by Alina Jacobs
"You can't do this," Liz said, backing away from him, trying to angle toward the door. "Wes loves me. He's going to be angry once he finds out." She hoped that was the truth. It made Brayden hesitate for a moment, but then he shook his head.
"I helped invest in his company. He knows he owes me."
Liz slowly inched her way to the door.
"I'm taking you to Florida, and we're going to be married. There's no waiting period. I know this is what you want." He waved the scrapbook that she had so carefully put together with Wes in mind. Liz started to sprint for the door, but Brayden lunged for her, and she screamed.
Liz tried to fight him, and she really wished she had kept up with the gym. Struggling against his grasp, Liz promised herself that she would work out religiously if only she made it out of this alive.
Something stuck her in the thigh, and she felt herself grow woozy. The last thing she saw was Brayden's face beaming down at her.
62
Wes
Wes spent the next couple of weeks going between Connecticut and Manhattan. Wes knew he needed to stay as far away from Liz as possible, so he was trying to conclude the majority of the business he had in Manhattan before he vacated his apartment.
After one morning of tedious meetings at Svensson Investment, Wes told his driver to take him back to his apartment. He had to pack up his few belongings and move out of the apartment the next day. When he arrived at his building, Dana was waiting for him in the building lobby.
"Wes?" Dana said, her voice serious. "What did you do?"
Wes sagged and dragged her to the elevators. "How did you find out?" he asked as they walked down the hall to his apartment.
"Carter told me," Dana said.
"I didn't know you were buddy-buddy with Carter," Wes said as he unlocked the door.
"He's my cousin. We have a group text."
Wes felt left out.
"I messed up big time, Dana," Wes said. "I don't know what I can—"
Eric was standing in the middle of his living room. He had a high-powered rifle pointed at Wes's head, and he looked like he knew how to use it.
"I guess you better start groveling," Dana said to him.
"What did you do with my sister?" Eric shouted.
"I'm sorry about what I did' to Liz," Wes said. "I didn't mean for any of that to happen."
"When I find my sister, I'm going to cut your balls off and let you choke on them while I blast a hole in your gut."
"Eric," Grant snapped as he came out of the bedroom, tugging at his ripped suit. "Stop it. We need to find Liz."
Wes looked around. "Where is my dog?"
"Your dog is locked in the closet. He has very sharp teeth, by the way," Grant said.
"Is he okay?" Wes asked.
"The better question is whether Liz is okay," Eric cut in.
"Look, Wes," Grant said soothingly. "It's no big deal. Just tell us what you did with Liz, and we can work it out."
Wes looked at him. "I didn't send that email, and I didn't take that video."
"Then who did?"
Wes kept his mouth shut. He knew if he told Grant and Eric then Rhonda would choose the nuclear option. He wasn't taking the nuclear option anymore.
"But the video was from when you were with Liz," Eric said. "You're obsessed with her."
"That wasn't my plan," Wes said, frustrated.
"Your plan?" Dana shrieked. "You better come clean."
"They stole my company!" Wes said. "I was going to hurt her to hurt the Holbrooks."
Gran's expression was thunderous.
"But then I fell for Liz," he explained desperately. "I wasn't going to go through with the plan. I swear. I would never hurt her."
"Put the gun down, Eric," Grant ordered. His friend lowered the muzzle slightly. Wes still kept his hands up.
"You already beat me up," Wes said. "Why are you here?"
"My sister is gone!" Eric yelled. "And you had something to do with it!"
Wes felt sick. "I don't understand. Where did she go?"
"We don't know," Grant said. "Her apartment was trashed, and she's gone. Her neighbor, Mrs. Burbank, said she saw Liz let a man into her apartment. She thought it was you. Her phone and all her stuff is there."
"Do you know where she is?" Dana asked Wes, her eyes narrowing.
Wes shook his head. He couldn't believe it. Where had Liz gone?
"Would she hurt herself?" Dana asked tentatively.
"You better hope not, or I'm going to hold your twin brother personally responsible," Eric snarled.
63
Liz
She woke up in a car. They were speeding down the road.
"Where are we?" Liz looked outside and saw a flat, swampy landscape.
"You've been asleep for a while, sweetie," said Brayden. She turned to look at him. She felt stiff, and her hands and feet were numb.
Brayden petted her hair. She tried to swat him away, but her hands were tied. Her mouth felt like cotton.
"You don't have to do this," she said. "You can just take me back home. I won't say anything."
"I'm doing this for you," he told her. "I want to make all your dreams come true." He popped two pills. "We are soulmates. I know you like me. You always did. I saw the way you looked at me when we were at Stanford. You were crushing so hard on me that you couldn't even bear to be in the same room. It was so adorable." He laughed. "Wes doesn't deserve you," Brayden continued, looking at her. "He treated you poorly. That revenge scheme was so delusional. He doesn't even realize what he lost. But I'm here to help you heal."
The car swerved since he wasn't paying attention to the road. Liz screamed, and Brayden jerked the wheel.
"This is crazy, Brayden," Liz said.
"No, it's not. You needed a confidence boost. You needed a man to take charge who would treat you right." He fumbled in the car door and pulled out another needle.
"No!" she yelled, but he stabbed her in the leg. Against her will, her adrenaline surge wore off. She tried to fight the wave of drowsiness but fell back asleep.
When she woke up, it was twilight. The car was stopped, and she slowly sat up, squinting against the bright points of light. They were in front of a motel. The car door slammed, and Brayden stepped out.
"I need to get out! I need to get out! Why is this my life?" Liz groaned. She was still tied up, and she was so thirsty. She strained against the bonds on her wrists; she couldn't feel her hands.
"We're here," Brayden said, opening the passenger-side door.
She puked and collapsed in the parking lot. How had this happened to her? She hoped someone would find her.
Brayden picked her up and took her into the motel room. Against her shoulder, his heart felt like it was racing. She wondered if he was going to have a heart attack.
"We need to put you in your wedding dress," he said, setting her on the bed and undoing her bonds.
As she massaged her hands, she watched warily as Brayden went to the closet and pulled out the ugliest wedding dress Liz had ever seen.
"It's vintage," Brayden said.
"Vintage doesn't mean good," Liz said.
"It was expensive!" Brayden roared.
"We aren't marrying!" Liz shrieked. She felt filthy, greasy, and dizzy.
"We are!" he yelled. "I have the chapel booked. Then it's our wedding night."
Liz laughed but thought she was going to puke. Where had her life gone so wrong? The worst of it was that a part of her wished that Wes would miraculously show up and rescue her. She truly did have the most disastrous taste in men.
Brayden made her go into the bathroom and change. She tried to find a way to escape, but there were no windows, and the vent was too small to climb into.
When the dress was mostly on, Brayden zipped her up the rest of the way. Then he forced a pill in her mouth and made her chew and swallow it. She tried to hide it, but he made her open her mouth so he could see that it was gone.
Her senses were beginning to dull
as Brayden led her to the car and drove out of the parking lot.
When they arrived in front of a tacky little building, Liz still couldn't process what was happening. It felt like a bad dream. She wanted to go back to sleep. Then it would all be over.
She tried to say "help me" but couldn't move her tongue. The officiant looked at her in concern.
"It's fine," Brayden said. "She's on chemo. That's why we're getting married."
What the… What kind of lie is that? Liz thought but couldn't speak. Don't believe him!
She saw Brayden slip the man a wad of cash. Of course. There would be no hope. She tried to run to the exit.
"This way, sweetie," Brayden said.
64
Wes
"It's was probably one of her old boyfriends who took her," Dana said.
"Or it's probably Wes," Eric said, holding the gun back up. "Grant was in the military. I bet he can make you talk."
"It wasn't me," Wes hissed. "And the longer you waste time on me, the farther away her kidnapper will be."
Eric looked upset. He lowered the gun. "I need to find my sister."
"It was Brayden," Wes said abruptly. "I'm sure of it. He's obsessed with her."
"I never met him," Eric said.
"He's with Svensson Investment," Grant said to Eric. "You think he took her?"
Wes nodded. "Brayden has been fixated on her."
"We should call the FBI," Dana said.
"They're already at her apartment," Eric said, heading to the door.
Where would he take her? Wes wondered as he and Dana followed Grant and Eric to Liz's apartment. The police were crawling everywhere. One of the detectives grabbed Wes to arrest him.
Eric waved him away. "We think it's someone else."
Grant had stayed outside to take a phone call, and when he returned, he told the detective, "I was just on the phone with my wife. A mutual friend told her that Brayden took Liz to Las Vegas. Apparently, he has this crazed idea that he wants to marry her."
"I'm coming with you," Wes said.
"No, you aren't," Grant said. "You've done enough."
"We'll take one of the private jets," Grant said to Eric as they all left Liz's apartment. "We'll probably beat the federal marshals there."
They stepped into a car, and Wes watched them leave. Something about the whole situation didn't sit right with him. Who was the mysterious mutual friend? Wes would bet money that it was Rhonda. He didn't trust anything she said. After saying goodbye to Dana, Wes went back to his apartment, released Kal, and opened up his laptop.
"I don't think Brayden is in Las Vegas," he said to Kal. But what if Rhonda was actually telling the truth, and this was part of her plan to win favor with the Holbrooks by selling out Brayden? Wes didn't want to tip her hand and have her retaliate against Liz. She still had the compromising video footage after all.
No, Wes would have to solve this himself.
He searched through Google. He found out that in addition to Nevada, Florida also had no wait time for a marriage license.
Florida was a big state though, and he didn't know where Brayden would take her. Wes scrolled through a long list of wedding chapels. Where would Brayden have taken her? Wes suddenly remembered Brayden's comment about spearfishing in the Florida Keys.
He checked the list. There were only two chapels in that area. Wes booked a plane ticket.
When he arrived at the tiny airport, it was late. Wes did the mental calculation. Liz and Brayden should be there already, especially if Brayden drove nonstop.
He sent an email to Grant about alerting the proper authorities but didn't receive a response.
After renting a car, Wes drove to the first chapel on his list. There was an elderly couple renewing their vows but no Liz. Wes raced to the other venue. When he walked in, he couldn't believe it.
"Liz!" he gasped. Her makeup was smeared, her hair was a mess, and she looked at him like she barely recognized him. She was wearing some sort of weird, ugly off-white dress with puffy sleeves.
"You can't be here!" Brayden yelled at Wes. He looked rough. Wes recognized the look of someone operating on very little sleep and too much caffeine and Adderall.
Brayden ran screaming at Wes. It would have been funny if he didn't look so unhinged. Wes dodged the blow easily, which put Brayden off balance. As Brayden tried to regain his footing, Wes punched the side of his head. Brayden went down hard and didn't move.
Wes ran to Liz. Gathering her up in his arms, he yelled at the officiant, "Can't you see she was coerced? I'm going to have this place shut down, and you're going to jail!"
"I can't believe you're here," Liz croaked. Her voice sounded raw.
"I'm so sorry, Liz," Wes said, stroking her face. "I didn't mean for any of this to happen."
The SWAT team burst in, rifles drawn, and Wes lowered Liz to the ground, slowly raising his hand.
"Step away! On your knees! Hands up!" the SWAT team member screamed at him as they surrounded him.
They jerked him by his collar as they cuffed him. Wes watched as Liz and Brayden were put on stretchers and taken out of the chapel.
Wes wondered if that was the last he would ever see of Liz.
It would serve him right if it was.
65
Liz
In the chapel, Liz was standing at the altar as the wedding started.
The witness gave her concerned looks, but the officiant proceeded with the ceremony. Brayden held her hand the entire time, and the officiant recited the words that would marry Liz and Brayden.
"If there is anyone who objects," the officiant said. The doors burst open.
"Wes," Liz croaked as he stormed in and knock Brayden out.
She felt him lay her on the ground. "I can't believe I'm wearing this dress," she told Wes as scores of men dressed in black and carrying very large guns stormed the chapel.
"Don't kill him," she tried to say to one man as he checked her pulse.
"What was that?" The man seemed extremely calm Liz thought.
"My boyfriend. Don't kill him. I'm supposed to marry him." The man looked at her like she was crazy.
Liz felt better in the hospital, even though she had an IV and was wearing a very thin hospital gown. Her parents walked into the room, and her mother immediately started crying.
"I'm okay, Mom," Liz said.
"I brought your hair stuff," Hazel said as she and Eric came in behind their parents. "You look like a hot mess. Also, you smell bad."
Liz looked at her reflection in the mirror Hazel held up and shuddered. "What happened?" she asked.
"Wes found you," Hazel said as she unpacked the bag she had brought. "He came and rescued you. It was so romantic!"
"That man is a lunatic!" her father snapped. "All those Holbrook men are crazy."
Hazel snorted. "Eric went after Wes with an assault rifle. Glass houses and all that."
"You have an assault rifle?" Liz's mother asked Eric.
Eric glared at his little sister. "Relax, Mom. It's not mine. It's Grant's."
"You see!" Liz's father yelled. "Insane! The Holbrooks are all insane. Don't you dare have any more contact with any of them, especially not Wes."
"But he saved me," Liz said. Even as she said the words, she knew that was not a good enough reason to forgive Wes or try to salvage their relationship.
"He killed Brayden," Hazel offered.
"He did?" Liz gasped as Hazel brushed out her hair. She could feel it frizzing around her head.
"Wes hit him on the head. Also, the guy was hopped up on a nasty set of drugs that allowed him to drive twenty hours nonstop, so he probably also had a heart attack."
"Is Wes going to be okay?" Liz asked.
"That's not your concern," her mother said. "After what he did to you…" She dabbed her eyes.
"He didn't mean it—"
"No," Eric snapped. "Don't make excuses for him." Liz looked down at her hands.
"Kate says they aren't charging him," Eric
said, blowing out a breath. "The Holbrooks have great lawyers. Also, it's Florida, so…" Eric shrugged.
Liz was discharged that afternoon. She wanted to see Wes but knew her family would be very upset if she even mentioned his name.
When she returned to Connecticut, Liz was once again squirrelled away at her parents' house in her childhood bedroom. She remembered how she and Wes had made love on her bed.
He had acted like he loved her, but then there was the blackmail email. But Wes said it wasn't him. Liz wanted to believe him, but then he told her that he never loved her. But then he rescued her and was arrested in the process. That must mean he felt something for her, right?
Liz was certain that if only she could see him, she would find out the truth.
66
Wes
"You're free to go," the police officer said as the metal gate clunked against the concrete wall. Still stiff, Wes walked out into the lobby of the small local jail.
The Holbrooks and their lawyers were waiting for him.
"Don't think this means you're forgiven," Grant said. Wes nodded.
The plane ride back to Connecticut was tense. Wes asked about Liz.
"She's fine, but don't you ever say her name," Grant told him.
Wes took a car from the airport alone, back to his town house. Dana texted him that she was sending Kal to the town house. Wes wanted to see his dog and to take a shower and wash the grime off. It was shocking that Brayden was dead, but Wes didn't want to deal with those thoughts at the moment.
When he returned to his house, there was a man sitting on the front stoop, holding Kal's leash.
"Hank," Wes said to his father. "What the hell do you want?"
His step father seemed hurt. "That's it? You don't call me dad anymore?"