Business and Pleasure

by Jinni James

  “I’m running out of time, Elizabeth, and therefore, so is your sister! I want my money, my plane, and my company, do you understand me!” He sounds pissed, and my heart races. No telling what he might do to Becca.

  “Can I talk to my sister again please?” If he agrees to allow me to speak to her, maybe I can buy us the time we need to trace this call. I’m also dying inside…I need to hear her voice again. I have to know she’s still okay.

  Bob doesn’t answer, and for a second, I fear he hung up, but then I hear the phone smack against something, and then Becca comes on the line.

  “Lizzy?”

  “Becca, sweetie, I’m here. We’re doing everything we can to get to you. Don’t worry. Are you okay? He hasn’t hurt you, has he?”

  “Not yet,” she says, and she sounds so weary, like she’s giving up hope. “But he’s going to kill me. I know he is. The minute he gets what he wants, he’s going to shoot me.”

  Hearing Becca voice my earlier thoughts causes my chest to ache. I can’t allow her to think like this. “Becca, honey, listen to me. You’re going to be fine. I promise—”

  “Just tell Mark I love him, will you? And I love you too, sis.”

  She’s saying good-bye… “Becca, damn it, stop that shit right this minute. You are not—”

  “That’s enough!” Once again, I’m interrupted, but this time, it’s Bob, and he sounds angrier than ever. “Get me what I want now! You have one more hour, Elizabeth, before I kill her. And I will kill her, so help me God!”

  He hangs up the phone, and I look hopefully toward Mark, but he frowns and shakes his head.

  “We didn’t get a trace. I’m sorry. We did get a pinpoint on a general area but no actual address.” Mark tears a sheet of paper off the portable printer. “Come take a look at this, will you? Maybe you’ll recognize something here, or one of the street names will mean something to you.”

  I set the phone down and then join him at the table, but no matter how hard I try to focus, all I see is street names on a piece of paper. Nothing is registering with me right now, although I do know for sure that Bob doesn’t live on any of those streets.

  “Oh my God!”

  I turn and look at Natalie, who is standing directly behind me. “What is it? What’s wrong?”

  Suddenly, I feel a sting of hope.

  “I don’t know if this means anything…God, it probably does. How the hell could I have forgotten this? Jesus. I just remembered…Christina kept saying ‘home’ when she talked about Bob and Becca. She kept saying she had to get back ‘home’ to make sure Bob took care of things right.”

  “Home?” Is it possible? Is Bob holding Becca at Christina’s house?

  Alex has joined us at the table, and I turn to him and say, “Take a look. I assume you know where she lives.”

  He nods, and then without hesitation, he points out her house. It’s right in the middle of the mapped out area. Hopefulness and a sense of relief lift my spirits, and for the first time, I truly believe there’s a good chance we’ll get my sister back.

  Mark and his men head toward the door. Without waiting for an invitation, I follow, and Alex and Natalie are right behind me. We’ve come this far together; we’ll finish as a team.

  While Mark calls for backup, we jump in the car, and then make our way toward Christina’s house. I don’t know why I didn’t think of this earlier…like, the minute I realized Christina was involved in Bob’s madness. Someone—the police, maybe—should have checked out both their places, just in case… I shake my head, wondering what might have happened if one of us looked into this before now.

  Alex flies down the highway, weaving in and out between other cars, led by a fleet of police and emergency vehicles, their lights flashing and sirens wailing. Fifteen very long, agonizing minutes later, we arrive at our destination, but Mark instructs everyone to park a block away, so as not to alert Bob to our presence.

  We climb out, and Natalie, Alex, and I stand on the sidewalk while Mark gives instructions to his men. The neighborhood seems unusually silent, eerily so, and the darkness is only broken by a few dim streetlights. I watch as the officers draw their guns, stealthily approach the house, and then all hell seems to break loose.

  The sound of splintering wood breaks the silence as the cops bust down the door and rush inside the house. I hold my breath and wait. Despite Alex’s comforting hand on my shoulder, I can’t help but fear the worst. What if Bob harms Becca before the officers can get to her? What if he uses her as a hostage? Why is it so quiet? After the initial commotion caused by the cops breaking down the front door, the silence feels…wrong. Driven by fear, I pull away from Alex and begin running toward the house.

  “Elizabeth! What do you think you are doing?” Alex grabs my hand and pulls me to a stop.

  He’s saying something else, but all I can hear is the quiet. The dreadful, heavy silence that must mean something’s gone terribly, horribly wrong.

  “Let me go.” I struggle against Alex’s hold, but he doesn’t let go.

  “I can’t let you go in there. The cops can handle it. Let them do their job, Elizabeth. I can’t risk something happening to you.”

  “Alex, I swear to God, if you do not let go of me, I will hit you. Let go.”

  I jerk my arm, and this time, he releases me, but when I turn to run toward the house, he’s right on my heels. Together, we enter through the front, and then stand there, listening. Where are they?

  Footsteps sound on the stairs. I look up to see Mark’s men coming down from the second floor. Mark, meanwhile, steps into the archway to my left.

  “There’s nothing here, sir. We’ve searched the entire house.”

  The officer’s words slice through me.

  “No! She’s here! I know she is!” I rush up the stairs, past the police coming down, and conduct my own search of the house, but by the time I finish with the second floor, I have a sinking feeling the cops are right. Bob and Becca aren’t here. Still, I keep looking, checking every room, every closet. I come to a stop in the kitchen pantry, sinking to my knees under the weight of despair. Did we miss them? Did Bob somehow find out we were coming? But no…they must be here. But they aren’t…we’ve searched everywhere, and I have a sick feeling we’ve run out of time.

  “Elizabeth, honey. Come on. Let’s get you out of here.” Alex has a hold on my arm and is helping me to my feet.

  “No!” I resist his effort to lead me from the kitchen. “I can’t leave! She’s got to be here!”

  “I know she is,” he says, speaking low, so only I can hear him, “and I think I know where, but we’re going to go get the police and let them find out for sure.”

  “What do you mean?” I question him, but I allow him to lead me out of the kitchen and into the adjoining dining area.

  “I just remembered…Christina has a panic room.” He answers my question, but he’s looking at Mark, who is standing near the table with his men. “It’s right behind there, and down a flight of stairs.”

  Alex nods toward a built-in bookshelf against the far wall.

  Wordlessly, Mark goes to the bookcase. He runs his hand along both sides, and then along the top. As he reaches the end, there’s a tiny click, and the whole thing swings open.

  In absolute silence, the cops stream through the opening and run down a flight of stairs. After a few tense moments, I hear yelling, and I’m nearly giddy with relief. Yelling means there’s someone down there. Yelling means…yelling means they’ve found my sister. Becca. The thought spurs me into action, and I race down the stairs and straight into the panic room, which is nothing more than a concrete bunker, roughly the size of a walk-in closet. A wall of police men stand before me, blocking my view. Becca. I must get to my sister. Without thinking, I shove my way between two large men, and find myself face-to-face with Rebecca and her captor. Bob’s holding my baby sister at gunpoint.

  “I will shoot her! Put your guns down!” Bob lifts the gun and places it against Becca’s temple.


  His actions and the look on his face tells me he means business. As for Becca, my heart breaks at the sight of her. Her normally rosy cheeks are stark white, her hair is a mess, and she’s trembling like crazy. I need to do something, but what? Neither I nor the police can go to her without risking Bob pulling the trigger. When one of the officers takes a tiny step forward, Bob shoves the gun against Becca’s head so hard; I can see an indentation from across the room.

  “No!” I scream in panic before I can stop myself.

  “Ah, Elizabeth! There you are. So nice of you to join us.” Bob throws Becca to the ground.

  “Yes. I’m here. You had to know we’d find you,” I say, working to distract him while Becca crawls toward a waiting officer, who swiftly scoops her up and carries her away. Once she’s out of danger, I’m not longer quite so afraid. Sure, he can shoot me, if he wants to, but he’ll die if he does. How desperate is he? I’m afraid we’re about to find out.

  He lets out a loud laugh. A crazy laugh. The man has definitely lost his marbles.

  “It’s over,” I tell him, and then hold my breath, praying he’ll agree.

  “Over? No, my dear Elizabeth, it’s only just begun. I made demands, and I expect you’ll give me what I want. What you took from me, years ago!” He pauses, and then chuckles. “Ah, I can see you have no clue what I am talking about. Well, let me enlighten you. Prior to your parents’ death, I was working with them at Neo Corp. I helped them come up with the software they sold to the government, but instead of giving me credit, instead of making me a true partner, they gave me a spot on the board. Can you believe it? I’d never been so insulted or so angry. I wanted more, and I decided to go after what I wanted. Your aunt told you that your parents died in a plane crash, when the fact of the matter is, I killed them.”

  My blood freezes, and I sway. A strong hand at my elbow steadies me, and I glance over to see Alex standing there. Do I look as sick as he does? The look on his face tells me he’s feeling a lot like I am right now. Ill. Shocked. Disgusted. Angry. Disbelieving. What is Bob talking about? He killed my parents? Impossible. My thoughts are racing as I sift through my memories of that painful time. I know what Aunt Crystal told Becca and me; could she have lied? Did she make up the story about a plane crash to spare us the horror of knowing our parents were murdered? No. No matter how horrible the truth might be, I know my aunt, and she would never, ever lie to me like that. So what the hell is Bob trying to pull now?

  “Ah, you don’t believe me, do you?” Bob makes a soft tsking noise and shakes his head. “Well, I promise, it’s true. I killed your parents. It just so happens, they were picking me up so that we could all take their private jet to Los Angeles to work out a deal with another business. I made up some excuse about not feeling well and that they should go without me. Meanwhile, I had a bomb planted on the jet. The bomb went off shortly after their take off from the airport.”

  A soft gasp breaks the silence. Oh, God…Becca. My little sister is listening to all this. I glance her way. Mark has her, thank goodness. He’s holding her up, but when our eyes meet, I can see she’s dying inside.

  Either oblivious to or uncaring of the pain he’s causing, Bob on with his story.

  “I thought I would finally get control over Neo Corp, but no! Once again, I’m denied what’s rightfully mine, and you end up with the fifty-one percent of the company that I was supposed to get!”

  My heart is racing. My blood is boiling. This man killed my parents! He almost killed my sister! He has tried to strip me of everything I hold dear. My hands itch; I want to wrap them around his throat and kill him myself.

  “You son-of-a-bitch!” Becca wrenches away from Mark’s grasp and charges toward Bob.

  Bob turns the gun toward her. I jump at him. The three of us collide, and the gun goes off. Hands pull at me, lifting me off the ground, off Bob, and I crane my neck to find Rebecca. Please, please let her be okay. Please let her be okay. I see her, then, back in Mark’s arms, and I release my breath. She appears unharmed. The chaos calms as the cops take Bob into custody, taking his gun and putting him in cuffs. A warm presence at my back tells me Alex is right here; ready to catch me when I fall. Good thing, because the minute my mind finishes with that thought, my knees buckle. He grabs me before I hit the ground.

  “Hang in there,” he says softly, his breath warm against my neck as he leans in close. “It’s almost over. Let me take you home, okay?”

  I look up at him, and then glance over at Mark and Becca. “Yes. Please. Take us home.”

  Chapter Thirteen

  By the time we make our way back to my apartment, it’s well past midnight, and we’re all exhausted. The police questioned Becca for hours, and we all had to give statements about Bob and Christina and what we knew about recent events. Tears fill my eyes for the millionth time since Bob admitted to murder. I still cannot believe a man I’ve worked with for years not only killed my parents and held my sister at gun point.

  The five of us—Natalie having come back to my place—fall onto the couch. I haven’t released Becca’s hand since we found her, and I give it a squeeze. I am so incredibly happy to have my sister back. Not only back but unharmed and now we no longer have to worry about Bob being out there just waiting to kill any of us. I can go to work in peace without an escort. I went ahead and told Natalie to take tomorrow off as well as everyone else at Hamilton and we will resume work on Monday. After all of this I need a long weekend. Right now I need some sleep as I am sure everyone does but I really did not want to let go of Becca however, she looks to be falling asleep on me.

  “I think it’s time for me to put Becca to bed.” Mark talks quietly, so as not to wake my sister, who’s got her head on his shoulder.

  “Poor kid,” I say. “She’s been through the worst of it, hasn’t she? As difficult as it’ll be to let her out of my sight, I know you’re right. Go ahead and put her to bed.”

  I watch them go, telling myself everything is okay. The police have Bob, and Becca will be here in the morning. Thank God for Mark. As best friends go, I know I couldn’t find any better.

  “Hey,” I say, as Mark, holding Becca in his arms, pauses in the hallway. When he looks back, I tell him, “If you don’t mind, could you leave the door open? Just for tonight?”

  Mark smiles. “Of course.”

  I frown, wondering how he’s carrying Becca after being shot. Despite having worn a vest, he has to be hurting.

  “Becca’s not the only one who needs some rest.”

  I turn to look at Alex. He’s been silent up until now, most likely lost in his own swirling thoughts about the night’s events. He’s been so amazing and so supportive this entire time. How could I have ever doubted that living with him, building a life with him, was the right thing to do? He is the only man I want.

  “Take me to bed, Alex.”

  He smiles for the first time since this morning, takes my hand, and leads me to the bedroom. We don’t bother with the lamp, as the city lights provide more than enough illumination. I don’t even have the energy to go to the bathroom and wash my face. I collapse onto the bed, releasing a heartfelt sigh. My brain is fried, and I’m thankful to put this day’s events behind me.

  Without speaking, Alex walks over to the bed and helps me get my clothes off. There’s nothing sexual about his actions. Instead, I sense a calm, quiet strength… I feel cherished and protected. Once I’m completely naked, he sheds his clothes, as well, and then climbs into bed next to me. He pulls the covers up over our bodies and cradles me in his arms.

  “You know you did some crazy shit today, right?” he asks quietly, but his tone is dead serious.

  “You call it crazy; I call it necessary.” I speak the truth. I don’t think one thing I did today was crazy; I simply did whatever was necessary to get my sister back.

  “I almost lost you. Do you have any idea what that would have done to me? You are my life. Without you, I am nothing.”

  This is the moment. Right n
ow. “Yes.”

  “Yes, what?” Anticipation fills his voice, as if he knows where this is leading.

  “Yes, I want to live with you.”

  He hugs me even tighter.

  “But I want to give it some time. Maybe you and I can stay here for a week or two, just to make sure Becca is okay.”

  “Whatever you need, my love. Now sleep.”

  And I do. Amazingly fast, I drift off to sleep in the arms of the man I know I will be with forever.

  * * * * *

  The next two weeks seem to fly by. The Friday evening after we get Becca back, the police call to tell me that they found a ton of information about my parents, my sister, and me, in a filing cabinet in Bob’s home office. Apparently, he’s been gathering these items and plotting his vengeance for a long time—the cops say some of the articles they find dated back years. At the moment, I’m not worried about him, though. He’s been in custody since they caught him, and I don’t expect he’ll be getting out of jail any time soon.

  Finally, moving day is upon us. The last couple weeks have helped me come to terms with the fact that my sister is going to be okay. She’s probably looking forward to me moving in with Alex—she and Mark are spending a lot of time together, and they’re really doing well. I’m sure they’ll love having the place to themselves. I still have a few minor reservations about leaving Becca, but Mark will be with her, so my anxiety is down a few notches. When he isn’t at work, he’s here with her, and I’ve enjoyed their company. In fact, I don’t know how I’m going to adjust to having unlimited “alone time” with Alex. He’s been patient and understanding the last couple weeks, knowing I needed time with my sister. He’s one of the most amazing men I have ever met…probably the most amazing, next to my father.

  Natalie’s been around now and then, too. She returned to work the day after the police caught Bob…a little on edge, but otherwise just fine. I’m sure it helps that Bryan was there. I smile as I recall going into the office and finding him there. I’d called Alex to tell him I didn’t need a babysitter anymore, only to find out that Bryan wasn’t there for me. He’d come to see Natalie. The two have been seeing each other ever since. He even goes and hangs out with her at the office now and then.