Wait.No. Don’t think like that.
What do they do on the TV shows I’ve watched?
They keep them talking.
They humanize themselves.
They get the bad guy to divulge their evil plans, then they save themselves instead of waiting for a man to come and save the day. Not sure I’m in any shape to save myself, but I’m sure as hell not going to give up and make killing me easy.
“What did she lie about?” I try, and this man I will never think of as anything other thanthe bosssmiles.
“Oh, your momma is a good liar,Ash-ton.She got you there, didn’t she? She knew she was taking that plea deal. Knew she was gonna be stuck in there, but she wanted to get out as soon as possible. And if she was gonna do the time, she wanted to come out sitting on a fat pile of cash. You ever fucked on a million bucks,Ash-ton?Cause that’s what I’m gonna do as soon as that big, dumb fuck of yours brings me my money.”
A million dollars?
“Jamie doesn’t just have a million dollars lying around,” I gasp. Jamie’s got money, but not that much.
“Oh, he’s not gonna give me one million, girly. He’s gonna give me three. You see, your momma knew once she got you talking, you’d be dumb enough to tell her everything you needed to. We’ve been trying to dig up information on you for a long time. She knew that fucking brat baby was the key to getting you to give up what we needed.” His head tilts until his ear is nearly touching his shoulder, and he lifts his finger and points it at me.
“Wait... you believed she was really giving you the brat because what—you’d be a better momma?” He laughs, and my stomach sours more. “She don’t give a shit about that kid. She don’t give a shit about anybody but herself and her next high. She don’t care who takes the brat. She just needed to know whose buttons to push to get us our money. She thought we could get a cool mill off that doctor friend of yours. But then you went and showed up pregnant with the baller’s baby... and we knew we hit the fucking jackpot. A friend might pay a million, but a baby daddy... he’s gonna pay more.”
He pulls his chair closer to me and grabs my face, holding me still so I can’t move as he drags the muzzle of the gun over my split cheek.
I press my lips closed, trying to hold back the whimpers bubbling in my throat.
I knew she was a mess.
I knew Evan’s death broke her.
But I didn’t know anything.
If this man is our father, she’s been broken for so much longer than we ever knew.
She lured me there. She—oh God—she set me up.
Set this up.
It was her plan, and I was the bait. She doesn’t care if I live or die.
“It’s all clickin’ now, ain’t it,Ash-ton? Your momma was the spider, and you walked right into her web.” He looks down at his watch, and his disgusting smile morphs. “Showtime.”
“What are you going to do with me?” I whisper, terrified of his answer.
“What do you think I’m going to do? I’m ransoming you for three million dollars.” My heart sinks. Money. It’s all for money. But maybe... Maybe he’ll get his money, and he’ll let me go. “And then I’m going to kill your pretty-boy boyfriend right in front of you, just for fun. We can’t have him telling nobody about this, now can we?” I scream, and he stands and wraps duct tape around my mouth and licks my fucking ear. “Right before I kill you.”
JAMIE
There is no me without you.
—Text from Jamie to Ashton
“And you’re sure they’ll be far enough away?” I ask Grandfather again.
When the call came through an hour ago, demanding three million dollars be delivered by me alone, no one was surprised. If anything, we were shocked they didn’t demand more. I’d pay it. I’d pay anything to get her back. The small security team my grandfather had assembled tried to trace the call. But the man on the phone, the one demanding money in exchange for Ashton, the one I’d like to kill with my bare fucking hands, ended it before they could pinpoint the original location.
Three million dollars in three hours.
I’m to come alone.
