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I watched Maddie as she cried herself to sleep, memorizing the shape of her face, the color of her hair, the steadiness of her breathing. I wanted to remember everything about her. I wished I had a picture of Logan, my nephew. The one I would never watch grow up. The one who held my heart in the palm of his hand from the very first time I saw him. I didn’t know what my future held, but I knew better than to expect to ever see them again. This man would not keep me, just to let me come back to see my family.
My family.
I had a family and a man I had never met was about to take them from me. I knew Luke had a plan, but I feared that it would end with someone getting killed or hurt. I closed my eyes, hoping that I would just go to sleep and when I woke, I would be in his arms and out of this nightmare. All I could think about was how I should have told him I loved him, in person, one last time.
I awoke with a jolt and looked to see Maddie staring at me wide-eyed as we bounced around in the back of the vehicle.
“We must be getting close,” she whispered. “We have been going pretty slowly for a few minutes.” I figured we were in an abandoned area and the thought scared the shit outta me. They could kill us all and no one would be the wiser.
“Everything is going to be fine,” I said to Maddie, locking my eyes on hers. “When we get there and they let you go, I don’t want you causing a scene or trying anything stupid. Go straight to Luke. If he can’t get me out of this, I will figure something out. Remember, you have a little boy at home who needs you, Maddie.”
“This is all my fault. I caused this,” she said, getting panicky. I kept my voice calm and reassuring, the way a mother would do.
“None of this is your fault.”
“If it wasn’t for me, Luke would have killed Frankie years ago and none of this would have happened.”
“Maddie. This. Is. Not. Your. Fault,” I said, enunciating each word in order to try and make her understand. “You can fix all of this. All you have to do is go to Luke when we get out and stay calm. They are not going to hurt me. They just want to upset Luke.” I knew it was unlikely, but I prayed like hell that they wouldn’t hurt me, at least not in front of Luke and Maddie. The thought of them hurting was worse than any physical blows I would take.
The car stopped and my heartbeat sped up as I waited for the doors to open. A low, controlled voice that I didn’t recognize spoke and I heard the two front doors shut and the shuffle of feet as the back door was opened. The sun was setting in the distance and I noticed that we were in a big field with trees scattered around. The goons sat us up, so that we were facing towards them. I saw a man approach that looked like he was in his late sixties, but in very good shape. His white hair was slicked back and he wore a tailored, black suit that was flawless, despite the dusty gravel road that lay beneath his feet. The man was strikingly beautiful and wore a smile that revealed two rows of perfect, white teeth. A cigar dangled from between his fingers and I noticed that he wore a diamond ring on every one.
“Miss Knox! What a pleasure to finally meet you!” he said in a voice full of fake warmth. “I believe there is someone who is dying to see you.” My heart sank to my knees as he put distinction in the word ‘dying.’
“Luke! Come see your lovely lady.”
Seconds later I was fighting for air as I saw Regg and Ronnie drag Luke into view. His face was battered and he looked to have taken a pretty bad beating. His legs hung lifelessly below him, and I knew it took enormous strength for him to just to keep his head up. One of his eyes was swollen completely shut and the other was bruised badly. Dried blood caked his nose and mouth and splattered his shirt.
“Luke, here, was not very pleased about me taking you, as you can see. I knew he was concocting a plan to undermine me and since this is my show, I figured I would let him fight for the two things he loved the most. You and his cut.”
I heard Maddie whimper beside me, and was more than thankful for the goons that were there to hold us up, or else I would have fallen out of the back of the car, face first. I knew better than to say anything, it would only make matters worse.
