“So tell me what your plan was exactly,” Decker demanded the moment we were settled in the leather seats of his car.
I didn’t exactly know how to answer him without sounding stupid. I knew that I was reckless and impulsive, but I felt trapped. I didn’t know what else to do, but I knew I had to do something. “I was going to show up with what money I had and bargain for my father’s life. Maybe call the police before I go inside. With that plan, I’d at least know that help was on its way while making sure they didn’t kill Dad the moment they saw red and blue lights.”
I handed him my phone with the address as he pulled out of the bank parking lot. “I want you to look at that plan like a scientist, Blakely,” Decker said while shaking his head. “You overlooked a lot of variables in that scenario,” he growled under his breath in annoyance. I didn’t like his tone or the flippant way he approached this.
“This isn’t some fucking experiment,” I replied in a curt voice.
“Exactly! This is your life, Blakely.” The exasperation in his voice was exhausting. “I knew you had a hero complex, but I had no idea how stupid you were,” Decker said before wrenching his face up into a pained expression. “I’m sorry, I know that was rude.”
“I get you’re mad at me, but can we please focus on the problem at hand? There’s no need to lash out. This is why I didn’t go to you in the first place,” I complained. My eyes kept glancing over at him as he drove. The sleeves of his button-up shirt were rolled up, showing off his muscular forearms. He was biting his lip while contemplating my words.
“I am focusing on the problem. You can’t just storm in there with a briefcase full of money,” Decker argued. I opened and closed my mouth, trying to come up with a way to make him understand.
“And I can’t just ignore it, either. I know you’re the type to quietly pretend nothing is happening and pray it’ll resolve itself, but I don’t have that luxury.”
“Are you talking about our relationship or your father, Blakely? ’Cause I can’t keep up.”
I gripped my thighs so hard my nails broke skin. I was livid. “What would you do? What would you do if it was Lance tied to a chair with cuts all over his face, two black eyes, and a broken hand? What would you do if they asked for fifty grand in exchange for his life and said they’d kill him if you told anyone?”
My analogy seemed to work because Decker’s face drained of blood. He looked so pale and terrified. It was easy to be rational when it wasn’t your loved ones on the line, but he had to know it wasn’t so simple. There didn’t seem to be any way out of this that didn’t involve someone getting hurt. Hell, Dad was already hurt.
I wanted to be rational. I wanted to have time to find a solution that didn’t involve bloodshed, but these men had already proven to be brutal and violent. They didn’t care about Frank Stewart. They wanted their money. Going to the police might have been the smart thing to do, but I wasn’t willing to gamble with Dad’s life.
“Okay, okay. I get it. We have to be careful,” Decker finally admitted. I let out the breath I didn’t even realize I was holding.
“We’re on the clock. I don’t want to know what’ll happen if we don’t get there by five,” I added while anxiously checking the time on the dash. We only had forty-five minutes to get there. I didn’t want to think of what else they’d do to Dad if we weren’t punctual. Visions of his bloodied face assaulted my mind once more.
“We’ll get there in time,” Decker assured me before grabbing my hand. I let him hold me tight as he drove, stroking my thumb across his rough skin while staring out the car window. The world outside was a blur.
“And then what?”
Decker turned onto the highway while letting out a slow sigh. I knew his mind well enough to know that he was thinking of all the variables. “Then, I guess we’ll save your Dad.”
“Thank you, Decker,” I whispered.
“Don’t thank me yet.”
33
Blakely
I was expecting a shady warehouse or some secretive criminal hangout, but the address Decker pulled up to was brimming with light and people. We were at a historic hotel in the business district of Memphis about twenty miles away from our loft. It completely contradicted the scary thing we were about to do. A family was sitting outside on a park bench with a mother bouncing her toddler on her knee. I almost doubted Decker and questioned if we were at the right place.
“This is it,” Decker said while staring up at the building. He pulled out his phone and started typing a message. “I’m sending Lance our location with instructions to call the police in twenty minutes.”
Mere seconds after Decker hit send, his phone started vibrating in his palm. I glanced at the screen, noticing that Lance’s name was on the caller ID. “Are you going to answer that?” I asked.
“No. He’s going to ask questions and try to talk us out of this. Hell, I’m trying to talk myself out of this.”
I placed a hand on his shoulder, and he turned to look at me. “You don’t have to do this, you know,” I assured him. This was my battle. This was my cross to bear.
“You’ve always had to do this alone. I know this isn’t the hospital or one of your mother’s ex-boyfriends, or any of the other hard shit you’ve done alone in the past. But I’m going to be here for you, Blakely.”
I leaned forward and placed a chaste kiss on his cheek, not caring that our relationship was in limbo. We stared at one another for only a second, but I felt forever in his meaningful gaze. “You promise you won’t do anything stupid?” he asked. “We trade the money and get out of there quickly. No hero shit, Blakely. I can’t even stomach the idea of you getting hurt.”
“I promise,” I lied. I’d do anything to protect those that I loved. I loved my father, and I still loved Decker, too. I wasn’t comfortable with him going in with me, but I knew he wouldn’t entertain my request for him to stay in the car.
“Good girl,” Decker replied. We then got out of the car and headed inside, the briefcase full of cash in Decker’s hand.
It wasn’t hard to spot our contact. He stood out like a sore thumb in the hotel’s fancy lobby. With dark eyes and a scruffy goatee, the man looked intimidating in his all black attire and laced up combat boots. I could see the outline of a handgun against his tight shirt, as if he wasn’t afraid to let the world know he was packing. Leaning against a pillar in the hotel, he propelled off and started walking toward us the moment he saw my wide eyes. “What if Dad isn’t here?” I quickly asked Decker under my breath as the man approached. This could’ve all been a waste, an opportunity for them to get fifty grand and for me to host another funeral.
“Let’s wait and see,” Decker replied just as quietly right as the man stopped in front of us.
“Are you Blakely?” the guy asked. He had a surprisingly high-pitched voice that reminded me of a mouse. I was too scared to answer him, so I simply nodded. It felt like the hinges in my neck were rusted from the stress blanketing my bones. “Come with me,” the man demanded.