Gorgeous Chaos

by T. K. Leigh

  “And we’re in fucking Chatham! Now where is the goddamn house?!” Simon yelled. He hated having to shout at her like that, but he couldn’t let it seem as if he was going easy on her. He had to act the part.

  “Simon, please… I don’t remember. I only spent a few summers there when I was a little girl. Other than that, I can’t remember anything, especially about how to get there. All I know is that it’s a huge place right on the beach. I’d know it if I saw it.”

  “Fine! Let’s go to the coast then.” Grant put the car in drive and tore out onto the street. “If you don’t find it within the next thirty minutes, I will put a bullet through your head.”

  Olivia whimpered as a tear fell down her face.

  ~~~~~~~~~~

  AFTER ALEXANDER STORMED OUT of his office, Carol remained behind, desperate to help her brother any way she could. They had figured out that Marshall was involved, but they still had no clue as to who was pulling the strings. She sat at his desk, trying to decipher her father’s coded scribblings. Something wasn’t adding up. She had put in a phone call to a few of Alexander’s analyst guys who were good at tracking money transfers, even from off-shore bank accounts, to see if they were able to find any suspicious connection between Kiddish and other people Olivia came into contact with, but that hadn’t turned up anything yet. She had all but given up on trying to figure out who was behind everything when the phone rang.

  “Hey, Jimmy,” she answered, wondering if he was able to find out anything from combing through the bank records. “Wait…slow down… What are you saying?”

  Carol sank into the chair, dropping her phone, as the shock of the news she had just been given overtook her entire body. She took a deep breath before making the phone call that could potentially destroy her brother’s entire world.

  ~~~~~~~~~~

  “WELL, THIS MUST BE it,” Grant declared, pulling up a long driveway to an enormous shoreline estate. “It’s the biggest house right on the beach in this town. I don’t think they make ‘em much bigger than this one. Bitch must be fucking loaded!”

  Olivia looked up at the house. He was right. It was the house from her dreams and memories. “This was where I used to play with Alexander every summer,” she said softly as Simon carefully helped her out of the car.

  “Aw… Too bad,” Grant said cruelly. “Now it’s where you’re going to die.” He walked along the side of the car and opened the trunk, digging around for what he needed to complete the job.

  Olivia began to shake nervously, protectively clutching her stomach.

  Simon leaned close to her, his eyes intense. “When I tell you to…run.” His voice was barely above a whisper, nearly inaudible over the crashing ocean waves. “Kick me in the stomach. Sell it. Your life depends on it.”

  She looked at him, her eyes wide in surprise.

  Do you understand? he mouthed.

  She nodded slowly just as Grant came around to the side of the car, carrying a large duffel bag. Simon dragged her up the walkway toward the front entrance.

  “Don’t worry,” Grant laughed. “We’ll keep you alive a little longer, as long as you’re nice to us.”

  Olivia felt sick to her stomach, bile forming in her throat as her brain ran through thousands of different scenarios about what Grant had in store for her.

  “Run,” Simon whispered in her ear.

  “I don’t fucking think so!” she spat out, turning swiftly and kicking Simon in the stomach as hard as she could.

  Simon keeled over, clutching his stomach in pain. “YOU FUCKING BITCH!”

  Olivia spun around and started to run, thankful that Grant hadn’t been smart enough to bind her arms or legs.

  “Give me that fucking gun!” Grant ordered Simon. “Or shoot her yourself!”

  “She’s too far! I don’t have a shot!” Simon shouted back, hoping to give her enough time to get away.

  “You’re helping her! You fucking shit! You want her to get away!”

  “No way! Of course not!”

  “Then go get her!”

  Simon ran after Olivia, watching as she bolted up the remainder of the sandy path leading to the beach.

  She desperately hoped that there would be some people out for a twilight stroll. Her eyes searched the shoreline frantically, remembering that it was a private beach, when she heard the gunshot. “AAAAGGGGHHHHH!” she screamed in pain, the bullet hitting her right shoulder. She fell to the ground, crying out.

  Simon ran up and held the gun over her. “I’m so sorry. I tried to miss you without making it too obvious,” he said quietly, a tear falling from his eye as he looked at Olivia’s bleeding body lying on the white sand. He quickly changed his expression when Grant caught up to him and kicked Olivia hard in the stomach.

  “FUCK!” she screamed, the sound of her ribs cracking making her want to vomit once more. The pain from the bullet wound and the unexpected assault to her stomach was overwhelming.

  “You do not run away from us you fucking bitch!” Grant raised his boot and brought it down hard on her left foot, crushing the hundreds of tiny bones.

  Olivia howled out in agony, her eyes growing wide when she saw him raise his boot again, intending to break her other foot, as well. “NO!” she screamed. “PLEASE STOP! I’LL DO ANYTHING!”

  Grant slowed his action mid-strike and looked at her, rather turned on by the blood pouring from her body onto the beach.

  “Anything?” he asked.

  She took a deep breath and closed her eyes. She nodded slowly as tears began to stream down her face…no longer from being in pain, but for what she knew Grant was probably planning at that moment.

  “Grant. You can’t do this to her,” Simon pleaded, trying to find a way to help her. He felt sick at the thought of Grant touching her. “There were very strict instructions. She is not to be harmed until you-know-who gets here.”

  Grant reached into the duffel bag and withdrew a gun, pointing it at Simon. “What the fuck, man?”

  Simon raised his own gun, aiming it at Grant instead of Olivia.

  “I’m just having a little fun, that’s all. I’m not going to kill her…yet. And if you try to interfere again, I’ll fucking shoot you. Step aside and I won’t tell Donovan that you told her to run.” Grant returned to the duffel bag and produced several long rags. Kneeling next to Olivia as she lay trembling on the beach, he gently caressed her face, making her cringe. “That’s my girl,” he said quietly. “Be good and we won’t have to shoot you again, okay?”

  Olivia opened her eyes, staring into the evil black eyes in front of her. She simply nodded, not wanting to speak.

  “Good girl. But first, I need to make sure you won’t try to get away from me.” He quickly bound her hands together. “At least I’ve already made certain that you won’t be able to walk,” he laughed to himself.

  Olivia began to cry, mourning the loss of her legs. She had no chance of running away anymore. Simon had tried to help her, but he would risk his own life if he did so again. Her only hope now was Alexander. She prayed that he would be able to figure out the clues she left for him.

  “Before I forget, I know we’re having a special guest. Don’t want you recognizing who it is, so I better blindfold you, too.”

  She shook her head violently, not wanting the one sense she needed most to be taken from her.

  “Sorry, beautiful. Rules are rules.” Grant grabbed a rag and tied it tightly around her eyes.

  Olivia’s world went dark. She would have to rely solely on her ears. She was doomed and she knew it. She screamed out in pain as Grant lifted her by the waist and dragged her body through the sand and up to the palatial beach house.

  After overriding the security system, he turned to Simon. “Get out of here. Stand watch out front,” he growled.

  “Grant. What are you going to do?” Simon asked, his voice shaking.

  He raised his gun, pointing it at Simon’s temple. “Leave or I pull the trigger.”

  Simon knew he didn
’t have a choice. If he had any chance of trying to save Olivia, he had to play his cards right, and that meant listening to Grant for the time being. “Fine,” he huffed, spinning around and slamming the door behind him.

  Grant smiled. “It will all be over soon. I promise.” He carried Olivia through the foyer. “We just need to wait for our special guest to get here and then you can tell us where that box is.”

  Olivia willed herself to stop crying. That wasn’t how she wanted to spend the last few minutes of her life. If she was going to die, she wanted to die on her own terms and not pleading for her life.

  “Wow. You should see this place,” he remarked as he dragged her into a large great room overlooking the coast. “Floor-to-ceiling ocean view in this room. I bet it’s gorgeous during the day.”

  Olivia knew the exact room they were in. There was a grand piano in the center that she recalled playing as a little girl. The space was open and airy with light beige colored sofas on the far end facing the windows. The walls were wood planked and there were light drapes in front of the window. That’s how she remembered it looking, at least.

  “Okay, this is good enough,” Grant said, his breathing heavy from dragging Olivia all that distance. He dropped her on the floor, hoping to cause her even more pain. When she had barely any reaction to being thrown down, he turned to look at her. Her face looked almost peaceful, as if she had begun to accept her fate.

  That pissed Grant off. He liked it when she was scared of him. “Stand up!” he yelled.

  Olivia started breathing heavy, thinking there would be no way she could actually stand up.

  He walked over to her and grabbed her ponytail. “I said STAND UP!” he shouted, pulling Olivia up by the hair.

  “FUCK!” she screamed out once she was on her feet. She tried to keep most of the weight off her left foot. She had no idea what was going through Grant’s head.

  “On your knees!”

  Olivia hesitated, unsure of how she could possibly obey the command and yet feel the least amount of pain.

  “I said, ON YOUR KNEES!” He kicked her in the small of the back, causing her to topple over and fall flat on her stomach. Her reflexes were slow from her arms being bound together and she was unable to break her fall with her hands.

  Olivia felt Grant kneel next to her. She began to shake, feeling his hot breath on her neck. He grabbed her arms and hoisted them over her head, readjusting her restraint, attaching it to the leg of the grand piano.

  She tried to free herself, to no avail.

  Grant laughed. “No use trying to run now. You’re stuck.”

  Olivia lay there, her breathing heavy, as several minutes passed. She heard Grant walking through the house before returning and rummaging through a duffle bag. Almost immediately, she felt him by her side, pushing up her dress. Dread overwhelmed her when she heard a snipping sound, squirming at the feel of the cold metal on her skin cutting off her panties. Tears began falling even harder. She wanted to remain strong, but her entire body trembled in fear.

  She felt him run a finger down the length of her torso and desperately tried to buck him off her, but he simply laughed and then brought the gun to her temple. “Stay still or I pull the fucking trigger. I don’t give a shit if you’re the only one who knows where the goddamn evidence is that these guys are looking for.”

  Olivia swallowed, crying, feeling ashamed and humiliated, wanting Grant to pull the trigger instead.

  CHAPTER THIRTY-FIVE

  UNDERSTANDING

  “WHAT DID YOU JUST say, Carol?!” Alexander roared into the phone. “You’re shitting me!”

  “I know. Where are you?”

  “They’ve got Olivia.”

  “Shit, Alex. Where did they take her?”

  “I think to the beach house. That’s where I’m heading now. Can you pull up his cell on the tracker?” he asked, typing frantically at his own laptop as Martin sped down the interstate.

  “Hold on a second.” Carol typed the cell number into her tracking software. “Damn it, Alex! He’s in Chatham!”

  “FUCK! I’m on it. Oh, and sis, I’m forwarding a bunch of documents to you. Make sure they’re sent to every news outlet you can think of.” Alexander hung up his cell phone. “Martin! Step on it!”

  ~~~~~~~~~~

  OLIVIA LAY PERFECTLY STILL on the floor, blocking out everything that was happening around her. She refused to cry. She simply remained unmoving against the cold hard wood and waited for him to pull the trigger.

  She heard the door open and close and immediately grew hopeful. Grant remained where he was, not moving from his position on top of her.

  “What the fuck is going on here?!” a familiar voice shouted.

  Grant looked up at the person who had just walked in. “Are you him?”

  “Get the fuck off of her!” He swung and punched Grant out cold.

  Olivia released the breath she had been holding and began to sob even harder. She felt a blanket wrap around her body. “Oh, Livvy. I’m so sorry that all this has happened to you.”

  “Daddy?” Olivia asked.

  Her father quickly removed her restraints and took off her blindfold, wrapping his arms around her body as he tried to stop her cries. “Ssshhh… It’s okay, peanut. I’m so sorry. This is all my fault. It wasn’t supposed to be this way. He wasn’t supposed to touch you like that.”

  Olivia’s eyes grew wide. “I don’t understand.”

  Her father took a deep breath. “Where is it, Livvy?”

  “I’m not sure…”

  “Goddammit!” he shouted, grabbing her by the shoulder, causing her to cry out in pain. He looked at her in horror, noticing the fresh blood from the apparent bullet wound that had been soaking her white sundress. “He shot you? He was told to not hurt you until…”

  “Until what?” Olivia asked between sobs.

  “Oh, Livvy,” he exhaled. “I’ve made a mess of everything. I’m sorry I have to do this.”

  She looked at her father. “Do what?”

  “This, sweetheart.” He raised his hand and Olivia’s world went dark.

  ~~~~~~~~~~

  “OLIVIA, LOVE. PLEASE COME here,” her mother called out.

  “What is it, Mama?”

  “I need to ask you a very important question. I need you to think very, very hard.”

  “Okay.”

  Olivia’s mother took a deep breath. “I know you and Daddy are playing a game of Treasure Map.”

  “Yes!” she answered excitedly. “We are! He’s letting me hide the treasure this time. I just drew him a map!”

  “Olivia, dear. You can NOT give him that map.”

  She scowled. “Why not?”

  “Darling. I need you to tell me where you buried that chest.”

  “But that’s cheating. I can’t do that.”

  “Olivia, your father has done some very bad things, and we’ll all be in very real danger if I can’t turn this information over to the right people.”

  “But I don’t have that, Mama.”

  “Oh, sweetheart. That’s what you buried. That’s why I need you to tell me where it is. And I need to get it before your daddy gets home. He can’t know that we know. It has to be our little secret. Can you keep a secret and show me where you buried it?”

  “Okay, Mama. I can do that. I’m real good at keeping secrets.”

  ~~~~~~~~~~

  “MAMA, WHAT ARE YOU doing to Mr. Bear?” Olivia asked, holding up her mother’s heavy camera, snapping a picture.

  “I’m stitching him up.”

  “What was wrong with him? I didn’t know that he was broken.”

  “He wasn’t, dear, but I have a bad feeling about today and if something happens to me, I need you to take this bear to your Uncle Thomas. Tell him that all the answers he needs, he can find in your bear. Do not let go of this bear, no matter what. Okay?”

  “Okay, Mama…”

  “All done. Now hurry, Olivia. I need you to hurry.”

  �
�Why? Daddy’s not here yet.”

  “That’s exactly why I need you to hurry. We need to get far away from Daddy.”

  Olivia began to cry. “I don’t want to.”

  “Sweetheart, I don’t have time to explain right now, but I will someday. I promise you.”

  “And what do you plan on explaining?!” a loud, booming voice yelled.

  Olivia cowered in fear. It was her daddy, but he was angry. She had never seen him like that before. She was scared.

  “Nothing, dear. Just packing up for the summer.”

  Olivia looked at her mother, who appeared very nervous.

  “It doesn’t look like nothing, Mary. It looks like you’re running from me. Now I’m giving you one last fucking opportunity to tell me where those papers are or, I swear to God, I will kill you.”

  Olivia screamed, clutching her bear.

  “Olivia, dear. Please. Quiet down,” her mother begged nervously.

  “That’s right, Livvy. Stay quiet.”

  “How could you, Jack? Why? We have enough money!”

  Jack stepped back. “You think I like it that I can’t afford to pay for the lifestyle my wife is accustomed to?”

  “Be reasonable. Please.”

  “NO! It ends now! Where are the fucking papers?!”

  “I can’t tell you,” she said quietly.

  “Let’s go, Mary. You’re coming with me.”

  “No. You’re going to have to drag me kicking and screaming from this house if you expect me to go anywhere with you. You… You traitor!”

  Olivia watched as her father grabbed her mother and slammed her head against the kitchen counter. She squeezed her stuffed animal tight, remembering her mama’s words to never let go of the bear.