Chapter 31
Levi’s cheeks were just as red as Jackie remembered them being, his face now heavily lined and covered in a spider-like network of gossamer red veins. His yellow hair had turned white, and his eyes protruded from their sockets noticeably more than they had before.
“Jackie! It’s so good to see you.”
She wished she could escape his embrace, the scent of his body odor mixing with his cologne as he spoke into her ear. “My men have Selena.”
Shock and fear stopped her diaphragm from moving, as the noise and environment all fell away. She jerked back and he released her, the tense smile plastered to his face revealing teeth too white and too perfect to be his own.
“No,” she said.
He pulled out a cell phone, flashing her a picture, Selena’s eyes round and full of fear. Hysteria threatened Jackie’s composure. She felt every mile that separated her from her daughter like a dagger through her skin.
Levi put his phone away and tucked her arm in his, slowly walking her toward the stage, where Doug’s new wife still spoke. “She’s okay, for now. If you behave yourself, they’ll both be fine. Do you understand?”
She was disembodied, floating above herself. The convention around them moved in slow-motion. The deafening noise of the crowd now melted away. “Yes.”
“You will tell them you ran away,” he said calmly. “That you were drunk when you drove your car off that cliff, and you ran from the scene of the crime. Doug, of course, knew none of this. He was blameless. You must make that very clear.”
“Okay.”
“Have you met Victoria? Lovely woman. She’s expecting you.
She’ll introduce you, act as if you were an expected guest here to dispel the rumors surrounding your disappearance.
They’ve been a real bitch in the polls. Say you were depressed.
Unhappy. Doug tried to get you the help you needed, but you refused. Understand?”
She was fighting back tears. “Yes.”
“No crying. You have no reason to cry. If you can’t be convincing, the little girl dies.”
Jackie lifted her chin. “Sorry.”
He eyed her appraisingly. “Good. If you do as you’re told, we’ll bring you to your daughter in Mexico. But if you so much as say one wrong thing, so help me God, I pick up this phone and she dies. You got that?”
She nodded. “Yes, Levi.”
“Good. You’re on in five minutes. I know you’re going to knock it out of the park.”