by Jamie Knight
Sure, it was messed up, what happened – it always sucks when someone loses their job – but, obviously, his dad found another job, and everything seemed to have worked out. Why was he still so angry?
And why can’t he just tell me what’s going on in his mind? I won’t ever be able to understand why he’s so upset if he refuses to talk to me.
Will Robert ever be able to handle that my family has more money than his? Is that what is going to be the downfall of our relationship? Not the fact that we entered it under false pretenses, but because the two of us are just too different?
I wish I could just not want to be with him. This whole affair has ballooned into something bigger than I ever anticipated.
I look inside the store window and it looks like everyone is still arguing. I let out a big sigh and move further down the street. I don’t want to hear, see, or deal with any of that fighting.
Maybe I’ll just leave and text Robert that I went home. Hopefully, once he’s cooled down, we’ll be able to have a civilized conversation in which he doesn’t attack me. Maybe, finally being able to confront my dad, he can get all of this out of his system and we can move on.
I’m trying to decide what my next move should be, when I feel someone suddenly grab me from behind. My crutches fall to the ground and pain shoots up my ankle.
My first instinct is to struggle and my second is to scream, but my mouth is covered, and I can’t get out of the grasp of whoever’s got a hold on me.
I get pulled into a car and the person binds my hands. I pull against the rope, but it’s good and tight and there’s no way I’m getting out of this easily. I’m finally able to look up and who do I see, but Landon. What in the hell?
“Landon! What are you doing?” I yell at him.
He sneers at me.
“I’m taking care of a little business,” is his reply.
Him and his fucking business!
“Are you fucking kidding me? Let me go! Right now!” I demand.
Honestly, I don’t care what his reasons are for throwing me into this car, but I want out now.
“You know, you really screwed up my plans, Savannah. Was it really so hard for you to just do what you’re told? I would have been a good husband; you could have grown to love me. Why do you even want to be a doctor? You already have everything you need. You were meant to give up all that nonsense and settle down.”
He’s gone insane, absolutely insane. There’s no way in a million years I would have married him. If the world was ending and we were the last two people on earth, I would have died alone.
“What happened to you, Landon? You weren’t always like this.”
This has been a question on my mind before. I’ve never cared enough to actually ask him, but now that I’m tied up in his car, why not?
“Does it matter ‘what happened?’ You’ve never even considered me as a possibility. I’m just some guy in your life that your dad tries to force on you, right?”
“That’s not true. When you were actually a nice person, a long time ago, I probably would have gone on a date with you, but then you changed and became this disgusting person. I hate you, Landon. I mean, you’re fucking kidnapping me!”
I hadn’t meant to get so passionate, but I’ve never told him how much I miss the old him. He looks a little sorry, but then his face gets all hard again.
“I don’t care how you feel. If you won’t marry me, well then, I’ll just have to use you in another way,” he says.
I don’t like the way that sounds. I’m genuinely scared about what he’s going to do to me. I hate that he’s so entitled that he thinks he can just use people any way he wants.
“Landon, please don’t do this –” I start to say.
But as I’m pleading, he puts tape over my mouth, so I can’t really talk anymore.
The next thing he does is blindfold me, so, now, I’m totally in the dark. My heart is pounding, and I’m worried that I might actually die. I’ve never seen Landon lose control like this, and there’s no telling what he’ll do.
Chapter Thirty-One - Robert
I feel kind of bad that the argument I’d started at the table had driven Savannah to leaving the restaurant, but I also feel this intense need to make my point to my parents and Joseph. I’ll just have to make up with Savannah later.
“Why did you come in to the factory back then and ruin everything?” I ask Joseph directly.
I didn’t realize how much I want an answer from him. I thought I just wanted to get all mad at him and give him a piece of my mind, but now I see that what I really want are answers.
“I didn’t come in with the intention of messing things up,” Joseph responds.
“Well, you did. You messed things up quite nicely, in fact. That resort you built tanked and now the land is going to waste.”
It just sits there, gathering dust, not being used for anything.
“Robert, I’m sure he had good intentions. I don’t think Joseph meant for anything bad to happen,” my mom pipes in.
“Well, bad things did happen. If had left well enough alone, then no one would have had to have lost their jobs like that. You cut off most of the town’s workforce. That plant employed a whole lot of people,” I tell him.
I’m sure he is well aware of what happened, but this could be the first time someone actually threw it in his face. Joseph is starting to look ashamed. Good, I think. He should be. What he did was underhanded and greedy.
“I didn’t – I didn’t want things to end up like that,” he says. “The deal didn’t work out the way I had anticipated. The whole reason I built the resort was because I wanted that to replace the jobs that were lost when the plant was closed. Its closing was inevitable.
“Less and less car parts are being made stateside, and I thought I could get ahead of the whole thing and keep the town from being another victim of the future. Instead, it became a victim of my bad business deal. I couldn’t get the interest that I wanted, and, by the time I realized it was a crap shoot, it was much too late to reverse the mistake,” Joseph explains.
I’d never considered Joseph’s overall plan. I had assumed he didn’t want the resort to fail, but my main concern was the fact that he had fired everyone in the plant. What I had witnessed was people out of work and struggling to make ends meet.
“Really, Joseph. You don’t have to explain the situation. I’m sure you meant no harm,” my dad says.
It looks like he can’t help but be magnanimous. My dad has always been such a nice guy, and I guess I shouldn’t fault him for that.
“I know I never meant to hurt anybody, but it’s clear to me that my intentions mean almost nothing. I’m sorry I came in and nearly bulldozed your way of life and the ways of life for others. I can’t fix the past, but I hope we can take this as an opportunity to move forward,” Joseph apologizes.
I feel a sense of relief and peace at his apology. I’d been holding on to the anger for years and, now, I finally have the chance to let it go.
“Okay,” I say, agreeing to finally move past this grudge I’ve held.
Well, maybe not move past it completely, but I am willing to at least start the process. I hold out my hand, and Joseph and I have a handshake.
The table gets back to a sense of normalcy and my parents and Joseph make their way back to their prior conversation. I sit back in my chair and realize that Savannah still hasn’t come back from her breath of fresh air.
It’s been a while. I check my phone and see that she hasn’t texted or tried to call me. I decide it would be a good idea to check on her. I hope she isn’t too upset with me.
I get outside, but I don’t see Savannah anywhere, which means she must have left. Fuck, she must be really upset.
I’m such a heel for messing up the family dinner. I could have spoken to Joseph privately about this. I do feel better, but it sucks that it was at the expense of Savannah’s feelings.
I go back inside and let everyone know that she’s left.
“I think I’m going to head out. You guys enjoy the rest of your dinner.”
I say goodbye to the parents, who congratulate me once again, as well as Joseph, who says he’ll enjoy dessert with my parents before they leave, and then I head home.
When I arrive, though, I don’t see her there, either. I had told her where the spare key was, so that she would have been able to get inside. I guess she didn’t want to spend the night with me – not that I blame her.
I take a seat on the couch and pull out my phone. I dial Savannah’s number, but there’s no answer. I get her voicemail and leave a message.
“Hey, Savannah. I’m calling to make sure you got home okay, but I also wanted to apologize. I shouldn’t have started that argument at dinner. I got the closure I wanted, but I hated that I made you so upset. Please call me or at least let me know you got home okay. Hopefully, we’ll talk tomorrow. Uh, bye.”
I hang up and put my phone down. It’s only been a couple of days that I haven’t spent alone, but I’m pretty sad that I’m back to where I was last week. I know I have no one else to blame but myself, however. I’ll just try calling Savannah again tomorrow.
I wake up the next morning and check my phone. Savannah hasn’t sent a return call or text. I call again and make myself breakfast, waiting to see if she’ll call me back within the hour.
I eat my yogurt and fruit and then check my phone again, but there’s no change. I’m starting to get a little worried. I know I made an ass of myself last night, but I didn’t think Savannah would just freeze me out like this. I’d hope she’d let me know she was safe and at home.
There’s a knock at my door, and I see that it’s Brent, here for our morning run. I’m not really feeling it this morning after everything that’s happened. I let him and give him a rundown of what’s going on.
“I had dinner last night with Savannah’s dad and my parents and Savannah and I got a little hot under the collar and started this whole big argument and Savannah left the restaurant,” I tell him.
“Then when I finally went outside to check on her, she was gone. I thought she had just gone home, but she hasn’t answered my calls or texts and I’m worried something happened. She’s on crutches because she twisted her ankle and – I don’t know – I may have made a really big mess of things.”
I manage to spit that all out and Brent nods.
“So, you haven’t actually been by her apartment?” he asks.
I shake my head. I’ve actually never been to her place. I’m going to need the address.
“You have this look on your face suggesting to me that you don’t know where she lives. I’m sure we can figure it out though,” Brent reassures me.
I don’t want to freak anyone out, so I choose Nicole as the perfect person to text. I just say I want to surprise Savannah and that I’d never actually gotten her address from her. She sends it to me no problem, along with a message of good luck.
I also feel like Nicole won’t ask too many questions because she feels bad about her part in getting us expelled. I’m not really mad at her, but sometimes that doesn’t mean anything.
I’m about to head out, ready to storm over to my wife’s apartment to make sure she isn’t dead, when Brent stops me.
“Just in case she’s just mad at you, why don’t we pick up some flowers to say sorry?” he suggests.
I point at him because that is a beautiful idea.
“Yes, perfect. There’s a flower shop close by. I don’t know what her favorite flower is, but I’m sure we can figure this out.”
If she’s willing to take me back, I need to spend more time getting to know more about Savannah. We’ve been so busy trying to get our lives in order that I feel like I’ve neglected actually learning about her.
Brent and I pick up the flowers and head over to Savannah’s apartment. It’s a lot fancier than mine – I mean, there’s a doorman. We can’t just make our way up, which is what people end up doing in my place half the time.
We approach the doorman and I tell him, “We’re here to visit Savannah King. I have a little surprise for her.”
“That’s nice, but I’m sorry to say that she isn’t here. In fact, she hasn’t been home in a few days.”
Most of those days were spent at my place. In fact, I don’t think she’s gone home since the night before Vegas, but it’s concerning that she didn’t come home last night.
Where did she spend it, then?
“Would you like to leave a message?” the doorman asks me.
I shake my head.
“I’m sure I’ll run into her later today,” I tell him.
Brent and I leave the lobby of the apartment building and stand outside.
“This isn’t good, Brent. Where could she be?”
“We should go back to the restaurant and see if anyone saw her last night. It’s a long shot, but maybe they heard or saw something.”
I agree with Brent. We head back to the restaurant and go inside to talk with the staff. A few of them were there last night and none of them know what Savannah did after she left the restaurant. So, I’m in the same spot I was in before.
We go back outside, and I lean against the brick walls of the restaurant building.
“What do you think happened?” I ask Brent.
I already have all the bad scenarios running through my head. I should have checked on her sooner. Why didn’t I?
Oh, that’s right. Because I was too busy being a spoil sport and making the entire dinner uncomfortable for everyone.
“I don’t know, but maybe if we look around, we’ll find some kind of clue. This is the last place we saw her, so it’s the place to start,” Brent says, obviously thinking more logically than I’m able to do at the moment.
I push myself off the wall and slowly wander around the building.
I don’t see anything immediately – I mean, I’m not even sure what I’m looking for.
I find myself in the alleyway next to the restaurant and, as I’m looking at the ground, I see the crutches Savannah was using lying there. I pick them up, because this is in no way a good sign.
She wouldn’t just leave these here. Something bad happened here; something really bad.
“Brent!” I call out.
He comes over and I show him Savannah’s crutches.
“These are the ones I lent her. I’m sure Landon has something to with us.”
Landon seems to be the source for all our problems. Why can’t he just stay out of our lives. What could he have done to her?
“Let’s go see Seth. We were planning on it anyway. Seth might have an idea for where Landon could have taken her.”
Brent is having all the good ideas today.
I need to start thinking more clearly. If something has happened to Savannah and she needs help, I need to keep my head above water so that I can make sure she’s okay.
Brent and I head over to Landon’s office and find Seth’s office. He’s sitting at his desk, getting some work done.
“Hey, guys. Why don’t you two take a seat?” he says.
While Brent and I sit down, Seth gets up and closes his door.
“I don’t want anyone to overhear us.”
He takes his seat again and looks between Brent and me.
“Have you found anything out?” I ask.
“I couldn’t find the fake tests. He didn’t just leave them lying around unfortunately and I don’t think he trusted anyone in this office to help him or, if he did, they’re really good at keeping a secret,” Seth informs us.
Damn! I need results now.
I lean forward and let Seth know what’s going on.
“We need to figure out just how involved Landon is. Savannah’s been missing since last night and we found her crutches in the alleyway outside of the restaurant where I last saw her. I’ve tried calling, texting, we stopped by her place – she’s gone. I think Landon got to her and Lord knows what he’s done to her. I need your help, man. We’ve got to
find her immediately.”
This is absolutely crazy. I never thought that fake marrying Savannah would get this insane.
“Okay, there aren’t too many people in the office today, so we might be able to sneak our way into Landon’s office,” Seth says. “We just need to be discreet and make sure no one sees us. I’m sure there are people here who would report this all right back to him.”
Seth looks behind Brent and me and says, “Let’s go.”
He gets out of his chair and motions for us to follow him. We make our way through the office and to the top floor. Luckily, we don’t run into anyone that has any questions for us.
Seth pulls out a bobby pin and starts using it on the lock. I’m surprised he has one and he must see it on my face.
“My wife is always leaving these around the house, and I’m picking them up. Looks like this one really came in handy,” he explains.
“Sure did. Also looks like you held on to some of your bad habits,” I comment.
Seth used to break into a lot of places. Not to do anything bad, per se. He wasn’t a thief or a vandal, but he did find himself in a lot of places he wasn’t supposed to be in.
“And bingo!” he whispers. “Looks like I still got it.”
We go inside Landon’s office, and the three of us each take a different area to search. I get his desk drawer and I’m shifting through all the papers he has.
I don’t find anything relevant to Savannah or me, but not everything appears to be on the up and up – not that I’m great at business or anything. I do know a little about accounting however, and there are things here that one would find… suspicious, to say the least.
“Hey, guys. Come here,” Brent says.
He calls us over to the filing cabinet.
“You said that woman’s name is Nicole, right? The one who Landon blackmailed?”
I nod.
“Well, he has her class schedule in here.”
I take the paper Brent is holding up and look at it. It is indeed Nicole Jones’ schedule.
Brent continues to shift through the cabinet and pulls out another paper.
“I found the test,” he announces.