Page 55

Mindy

If we had gotten in any later, I would have missed Waylon. When he couldn’t reach me, his last message told me to meet him at the park. The cab stops outside of it with ten minutes to spare.

Waylon sent six messages in the few days we were gone. Six messages.

He’s terrified.

It’s got to be the loan shark.

That’s the only thing that makes sense.

Why didn’t he say so, rather than leaving me to worry?

Waylon is pacing around the bench he told me to meet him at. “Mindy, you came.” He rushes over to hug me.

“Sorry, I was out of town, or I would have answered sooner. Mom got remarried.”

“Again?”

“I know, right? This one is richer than all the others combined.”

He shakes his head. “Do you think it will last?”

“Not even for a second. They’ve got six months tops.” I walk over to the bench and sit down. That nap that I almost got is now a far-off dream. “What’s wrong?”

“They gave me her bear. They went in my house and stole my daughters bear.” He lifts up one of his daughter’s teddy bears. “I couldn’t pay it all off. The contract still hasn’t paid out. I brought them money to extend it, but they said they were done with extensions. Then they handed me this bear. It’s her bear. She carries it with her everywhere. They’ll hurt her if I don’t give them the money. They’ll hurt my daughter if I don’t pay them back. But I have nothing to pay them with.”

What?

“I tried selling the business, but it doesn’t look good on paper. There wasn’t even a bite. What am I going to do? They’re going to hurt my baby girl.” He paces in front of me.

That’s why you don’t go to loan sharks. “How much do you owe him?”

“You can’t give me the money. No one can.”

I can’t. My account is probably at zero right now. But I can’t let my brother or his family get hurt. “How much is it to pay the guy off, so he’s out of your life forever?”

“It was half a million dollars, but now he says I owe him seven hundred and fifty thousand dollars.”

Three-quarters of a million dollars. Winnie is going to go feral when I ask her for help.

“See, I told you. No one can help me.”

“I’ll get you the money.”

Waylon freezes. “What?”

“Make the arrangements. I’ll get you the money by the end of the day.” That should be plenty of time.

“How?”

By giving up all my pride and asking my friend for help. “Don’t worry. I’ll get it. But promise me this will never happen again. You won’t do anything this stupid.”

“If I could go back and change things, I would have just let the business go. Nothing is worth this. I promise, it’ll never happen again.”

He better be telling the truth. Everyone gets to do one truly ridiculous thing in their life. My brother needs to live through this mistake. “I’ll call you when I have the money.”

“Small bills. He said to bring it in small bills because they’re untraceable.”

It wasn’t like I thought the loan shark was going to accept a check. “Got it.” I stand up to walk away.

“Mindy.”

“Yeah.”

“Thank you.”

Don’t thank me yet.

He rushes up and hugs me. “I didn’t know what I was going to do.”

You were going to die or run. I hug him back despite the pain it causes my ribs. These things are never going to heal. “You would have figured something out.”

Waylon squeezes me too tight. “Thank you. I love you.”

“I love you, too.” That must be true, or I wouldn’t be doing this.

“Call me as soon as you know.” Waylon starts off in the other direction.

Dazed and in pain, I move towards the street to find a cab. Will Winnie understand? I hardly understand. Maybe I should call Leonie, and she could arrest the loan shark instead of paying him off.

Except Leonie has told us way too many stories about the one who got away. That would be really bad for Waylon.

Should I tell Maddox? Is this one of those dating things?

Would he get mad at Waylon or refuse to help?

It isn’t in Maddox’s nature not to help when someone’s in need.

The street is full of cars, but there aren’t many cabs. The next one over will probably be better.

I lift my phone to call—

“Don’t move or I’ll shoot.”

What feels distinctly like it could be a gun barrel pokes into my ribs, sending a sharp pain down through them.

A car door opens right next to me, and the man pushes me in before I can even let out a scream. I tumble hard into someone’s knees, then the floor, taking the breath right out of me.

I’ve been kidnapped. In less than thirty seconds, I was abducted. They never tell you what to do when you’ve been kidnapped.

What is with my life?

Maddox is going to be so mad.

He’s going to find me. He’s got to find me.

One second, I’m lying on the floor, trying to figure out if I can move. The next, I’m sitting on the seat next to an average-looking man. Aren’t all bad guys supposed to look evil? Adonis did when he was drunk. But he tricked us all with his good looks.

Bad men should be required to wear a sign.

I’ve officially lost my mind.

“Call him.” The bad guy holds up the phone. “Call your boyfriend.”

What? How does this guy know that I’m dating Maddox?

The bad man shoves my phone in my face. “Do it on video. I want him to see your face. And don’t try to call the cops or anything. You’ll be dead before the first word gets out.”

Dead. That really isn’t how I planned to spend my evening. Kissing Maddox was on the schedule after I made a phone call and took a nap. Dying…not so much. I take my phone, almost dropping it. My hands are shaking so much.

Why didn’t my mother teach me how to fight a guy with a gun who had you shoved in his car?

Like I would be any good at that. I’m going to let Louisella teach me to throw knives if I make it out of this thing alive.

“Tell him that we want our money. And if he doesn’t pay, we’ll take it out of your skin, then kill you.”

Maddox answers. “Hey—”

Tears start to flow as I see his happy face. “They told me to call you.”

“Who told you? Where are you?”

“The men. They said to tell you they want their money. And if they don’t get it, they’ll kill me.” Maddox really didn’t need to hear the rest.

A knife plunges down towards my thigh at the same time as he takes the phone and throws it out of the window. “Stop screaming.”

“There’s a knife in my thigh.”

“It’s just a little cut for emphasis. If I wanted to kill you, I would have sliced your femoral artery.” The man reaches across and takes my jaw in his hand. “He’s going to pay through the nose to save this pretty face of yours.”