*Warning, this chapter depicts an assault*
~Eve’s Point of View~
I guessed it to be about a day since they snatched Beth away from me. The whole speech I gave at first about us having a united front and not showing we were scared was pretty much going out the window.
I didn’t know what the hell Derek was doing, did he not give them all the money? I had no clue. Since they took Beth nobody has come back. I don’t have much food left and I’m starting to have to fill up my water bottles in the sink.
Maybe they’ll just leave me here to starve, I thought.
No, they said they wanted me, they have to want me for something … sex? I mean they hadn’t so far t
~Derek’s Point of View~It had now been nearly two days since Beth was released and I was really close to losing my shit. There was just nothing more we could do, we were totally helpless.The kidnappers had been more than careful and if I hadn’t been so insaney furious I might have admired their work. They had to have slipped up at some point, we just had to catch a break.It was extremely illegal but Mick was running the photo we got of the driver from a street camera through the DMV. It was the middle of the night and everyone was half asleep or actually asleep.Heath and Beth had been holed up in his place and I didn’t want to bother them, not that I had any news.I was in the kitchen
The cops were trying to get ahold of the landlord to ask about breaking out a wall or taking up the floor and I didn’t give a fuck about all that. I’d buy him a new goddamn building if wasn’t in on the scheme.About four hours went by and I was seriously losing any ounce of patience I had left.Heath had me on speakerphone in his pocket so I could roughly hear what was being said inside.I heard a guy in the crowd yell that he was the landlord and I immediately rushed him but Mick held me back.A cop went at him, “sir we believe there is a kidnapping victim being held here, is there a basement or a false wall anywhere?”“What, someone was kidnapped? You think they are here?”
~Beth’s Point of View~“Ugh my momma keeps callin’, lemme see what she wants,” I said to Heath.I ran out of the hospital waiting room and into a stairwell.“Hey momma,” I said, answering the phone.“Bethany I have only talked to you twice in the past month, and now you’re onto only texting me all the time. Explain yourself young lady,” she said.Oh shit.“Well I did text you at least,” I said, lying.Heath had texted her from my phone since it was recovered when they found the car we were abducted in.I h
~Eve’s Point of View~We had been out at the Jackson ranch through Christmas, and it was certainly a much more different Christmas than I would have imagined a month ago.I also wasn't thrilled to have my ankle in a cast but I was dealing with it. There was still total radio silence on Haven and her brother, but Derek still had everyone possible trying to track them down.At last count, his hackers were able to recover about $39 million of the ransom, which we all thought was pretty remarkable.It was great to meet Heath’s family, and they were the distraction that I think we all needed. They knew nothing about what had happened to Beth and I, and I was so glad for it. Being around our group would have given me nothing but sad, pitiful faces.
~Beth’s Point of View~I had started wondering when we might all go back home, but everyone seemed to be happy out here and I didn’t want to rock the boat or seem as if I didn’t like it. Heath really liked being able to see his family, and I did greatly enjoy his mom.There had been a couple times I caught everybody whispering like, hushed voices. They’d shut right up and move on once they saw me. I just thought it was stuff about Miss Reba, but I was starting to get annoyed.Heath better never keep stuff from me, and if he did, I’d punch him in the nuts!Heath’s sisters went on and on at dinner one night about some spa in town, and I didn’t care for that stuff. But as they went on I started to reckon that a m
~Heath’s Point of View~This is it, the day I’ve been waiting for my whole life. My perfect redhead, my dream girl. Only she’s not a dream, she’s real, and she loves me. She loves me and she’s giving me a baby.I couldn’t even wrap my head around it all still, and I just knew I’d cry at the wedding. I hated that my dad couldn’t be here, but it meant everything to me that we could speed things along for my mom’s sake.I’d had dinner sent to Liz’s room, Chinese food to honor our first night together. I had a special fortune cookie made for Beth with a slip of paper in it, asking her to marry me. Around the paper was an engagement ring.She wasn’t going to be allowed to come see me t
~This is a two part book. This is Eve's story.~I was just getting back from my last class of the semester and I wandered into my apartment to look for something to eat. It was after 9 at night and my roommate Violet was out with her boyfriend.I saw a huge pile of mail on the counter and began to pick through it while I waited on my frozen dinner in the microwave.It dawned on me that I hadn’t really looked through the mail for probably a month. I just had a flat fee for rent and my dad paid my cell phone bill so I didn’t get much mail, but Violet sure did. Bills, bills, magazines, credit card offers … sure let’s get college kids to screw up their lives right out of the gate!I came to a letter from the non-profit that gave me my grant and I ripped it open. My jaw fell at what I read.My dad had recently remarried and they were dropping me! Apparently they were counting my step mom&rsq
“Please have a seat,” Haven said, gesturing to the two chairs in front of her desk. She closed her office door and we both sat down.“Now I’m sure you have a lot of questions for me, especially since you didn't call right away. I’m not sure what you were expecting exactly but I will just come right out with what I do here. I am essentially a high-end matchmaker, I find dates for those with means, those who may need a date for a business dinner, or a gala-type event. I think you are a beautiful young lady, with a mind of her own that could surely hold a good conversation, do you think that is something you would be interested in?”My jaw fell open but I promptly shut it. What the hell … was she … a madam? Was this for real?“Uhm, I don’t quite know what to say honestly, I thought you were like a modeling agency, which is kind of why I was confused, I’m really not model material.
~Heath’s Point of View~This is it, the day I’ve been waiting for my whole life. My perfect redhead, my dream girl. Only she’s not a dream, she’s real, and she loves me. She loves me and she’s giving me a baby.I couldn’t even wrap my head around it all still, and I just knew I’d cry at the wedding. I hated that my dad couldn’t be here, but it meant everything to me that we could speed things along for my mom’s sake.I’d had dinner sent to Liz’s room, Chinese food to honor our first night together. I had a special fortune cookie made for Beth with a slip of paper in it, asking her to marry me. Around the paper was an engagement ring.She wasn’t going to be allowed to come see me t
~Beth’s Point of View~I had started wondering when we might all go back home, but everyone seemed to be happy out here and I didn’t want to rock the boat or seem as if I didn’t like it. Heath really liked being able to see his family, and I did greatly enjoy his mom.There had been a couple times I caught everybody whispering like, hushed voices. They’d shut right up and move on once they saw me. I just thought it was stuff about Miss Reba, but I was starting to get annoyed.Heath better never keep stuff from me, and if he did, I’d punch him in the nuts!Heath’s sisters went on and on at dinner one night about some spa in town, and I didn’t care for that stuff. But as they went on I started to reckon that a m
~Eve’s Point of View~We had been out at the Jackson ranch through Christmas, and it was certainly a much more different Christmas than I would have imagined a month ago.I also wasn't thrilled to have my ankle in a cast but I was dealing with it. There was still total radio silence on Haven and her brother, but Derek still had everyone possible trying to track them down.At last count, his hackers were able to recover about $39 million of the ransom, which we all thought was pretty remarkable.It was great to meet Heath’s family, and they were the distraction that I think we all needed. They knew nothing about what had happened to Beth and I, and I was so glad for it. Being around our group would have given me nothing but sad, pitiful faces.
~Beth’s Point of View~“Ugh my momma keeps callin’, lemme see what she wants,” I said to Heath.I ran out of the hospital waiting room and into a stairwell.“Hey momma,” I said, answering the phone.“Bethany I have only talked to you twice in the past month, and now you’re onto only texting me all the time. Explain yourself young lady,” she said.Oh shit.“Well I did text you at least,” I said, lying.Heath had texted her from my phone since it was recovered when they found the car we were abducted in.I h
The cops were trying to get ahold of the landlord to ask about breaking out a wall or taking up the floor and I didn’t give a fuck about all that. I’d buy him a new goddamn building if wasn’t in on the scheme.About four hours went by and I was seriously losing any ounce of patience I had left.Heath had me on speakerphone in his pocket so I could roughly hear what was being said inside.I heard a guy in the crowd yell that he was the landlord and I immediately rushed him but Mick held me back.A cop went at him, “sir we believe there is a kidnapping victim being held here, is there a basement or a false wall anywhere?”“What, someone was kidnapped? You think they are here?”
~Derek’s Point of View~It had now been nearly two days since Beth was released and I was really close to losing my shit. There was just nothing more we could do, we were totally helpless.The kidnappers had been more than careful and if I hadn’t been so insaney furious I might have admired their work. They had to have slipped up at some point, we just had to catch a break.It was extremely illegal but Mick was running the photo we got of the driver from a street camera through the DMV. It was the middle of the night and everyone was half asleep or actually asleep.Heath and Beth had been holed up in his place and I didn’t want to bother them, not that I had any news.I was in the kitchen
*Warning, this chapter depicts an assault*~Eve’s Point of View~I guessed it to be about a day since they snatched Beth away from me. The whole speech I gave at first about us having a united front and not showing we were scared was pretty much going out the window.I didn’t know what the hell Derek was doing, did he not give them all the money? I had no clue. Since they took Beth nobody has come back. I don’t have much food left and I’m starting to have to fill up my water bottles in the sink.Maybe they’ll just leave me here to starve, I thought.No, they said they wanted me, they have to want me for something … sex? I mean they hadn’t so far t
~Derek’s Point of View~Our hackers were working non-stop to trace the money we already sent. As soon as it hit the bank it went to three other accounts and so on. It seemed like they were just trying to put it through so many places to keep it from being traced but we weren’t giving up.We had the FBI and different forensics teams monitoring the video they made the girls take, but we were getting nothing there.I was completely torn on whether or not to send the rest of the money … I didn’t care about the actual money of course but just the fact that I would be sending it with no guarantee of getting them.After some back and forth we went ahead and sent another 15 million, and decided to wait and see if they responded.
~Heath’s Point of View~All I could think about was how scared the girls had to be. My poor little Beth, my innocent little Beth. She’s never even remotely experienced something like this. I had a Bronze Star, I’d been shot down behind enemy lines. I’d known hand to hand combat, I’d know the terror of a real fight.I never wanted her to have to know anything like that.Derek was in full on control freak mode. This was supposed to be my domain, security. But everything seemed to be moving around me in slow motion, I couldn’t focus.The FBI was able to track down the car and in it was a note with instructions. They wanted 50 million dollars wired over ten different bank accounts.