A minute later, he looks over his shoulder at me as I stand in the snowy yard at the bottom of the porch steps. He tips his head at the door, asking if I’m ready to go in, and I nod in response.
We move silently as Anders retrieves his gun from the holster then opens the door. The army of men scurry across the yard, ready to take action.
Following behind Anders, we enter the house and the men follow behind me.
Anders waves his arm around the room. “Search it top to bottom,” he tells them. “Even if you come up empty-handed, search it again.”
I go straight into the living room. My eyes land on Bella’s mom first, then to her dad. Lastly, Mark. Anders begins helping Bella’s parents, so I pull the duct tape off Mark’s mouth. They shrill and immediately begin flooding our ears with what happened. I can’t make out a word they're saying because they’re talking so damn fast.
I hold up a hand, hoping to shut them up. When they continue to speak at the same time, I shout, “Shut the hell up.”
Bella’s mom and dad appear stunned at my outburst, but Mark just grits his teeth, staring me dead in the eye. “If anything happens to my sister, I’ll kill you, you son of a bitch!”
Ignoring him, since he’s obviously got a stick up his ass, I start with Bella’s dad. Crouching down, I level with him. I’ve learned to never untie someone you need answers from. It’s the one useful bit of information I learned from Vincent.
I reach into my pocket and pull out my phone, bringing up a picture of Byron. “Was this guy here?”
His eyes squint as he tries to get a better look, so I bring it closer to his face. “Ugh, no. Doesn’t look familiar. The guys that were here were heavyset with leather jackets and combat boots.”
I look over my shoulder at Anders and we speak without words. He taps into his phone and makes a call as I continue my questioning.
Just as I go to speak, I catch a glimpse of Mrs. Jenkins, Bella’s mom. Something jabs inside my chest, and it’s a strange feeling, knowing that she was supposed to be my mom. Short brown hair, glasses, dressed like a librarian. She looks sweet. Like someone who would listen when you’ve had a bad day and hug you when you’re hurting. It’s a surreal moment that I quickly snap myself out of because I can’t handle any more what-ifs.
I push myself up and turn my back to Bella’s family. “Were you able to track him?”
Anders shakes his head no, still holding the phone to his ear. He walks away, into another room, and I return my attention to Bella’s dad.
“Bella is safe. I can promise you that.”
“Liar!” Mark shouts. “None of this would have happened if it weren’t for you. Why couldn’t you just stay dead like we all thought you were?” He squirms and curses, trying to free himself.
“I’ll admit, much of this is my fault. But,” I pause for a moment, looking Mark dead in the eye, “one could say it’s your fault, too. After all, I should have had your place with this family.”
He doesn’t say a word, just continues to wriggle against the ropes on his wrist.
“Cat got your tongue, Marky? Don’t your parents know what you did all those years ago? Lying and setting me up so I’d miss out on the adoption?”
“Mr. Ellis,” Bella’s mom begins. Her voice is just like I imagined it: soft, sweet, compassionate. “We all make mistakes, myself included. But we can’t change the past. Everything worked out the way it was meant to.”
I turn around, unable to look at them any longer. They’ll always take Mark’s side. He’s their son, after all. My fingers run through my hair, dampened by the snow. “Yeah. The way it was meant to.”
I’m not here to make friends with this family. Sure, they’ll be my in-laws one day, but I don’t fit in here. I’m too broken while they’re all so well put together.
Putting the past where it belongs, I focus on the future. “How’d he get you, Mark?” I spin around, looking at him as he sits there with a fat lip and a scorned look on his face. “Was it through Trent?”
“Fuck Trent and fuck you!”
Seems we’re not getting anywhere by playing nice. I eat up the foot of space between us and press my hands to the arm of his chair. “Answer the fucking question if you ever want to be untied.”
“Yes. Okay? Trent invited me over to his place to play poker, and as soon as I walked in the door, I was knocked over the head. It was the last time I saw him before he was found dead on the Elizabeth Islands. I’d just heard of his death when I returned after being tied up for a fucking month! Don’t even try to pretend that you had nothing to do with that or Trent’s murder.”
I blow out a heavy breath of laughter. “I don’t pretend. But I didn’t kidnap you. In fact, I was held in a room in the same building. Had no idea you were there. And I didn’t kill Trent. He’s lucky Byron got to him first because I would have tortured the fuck out of that piece of shit for what he did to Bella.”
Mark’s eyes widen. Now I’ve got his attention. “What the hell did he do to Bella?”
“Lied to her. Tricked her into believing he was a good person.”
“Oh, you mean pretty much what you did to her?”
He’s got a point, so I don’t argue it, even if my motives were different.
Anders returns and grabs my attention. There’s panic in his eyes. “We gotta go.”
My heart jumps into my throat. Fear consuming every inch of my body. “Where is he?”
The men all begin hustling out the door, except for two, who enter the living room and begin untying the Jenkins family. “These two will be guarding the house until we know it’s safe,” Anders assures the family as he moves quickly to the door. “In the car, now!”
I don’t even say anything to Bella’s family before hauling ass out the door. As we’re hurrying to the car, I press for more information. “Tell me what the hell is going on!”
“He’s at the Manhattan resort. He’s going for her, Boss.”
CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR
“Don’t panic, baby,” Cal says through the speaker before I can even get a word out. Him telling me not to panic has me jumping off the couch.
“What’s going on? How are my parents?” The blanket that was wrapped around me drops to the floor, and I walk over to the balcony doors, looking out into the night, fearing someone is going to bust through the glass at any given moment.
“They’re fine. I’ll fill you in later, but they’re safe.”
There’s a knock at the door that has me spinning around. “Someone’s knocking, Cal. Should I answer it?”
“No!” he blurts out without a second thought. “Do not go near the door, Bella.”
I grip the phone tighter, chills running down my spine. “You’re scaring me.”
“Go in the bedroom and lock the door.”
“What if it’s the guard?” Regardless, I do as I’m told and head for the bedroom.
“It very well could be, but we can’t take any chances.” There’s a worry in his voice that tells me there’s no way it’s the guard.