Page 49 of Paradise & Vodka

"Please just let us go," Ashleigh pleaded.

The leader didn't answer her. "You need to call your sister and get me my money."

"I need my cell phone. I don't know her number by heart."

The guy snapped his fingers, and what looked to be Ashleigh's phone was put into his palm. He started to hand it to her, and then pulled it back and chuckled. "You think I'm that stupid enough to hand you your phone?"

Ashleigh balked slightly. "Um, no?"

"That's right." He smirked. "I will call her, and you be ready to confirm you're still alive."

"Okay." Ashleigh looked over at me, and I gave her a tight smile. I couldn't imagine what was going through her head. We didn't know if Everleigh was alive. We didn't know where Everleigh was. And we didn't know if Everleigh would even care or come through with money to save us—or at least Ashleigh.

I was more than likely a dead man.

He grabbed her hand and placed her thumb over the home button to open it before pressing what I assumed was either the contacts or the phone icon to find Everleigh's name. I stared at him, feeling as though a lot was riding on the call. Were cell phones working again? He held the phone up to his ear, and then immediately brought it down.

"Bring them upstairs," he ordered.

One of the men let go of me and grabbed Ashleigh by the arm. We were led up the stairs. "Where are we going?" I asked.

There was no response as we were taken outside. I thought the cellar was at a house, but there was nothing around except some sort of building in the distance—a church maybe that had a steeple.

The leader brought the phone to his ear again, and then once again took it away. "Why the fuck does it say it's disconnected?"

"I …" Ashleigh hesitated. "I don't know."

He drew his hand up quickly as though he was going to hit her, and I struggled against the man still holding me. "Don't play games with me," he warned.

"I'm not. I haven't needed to call my sister in several years."

He tilted his head slightly, narrowing his eyes. It felt like several minutes until he finally spoke again. "Kill them, and call Filipe. We're going back to the original plan."

"No!" I shouted. "You don't need to kill us."

"Please, just let us go." Ashleigh started to cry, and my heart ached, wanting to bring her into my arms again, but the men were still restraining us.

"You're no use to me," the leader stated. "And now that you've seen my face, we can't let you go."

"I can get you the money," I blurted out before I realized what the fuck I was saying. I didn't even know how much they wanted.

"And how do you plan to do that?"

"Let me make a call."

The leader chortled. "You think I'm stupid?"

"No." I shook my head. "I have money. How much do you want?"

He thought for a moment. "Five hundred for each of you."

"Dollars?"

"Five hundredthousandeach," he corrected.

"So, a million dollars?" I questioned, pretending I had that much, but I didn't have a million fucking dollars.

"Yes." He grinned. "Do you have that in the bank?"