She turns to look at me and tilts her head with a neutral expression on her face. “She’s safe.”
I let go of Declan’s hand and take a threatening step towards the woman. “Where the fuck is my daughter?” I seethe.
She walks up to an alcohol cart and starts pouring herself a glass of bourbon, like she has all the time in the world, not threatened by me in the slightest.
This time, Declan’s the one who speaks. “We want our kid ba–”
“She’s asleep,” the senator interrupts. She downs her two fingers of bourbon and lets out a long sigh. Although she’s dressed to the nines in a cream-colored suit, the senator looks tired.
“Fine. We’ll take her and go–”
“Fucking finally. I want my money,” interrupts Brad, coming from a hallway off the living room.
We all turn to look at him, and he looks completely strung out. He runs his fingers through his greasy dark waves, and I note his bloodshot eyes and wrinkled clothing.
“What did I tell you, Bradley?” the senator scolds. Brad might be twenty-six, but he looks like a juvenile in front of the senator. His eyes narrow on his mother, and his nostrils flare.
“We’ll give you the money. Just let us get Autumn. Please,” I beg, interrupting their moment.
The staring contest between Brad and his mother lasts another second before the senator says, “He doesn’t want your money. This was a huge mistake, and I’m very sorry for the inconvenience.”
My eyes widen in surprise, and Declan and I look at each other.
Before I can get a word out, though, Bradley spews, “You told me I needed to make my own way. That I needed to get my own money. This is me doing that, mom.”
Her eyes narrow, and she points a thin finger in his direction. “That doesn’t mean kidnapping an innocent child, Bradley. Get a fucking job and stop relying on your father and me to pick up your goddamned messes. Do you know what I’m going to have to do to cover this up?”
“She’s my child! I have every right,” he yells back, his voice echoing around the room.
The senator shakes her head and lets out a humorless chuckle. “You gave up your right to have any say in the child’s life the moment you made the lawyer hand her an NDA,” she points to me, “She may have been the first, but she sure as hell wasn’t the last. I am sick and tired of your shit.”
Wow. Okay. She might be a terrible person, but it looks like even she is not immune to Bradley’s ways.
“She was supposed to get an abortion!” he exclaims. “That’s what the NDA says.” He’s pulling at his hair and starts to pace. “But this is good. This is good because I can take the money, and I’ll have the rest of my life set up for me. I won’t need to work or rely on you, mom.”
He’s talking to himself now, and the senator looks like she’s at a loss.
I read and reread the NDA. It never said that I had to get an abortion, but I’m assuming the rest of them did if he thinks that. And if that’s the case, I feel sorry for all the women he did this to. They didn’t get a choice. I’m assuming they got a check and not so much as a goodbye from Bradley. I can’t imaginethe mental gymnastics they went through, or are going through, because of his carelessness and lack of empathy.
A moment later, the sound of my daughter’s cries echoes through the house, and not just any cries.
“She’s so fucking dramatic,” Bradley rolls his eyes.
“She’s having a night terror,” Declan spits back, clearly disgusted with Brad’s lack of remorse.
Declan instantly moves towards the sound of Autumn, and I follow after. I can hear Brad spewing words, and his mother says something as well, but I’m not paying attention. We need to get Autumn and leave. If the senator means what she says about us not paying Brad, then I want to be gone in the next few minutes.
We head down the hall and find Autumn in the last room on the left. Declan swings the door open and doesn’t hesitate to pick her up, going through the routine of trying to get her out of the night terror.
My eyes start to water, and I help Declan rub Autumn’s back. There’s a good chance that after this is all said and done, I’ll never let Autumn out of my sight again. Seeing her in this state is already torturous, and when you add in the kidnapping, it’s amazing I still have my sanity left.
“Put her the fuck down,” I hear from the doorway.
I turn to look at Brad, and my eyebrows hit my forehead.
He’s holding a gun.
“Bradley. Put the gun down!” the senator yells from the hall. Her hand is covering her mouth, and she’s shaking.
