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CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR

Mikey

I lifted my and Brittany’s linked palms and kissed the back of her hand before I laid them back down on the center console.

"I'm glad we were able to come tonight. I know attending prom meant a lot to you."

Brittany smiled back at me. "I know it might seem silly to some, but I've always dreamed about attending my senior prom."

"There's no such thing as silly when it comes to your dreams." I wanted to give Brittany the world, and if right now that meant prom, then nothing was going to stop me. I had told my mother as much when David tried to talk me out of it.

"Oh, pull over for a second. That poor lady has smoke coming out of her car hood."

Glancing through the front windshield, I followed the direction of her finger. Sure enough, pulled off on the side of the road was an elderly woman standing in front of her car as puffs of white smoke poured out of the closed hood.

I did as she asked, even if I laughed at her soft heart. Brittany would go out of her way to help anyone in need. "I swear your heart is as big as Texas."

"We can't just drive right by her."

I pulled off the road and put the vehicle in park.

"I'm sorry about this," Brittany whispered.

I didn't understand what she was talking about, so I turned my head with confusion. "Sorry about wha?—"

I felt the sharp prick of a needle before I could finish my sentence. Instant darkness started to take over and I realized my mistake.

I had trusted the wrong person.

I woke up with a dry mouth, a pounding head, and no way to move my arms or legs. The first two I attributed to whatever drug Brittany gave me. The last was because of the ropes tying me to a wooden chair. I tried to wrestle my arms free but all I managed to do was give my wrists rope burn. Whoever tied the knots knew what they were doing.

If I couldn't free myself, then I would take in my surroundings and figure out how to get away after Brittany showed her treacherous face. I couldn't believe she’d been fooling me all this time.

I was in what looked to be a basement. Dust covered the floor and a set of wooden stairs led upward. There were boxes piled in one corner and a curtain hanging on the one wall. The soft glow of the setting sun filtered through the one small window, but nothing about what I could see hinted toward where I was being kept.

The musty basement smell wasn't helping my headache or dry throat. I thought conditioning made me thirsty, but right now I could chug an entire gallon of water without a problem.

I wasn't sure how long I sat there by myself trying to loosen the ropes on my wrists and legs. It could've been five minutes or five hours before someone opened the door and walked down the steps.

I recognized Brittany's father immediately.

"I'm sorry it had to come to this, son,” Mr. Smith offered. “Your father really screwed with our plans when he took that money and then killed himself."

"Was any of it real?" I'm not sure why that was my first question when there were a million others I should've been asking. But I needed to know how good of an actress Brittany was.

"Oh, I'm sure it was. My daughter fancied herself in love, but family always comes first. This isn't the first con we've run, and it sure won't be the last. It's just the first time I've had to take things so far. Your father and I owe a lot of people money, and I refuse to be the one stuck with the bill."

"My mother was willing to pay the hundred and fifty thousand you asked for."

Well, David was willing. There was no way my mother had that kind of money. Not after my father used to spend it like we had millions at our disposal.

"You really think your father killed himself over a measly hundred and fifty thousand dollars?" Brittany's father laughed in my face. "Try ten times that amount."

One point five million dollars? What the hell could my father have possibly needed with that kind of money, and where did it go? It wasn't like he paid our bills with it. My mother was on the hook for those things most of my life.

"There's no way."

"Oh, I assure you, I don't mess around when it comes to money. He moved the money into a bad investment and now I've lost everything. But I need to pay back our donors."

"Then why did you ask for such a small amount?"

"I needed to know if your mother was involved or not."

I pulled hard on the ropes holding me back as I growled at the man I once looked up to. "Of course she wasn't involved!"

"I know that now, but I wasn't sure."

"Then what do you call this?" I bounced the wooden chair off the concrete floor. "Why kidnap me if you know we don't have the money?"

"You might not, but I have it on good authority your mother's new boyfriend does. And from what Brittany tells me, he will pay a pretty penny to get you back."

I didn't think it was possible to hate someone as much as I did Brittany, and her father, right this moment. My mother would be freaking out and rightfully so. She was finally happy for the first time and now they had to pull this shit. It wasn't fair.

"David will kill you for this."

"Now, is that any way to speak to your girlfriend's father?" he tsked. "I guess we’ll both find out soon enough."

I shot daggers at the man's retreating back. His maniacal laugh on the way up the stairs only further pissed me off. I tried again to break the ropes that were binding my hands but it was no use. I even tried to tip the chair off-balance but the thing was solid. It wasn't some cheaply made chair that fell apart with a little pressure. If I had to guess, it was antique and made when things actually lasted.

Time slowly passed before I heard the door creak open again. I glanced over at the stairs expecting to find Mr. Smith coming down to torment me, but it was Brittany instead.

"What the hell do you want?" I spat. I couldn't believe she had the nerve to show her face after what she did to me.

"I truly am sorry. I couldn't go against my father."

"Then why are you here now?"

"Because you don't deserve this. I can't release you without my father knowing it was me, but I can give you a head start."

I gave her a stunned expression. I didn't have any idea what she was talking about. When she pulled a small knife from her pocket, I started to thrash around for real this time. Before I had been trying not to hit the ground hard enough that I broke something, but now I didn't care. I would do anything not to have her cut me.

"Please stop. I just want to cut the ropes enough that you can saw them apart on the chair."

I froze. I didn't know if I could believe her or not. When she slipped behind me, and I didn't feel the knife cut into my flesh, I figured she had to be telling the truth.

"There. Now just rub the spot over and over on the corner of the chair and you should be able to get free."

The ropes already felt looser. I took her advice and started to work the area over and over again.

"Where are you going?" Brittany was already halfway up the stairs when I called out to her.

"I can't be here when you get loose. My father won’t be back for another hour or two. It should be plenty of time for you to get away."

She didn't stick around and I didn't waste any time. Within minutes I felt the rope give away enough that I could slide one of my hands free. Dropping the rope onto the floor, I was quick to untie my legs.

As soon as I was free of my restraints, I raced up the basement stairs and straight into Brittany's kitchen.

Good, I wasn't that far from my house. I would be back with my family in no time.