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"I'm going to have to take this," he said as he looked at us. "I'll be back in a bit." I nodded and turned my attention back to the movie. After a few minutes, Rita stood up.
"I had better go check on my brownies," she said as she made her way across the living room. "Do you need anything?" I shook my head.
"No thank you," I told her. "I'm good." She nodded and smiled. "Alright," she said. "I'll be back in a minute." With that, she left for the kitchen, and I turned back towards the TV.
The more I thought about it, the more this life seemed appealing. After all, as condescending as it was, it felt nice not to have to worry about work or bills, and I was exhausted from always worrying about Dad and Brad. It drove me crazy how much trouble they could get into, the kind that normal people never got into, but that was my daily life. That was why I threw myself into my work. It was for the better.
The sound of breaking glass echoed through the dark half of the house, and I frowned as I looked around. It almost sounded like a window had broken, but I made my way towards the kitchen, where Rita was setting out a pan of brownies to cool. When she saw me come in, she frowned in concern.
"Is everything okay?" she asked, and I frowned as I looked around at the ground. When I didn't see the broken glass on the ground, I frowned at her.
"Did something fall and break?" I asked as I stared at her in confusion. She frowned as she shook her head.
"No, nothing broke," she said as she looked at me. "Is everything okay?" I looked back towards the dark hallway.
"I think I heard a window break," I told her, and she looked a little panicked.
"Stay right here," she told me as she looked around the house. "If anything happens, take the phone and call the police." She then started towards the stairs.
"Where are you going?" I asked, and she smiled at me.
"Don't worry, sweetie," she said as she smiled reassuringly at me. "I'm going to go get Derek and see what happened. It's probably nothing." With that, she left me alone in the brightly lit kitchen, and panic welled up inside me.
CHAPTER EIGHT
Derek
"Hello?" I asked as I exited the living room and made my way up the stairs.
Whoever this was, they had better have a damn good excuse for interrupting my time with Skye. This was already turning out to be an awkward night, and I actually wanted to end it on a good note. If it didn't, I just might lose her by Tuesday morning. I hadn't really paid attention to the Caller ID, but I now saw that it was Joe, Skye's uncle.
"Hey, Derek," he said through the phone. "Is Skye there?" I rolled my eyes.
"Skye's downstairs watching a movie," I informed him as I entered the office. "She's perfectly fine, and there's no reason to worry about her. I already promised you I'd look after her and take care of her. So, why are you asking?" For the first time since I knew Joe, he actually sounded nervous.
"So, you're both at your house then?" he asked, and I nodded.
"Yes," I sighed as I shook my head. "Look, what is going on?" Joe sighed as he prepared to answer the question.
"You know that guy you paid off in order to help my brother and nephew?" he asked. "Well, it turns out that he loaned them a lot more money than they told me about, and, after hearing about the arrangement they made with you, he wants to have a talk with you." I sighed and shook my head.
"That's not a problem," I told him. "After all, it's not like a few hundred thousand dollars affects someone like me." Joe chuckled nervously.
"You see, he claims that you gipped him, and he's demanding that we give him Skye as payment, otherwise he's going to take the bakery away," Joe said. "He said something about how you only gave him two hundred thousand?"
I raised my eyebrow at the phone suspiciously.
"But you were all there," I pointed out. "There were witnesses." I swore Joe was nodding through the phone.
"Yes, I know, but he said he's coming to get her, and there's no one who can stop him," Joe informed me. "I hope you don't hate me, but I called a buddy of mine at the station, and he said that he would have people come by and check on the house." I was about to respond when the door opened, and Rita walked in.
"Skye's downstairs and she's scared," Rita said in a low voice. "She said that she swears she heard something break. I think someone might be in the house." The blood rushed to my face as I burned in anger.
"Joe, tell your buddies to get the hell over here, now," I ordered. "I think they're already here." With that, I hung up the phone and looked at Rita. "Where's Skye now?" Before she could answer, there was a loud, high pitched scream from downstairs, and I brushed past Rita. "Lock the door and don't let any one in." She nodded as I bolted down the stairs.
Without wasting any time, I raced to the kitchen, where Rita had said Skye was waiting. As I turned the corner, the sight before me angered me more than anything I’d ever seen. Skye was surrounded by three men, all dressed in black, and the phone lay on the kitchen floor. Two men were holding her arms, and the other was impossibly close to her face.
“It’s no wonder the boss wants her instead of the money,” the first said as he leered in her face. “She’s a pretty little thing.” One of the men holding her arms smiled.
