didn’t want to believe
it.”
“I called you because I just knew that somehow my dad had to be involved. And I was certain when Joey dropped me off and he told my dad that it was all done and winked at him.” I played with my fingers as I remembered the smug and satisfied expression on my father’s face. I could still remember how my heart had dropped as I realized that my father was not the man that I thought he was. “I wanted to accuse him right then and there,” I sighed. “But then I figured I should tell you first and we could figure out what to do.”
“Yeah, I’m so glad you called me. That wasn’t the right time. We really needed more info. I’m glad I convinced you to go out with Joey again.”
“It was awful, but I knew that I needed to find out what the plan was for the Bugatti. I had a bad feeling, and I was right.”
“I was calling you all night,” he sighed. “And then stupid Logan had to go and see you. I thought he was going to ruin everything.”
“He knows you called me.”
“Shit, what did you say?”
“I said you were most probably looking for him.”
“Ha.” Jared rolled his eyes. “He didn’t buy that, I’m sure.”
“I wanted to tell him.” I looked at Jared with a sad expression. “But I wanted to tell you first.”
“I’m glad I came over so we could decide what to do.” He laughed. “Only you could come up with such a perfect plan.”
“It’s the only solution I could think of.” I shivered. “After Joey told me that I should forget Logan because he was likely going to jail for a long time, I knew my dad had something shady planned. And so I went to talk to my mom. And she cried. She cried and cried and asked me to forgive her. She knows how much I love Logan, and she didn’t want me to suffer because of my dad and his hatred of the Martellis. So we came up with the plan together.”