47. Dani
DANI
We drive for what feels like days.
My fingers are swollen, and my hip hurts from where I’ve been lying in the cold trunk of the sedan.
Lulu has stopped barking and is curled up right under my chin, whining.
“Graham?” I yell half-heartedly.
Am I really kidnapped?
Is it Graham?
It has to be him, right? Who else would want to kidnap me?
I hope it’s him.
It’s suddenly quiet.
Have we stopped moving?
The trunk of the car pops open. I blink, trying to turn my stiff neck.
It’s night outside, but there’s enough light from the moon reflecting off the snow that I have to squint, especially after being locked in the pitch-black trunk. My kidnapper grabs my arms, and I yelp in pain as he drags me out of the car, grunting.
I didn’t gain that much weight on that bachelorette weekend, did I?
“Graham, please,” I beg him as he grabs me around the waist, half dragging me.
I fall a few feet into a damp dirt pit.
“Graham!” I shout up at him. “Graham! Why are you doing this? Let me out! I didn’t mean what I said earlier. Just, please. We can go home, get a pizza. Shoot, we can go run away to Paris if you want.”
The masked man looms above me, staring down at me like I’m a rabbit in a trap.
In the moonlight, I get a better look at him. It doesn’t really look like Graham, on inspection. I’ve gotten pretty familiar with him. His shoulders aren’t broad enough. The kidnapper’s not tall enough. The chest isn’t big enough. And it definitely doesn’t smell like him.
“You’re not Graham, are you?” My voice shakes.
My kidnapper throws my purse and Lulu after me.
I catch Lulu before she falls.
My purse lands splat in the mud at the bottom of the pit. I reach down to grab it and feel something skitter over my hand.
“Let me out, let me out!” I scream up at the kidnapper.
But he doesn’t answer.
I feel the walls closing in on me. It smells like dirt and moss and bugs.
“I can’t be in here—I’m an indoor kid, please!”
The wooden trapdoor above me slams shut, raining dirt and dust and gross things on my hair.
That’s when I know.
I’m really screwed.
***
I stand as much in the center of the pit as I possibly can, away from the slimy, muddy walls.
I have finally braved the muck to get my purse so that I can call for help.
Too bad the kidnapper took both of my phones.
“I’m not here. I’m not here,” I whisper to myself. “I’m with Graham in his penthouse, and I’m going to take a bath and get pizza, and I’m going to make him read me Pride and Prejudice.”
I can’t feel my toes.
How long can he keep me in here? Days? Is it two days without water or five?
“Probably should have figured that out before I got kidnapped, right, Lulu?”
Lulu stands on my feet.
I could sit down, but then my pants would be damp and muddy.
At least I’m wearing my tennis shoes. If I was wearing my ballet flats? I shudder thinking about the dank, muddy damp seeping into my shoes.
Now I really wish I hadn’t called Graham a kidnapper in front of his family. That was in no way as bad as this.
I work at the duct tape on my cold hands, but I can’t get it off. It’s stuck on me just like I’m trapped in here.
***
I have given in, and I’m leaning my back against a slimy wall.
The damp seeps through my jacket.
I’m going to have to sit down soon, I think.
I wish I’d packed a snack. The one time in my life I didn’t bring food with me.
When I get out—if I get out. No, it’s definitely a when—I’m getting pizza and one of those bagels with extra cream cheese.
My stomach growls.
Lulu, who is shivering against my legs, starts barking. Is my kidnapper coming back? Is he going to take me out of here? And if he does, am I just going to be in a worse situation?
I haven’t actually let my thoughts go that dark, because I mean, I can’t stay here forever, right? Someone will come get me eventually, right? Graham’s going to know I’m missing.
But I basically called him the devil. He’s probably blocked me.
I’m never going to see him again.
That thought steals whatever warmth I have left.
“I want to go home.” I start crying.
I hear multiple voices, muffled through the heavy wood trapdoor.
“Help!” I scream. “Help, help! I’m trapped in here! Someone help!”
“Dani?”
The trapdoor opens, and a flashlight beam blinds me.
“Dani!”
“Graham! Help, help! I need to get out of here! Help!”
Graham lies down on the pine needles and snow and grabs my arms, hoisting me up, then he grabs me around the waist to haul me up the rest of the way.
“Help me, help me!” I keep screaming even as he gathers me to his chest.
“I didn’t think I’d ever see you again,” I sob. “I thought you were mad at me. I’m sorry.”
“No, Dani. You’re right, okay, about everything. But I’ve got you. I’ve got you. It’s all right, it’s okay. I told you I’ll never let you go.”
“I’m going to get your suit dirty,” I mumble into his chest.
“Don’t care.” He squeezes me tighter.
One of his brothers, Connor, hops into the pit to grab Lulu and my bag.
Lulu rushes to Graham and tries to climb on top of me to get to his face to lick it.
“I love you, Dani. I love you so much,” Graham says into my hair. “I’m never letting you out of my sight again.”
One of his brothers pulls out a pocketknife and cuts the tape on my wrists, grim-faced. Graham gently works the tape off my skin then rubs my wrists and hands with his gloved ones.
“She needs to go to the hospital.”
“I don’t think that’s necessary,” I say around the sobs. “I really just need a bath…”
“She does look really pale,” Spencer says with concern.
“That’s how I normally look.” I sniff.
“What happened to her face?” Finn scowls.
“Errr—yeah, so about that…” I hear more footsteps crunch in the snow.
“I told you,” Graham snarls, clutching me tighter.
I look up.
There’s Frank with a shocked expression on his face.
Graham’s two older brothers have Kraig by the arms.
“Kraig!” I shriek. “It was you!” I push off Graham, batting away his hands when he tries to hold me.
“You!” I yell at Kraig. “It was you!”
Lulu barks so furiously all four of her legs jump into the air. Connor grabs her before she falls right back into the pit. My prison.
I’m furious.
“You kidnapped me from the office, and then you threw me into a pit! What the hell is wrong with you, Kraig?” I kick snowy pine needles at him.
“I didn’t kidnap her,” Kraig tries to explain.
“Of course you didn’t kidnap her.” Frank looks wounded. “I mean, he left her phones there at the top of pit. She could have climbed out and called for help.” Frank sounds desperate.
“She was never in any danger.” Kraig nods.
“Fuck you!”
Spencer grabs Graham before he can punch his stepbrother.
“There was a centipede. It touched my foot!” I shriek at Kraig.
“Centipedes are actually good for the environment—They eat—”
“Finn, shut up.”
“I wasn’t kidnapping her.” Kraig struggles against Grayson and Aaron.
I point to the pit. “Then what the hell was that?”
“I was just…” Kraig licks his lips. “Look, I wasn’t actually going to hurt her.”
“Really? Because I’m going to kill you,” Graham growls.
Kraig looks concerned. “I wanted to stage a kidnapping.”
“It didn’t feel staged!” I shriek.
“I wanted to make it look like Graham did it, okay?” Kraig admits.
“What?” Frank looks confused. “Kraig, why?”
“Because he’s a monster,” Kraig sneers at Graham. “You always said so, Dad, ever since we were kids. He’s a bad person. Evil. Just like his father. All of them are. I know you think he kidnapped that girl off the street. And I wanted to make sure there was proof.”
So. Kraig doesn’t know about the video Claire has. That’s one small thing to be thankful for on this, the night of my second kidnapping.
“I was helping you, Dad,” Kraig pleads with Frank. “We all know what he is. I was helping you trap Graham. When people looked for Dani, they’d find her on that monster’s property, and he’d be put in prison. Where he belongs.”
“Dani, I…” Frank looks heartbroken. “I need to…” He looks like he’s going to pass out. “I guess I need to call the police.”
“The police?!” Kraig hollers and struggles. “It was just a joke—it was just a joke!”
“Some joke!” I scream and slap him in the face. “You tried to frame Graham. You were going to send him to prison.”
“That’s where he belongs… Right, Dad?” Kraig looks to his father. “I was doing this for you.”
“I…” Frank shakes his head. “Dani, I…” He turns to me and clasps his hands together. “Please… can we… Can we work something out?” Frank’s voice is almost a whisper. “He’s my son. I can’t… I don’t know what I’ll do.” His voice cracks.
I shrug. “Kill that video you have of Graham, and we’re even,” I tell him.
“What video?” Kraig asks.
“Shut up, Kraig,” Frank says, disgusted. “You’re fucking lucky Dani’s being nice.”
“I have ulterior motives, but sure. So, deal? I need to go home and take the world’s longest shower.” I hold out my hand.
“Dani…” Graham is horrified. “You don’t have to do this.”
“Yeah, Kraig belongs in jail. He’s a monster.” Connor pipes up.
“Shut up,” Grayson hisses at his younger brother.
“No, Graham belongs in jail. He’s a monster. You found it, didn’t you? You found proof he kidnapped that girl!” Kraig screams.
“He’s right.” Graham shakes his head. “I am a monster. I did kidnap Dani off the street. And if Kraig goes to prison, so should I. I kidnapped you, Dani.”
“After being actually kidnapped, I recant my earlier accusation,” I tell him.
“It was still a kidnapping. You were scared.” Graham looks heartbroken. “I hurt you. I love you, and I hurt you.”
“No one is going to jail. Okay? Let’s all just calm down. Okay, now look—you’ve got me channeling my mom. We’re all going to pretend like this never happened. Ugh, my mom is going to freak out enough as it is. She cannot know about this, okay? The delivery robot video gets deleted,” I tell Frank.
“And you,” I tell the Richmond brothers. “Whatever video you guys took of me in the pit never sees the light of day—mainly because I look like a corpse. And this just never happened. We’re sweeping it under the rug, and we all live happily ever after. The end.”
I dust my hands and just smear dirt around.
“Deal?” I hold my hand out.
“Thank you, Dani.” Frank shakes my hand. His eyes are watery with tears. “I’ll make sure that Kraig is never at any family functions again.”
“It doesn’t matter if he comes around or not.” Graham is backing away from us slowly. “I’m not asking you to choose him over me, Frank. Dani won’t be there. I’m so sorry, Dani, for everything.”
Graham is too far away for me to grab.
“Graham, stop being weird. Just—it’s all right, we’ll work it out.”
“I’ll send you a check for thirty-five million dollars so that you can get a condo,” he tells me. “Don’t tell me where, though. I promise I won’t find you.”
“Graham…” I try to get my freezing toes to work.
“I’m sorry, Dani. I wish I never, ever met you. I’m… I’m done.”
“Graham—one of you, go grab him!”
He skitters back as Spencer advances on him, arms outstretched.
“I’m not mad at you,” I call to him.
“I’m just… I don’t belong here. I’m not supposed to be in this family.” He sounds so far away. “You deserve to be happy. All of you. Have a nice life.”
“Oh my God, Graham!” I shout as he disappears into the snowy woods.
I run my hand through my dirty hair and pull out my phone to call Graham.
“Just leave him,” Grayson tells me.
“He’s out alone in the woods!” I shriek.
“We’ll find him.” Grayson puts an arm up. “Let us take you home. You’ve been through enough—you don’t have to go traipsing around the woods looking for him.”
My phone has a thousand missed calls and tons of text messages from Piper, the last being:
Piper: WHERE THE FUCK ARE YOU
Piper: SHIT IS ABOUT TO GO DOWN
“Crap. I need to go.”
“I’ll take you back,” Finn offers.
“Do you have a tarp? I don’t want to ruin your car.”
“It’s actually Grayson’s car, so…” He shrugs.
I try to call Piper, but there’s no answer.
I hope there’s time to shower before whatever this emergency is about.