Chapter 46 #2
“Stop! Don’t leave!” I yell again, my heart lurching from my chest as the party continues inside. I feel nothing as the cold night air hits my face, my eyes blazing on the one woman I know can tell me something.
“I said stop!” I catch them just before they get to their waiting car. Colin pauses and spins around to look at me as I see Maribel pushing him to get in the car.
“What have you done?” I seethe at her, and she pauses, her body tensing for a moment. Then she takes a step forward, and for a split second, her smile gets bigger, before she feigns mock shock.
“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” she says, her voice sickly sweet.
“Sutton?” Sawyer looks at me like I’ve lost my mind.
“What’s going on?” Colin asks, his eyes bouncing between me and his wife, on guard.
“I know where your daughter is, Colin. And Preston,” I tell him, knowing he isn’t the enemy.
He might be guilty of being a shit father, but he isn’t guilty of any harm to them.
Maribel’s eyes widen, dropping her facade, not thinking I would talk about it so openly.
Not realizing her little plan is about to unravel.
“You do?” He stands ten feet taller, looking at me with interest as Maribel starts glancing around for an escape. Only, there’s nowhere to run.
“Yeah, but you know what? So does your wife here. Go on. Tell him, Maribel. Tell him all about how you abused Preston. Tell him all about how you blackmailed Charlotte to leave so you wouldn’t go to the press about Colin and ruin his reputation.
Ruin his business. Tell him that his only daughter, his baby girl, fled with her brother in the middle of the night, out of fear that you were going to hurt them and bring their father down, all so you could get his money.
Tell him that she left to save him,” I seethe, and a few people nearby gather, but I don’t falter.
“What?” Colin looks stunned, like his whole world just brightened and crumbled at the same time. Sawyer grabs my security team, who all subtly position themselves around us, blocking them in and blocking the media out. There’s nowhere she can go, nowhere she can hide.
“That’s nonsense,” she scoffs.
“What the fuck is he talking about, Maribel?” Colin’s raised voice captures attention of those around us, and my heart races so fast my hands shake.
“He’s talking nonsense. He’s probably high on drugs or something…” She’s stuttering now.
“You’re both coming with me, and I swear, you better hope they’re alive when we get there.” I look over her shoulder and nod to my security team, who all crowd behind her and Charlotte’s father.
“Alive? Where are they? What’s happening?” Colin yells in confusion.
“Let me go!” Maribel screams as my team grab her by the upper arms. “Colin! Tell them to let me go!”
Colin pales as he watches the woman he married start screaming and kicking.
“What the hell have you done?” he asks her, voice gruff, anger vibrating around his body. He’s a smart man. It’s all clear to him now, even if he doesn’t have the evidence.
“He’s lying. He’s an actor. Why would you believe anything he has to say?!” she screeches, but I have little time to hear.
“Go. Connor and I will finish up. We’ll come over as soon as we can.
” Tanner practically pushes us to some waiting trucks nearby.
Colin, Sawyer, and I jump in one, my security team taking a screaming Maribel in the other, and we drive off to my place.
Adrenaline surges through my body as I’m forced to sit still, desperate to get to Charlotte and Preston.
“What happened?” Sawyer barks as he starts to drive.
“Will someone tell me what the hell is going on?” Colin demands, as Sawyer drives like a madman out of Distillery Drive and straight to Billionaire Boulevard.
“I’m in love with your daughter. She and Preston now live with me.
Your wife is a fucking psychopath who abused your kids while you had your head so far up your fucking ass you couldn’t see straight!
That’s what the hell is going on!” I shout.
None of this would have happened if he was a better father.
If he got his shit together after his wife died.
Although, I do have sympathy, because if anything happens to Charlotte, I know it would end me too.
His head rears back as he sucks in a sharp breath. “They’re here? In Whispers?”
“Yes. And we’re going to them now.” I have to take a breath before continuing, too keyed up to think straight.
“Charlotte called on the satellite phone. She didn’t sound right, and the call dropped before she could tell me what was happening.
That fucking Maribel… I know she has something to do with this; Charlotte said her name, and that’s the last thing she said. ”
“Oh my God…” Colin mutters, beside himself.
Sawyer’s serious gaze flicks to me as he pulls into my driveway, my security men surrounding the house. My blood runs cold as I jump out of the truck and see Jackson instructing the team, all of them running in every direction.
“Boss,” is all he says, and I notice he looks like he’s running ragged.
“What happened? Where’s Charlotte?” My words trip over each other as I approach him, out of breath just from nerves.
He swallows roughly. “Gone.”
My world moves on its axis.
“Gone?” I stall, and then I see the large gash on his head and blood pouring down his cheek.
“A man and a woman came in, and we think they got through the side entrance. The locks were cut. Got me when I wasn’t looking.”
“Fuck!” I scream, hitting the front of the truck so hard, I’m surprised the airbags don’t deploy.
A moment later, my security team pulls up, Maribel in tow. As they take her out of the car, I shout, “Where is she! Tell me what you did to her!”
“It’s too late… The job will be done…” She has a satisfying smirk on her face, one that has Colin turning even more ashen.
“What did you do?” He looks at Maribel like he’s seeing a ghost. When she doesn’t respond, anger takes over any bewilderment as he stalks up to her and screams in her face. “What did you do!”
This seems to take her by surprise, because for the first time since I met her, the smart-ass smile falters.
“Security footage?” Sawyer asks Jackson.
“No footage. Camera was out.”
I growl, tugging at my hair. “What do you mean, it was out?” I’m so angry. I could tear this security team to shreds.
“They cut the wires. This was planned and planned well.” Jackson looks around, on high alert before all our eyes lock on Maribel once more.
“I swear to God, Maribel, if my kids die because of something you did, I will fucking end you…” Colin’s words have bite, and I know that he means them.
“Jackson,” I murmur, nodding at Maribel. “Get information from her any way you know how.”
“On it.” He grabs Maribel by the arms, and she starts to shriek, her screams loud in the dark night, ranting obscenities filtering through the air as he drags her away.
“Jesus Christ.” Sawyer rubs his face, looking just as panic-stricken as I do.
Feeling like I’m about to lose my mind, I take a breath and focus, thinking through what I know and trying to be rational like Charlotte would be in this kind of situation.
And like the final piece clicking into place, I know exactly where to go.
She called me from the satellite phone, meaning she was in the forest, and Maribel mentioned “forests” like she knew exactly where to find her.
“She’s at the cottage.” I’m already running, my heart thumping, and I hear Sawyer and the others following me, albeit much slower as they don’t know the terrain.
Sprinting along my path, each second feels like it could be life or death.
With my girl and my new little brother on my mind, I move faster, lungs burning and legs pumping.
Seeing the cottage up ahead, I slow my stride, only to take in what’s happening.
My blood turns cold at the front door off its hinges, and that has me speeding up again.
“Fuck.” Sawyer rushes in behind me as I burst through the open door, and we survey the damage.
A broken chair, the door shattered, drawers in the kitchen strewn all over the floor.
I pull in air quickly, my heart racing and stomach twisting, but I’m quiet as I look around.
Stepping toward the kitchen, a bright-yellow sparkle catches my eye, and my feet pause when I see it.
Her original bee clip. The one I know she was keeping for sentimental value.
I swallow roughly as I bend down, careful to pick up every piece.
“Her clip…” her father says, fear in his voice as he looks at it in my hand. Any hesitations he may have had that his kids weren’t here diminish in that instant.
“There's blood,” my brother says from a few feet away.
I stand quickly and turn, following Sawyer's gaze, seeing blood on the floor. I don’t know if it’s hers, but it’s fresh, and it isn’t a lot. My anger builds, my terror at where they could be battling it.
Pushing that aside, I stay focused and walk down the hall, each step quiet, not knowing what we might find, or who. The others follow, keeping their eyes peeled.
At the end of the hall, it’s deathly silent, almost eerily so.
As I approach her room, I look back at my security team, and they nod, ready to jump to action.
I open her bedroom door, and there, in the middle of the room, are Charlotte and Preston.
Tied together, back-to-back, both their mouths covered.
Preston looks scared, wide-eyed, but Charlotte is slumped.
“Tinker!” My heart lurches at finding them overwhelming, but I’m frightened at seeing her lifeless. I run to her, eager to touch her. Eager to have her in my arms, where I know she’ll be safe.
“Found them.” I hear on a radio and stride to where they are, Colin and I both furiously untying the ropes. The two of us thinking of nothing else but saving the two people we love more than anything.
“Sawyer. Paramedics!” I yell to my brother, who’s already on the phone.
“It’s alright, Preston. We’re here. We’re all here. You’re fine,” I tell the boy who looks with teary eyes at me, then his dad, shock evident.
“Preston!” Colin says through a sob as he pulls his son in tight, and I watch Preston fall into his embrace. The small boy missed his dad more than he ever let on.
I pull Charlotte to my chest, cradling her, her body dead weight, her skin pale.
“Tinker… Tinker, wake up.” I panic at her not responding, my voice getting choked up. Laying her on the ground, I shake her shoulders, trying to rouse her. “Please, baby. Wake up. I need you.”
“They drugged her.” Preston catches my attention, as his dad still holds him tight, both of them crying. I can’t imagine how he’s feeling. He was sitting with her this whole time while she was unconscious, not knowing if she’s okay.
“Tinker!” I say, louder this time, shaking her shoulders, my life hanging by a thread. But then she moans.
“Stop yelling…” Her voice is faint, but it’s there. I pant, slumping over, trembling as I touch her face.
“Hey, Tinker… thought I lost you for a moment there…” I tell her softly as tears wet my cheeks, the room around us still in a frenzy. I brush the hair from her face, looking her over. Her skin is pale, but I see her pulse thrumming in her neck, which is all I need to confirm I’m not dreaming.
“Hmmmmm…” is all she musters.
“Look at me, baby… Open your pretty eyes for me.”
I sense her dad watching, but I don’t care.
“Sutton…” She says my name, and her eyes flutter a little before closing again.
“Found the suspects. Caught them on foot. Bringing them in now.” I hear the call over a radio as I see the blue and red lights coat the bedroom walls. I pull her close and sag with relief to the floor.