CHAPTER FIFTEEN
Lizzie could understand why Ben was barely holding it together. If she read him right, he was equal parts terrified for Maya and livid at Jenna. Lizzie also worried, but knew she had to keep a level head. Ben could worry about the money while she figured out how to get help.
She had discreetly tucked her phone into her boot and was just waiting for a chance to text without getting caught. Jenna was frazzled—either high at this moment or permanently impaired from prolonged drug use. Thin and weak, she had a look of desperation and hopelessness that came from years of using. Lizzie prayed that meant it would be easier to hide what she wanted to do.
“Where are we going?” Lizzie asked.
“Simmons Street Motel,” Ben said. “On Trent Boulevard.”
Jenna remained quiet while Ben collected money as fast as he could from every ATM they passed. When they stopped at the Horizon Bank, Lizzie had an idea. Her sister Daisy had been robbed at this very ATM. It was where she’d met her husband, Noah, who’d been a cop for years. Since Lizzie couldn’t call 911, Noah was her next best option.
When they hit a patch of road with no streetlights, she pulled out her phone and one-hand texted Noah. He was no longer on the force but would know what to do.
simmons st motel 911
She couldn’t be bothered with capitals and punctuation. And couldn’t wait for a reply. After ensuring the ringer was off, she hid the phone back in her boot and prayed he was awake and would get the text.
“That machine ate my card,” Ben said, returning from an ATM. “Gave me some message about a limit and that to avoid theft, the card was canceled. I only got fifteen hundred.”
Jenna shrugged. “I guess we’ll see what Marty says.”
“Do you live in New Bern?” Ben asked, getting back on the road.
“No. We came from Nashville. Marty owes some people money, and he thought I could get it from you.”
“I haven’t seen you in seventeen years. Why would he think that?”
“I told him about Maya a while ago, and he figured you’d give us money if we kidnapped her.”
“How did that happen? Did he hurt Maya?”
From the backseat, Lizzie noticed Ben’s knuckles whitening around the steering wheel. The anger rolled off of him, but Jenna seemed oblivious.
“No. I got Maya’s number from social media and called her tonight. Said I was real sorry I left, and that I wanted to see her. She didn’t want anything to do with me.”
“And…” Ben said.
“When I realized she wasn’t gonna meet me willingly, I told her my friend had taken you and that if she didn’t tell me where she was, he would hurt you. She must really love you, Ben, ’cause that upset her pretty good. She’d just come out of the movie theater. That’s where we picked her up. I got your address from her driver’s license and the key from her keyring. Marty dropped me off to talk to you and took her to the motel.”
“You left her alone with some asshole?” Ben was seething, yet Jenna remained clueless. So focused on telling the story, she hadn’t noticed Lizzie texting.
Ben pulled into the motel parking lot. “Which room?” he growled.
“It’s there.” Jenna pointed to a second-level room. “I don’t remember the number.”
Lizzie couldn’t see it from where they’d parked, and the chances of being able to text once they exited the car were slim. She texted 2nd floor to Noah and hid the phone again.
They got out and crossed the parking lot. Lizzie pulled off her scarf and prepared to leave it where Noah could find it. Unfortunately, it was black and generic, but Daisy had given it to her last Christmas and might recognize it. Lizzie had no doubt that if Noah told Daisy what was happening, she would insist on coming.
Outside room 214, Jenna tapped out a coded knock and waited. Lizzie draped her scarf on the breezeway railing, but the dark color made it almost invisible and probably wouldn’t help much.
A tall, skinny man opened the door and ushered them in. The room was small and dim. Maya sat in the corner, eyes red from crying, her mouth duct taped, and her hands tied in front of her.
Lizzie could feel Ben’s blood boiling. It matched her own. How could someone do this to a young girl? How could her mother have allowed it?
The man had beady eyes, yellow teeth, and a crooked nose. In his waistband was a gun, which he pulled out as Ben got closer.
“Stay where you are.” He pointed the gun at Maya, and Ben stiffened. “Where’s the money?”
Ben threw the cash on the bed. “Let Maya go.”
“That the whole two K?”
“Machine ate his card after fifteen hundred,” Jenna said. She had closed the door and stood meekly next to it.
Marty’s face screwed up in anger. “Well, that’s not gonna cut it. Is it, Jenna?” he sneered.
“I’ll get you the rest tomorrow,” Ben said. “But for now, let Maya go.”
“No way,” Marty said.
Fury pulsated off Ben in dangerous waves, but Marty wasn’t any good at reading people either. Lizzie, on the other hand, felt completely in tune with him. Almost as if she was communicating with him in her head, like she did with Lucy. She just needed to distract Marty long enough for him to point the gun away from Maya, and Ben would take care of the rest.
“Hey, sailor,” she cooed, stepping out from behind Ben to stand by his side. “I’m sure we can work something out.”
That was all it took to draw the man’s attention. He dropped the gun a fraction of an inch, and Ben was on him. Lizzie jumped out of the way and went to Maya.
“This might hurt, baby. Hang tight.” She gently tugged the tape off Maya’s mouth.
“Dad!” she cried. Lizzie pulled her into her arms to shield her from the fighting. Ben was bigger and definitely madder, but the bad guy had a lot to lose. He was scrappy and putting up a pretty good fight. Jenna remained by the door, holding her face in her hands.
Ben punched Marty, and blood flew from his nose. While he was disoriented, Ben swept his legs out from under him and hit him again on his way to the floor. Out cold, Marty didn’t move.
“What have you done?” Jenna screeched, running to Marty and falling on her knees beside him. Seeing her man KOed apparently woke the demon in her, and she jumped up, fighting mad, clawing and scratching at Ben.
“What the…” Ben said, backing away from Jenna’s attack. He absorbed her punches without defending himself. “Stop hitting me.”
Jenna reared back and hit him in the stomach. Ben barely flinched, but Lizzie was done watching.
“That’s about enough of that,” she muttered.
Lizzie grabbed Jenna’s hair and yanked. “Why don’t you pick on someone your own size?”
Jenna turned to defend herself and threw a weak punch, which Lizzie dodged smoothly. Lizzie had already thought it out and, executing a one-two punch, took Jenna down easily.
“Holy crap,” Ben and Maya said in unison. Lizzie held in a laugh, feeling it was probably inappropriate for the situation. Jenna was still conscious but lay on the filthy floor, holding her jaw and moaning. She seemed disinclined to continue the battle, apparently deciding Marty wasn’t worth the fight.
“Servin’ it up Parker-style,” Lizzie said, pretending to dust off her hands.
“Remind me never to get on your bad side,” Ben mumbled.
Marty groaned and started to move. Ben walked to him, picked up the gun, and set it on the TV stand. “I wouldn’t get up if I were you,” he said. “I’m still pretty pissed and wouldn’t mind another poke at your face.”
Maya jumped over her mother, ran to Ben, and fell into his arms. “I’m so sorry, Dad. I thought they had you.”
“It’s okay, baby. It’s okay.”
Lizzie noticed red and blue lights bouncing off the back wall through the window. She climbed over the bed, through the pile of twenty-dollar bills, and opened the door to a parking lot full of police cars. Exiting to the breezeway, she waved her arms and yelled until she got someone’s attention. “Up here!”
Within seconds, the tiny room was crawling with cops. Marty and Jenna had been handcuffed and sat on the bed, defeated. They were read their rights and hauled out.
Lizzie, Ben, and Maya were taken outside and separated to give their statements. When Lizzie finished, and they released her, Noah and Daisy approached her.
“Thank goodness you got my messages,” she said. “I was worried you’d be asleep.”
“What the heck happened?” Noah asked.
Lizzie told them a quick version of going to Ben’s, discovering Maya had been kidnapped, and sneaking her phone into her boot but not knowing who to contact.
“I couldn’t make a call, so nine-one-one wasn’t an option,” she said. “We stopped for cash at the ATM where you guys were robbed. It made me think of Noah, and I figured he’d know what to do.”
“You did great,” Daisy said. “Noah said Maya’s mom was involved. And that you beat her up?”
Lizzie shrugged. “She was punching Ben, and he didn’t want to defend himself.”
“So,” Daisy said. “You and Ben…”
“Don’t,” Lizzie said, holding up a hand. “Here they come. Shut up.”
Ben and Maya joined their circle. “You okay?” Ben asked.
“Yeah,” Lizzie said. “Maya?”
“I’m okay,” Maya said. “I just feel horrible I caused so much trouble.”
“Honey, it was not your fault.” Ben put his arm around her.
“What will happen to them?” Maya asked.
“I talked to one of the officers,” Noah said. “Once they’re done with them here, they’ll be extradited to Nashville. They have a long list of crimes to answer for there. They won’t be out of jail for quite some time.”
“Don’t worry about them coming back,” Ben said. “You’re safe now.”
After getting the all-clear to leave, Noah and Daisy said goodbye. Lizzie drew her fingers across her lips to Daisy as she left. Daisy threw up the three-fingered Girl Scout promise signal and nodded. Lizzie knew she’d hear about it later, but at least she’d kept her mouth shut in front of Ben.
Sure enough, a few minutes later, she got a text from Daisy.
Call me soon. I want first scoop.
Lizzie sighed. Thankfully, due to all the pre-Christmas family activities coming up, Sunday dinner had been cancelled, so the men could play poker. That would make it easier to put Daisy off for a day or so.
The drive back to Ben’s place was quiet. If Maya had put two and two together about why Lizzie had been with her dad, she didn’t bring it up. Ben could handle that conversation.
When they arrived, Lizzie went in just long enough to retrieve Charlie. Maya looked exhausted, and she was Ben’s only concern. Lizzie drove back to her place, took Charlie for a quick lap around the building, and fell into bed.
Now that she’d calmed down, and the danger was over, she could think rationally. It had been a terrifying couple of days—yesterday, the condo fire, and today, a kidnapping. The fierce feelings she was having for and about Ben unsettled her. This was exactly the type of thing she tried to avoid in relationships—feeling too much.
The mental connection she’d had with Ben in that motel room also freaked her out. It was weird enough with her twin sister, but uncomfortable as hell with a man she hardly knew. Think of the damage he could do to her heart if she continued getting close to him.
Also, he was a serious guy. He’d made it clear he wasn’t the type to have a fling. And that’s all she knew. All of her relationships ended eventually, making her wonder if continuing down this path with Ben was a good idea.
She didn’t want to hurt him, but this had a strange feel to it. Like maybe she could be the one who got hurt. Sleeping with him had been an impulsive move—a mistake, she saw that now. It must have been the adrenaline talking after watching him go into a burning building. No other way to slice it—that was hot!
She should probably nip this in the bud before he had a chance to wreck her. Guarding her heart was priority number one. Always had been, always would be.