Chapter 1 #2
Perhaps the real reason I agreed to do the marketing campaign was just to shut my brothers up.
I was so sick of them constantly comparing me to my sister-in-law, Chloe.
My supposedly dead best friend. The one who had a crush on Liam thirteen years ago but ended up marrying Lincoln.
She turned out to be alive all these years, hiding from the gang who killed her parents.
She’d been working at a strip joint all this time.
They kept saying that Chloe was much more worldly than me.
So stunning, and fearless on stage. And that I should really step out of my comfort zone and be a little bit like her.
It was true that I admired Chloe deeply and wanted to be more like her.
Bolder. More confident. More everything…
But I feared him more.
I dropped the monitor in the baggage section and headed for the door. At this moment, my blood pressure was no longer an issue. Well, it wasn’t my highest priority right now anyway.
My face was warm, my heart was beating fast, and my blood boiling – I didn’t need a monitor to know that my pressure was high.
Quickly, I walked to my red Tesla and jumped in.
“Hold on.” Mack grabbed the door with his gorilla sized hand.
“Let go.” I was ready to slam my door, and Mack would lose his fingers – the red of my car was perfect for covering his blood.
“I’ll be quick. I just need some cash.”
Cash? So, Mack was just here for some money.
I was a little taken aback by his audacity though.
So straight to the point, he’d wasted no time at all.
Secretly, I let out a small sigh of relief.
Mom had led me to believe that if a problem could easily go away with money, then it was not a problem at all.
Side note: you had to have the money in the first place.
I knew full well that I was really fortunate to be in that position, and that without my parents, I might never have been.
“Cash machine isn’t far from here. That shop over there has one.” I pointed at a convenience shop on the next block. I immediately regretted my smart reply, I shouldn’t have teased him like that because I wanted this conversation to be over as soon as possible.
“Bitch!” Mack’s free hand punched the roof of my precious Tesla. My body shrunk and my eyes started to water. A minute ago, I was ready for this to get bloody and now…what was going on? I couldn’t just back down. His gorilla hand would pay for that bang.
I had no idea what I was feeling at that moment.
Fear–yes.
Anger–most definitely.
“Stop being smart with me, June Horyi Melisa Bennet.”
Did he just call me by my full name?
“How much?” I hated myself for surrendering so quickly. No one even knew my full name. I hated it being so long, so I never used it, not even at school. And I sure never told Mack about it. The way Mack said it, indicated that he knew more about me than just my full name.
“Ten grand.”
That wasn’t a lot of money. Not for Mack. Not for me.
“Fine.” I knew that there was a possibility that Mack was toying with me. Testing me. Now I’d just given him the upper hand.
“I’ll be in touch.” Mack said as he tried to slip me something, a card or a piece of paper from his pocket. I took the opportunity to shut my car door and drove away as quickly as possible. No blood.
Mack shouted behind me. I had no intention of finding out what the bad man was saying. What could he possibly have said really? I’d rather not know what he wanted to do to me if I didn’t give him his money.
My escape plan had been rather smooth. At least I didn’t have to clean off any blood or pick up any severed fingers. But when my car approached my building, I drove straight past it. I couldn’t bring myself to go home.
I needed time to think.
I needed someone to talk to, but who?
Chloe. The best friend who had left me grieving for 10 years would be my first choice.
She had dealt with many lowlifes and scumbags as a stripper in her past life.
She would know what to do – or even know a few people who could help in this kind of situation.
It turned out that her cousin Marie – whom she never knew she had – was the head of the Mafia or something like that.
The only problem was I didn’t want my brother Lincoln to find out about this. The sweet couple had been through enough over the years. Not just ordinary tough times that normal human beings went through, but black mailing, kidnapping, and robbery just to name a few.
In some ways, they were the perfect people to go to for advice.
But I really didn’t want my brother to think that I couldn’t deal with my own problems. My problem was nothing compared to what they’d faced, so if they could do it, I could as well.
I just needed to figure out how. Besides, they were all the way in Myrtle Beach, and I wasn’t eager to drive or fly there right this very second. And I was definitely not calling.
Dad? Nope, he just remarried not too long ago and should enjoy his honeymoon with his new bride.
Mother? I could just picture her wrinkling her nose, squinting her eyes at me – wondering how on earth I brought this on myself.
Her solution could be powerful though, but a bit unconventional and not quite legal.
I wouldn’t mind illegal conduct to be honest, if it was done properly and untraceably.
Could I trust my mother on this one though? Probably not.
Liam, my other brother, would not be a good option. He was very nice , clean cut and…geeky. Sure, my geeky brother made a great surgeon, but he would be useless in this situation.
“Call the police,” I could hear Liam saying already.
There was one other person…
The car behind me had been the same silver SUV for a while now.
The same car with a bird dropping at the top right corner of the windscreen–that really annoying spot that was just out of the wiper’s reach.
I remembered thinking how much it would be bothering me if I couldn’t get the bird shit out of my sight.
But that thought was almost ten blocks away.
Could it be Mack?
When he said he wanted ten grand, I thought I heard him wrong. For someone like Mack, who did nothing other than eat, drink and party, ten thousand dollars wouldn’t last him long – especially when he had such expensive tastes.
“Call Chloe Bennet,” I gave a command to my car. My fear had overridden my reluctance to call her.
No answer.
“Wendy Gupta,” I shouted at my car. The Indian Goddess who had helped to hide Chloe and helped her avoid many other troubles along the way. She might have an idea or two. I was convinced that she was connected to some powerful people.
“Wendy!” I called out as soon as she picked up.
“Hey, greetings to you too.” Wendy’s sarcastic tone had no effect on me. I was just overjoyed there was someone to talk to right now.
“It’s so good to hear your voice.” Realizing that it was an odd thing to say to someone I had only met a handful of times, I continued, “I’m sorry I haven’t been in touch. I don’t really have an ex–”
“Are you in trouble?” I almost screamed and I knew that I had called the right person. Not only was I useless at thinking when I was nervous, I also sucked at getting my words out.
“Yes.”
“Are you safe?”
“Yes.” Then weakly, I said, “Maybe not.”
“Put me on video,” she demanded.
“If you can…” Wendy added cautiously.
“Hi,” I felt better as soon as I saw Wendy’s round face. I realized that my face had turned rather purple from holding my breath in.
“You’re in a car?” My head bobbled, yes. “I can’t see anyone else in the car with you. Please don’t tell me you killed someone and you’re looking for a place in New York to hide the body.”
“No.” I really should’ve just spat out the words, or Wendy would think of another scenario to have me nod to, and really, it was just wasting time. “I think someone is following me.”
I breathed heavily, as if I was about to give birth. If I didn’t get any air into me, my brain was going to explode.
“Car chase?” Wendy’s eyes widened. “In New York?”
“No chasing, no. Following. The same car, for many blocks now.” I tried to say words that made sense. That was one of the reasons I practiced meditation, it wasn’t just a trendy fad that I followed, I really needed it to ease my anxiety.
“Deep breaths, girl.”
I took a few more deep breaths, following Wendy’s instruction through the screen. It was just a simple breathing exercise that I had used and even taught and guided many of my patients through during their fertility procedures. Somehow, it went right out the window just when I needed it.
“Good girl.” I felt like I was being talked to like a puppy. I wasn’t sure if it was the words, or Wendy’s voice, but my anxiety had started to ease. “Listen carefully, you will need to do a sharp turn at the next junction. And no brake, no signal. I repeat. No brake, no signal.”
“Okay. Left or right turn?” I asked.
“Doesn’t matter. Make sure you don’t run over anyone.”
I took another deep breath before turning my steering wheel as hard as I could and felt as though the car almost lifted at one corner. Almost.
“Is the car still there?” Wendy’s voice was loud and clear through the speaker.
I thought for a second that it was all okay now – that I’d made a silly mistake, no one was actually following me. There was no sign of the silver SUV with the poop stain.
Two seconds later, the shit car reappeared.
“It’s back,” I announced. “And driving faster towards me.”
“Okay, listen.” If Wendy was going to suggest another crazy move, I was going to cry. I wasn’t known for my reckless driving. “I’m going to send you a location and you’re going to drive there like nothing has happened, you clear? Just drive normally, okay? No more sharp turns.”
In the middle of New York on a Saturday morning, I had no idea where I was. I couldn’t tell my whereabouts or recognize any streets or buildings. My mind was blank.
“Don’t leave me,” I begged. “I can’t think.”
Wendy’s brow furrowed. “I’m sorry I can’t be a better help. I’ll stay until you get here.”
It suddenly occurred to me that Wendy was actually in New York right now. And she was bringing me to her.
My phone pinged with a notification–the shared location that Wendy had sent. I clicked on it right away and obediently followed the navigation. She said nothing else for the rest of the journey – having her on my screen was enough though.
Along the way, the silver SUV had disappeared a few times–being overtaken by other vehicles–but came back right away each time.
Ten long minutes later, I arrived at an abandoned warehouse. Was this a joke? Despite my sixth sense telling me to run for the hills, I put my foot down on the brake.
So did the silver SUV.