We were four days into her stay, and she had called her brother three times every day, simply because she had nothing else to do. The problem was that he had a job and a very busy life on the other side of the country. He had initially wanted to fly out to be with Bec after the incident, but it would have ruined our plan. If he came here, our cover story that she was in Oregon would have been blown. Hence, they settled for phone calls.
Bec wasn’t the only one going crazy. Andi wasn’t sure how to exist without Bec. The two had unknowingly become co-dependent on one another. Andi had called my house every day since the incident, asking my family for updates on both of us. I wasn’t sure how she had gotten the number in the first place, but there was a reason she was Bec’s secret weapon—Andi was sneaky.
She and Melissa had delegated the majority of Bec’s duties to give her the time she needed to recover. Melissa was also losing her mind, having to deal with the media shitstorm that came from our downtown car chase. I knew there were a few photos of me floating around, but I didn’t want to see them. They would just be a reminder of one of the scariest moments of my life.
I felt sorry for Andi and Melissa. They had a mountain of work to take care of in Bec’s absence, but Becneededa break. Andi and Melissa believed I was taking a deserved vacation as well. My family had told them I went out to Oregon with Bec to visit old friends from my time living there. It was plausible as they both knew I lived there for a few years before moving back to New York City. I wished I was on vacation. I was instead on babysitting duty. Also known as, make sure Bec doesn’t overdo it. Which was proving to be a more challenging job than expected.
Bec sighed dramatically and collapsed onto the living room couch next to me. I was rifling through employee files, hoping to find connections between them, Bec’s father, and the driver who had participated in her capture. While Bec couldn’t do any work, I needed to find out who was behind Bec’s capture and their motivation. She believed it was a scare tactic orchestrated by her father to prove his rumors correct. I wasn’t as convinced.
It was too calculated. Someone within the office had to have alerted them that she was leaving the building. It wasn’t a part of her normal schedule to leave minutes after arriving. I hadn’t called for the car, nor had Bec. The only other individuals who knew we were leaving were Andi and Melissa, but they had both claimed not to have called the car over.
When I saw it arrive, I knew something was off. In the seven months I had worked for Bec, we drove the same car every day, and had the same driver every day. There was no reason for these two things to have changed, but neither was the case that day. It wasn’t the car we usually took—while it was the same make and model, it was an older version and slightly different color. Then, at the last moment, I could see a passenger where there usually wasn’t one. I should have acted faster to keep Bec from getting in that car. She was barely out of my reach when she was grabbed and pulled into the back seat.
It was another mistake of mine that almost cost the life of someone I loved. I hated myself more, knowing that if I had just been more diligent, I could have kept her safe.
Bec sighed again, clearly upset about the lack of attention I was giving her.
“Can I help you?” I asked as I read over the mailroom intern’s personnel file.
“I’m bored.”
“Really?” I asked sarcastically. Bec glared at me and proceeded to lie horizontally across the couch, with her head resting on my lap. “Hi.”
She smirked. “Hi. I know something we can do.”
I rolled my eyes, “Like I said yesterday, and the day before that, you have to stay out of my pants for a week. Keep it in for three more days, and then we can get freaky in the sheets in the room that shares a wall with my parents.”
Bec rolled her eyes, “Way to ruin the mood.”
“I aim to please, sweetheart.” I tried to focus back on the file in front of me.
Bec made it another thirty seconds before sitting up, needing more attention. “Can we please go do something? Anything?”
I laughed softly, “This is a new side to you I wasn’t expecting.”
“I have spent my whole life moving at full speed, never taking a break. Sue me for having a hard time when I finally have to slow down,” she retorted angrily and began to stomp away.
I gently clasped her wrist and pulled her back to me. I picked her up under her thighs and set her on my lap. She squealed at the sudden movement but didn’t protest. “Remember when you said you were going to be nicer to me?”
She sighed, “I know, I’m sorry. I just…” she looked around the empty room. “I can’t take another day of this. I know I need to take it easy, but this istooeasy for me.”
I massaged her thighs as I thought over what we could do to keep her entertained. At least entertained enough that I could refocus onmytasks.
I had hoped to make better progress in tracking down those who had orchestrated her capture. At the very least, get a general idea of who was involved outside of the driver and his accomplice. Both of whom were refusing to cooperate with the police thus far.
There wasn’t much to do around the house, but there was one place that always needed a helping hand. “What are your thoughts on manual labor?”
She shrugged, her eyes lit with excitement, and a slight smirk appeared on her lips, “There’s a first time for everything.”
As long as I had known Bec, she excelled at every task thrown her way. I had seen her work through advanced accounting principles on a whim, and navigate software code when asked about their website. She had a knack for everything.
Well… nearly everything. Bec was, in fact, horrendous at one thing. It just so happened to be washing dishes at my family’s restaurant. But… she was having the time of her life, so no one complained.
Well, one person complained. Bella turned to me from her spot at one of the kitchen workstations. Her chef’s coat was pristine as usual, her hair tied back in a sleek bun, and she turned to me with barely-concealed irritation “You know I’m going to have to rewash all of those before the dinner rush, right?”
I smiled from my spot at the table in the center of the kitchen, where I had set up shop for the afternoon. Usually, I would work out of Mateo’s office, but I needed to keep an eye on Bec… not for her, but for my own peace of mind. “Don’t worry about it. I can do it before we leave.”
Bella eyed me, “You really like her, don’t you?”
