Jaxon takes a deep breath, looking past Hunter's shoulder he gives me a nod. “And how are we going to find them?”
“We found the girl’s phones, which means we can’t track them that way.” That was the first thing we looked for after we stopped Hunters bleeding.
“It has to be their father. He called earlier today, wanting Josie to come home. She told him off, called him every profanity you can think of. I had to rip the phone out of her hand and hang up.”
“He’s scared that she’ll tell people the truth,” I say, thinking out loud. “Maybe that’s what we need to do. Call some newspaper and give them the story. We have the proof, we could send it to a bunch of local TV stations.”
All three of our heads snap up at the same time when we hear some noises coming from outside. This house was secluded without neighbors for miles.
“A car just pulled up,” Jaxon whispers, getting my full attention. We all walk to the window and watch four guys in suits getting out of the car.
“Those are the same guys who took the girls,” Hunter tells us and every muscle in my body is on high alert.
This is our chance. We take them out and make them tell us where the girls are. We don’t have to talk about the plan with each other. One nod and we all know we’re thinking about the same thing.
“I’ll get the back door,” I say when I see the suits split up through the window. Jaxon and Hunter positioning themselves at the front door while I flatten myself out next to the back door.
A heavy-set guy walks through the back door and I greet him with a right hook to the jaw. He staggers back, but doesn’t pass out. Seeing him reach for his gun gives me an extra push of adrenaline, making the follow up left hook more potent. This time he staggers back and falls to the ground with a loud thud.
Hearing Jax and Hunter struggle at the front door, I run through the house to get to them. One suit is already down, Hunter is struggling with a second and Jaxon is smashing in the third suits face. “Where are they? Where did you take my wife?” He yells in between each punch.
I rush over to Hunter and get that guy off of him, slamming his head against the wall until he slumps down. With him motionless on the ground I run back to the kitchen and grab a sharp knife to cut all the cables I can find.
Ten minutes later we have four suited assholes tied up in the living room. Jaxon and I are about to start beating information out of them, when Hunter has the bright idea to check their phone. Lo and behold, we find an address in a text message sent this morning.
Confiscating all the phones we get into Jaxon's car and head to the address. I keep scrolling through the messages trying to find some more information when another text catches my eye.
“They’re on a boat,” I blurt out.
“What?”
“That address is at the waterfront and I just found another message with a dock number.” Jaxon floors it. If they are on a boat, we have no way to get to them after they’re offshore.
Dread is sitting heavy in my gut. I can’t lose Josie. I don’t think I would survive it.
19
Josephine
My head feels like it’s been stuffed with cotton and so does my throat, the dryness making it hard to swallow. I pry my eyes open to see an unfamiliar, weird looking ceiling. I blink frantically trying to figure out if this is a dream or not.
“Josie,” Jenna’s shaky voice enters my ear and I’m certain now that I’m not dreaming. I sit up suddenly, so quick that the room starts spinning around me and my vision blurs. Jenna grabs hold of my arms and I squeeze my eyes shut until I feel like I’m not going to throw up anymore.
When I open my eyes this time, Jenna and Eliza are staring back at me with worried expressions. Then I take in the rest of my surroundings. We are in an odd room with metal walls and a metal ceiling. The room is completely bare and has no window.
“We’re on a boat,” Jenna whispers, her face pale and full of fright.
“How did we…” I don’t get to even finish my question when images of what happened flood my mind. Someone took us. Oh my god, someone kidnapped us.
My heart suddenly beats so fast is about to come out of my chest.
“Who took us? Who were those people?”
“We don’t know, we woke up not too long ago.” Jenna’s voice breaks at the end and I know she is trying not to cry. I take a second look at Elisa, her legs are drawn up in front of her. Her arms are wrapped around them. She is already crying and her whole body is trembling.
“No one will know that we are gone,” Jenna can barely get the words out before breaking down in front of me. Her whole body shaking with each sob. “No one is going to be looking for us until it’s too late and Hunter…” She can’t get another word out. Only tears and sobs are left. I throw my arms around her, holding her tight to my body.
“Jenna no, we’re going to be fine. Hunter is going to be fine and I know they’re already looking for us. I told him I was going to call right back. He’ll know something is wrong. He’ll come to the house. They’re going to find us and then…,” I trail off not knowing what else I can say. I probably already said too much.
“He? Your mystery boyfriend?” Jenna mumbles into my hair.
“Yes, he’ll find Hunter, then they’ll call Jaxon, and then they’re going to come and get us.” That’s just the way it has to be because any other scenario is just unacceptable in my mind.
The sound of heavy footsteps approaching makes all look up and towards the door. Eliza scoots closer to us so we are all huddled up together. At the sound of the door unlocking, my heart speeds up and my palms go sweaty. The door opens with an ear-piercing creak. I hold on to Jenna so tightly I’m not sure she can breathe.
The door swings open all the way and a large figure appears behind it. A figure I am very familiar with.
“Dad?” I should have known it was him, I should have known that he is capable of having his own daughter kidnapped and locked up… I should have…
Tears I’ve been trying to hold back spill over at the sight of my own father looking down at us like we are nothing more than an annoyance to him.
“I am sorry that it had to come to this,” he says without an ounce of remorse. “I didn’t want to do this, really, but since your boyfriend couldn’t keep his mouth shut I had no other choice.”
“To do what exactly?” After all the things I now know my father is capable of I am scared to ask, but knowing is better than not knowing.
“You and Jenna get what you’ve always wanted. You get to spend a lot of time together. I have arranged for you to start attending a university in France. You are leaving now.” He explains this like this is a good thing as if he is actually doing us a favor.
“Do you even listen to yourself? How do you sleep at night knowing all the pain and suffering you’ve caused your own two daughters?”
“You two are nothing more than ungrateful little brats.” He points his finger at us like we are little children having a tantrum. “I’ve done everything for you Josephine, everything, and Jenna was never supposed to find out about you. That was the deal I made with your junky mother.”
I shake my head at his words. “What now? Are you just going to lock us up forever? And what about Elisa?” He can’t expect us to just go along with this.
“Don’t be ridiculous. You won’t be locked up the whole time, only when you step out of line. Once the ship has left the harbor, someone will let you out of this room and you’re allowed to walk around. Eliza wasn’t part of the plan obviously.” He stares at her and rubs his jaw like he is thinking. “I guess she could attend school with you.”
“You can’t just send us to France! Especially not Elisa, she has a husband, he is going to be looking for her.” What is the matter with this man?
“I guess if she doesn’t agree to play along we’ll have to dispose of her.” His voice is so cold my blood freezes and my stomach twists.
“Dispose of her? What the hell is wrong with you
? Have you completely lost your mind?”
“Watch it, young lady, your boyfriend is not here to protect you now… and I’ll make sure that he will never have a chance to threaten me again.”
I literally choke on my own words. What is happening? How can this man be my father? He just had us kidnapped and now he is threatening to kill two people. I just shake my head in defeat. There is no reasoning with the man in front of me. I don’t know when it happened but somewhere along the way, he’s exchanged money and power for his humanity.
“Speaking of that boyfriend of yours, what does your dear sister think about the guy you’ve been seeing? You did tell Jenna and your friend over here that you’ve been dating Colt, right.”
Jenna stills in my arm, her shaking subsided in an instant. She looks up at me and I’m barely able to meet her gaze. When I do, I find exactly what I expect. Disbelief, hurt, and most of all betrayal. “Please tell me that’s not true.”
I don’t even have to say a word. She just looks at me and knows it’s true. Her arms fall away from me and I instantly feel cold.
“Oh, I guess you haven’t told her about your indiscretion. Well, I’m going to let you talk that out on your own. I have some important meetings to attend to anyway and you know I hate being late.” Each and every single word coming out of his mouth is like another twist of the knife he’s stuck in my stomach by doing this.
“That’s it? You just going to ship us off and get rid of your burden?”
“I never asked for you girls. Your mother just showed up at my doorstep one day with two babies, telling me they were mine. What was I supposed to do?”
“Love us? Care for us? Act like a normal parent.”
My father just looks at me as if I was trying to explain an unsolvable math problem to him.
“Maybe things could have been different, but this is just the way it is. People expect me to be a certain way and I have to keep that image and standard.”
He turns on his heal and starts to walk out. He gets to the door before he turns again. “Just behave and play along in France, no one will get hurt and everything will be alright.”
He closes the door and the lock clicks. The sound echoes through the room and straight into my soul.
Jenna scoots away from me toward Elisa, leaving me sitting on my own.
“I’m sorry I didn’t tell you. I just knew you wouldn’t understand.” I look down to stare at my hands, mostly because I can’t bear to look into my sister's eyes and see so much hurt.
“You’re right, I don’t understand… please make me understand.”
I don’t really know how to explain, so I start at the beginning. “One night, dad told me that if I didn’t continue playing the role of his happy daughter, even after I’m eighteen, that he will make my life hell… our lives actually. He said that I needed to attend his events and parties or he would make sure I’d lose my scholarship. He said some messed up things that night… about mom. I just needed to get away but I know they wouldn’t let me go anywhere. So I jumped out of my window, ran through the front yard, scratched up my arms while doing that and then I climbed the wall.” A small smile tugs on my lips remembering how stupid that was.
“I jumped over the wall but I was scared to look down, so I just jumped without looking and I landed literally on top of Colt. I had no idea who he was. I thought he was just some guy taking a walk. I know it sounds stupid but there was just this instant connection…” I bite my lip, still not able to even peek up at my sister's expression.
“We just talked and I felt like he really understood me. He took me out to dinner and still had no idea who he was. Not until I asked him to drive me back home and he didn’t. I totally freaked out when I realized who he was, I even tried to head butt him. I ended up hitting my nose on his shoulder instead… that's how I got the nosebleed.”
“I wanted to be scared of him but he kept being so nice to me, even when I tried to run or when I let Mindy go, he kept being that guy I first met. I was so confused because the guy I saw and the guy everybody else knows are not the same. I really… really tried to hate him, but I couldn't… I still can’t and I feel so guilty for it. I know it doesn’t make sense but… I love him.” I add that last part so quietly, I’m not sure if anyone even heard me.
An uncomfortable silence stretches over us and I know I have to look up and face my sister eventually. Taking all the courage I have, I glance up at her. She is staring at me like she is still trying to let this story sink in but she does look much less furious than I thought she would be. Eliza looks equally as shocked next to her. I wrap my arms around myself, feeling more alone than I have even in my life.
“Do you hate me?”
Jenna sucks in a deep breath as if she can’t believe my question. “Josie, there is nothing in the world that could make me hate you. I do, however, need a minute to digest all of this… and I’m not only talking about you and Colt.”
“I was on the phone with Colt in my room, when they came in. I told him that I heard someone and that I’d go check and then call him right back. He knows something happened. He probably drove to the lake house right away and found Hunter. They are already looking for us. I’m sure of it.”
Jenna and Eliza look less than thrilled by the idea of trusting in Colt to help us with anything. “He didn’t let anything happen to us with Coleman and he was the one who got us the info to clear the guys. Also, he’s been protecting me from dad… us really. Colt was the one who made it so we can see each other again and he was the one who found out about dad. He just asked Hunter to tell us so we could be together when we found out.”
“Wait, Hunter knows?”
I nod, feeling guiltier than ever. “Just since the other day and he made me promise that I tell you soon or he was going to. He didn’t want to lie to you, but he gave me the chance to tell you myself and I would have told you this weekend either way.”
I bite nervously on my lip, waiting for her to say something… anything. After what seems like an eternity she finally does. “You really love him?”
“I do.”
“…and he… loves you?”
“Yes. He loves me too. I promise he has done nothing but protect me.”
“I don’t think I can ever forgive him for what he did. I can never be his friend… or even be in the same room with him… but I won’t stand in the way of your happiness. If this is what you want, then be with him. I won’t hate you for it. I don't understand it and I will worry about you, but I won’t ever hate you.”
I cross the distance between us and take my sister into a tight hug. “Now, that I got that off my chest, let’s find a way out of here.”
20
Colt
We park right in front of the dock the text led us to. “This is it.” I lean in between the driver’s and passenger’s seat and I point at the large cargo ship.
“How the hell are we going to find them on there?” Hunter’s voice is full of worry.
“Let’s not worry about how we find them until we’re on board. Cause we can’t find them from land once the ship leaves. So, let’s go.” Jaxon is already halfway outside. Hunter opens his door and steps outside as well, leaving me alone in the car for a moment.
I look down at my phone and scroll down until I find the investigator’s number so I can send him a quick text.
RELEASE EVERYTHING
I hit send and step out of the car hoping that I just did the right thing. I’ve given up my bargaining chip. But with everything out about him, he has no reason to keep controlling Josie and Jenna.
I get out of the car and sprint after Jaxon and Hunter who are already halfway to the ship. We find the gangway that is still in place and cross over to board the ship. We see some random people working on the deck, but no-one is paying us any attention.
“We should split up. We can cover more ground that way.” Jaxon looks in between me and Hunter. For one split second, it feels like the old times again. Us all being friend
s, doing a job together, counting on each other, trusting each other. Then Jaxon’s eyes darken as he looks me in the face and I know that it can never be like that again. I lost my friends a long time ago and I can never have them back. And for that, I have no-one to blame but myself.
“You’re right, let’s split up.” Hunter nods and we all go in different directions. I watch Hunter disappear to the left, Jaxon heads straight and I take to right. This ship is huge, it’s going to take us a while to search the whole thing. I pick up speed walking down beside the rail, scanning everything I can see and keep my ears strained to hear. Hoping that I might hear them yell or scream, giving me an indicator of where to find them.
Instead of a girl’s voice like I hoped, another voice enters my ear. A deep familiar male voice. Anger grips me and boils my blood as I follow Senator Warren’s voice. Just before I round the corner I pause.
“You can let them out once you’re offshore but keep them away from any phones. When you get to France, someone will come and pick them up. Do not let them leave alone. They are under no circumstances to leave this ship without being put in the care of my security.” His voice is cold and detached. I can’t believe he is talking about his own daughters.
“Got it, sir.”
I hear his heavy footsteps coming closer and just when he comes around the corner I step in front of him cutting him off. He is so startled I think he’s about to fall back but then he manages to collect himself.
“How the hell did you get here?” He snarls at me.
I ignore his question and ask my own. “Where are the girls?”
“I don’t know. At the lake house?” His answer drives my anger to a new level. Without thinking I lunge forward, my hand goes around his neck and I walk him backward until he hits the wall. He grabs at my arm trying to get away from me but with this kind of anger coursing through my veins I have the upper hand.
The Lies We Tell: An Enemy to Lovers Young Adult Romance (Pushed Aside Book 3) Page 11