Chapter 30
C H A P T E R3 0
Kidnapped Heir
Ella
The Present
“S o why exactly am I being kidnapped?”
All four of us turned to glare at Josh, who was sitting in the backseat, sandwiched between Hera and Darla, twiddling his thumbs and appearing confused.
“You’re not being kidnapped,” I said testily from the passenger seat. Dacia was driving the getaway vehicle tonight, a black fully tinted jeep that was inconspicuous. “We’re just borrowing you. For an indefinite amount of time.”
Once we’d finished dinner, Darla, Dacia, and I gunned it over to Hera’s place. She ran out with a small duffel bag, looking slightly worried—because we drafted this plan within the hour—and slightly excited—because we hadn’t been reunited in months. Nothing like detective work to bring the girl gang back together again.
We all made sure to dress up in black to fly under the radar.
After that, we picked up Josh. Well, ‘picked up’ was putting it nicely. I texted him to come outside, saying it was urgent. When he reached the gates, we basically shoved him into the car and drove off while he shrieked for help.
Now we headed over to the Mackowski household to break in, spy-movie style.
“Okay, and why am I being ‘borrowed’?” He did air quotes on the last word.
Honesty was the best policy, right? “We need you to hack into someone’s laptop and help us gather some intel.”
Josh was a genius with computers. If there was one person who could help us solve this fake screenshots and Secrets of St. Victoria account mystery, it was him.
“Sure, but fair warning…” he drawled with a lopsided smile. “I’m kind of stoned.”
The girls groaned in unison.
Shit, I knew something seemed off about him. I assumed he woke up from a nice nap and that’s why his eyes were red. The last thing I expected was for him to be high. He wasn’t a smoker at all.
“Great,” Dacia said sarcastically, smacking the steering wheel with her palm. “This plan is going to tank.”
“So, Plan B?” Darla prompted.
Hera’s green eyes were wide with concern as she tied her dark hair up in a bun. “Um, do we even have a Plan B?”
No, we did not.
I turned around in my seat to inch Josh a frustrated look. “Since when do you smoke?”
“Since Layla is ignoring me over something stupid and I’m sad, okay?” he hissed. “And my dad produces grade-A Kush, so why shouldn’t I be allowed to drown my sorrows in drugs?”
“For legal reasons, I’m going to pretend I didn’t hear anything.” Hera covered her ears.
“Me too.” Darla chuckled.
Dacia shot him a glance through the rearview mirror. “Trouble in paradise, Joshy?”
Josh grumbled, crossing his arms over his chest. His big body looked comical stuffed between the smaller frames of Darla and Hera, who were practically smothered against the windows because his muscular build took up all the space. “Layla thinks I don’t love her.”
We all gasped jokingly. Josh not loving Layla? Impossible. This boy was professing his undying love for her at every opportunity.
He nodded exaggeratedly, pointed at us. “See? See! Everybody knows I love her. So why doesn’t she believe me?”
Layla and Josh were the definition of black cat and golden retriever. She shied away from emotions while he practically dove head-first into them. But Layla had to know he loved her. It was so glaringly obvious unless…
I narrowed my eyes. “Did you do something, Josh?”
Everyone swivelled their heads in his direction, almost accusingly. Except for Dacia, who pinned him with a frosty stare through the rearview mirror.
“I didn’t do anything, I swear!” He threw his hands up in surrender. “But it’s like she’s got these fears…about us. She’s afraid to become more than friends.”
Layla definitely knew how Josh felt about her. And it was clear to everyone that she was equally smitten with him. However, Remington boys were intense and loved wholeheartedly. She probably just needed more time to make sense of how their relationship was progressing before taking the next step.
“How are you going to convince her to take a chance on you?” I asked.
Josh let out a long sigh. “I’m going to get her name tattooed so she knows we’re a forever thing.”
“Oh my God,” Darla gushed. “That’s so romantic.”
“Yes!” Hera agreed, clapping her hands together. “Where will you get this tattoo?”
“Right here.” Josh smacked his right pec over his shirt. “ Lay .” And his left. “ La .” Then he giggled. “You think I should get it, show up to her doorstep, and rip off my shirt in surprise?”
We burst out laughing. Josh was kidding. Sort of. And while Layla was used to his prankster self, she’d most likely be spooked out by that gesture.
“You’re a nutjob.” Dacia chuckled. “Don’t do that. She’ll go running for the hills. Pun intended.”
“So no to ripping off my shirt?” he asked, still giggling at his own joke.
“Absolutely not.” We shook our heads.
“But after we complete our mission, we’ll help you brainstorm other sane ideas to prove your undying love,” I amended.
“Deal.”
Dacia floored the gas as we entered the highway. “By the way, what excuse did you give to your parents, Hera?”
“Um, I said I’m sleeping over at your place.” She glanced around the car. “What excuse did you give to your mother?”
Darla winced. “We said we’re sleeping over at Ella’s.”
“Ella, what excuse did you give to your parents?”
I grimaced. “I said I’m sleeping over at your place, Hera.”
“And I didn’t give my parents any excuse because I’ve been kidnapped!”
“You’re not being kidnapped, Josh!” we yelled at him in unison.
He giggled again, high as fuck.
“Okay, so we’re all sleeping over at each other’s house.” Darla was on the verge of panicking. “It’s fine. It’s okay. No one’s going to find out what we’re really doing, right?”
The car was silent, except for a Beyoncé song playing quietly in the background.
“Right?” Darla reiterated, louder.
“Totally.” Dacia, Hera, and I said solemnly.
“Oh, I forgot to ask. Whose place are we breaking into?” Josh chimed in.
Darla started explaining the whole story to Josh. He listened attentively—as best as he could in this state—and actually looked offended on our behalf. “No fucking way. She’s a snake! What are you going to do if you find proof that Callie is behind all of this?”
The question was mostly aimed at me.
A mean smirk curled my lips. “Show her that she messed with the wrong bitches.”
Josh whooped. “That’s my girls!”
The Mackowskis lived in a modest two-story home in a quiet, family-friendly neighbourhood. Dacia parked near the edge of the property, hiding the car along the tall trees. With a sole flashlight to guide us through the dark night, we slinked towards the side of the house, where Callie’s room was located.
The plan was to climb to her window, get into her room, and grab the necessities before dashing out of there.
It was now past midnight, which meant Callie and her whole family would be asleep. Luckily, they were all deep sleepers. Unfortunately, they had a shitty home alarm system. Both aspects that would work in our favour. Moreover, Callie liked to sleep with her window cracked open. Breaking in was going to be easy peasy lemon squeezy.
It was the not getting caught part that would be difficult.
Glancing around the group conspiratorially, I whispered, “We’ll need two people to reach her bedroom. Her window is already unlocked, therefore getting in shouldn’t be hard. Her work desk is on the right-hand side and that’s where she keeps her laptop and diary. Those are our targets. If there’s anything else that looks useful, grab it too. We should be able to execute this within a few minutes.”
“Sounds good.” Darla drew on a pair of black gloves and squinted up at Callie’s window. “Though, I’m not sure Dacia and I will be tall enough to reach her window. It seems pretty high.”
Upon closer inspection, Darla was right. My ankle was still tender from Initiation Night and Hera wasn’t a former cheerleader, ergo she wasn’t familiar or comfortable with our stunts. Dacia could be the base and Darla a flyer, but we’d still need a bit more height to reach the window.
An idea struck me.
My head snapped in Josh’s direction, who stared up at the sky, mouth agape, counting the stars.
Feeling our calculating gazes, he blinked. “What? Why are you all staring at me like that?”
“How did I get roped into this?” Josh moaned from underneath Darla and Dacia. He was currently on all fours while the sisters used his back as a stepping stone to climb up to Callie’s window. “I’m too high for this shit.”
Hera cried of laughter, muffling the noise with her palm. I too attempted to keep it together between silent fits of giggles, hoping we didn’t get caught prematurely by the neighbours.
“I didn’t volunteer to play horsey tonight.” He glared at me. “Ella, come take my spot!”
“As the mastermind behind our operation, I’m currently busy ensuring everything runs smoothly.”
“Hera, you come!”
“I’m sorry, Josh,” she said, not sounding apologetic at all. “I would if I could.”
Dacia’s body trembled while she held Darla up by her feet. “Josh, stay still!” Dacia spat through gritted teeth. “You’re shaking too much.”
“Oh, God.” He neighed. “I’m trying!”
“I’m almost in!” Darla whisper-shouted, adding encouragingly, “Hang on, Josh. Just a couple more seconds!”
“First, you kidnap me. Second, you abuse my back. Third, you expect me to break into this girl’s laptop to find dirt, and none of you have offered to buy me food!”
“We’ll go get food after,” I said. “We promise!”
“Fuck your promises in the ass with no lube.” He cursed, torn between anger and laughter. “I’m never helping you girls again.”
Darla managed to enter through the window and Dacia hopped off Josh’s back before giving him a hand. He got up with a grunt. “I can’t believe I got dragged into this mess. I should have gone to the gym with Cade instead of letting you girls kidnap me.”
“Oh, come on, Josh!” I whispered excitedly, nudging him. “This is so much more fun than watching sweaty boys beat each other up in the ring.”
His deadpan expression melted away when his lips twitched and he chuckled. “Okay, fine. I am having fun.”
“Atta boy.”
Two minutes later, Darla texted the group chat to say she secured the goods. Her head peeked out of the window in signal. She threw out a pink diary first that Hera caught. Then she waved the laptop, still in its case. I got closer to the window. “Throw it!”
“Are you sure?” she mouthed.
“Positive,” I whispered reassuringly. “I got this.”
Darla threw it down gently and I caught it.
Then Josh got into position and caught Darla when she jumped out the window.
Once her feet hit the ground, Darla’s brown eyes were bright with glee. “Oh my God. We actually did it!”
Barely able to contain our squeals and giddiness, we ran for the car.
After picking up takeout from our favourite Mexican restaurant—an abundance of fajitas, tacos, churros, and frescas con crema—we drove back to the Remington estate.
Josh’s room was dark, messy, and spacious with his impressive computer setup tucked in the corner. He devoured four tacos in two inhales while powering on Callie’s laptop. At least now he was less high. Enough to be able to dig through her stuff.
The girls sat on the floor, using a small hammer to break open the diary’s lock.
I stood by Josh’s windows, staring into the courtyard. Cade wasn’t home yet. He usually stayed out late on the nights where he was at the underground gym with the boys. I wanted to see him. I missed him. Bad enough that I almost texted him, though I refrained myself. Cade’s letter stated he wanted my reply at the gala on Sunday evening. He would get it. In person.
“He’s missed you a lot, you know?” Josh bit into a chocolate churro. “Cade’s not the same without you.”
I’m not the same without him either.
I gave Josh a weak smile. “I’ve missed him, too.”
“Are you back together?”
“We will be.”
“Good. You guys are your best versions when you’re together,” he said. “Anyone with a pair of eyes can see that you’re soulmates.”
“Thanks, Joshy.” I ruffled his hair affectionately. He was always team Cadella.
While Josh hacked into Callie’s laptop and scarfed down more churros, I went to join the girls. They finally broke the lock and were flipping through the pages, reading the entries.
It wasn’t long before everyone was cursing with aghast expressions.
I couldn’t believe what I read.
My heart pounded fast and my vision turned red.
Hundreds of pages filled with her talking shit. Saying the vilest things about her own friends. Me. Darla. Dacia. Hera. And so many other people from St. Victoria.
It was baffling and surprising. None of us saw this shit coming.
Callie Mackowski was a narcissistic, homophobic bitch riddled with issues.
She was ‘friends’ with us for years while simultaneously loathing us behind our backs.
“You all need to come here,” Josh suddenly demanded in an alarmed tone. “Right now. I found your proof.”
We rushed to Josh, crowding his work desk with eagerness.
He showed us everything we needed to see.
Callie was the one who photoshopped all those screenshots to end my friendship with Darla.
Callie was behind the Secrets of St. Victoria account, spreading nasty rumours about everyone at the school.
And Callie was in a relationship with the masked guy, based on the amateur porn they filmed on her laptop where you could see the skull tattoo and sapphire-encrusted watch on his hand.
His face was hidden. Hers was not.
One final thought pounded through my mind with raging intensity.
My ex-bitch of a best friend was going to pay for this.