by Peak, Renna
I looked over at Melissa. “How long has it been? Since you two came to the cabin? How many hours?”
She must have heard the panic in my voice—I could see the tears welling in her eyes again. “A day. Almost exactly a day.”
My shoulders dropped and my mouth hung open. If it had been a day, that meant it was too late. She was gone and I knew it. I only hoped she wasn’t gone.
She shook her head. “I don’t understand. Someone’s going to take care of her, Brandon. It means you don’t have to worry…” Her voice drifted off as it began quivering again. “Oh, God. Take care of. Oh, oh, God. That doesn’t mean that. That doesn’t mean…” Her voice drifted off again and she began sobbing into her hands.
If I hadn’t known what it meant, I would have tried to comfort her. I would have tried to tell her it wasn’t her fault, even though I knew I would definitely be blaming her and her asshole boyfriend for this.
I still had a chance. If I got back there in time, there was still a chance. It had been more than a day, though, and I knew I had to get back there right now if there was a prayer. I would have to steal a car and speed as fast as possible to get there. I knew exactly what I needed to do. I needed to get the fuck out of there, away from sobbing women and back to Jen before something terrible happened.
I stood up just as the door swung open and Ryan entered, a gun pointed at my head.
He smiled. He glanced down at the gun in my hand. “Drop it. Nice and slow.”
5
Nine Months Ago - Jenna
“Nice and slow, kiddo.”
My hands began shaking so badly I almost dropped the gun that I was carrying. I had never even held a gun before then—I had never even wanted to. And even if I had wanted to use the stupid thing against the man standing in front of me, I didn’t know how. I knew I could probably pull the trigger and see what happened, but I knew there was just as great a chance of me hurting myself as there was of hurting him. And I just had this overwhelming feeling that it was over—that I had somehow been defeated. I didn’t even know what I had been fighting for, but I knew that having Cade there, standing in front of me in that tiny cabin, meant that I had somehow lost. Everything.
He held his hand out and took the gun from me, clicking something and emptying the bullets into his other hand. He thrust his hand into his jacket pocket, depositing the bullets, and put the gun in the other. He looked up at me with a dejected smile. “Safer for both of us this way, Jenna.”
I gave him a slow nod. My mind was racing, trying to determine if there was some way to get out of this. I just wanted to run. I didn’t even know where I would run—what place in the world would be safe for me at that moment—but I knew I needed to get away from him.
The keys to the car were still hanging on the hook by the door, and I must have glanced over at them, because Cade’s gaze shot over there, too. He turned back to me, smiling. “If you want to go, go. I’m not here to take you prisoner, kiddo.”
I frowned, my brow furrowing. If he wasn’t here to take me prisoner, what in the hell was he here for? My thoughts began to race again. I had to find Brandon. He would know what was going on—he would know what to do. I just needed to get somewhere where there was a signal for my phone. I knew if I could just talk to him, everything would be okay.
The front door swung open again and slammed closed just as quickly.
“It’s colder than fucking hell out there.” Krystal stood just inside the door and looked over at me. “Is he here?”
Cade shook his head. “It doesn’t look like it. I just took a gun away from her.”
She lifted a brow. “He left his gun here?”
I was still frozen in place, unable to speak or move. I couldn’t understand how any of this had happened—how I had been happy and alone with the man I loved five seconds ago and now this was happening. His sister and my former bodyguard were standing here—here, in this place where Brandon said that no one would be able to find us. None of it made any sense.
Krystal let out a long breath. “Jenna. I know this isn’t what you were expecting today. But I need you to tell me where Brandon went. The car is still here. Where did he go?”
Tears flooded my eyes. How was I supposed to know where he went? He had left me lying alone in a pool of my own blood on the kitchen floor of this godforsaken cabin. And she wanted to know where he went?
The look on my face must have telegraphed my terror. Her face softened, and I could almost see the sympathy in her features. “Jenna. Do you know where Brandon is?”
I swung my head slowly from side to side. I still couldn’t make my voice work—I wasn’t sure if I would even be able to speak without sobbing, so I didn’t try.
“Shit.” She turned back to Cade. “We need to get back to somewhere that has a cell signal. See if there’s any chatter.”
Chatter. The room felt so small at that moment, like it was closing in on me. My legs felt weak, too, almost buckling underneath me. I was glad there was a couch behind me as the weight of my body became too heavy for my joints to bear. It was all just too much. The spy talk—the “chatter.” The disappearing boyfriend and the betraying best friend. I just couldn’t understand what I had done to deserve finding myself in the middle of this. Other than getting involved with Brandon in the first place.
Krystal let out another sigh, sitting down in the chair across from me in the tiny living room. She leaned in, patting my leg. Her voice became almost soothing. “Jenna, if there’s anything—anything you know. Anything he might have mentioned, it would be helpful. It will help us figure out where he might have gone.”
I could only whisper, my voice still raspy. “Ryan has him.”
Her eyes narrowed and she patted my leg again. “How do you know that?”
I shook my head, trying to clear the racing thoughts. I looked over at her, finally making eye contact. “I just know.”
She nodded. “My brother is involved in a lot of things that put you both in danger.”
I mirrored her, nodding. “I know.”
She tilted her head, giving me a small smile. “I wish you knew half of it, Jenna. We might not have ever had to have had this conversation.”
Cade cleared his throat and we both looked over at him. He met Krystal’s gaze. “What do you want to do?”
Krystal turned back to me. “What do you want to do, Jenna?”
I shook my head, still barely able to make words form in my throat. “I don’t know. I don’t know what any of this is…” My voice trailed off as tears filled my eyes again. I didn’t understand. I knew that if I hadn’t been burying my head for so long, maybe I would understand right now and it wouldn’t have seemed so terrifying. I might have been able to make an informed decision if I actually knew what the hell was going on.
She leaned in again. “We aren’t here to make things worse, Jenna. We only came to help. Being with Brandon right now isn’t the best thing for either of you. The two of you being together puts you both in more danger than you’re already in.” She closed her eyes for a moment, returning her gaze to mine. “I know that doesn’t make a lot of sense. And we can talk about it if you choose to come with us. But you need to trust me—if you go to him, there’s a good chance that you’ll both die. He’s made a lot of bad decisions, Jenna.”
“Being with me being the worst of them.”
She shook her head. “Not the worst.” She let out a long breath. “I’ve told you this before, but the two of you being together is a bad decision. For both of you. For a lot of reasons that I can’t explain here.”
“Where would I go? Back home to wait? With Cade standing guard at my door—waiting for the next bribe to let someone else kidnap me?” My breaths were coming almost too fast, my heart racing along with them. “Is there even anywhere safe? Is there even anywhere I can go?” I glanced over at the man standing next to Krystal’s chair. “Because I don’t want to go with him.”
Her brow creased and she looked between the t
wo of us. “Cade had nothing to do with your kidnapping, Jenna. If you can only believe one thing today, you need to believe that.”
I shook my head. “That’s why he wasn’t there. Ryan paid him off and he left me alone so that they could take me to … wherever. Whoever. Whatever, I don’t even know what any of this is anymore.” I was about to lose it—I knew I was going to start crying. I was going to sob and it wasn’t ever going to stop. And I didn’t know who to trust—I didn’t know if I could trust anyone but Brandon. And I didn’t know where he was. I didn’t know if he was even alive. I didn’t know anything.
“Jenna…” Krystal shook her head, almost like she was trying to clear her own thoughts. “Look, people will tell you anything they think you’ll believe if they think you’ll take their side. If they think you’ll trust them.” She groaned, shaking her head again. “I don’t want to go too far into this. Not here. We need to get moving. We don’t know when they’ll be back. Or who they’ll be sending to come claim you.”
“Claim me?” My voice had turned into some shrill version of itself that I barely recognized. “Claim me? What does that even mean?”
Cade knelt down next to the chair Krystal was sitting in. “It means there are people who think you’re a valuable commodity.”
“Like you two?” I didn’t even know where this sudden ability to ask questions had come from—I had spent the past six months trying to bury my head, never wanting answers. I wasn’t sure why now was the time to be asking.
Krystal’s brow furrowed again. “It’s more complicated than the two of us, Jenna. We’re just message bearers.”
“Message bearers.” Maybe I thought that repeating everything that was said was somehow going to make the meaning of the words sink into my brain. Because none of it made sense. “And who sent this message?”
The two of them looked at each other, Krystal’s eyes widening, almost like she was panicked. She looked back at me. “Someone who cares.”
I scoffed. “My father doesn’t give a shit about me, Krystal. I think all three of us can agree on that.” I stood up, finally finding some strength from somewhere. “I’m not going back to Virginia. Because that would be a prison. I’d rather just go have Cade babysit me in my apartment. At least I won’t have to hear my mother bitching at me then.”
The look on Krystal’s face changed as she stood up to face me. “There’s a place.”
“No, tell me first. Tell me what it is that Brandon’s done this time. Why someone is driving the wedge between us this time. Because I’ve just about had it with people telling me who I can love and who I can’t. This is bullshit, Krystal. And that is something I think we can both agree on.”
She nodded, pressing her lips together. “I wish it was that easy, Jenna. I do. I wish I could wave a magic wand and make it easy for the two of you. My brother isn’t a bad guy—he’s not a villain. But he makes bad decisions. He’s gotten involved with people who will make your life … difficult.”
“I’m not afraid of Ryan Agostino.”
She nodded again, slowly this time. “Ryan has his own issues. Mostly with his family. But when you get in the middle of that…” She paused, obviously trying to choose her words carefully. “You need to be careful around him, Jenna. Whether you come with us or not, you need to be very careful around that family.”
“Why?” I shook my head. I was so tired of this—so tired of the way people refused to explain anything. How everyone tried to skirt around whatever the hell it was they really meant. “What is it that he’ll do to me? What is it that he has on me that puts me in so much danger when I’m with him? Because this just seems like more of my father’s bullshit to me.”
Her brow creased again, but this time I could see she wasn’t confused. This time it looked like whatever it was she knew hurt. It was paining her, and I could see that she didn’t want to say it out loud. “What he has on you puts my brother in danger, Jenna. Brandon’s an idiot, don’t get me wrong. If he had just stayed with me in D.C.—if he had never gotten involved with Ryan—he’d be fine. He’d be off making his stupid decisions and getting himself into trouble, but he’d be fine. It’s you that puts him in danger.”
My jaw dropped. I had never done anything to anyone. Ever. I had been a good girl for the most part. I played my piano; I was a good student. I had never even had detention in school. I had certainly never chosen to get involved with the kinds of people Brandon was involved with—I didn’t even know any of those people. Well, I knew Daniel, but I had done everything in my power to stay away from him. That kidnapping hadn’t been my fault, it had been Cade’s. At least I thought it had. And I couldn’t wrap my head around this—how I could put anyone in danger. It made no sense. I was as safe a person as there was out there. I didn’t even know how to use a gun…
She interrupted my thoughts. “I know that doesn’t make a lot of sense either, Jenna, and I’d love to explain it to you. I would, but we don’t have time. Just know that the longer you and Brandon are around each other, the more danger he’ll be in. And I’m not making that up to scare you. It’s just the sad truth about this whole situation. We’ve tried to convince you both before. We’ve tried to keep you apart, but it was only to keep both of you safe.”
My eyes began to swim again and I couldn’t even think of words to say. My mind raced through everything I had ever done in my life, trying to think of anything I could have done to make this happen. Anything that would have made me be the one at fault for all of the weird shit that had happened in the past few years since Daniel had faked his death. And I couldn’t think of a single thing I had ever done—not one thing that was so horrible that it would have put anyone in danger.
Krystal seemed to be able to read my mind. “You didn’t do anything. It isn’t because of anything you’ve done. It’s because of who you are.”
I nodded, somehow finding my voice again. “So because of my father, I can’t be with Brandon? This is so fucked up, Krystal.”
She shook her head, frowning. “Not because of your father, Jenna. Because of your mother. Your real mother.”
6
“It’s complicated, Jenna.”
Complicated. That seemed like a huge oversimplification to me, but what the hell did I know? I had thought Marian Hennessey was my mother until a few months ago—that all still seemed surreal to me. The fact that my whole life had really been a lie was something I hadn’t even allowed myself to think about over the past few months. There had just been too many other things going on to give it much consideration.
I shook my head, trying to clear those thoughts. It wasn’t as though I actually believe that the identity of the woman who had given birth to me actually meant anything. It didn’t—it couldn’t. If it had, it would have mattered long before now. It didn’t really seem like there was any reason for it to make a difference now.
“I don’t believe you. This is just another game my father is playing—some new punishment he has because he doesn’t want Brandon and me together. The identity of some random woman—”
“She’s not a random woman.” Cade’s interjection surprised me. He hadn’t really said much to me since the two had barged into my cabin. Come to think of it, he had never really said much to me at all. The few things he had told me in the past, though, had all been worth hearing. It didn’t really seem like it had been that long ago when he had insisted to me that Brandon was one of the good guys—that he would want Brandon on his side when the shit came down. I was sure I had heard him say that to me. I was sure I remembered it. Even though it seemed like it had been a long time ago, it really hadn’t been that long at all. And maybe none of this was about who was good and who was bad, anyway. There had to be more to this story than that—than who was on the “right” side and who was on the “wrong” side. Because it felt an awful lot like I was on the wrong side of whatever this was.
“We really don’t have time to get into this now, Jenna. But I promise, if you come with us—if you mak
e that choice to come with us—I’ll tell you everything I know.” Krystal gave me a hopeful look. “I’ll tell you everything I know—”
“I’ve heard that before.” I wasn’t sure where the shaking in my voice was coming from or why my muscles had tensed. “I seem to hear that a lot, actually, and then there’s always something else a little later. So saying you’ll tell me everything isn’t exactly accurate, is it Krystal?”
She winced. “I’m sorry, Jenna. I know there’s a lot. You deserve answers—you do. I just haven’t wanted to overwhelm you.” She gave me a pained smile. “Giving you the story in bits and pieces—when you needed it—seemed like the best strategy. That’s all.”
I shook my head. “I appreciate the consideration that everyone seems to have for my mental well-being, but I think people may have neglected to consider that leaving out these big chunks of the story might actually contribute to my mental instability instead of keeping me sane.” I narrowed my gaze. “That’s all.”
“You’re right.” She nodded. “You’re right, and I’m sorry. If I had been able to keep all of this from you, I would have—”
“That isn’t what I was getting at, Krystal. I think I deserve the truth. Why am I the only one who seems to think that?” My gaze darted between the two of them. “Why am I the only person who thinks I deserve the truth? Because neither of you have given it to me. Neither has Brandon.” Hot tears began to sting behind my eyes. I wasn’t so much in danger of sobbing in fear now, though—this was much more about anger than it was about fear. “Why don’t I deserve to know the truth? I know you think I can’t handle it—that I’ll take another bottle of pills. But I guarantee you, as long as you keep Marian away from me, I’ll be fine. I never would have even thought about taking those pills if she hadn’t given them to me…” My voice trailed off as I realized I had said more than I probably should have. No one knew that story. No one. Not Brandon, not Krystal, not even the psychiatrists at the loony bin where I’d spent the summer after Daniel’s fake death. That was a piece of Davis family dirty laundry that I never wanted to air.