Chapter 32 Cross
CROSS
My mom and Scarlett’s dad meet me at the edge of Shadow Valley an hour after his text comes through. In that time, I brought Tyler to the emergency room–he woke up shortly after I came back downstairs, but he seemed too disoriented for my liking–and told Scar’s dad that we had to meet.
I spare a moment to hug my mother, whose concern is etched all over her face. Beyond that, she looks good. Her hair is shinier than I’ve ever seen it, and she has little gold hoops in her ears. She’s wrapped in a thick puffy jacket lined with faux fur, and her gloved hands take mine.
I face Scarlett’s dad. I still can’t think of him as my stepfather. It doesn’t seem real. I haven’t spent enough time with the man to even consider him family.
But he’s her family.
And I’ve never seen the emotions controlling his expression right now. A mix of worry and anger. He thrusts his phone out, the message from a blocked number on the screen.
BLOCKED: We have your daughter. A hundred grand for her life. You have until 5PM. Police = no deal, and you’ll never see her again.
BLOCKED: [IMAGE]
A hundred thousand dollars? I blanch. The photo is of Scarlett–fiery, glaring–sitting on an old rickety chair. Her hands are bound behind her back.
There’s a newspaper leaned against her shins.
“That’s the headline from today,” he says in a low voice. “What the hell is going on, Cross?”
I swallow and meet his gaze. “I did something bad. This is all on me.”
“Cross,” my mother gently pleads, looking at my bruised face. “Just be honest with us.”
I close my eyes and tell them the story. It starts with my fighting.
“Fighting,” her dad repeats.
“I train at a reputable gym in town, but the owner got me into some fights for extra money.” I glance at Mom. “I needed every penny I could earn to stay in school.”
“You had a lacrosse scholarship–”
“It didn’t cover everything, Mamá. It didn’t cover food and books and…” I shrug. “General cost of living. I couldn’t burden you with it.”
Tears fill her eyes.
“Focus,” Scarlett’s dad murmurs. “Please.”
I suck in a deep breath. “Stanley, the gym owner, set up a meeting with these guys. They had twenty thousand in cash. They gave it to me to lose a fight. And I swear, I was just going to do it once. That kind of money would be life changing.”
I see it in his eyes that he disapproves.
“My opponent saw Scarlett and me talking before the fight.”
“You brought her–”
“She found her own way there,” I interrupt. “And the guy…he was from Yale. He was telling me horrible things about w-what he did to her.”
I’m sick at the memory of it.
“In that moment, I snapped. I couldn’t let her see me lose to someone like that. But more than that…”
“Cross,” my mother cries. “God, I never wanted your future to be so clouded by what your father did to us.”
“I know.”
Scarlett’s dad’s face is red. “What did he do to her?”
I shake my head slowly. “That’s her story to tell. He demanded money, and I used the twenty grand to make him go away. But the point is, those decisions cost me. The brothers who paid me to throw the fight came back and said I owed them more than what they paid me. That I had run up a debt.”
I explain the rest–how there was another fight, another opportunity to wipe the slate clean, but my opponent was the same. And I saw red.
By the time I’m done, I hang my head. “It was never a hundred thousand that I owed. I don’t–I don’t know why they want that much.”
“Because they know I’ll pay it.” He reaches out and puts his hand on my shoulder. “These men are predators, Cross. They targeted you, and now they’re targeting our family.”
My guilt is going to choke me.
“I have the money,” he says suddenly. “I didn’t file a report with the police, but I will be as soon as you tell them you’ll deliver it to them.”
“What?”
He pushes his phone at me. “Keep that. We’re going to the police, and your mother will keep your location tracked through my phone. With any luck, we’ll be able to follow you and get these guys.”
Their car beeps, and the trunk opens. He grabs a duffel bag and holds it out to me. I shoulder it, knowing more money than I can fathom is inside it.
They’re trusting me to get his baby back in one piece.
I let out a long, slow breath. “One more thing.”
They both look at me.
“I’m in love with her.”
They exchange a look, and my mother chuckles. “Called it.”
My jaw drops.
She pushes me toward my car. “Go. We’ll discuss this more when Scarlett is safe.”