been holding on to my phone like it held my life. Which it did. My family was my life.
The cops had been trying to call the phone, but no one was picking up. Becky was smart though; she hadn’t turned off the phone, merely silenced it. Her mother wasn’t too smart. That was the first thing that she should have confiscated.
We were five minutes away, and my heart pounded hard in the chambers of my chest.
“She says to put ten grand in an envelope inside a bag and drop the money at Monroe and Lexington.” My voice shook as I spoke, my normal confidence not there.
“Let’s go there. Going to where Becky is will cause trouble. How do we even know Mary is with her and this crazy woman hasn’t taken her to a different location?” Mason said, his voice full of stress.
“Shut up. The only way to get this done is to go there and get Mary ourselves,” Brad snapped, eyes solely focused on the road while his hands were wrapped tightly around the steering wheel at ten and two.
I closed my eyes. Fear and adrenaline were a dangerous mix. For once, I didn’t know what to do. Did we just give this woman the money? Would that ensure the safe return of Mary and Becky? Would there forever be a bounty on my kids’ heads if she wasn’t caught?
What if she had a gun or other people working with her?
I knew nothing.
“Text her back, Charles,” Mason ordered.
I tried to focus on the task at hand, but my brain was mush.
“Charles!”
My eyes blinked open, and I texted four words back.
We’ll get your money.
“Did you text her?” Mason asked.
“I did.”
“So, where are we headed now?” he asked, frantic.
“What do you mean, where, Mason?” Brad griped. “We’re going to get Mary.”
“That’s stupid,” Mason ground out. “She gave us an alternate location. We still have to get the money. Right now, the banks are closed. The max that we can withdraw is three thousand.”
“Well, there’s three of us, so …” Brad tipped his chin. “We’ll get the money just in case, but we’re not going by her terms.”
“What do you mean? She has our kid,” Mason said.
I couldn’t think. I inhaled deeply, held my breath, and then counted to five.
“Charles …” Mason demanded.
Exhale.
“We get the money and head to where this phone is tracking their location.”
When he piped up, I shot him a look. I wasn’t in the mood to argue. And I was done trying to figure this all out.
I was fucking getting my girls back.
This ended today. I wouldn’t live in fear, and neither would Becky. This was the one thing I could do for her.
Becky
Kate slammed the door shut, making Mary and me jump when she returned from her smoke.
“I texted them a location. Let’s go.”
I stood and couldn’t breathe for a second as anxiety spiked within me. “Mary, go to the bathroom.”
She widened her eyes, about to speak, until I winked at her.
“Come on. You can go. Or else you’ll go in the car.”
Her eyes wavered until I tipped her chin.
“You wouldn’t want to go in the car, would you?”
“Go, then! If you are going to take a piss, go now,” Kate shot out, making Mary still.
I gave Mary’s hand a squeeze, and reluctantly, she released my hand. I prayed with all my might that she would go through with this, that she would hide like I’d told her to.
The best thing I could do in this situation was get Mary as far away from the threat as possible.
Kate was watching Mary leave with narrowed eyes, and I took this as an opportunity to play fake catch-up.
“Where are you living now?” I couldn’t have cared less, but I needed Kate distracted.
My mother laughed, both a deadly and uncivilized sound. “Wouldn’t you like to know? Not here—that’s for sure. Or anywhere in your surrounding area.” She ran a hand through her oily, mid-length, dyed hair. “So, you don’t have to worry about me coming back.” Her eyes teetered to somewhere behind me, her look going blank. “I’m desperate this time, Becky.”
I’d seen her desperate. If this topped those times, I knew she was in trouble—most likely the six-feet-under kind.
You’d think I’d feel some sort of pity for this woman, but no. All I felt was this utter resentment that had been caused from years of neglect and mental abuse from my childhood. There was no empathy in my emotional jar left for this woman.
“Where are we going now? Where