Page 15 of Search My Soul (Taylor Family Saga #3)

Previous Night

“Daddy, what happened to you?” I cried out as I raced to his bed. His face was black and blue, and his eye appeared to be swollen shut.

“Hey, baby girl. What are you doing here?” His tone was low and raspy, which only sparked even more worry.

“Who did this to you? What happened?”

“Oh, it’s nothing but a few bumps and bruises. They will heal with time.” His nonchalant attitude sent me spiraling because clearly, this was more than a simple misunderstanding.

“Daddy, what happened? I’m not a child anymore, and I won’t sit here while you try to sugarcoat things. I need to know what’s going on with you.”

“Well. I made a few bets that I thought for sure would pay off, but I overestimated my predictions. Now I owe some very important people a lot of money. I tried to pay them back using some fake bills and they found out about it.” I rolled my eyes as he began to explain everything to me because I still couldn’t understand why he continued to take these kinds of risks with no guarantees.

“I understand them being upset about you not having the money, but they could have killed you!” My hand rested on top of his, and all I could do was cry.

My father was a light toffee colored man, so to see his body marred with black and blue bruises was hard to witness.

I could only imagine the pain he must have been in.

I still couldn’t believe that my dad had gotten himself into this position.

All my life, I would hear my parents arguing about his gambling, but I never understood how serious it really was until I became a teenager.

There were some nights he would win big, and he would come and treat us to a five-star meal with steak, potatoes, and everything you could think of.

Then there were those nights when he would come home, staggering, drunk, belligerent, and angry for no reason.

Those were the nights when they would stay up arguing, and I would hear my mom yelling about how much danger he was putting his family in.

Seeing him lying in the hospital bed was terrifying to me.

It reminded me of those days when he would come home with random black eyes and busted lips with no explanation.

You would think after all these years, he would’ve stopped by now, but it seemed like his addiction had only gotten worse.

Now, instead of a couple of small-time bets here and there, he had gotten into it with some big-time sharks, and they weren’t playing around with him.

“So, how much do you owe them?” I asked, glancing between my parents. Of course, my mother pretended I wasn’t in the room even though she called me. Her hatred for me would never make any sense, but I decided not to even dwell on it because we had much bigger fish to fry.

“This isn’t something for you to worry about, sweetheart. I promise I’ve got it handled,” he assured me. My mother scoffed, and her face contorted into a disgusted frown. She turned to face me with her arms crossed over her breasts, and I braced myself for whatever she was about to say.

“Your father owes them 50,000, and if we don’t get it by the end of the week, your father and your sister will be dead,” she replied with a crack in her voice.

My mother had always been mean and strong-willed, so witnessing her break down caught me off guard.

We never had the best relationship, and part of that was because she was emotionally unattached.

Seeing her express emotions reminded me that she loved him more than she would ever love me.

I chose to save that hard truth for another day because my father needed us to come together.

“Daddy, what the hell? Where are you gonna get that kind of money? Wait! What do you mean my sister will be dead? What does Riya have to do with any of this?” I pressed, looking toward my mother for answers because I knew he wasn’t gonna give me an appropriate answer.

He held a good job at the steel mill for over twenty years, so it made no sense to me how he even got himself into this mess in the first place.

“Your father tried to pay the man with counterfeit bills, and they caught on to him. When they showed up at the house, they beat your father to a bloody pulp and snatched Riya. The men grabbed her and tossed her in their car before speeding off. I ran after them, but they pulled out their guns. The man said that until your father could pay back the money with interest, they were gonna hold her. If we don’t come up with the money in time, they will both be killed and probably the rest of us too.

” Her revelation sent me spiraling because I could only imagine how afraid my little sister must have been.

My father had made some fucked up decisions in his life, but never one as dangerous as this one.

“Sweet pea, please don’t make this your problem. I got myself into this, and I’ll have to figure out a way to get us out of it.”

“And what happens if you can’t? What happens if you don’t get them their money on time?

Not only is your life on the line, but my little sister has been kidnapped by some strangers!

” His head hung low with shame, but it was too late for all of that.

He should’ve thought about the consequences before he even got involved with these people.

Now, this situation had gotten out of control and lives were hanging in the balance.

“I made my bed, and I’ll have to lie in it.

All I care about is making sure that my family is safe.

If it comes down to having to lay my life down for my choices, then that’s just what I’ll do.

My only concern is getting Riya back home safely.

” He spoke with confidence, but I knew he was terrified inside.

“This is nonsense, Nevin. You promised me that you were done with this scamming shit, only for you to turn around and make the biggest gamble of your life.” She had caused him to roll his eyes up to the ceiling.

“I fucked up. My connect told me the money would pass all the tests so I had no reason to believe it wouldn’t work.”

“Well, obviously you thought wrong. Now we have to figure out a way to get you out of this mess and rescue our daughter. We’ve already taken out a second mortgage on the house, so that’s out of the question.

I only have a few thousand dollars saved in my savings account right now.

I might be able to ask my father for some money, but I doubt if he has much since he has retired.

” My mother fussed while pacing back and forth.

“I don’t need you asking that old bastard for a dime. He never thought that I was good enough for you and I can only imagine the bullshit that he’ll spew once he finds out about this.” My father huffed with a level of pride he couldn’t afford to have.

“Well, you don’t seem to have any better solutions right now, Nevin. We’re gonna have to put our heads together and come up with something before I have to plan two funerals.” She hissed, typing aggressively on her phone. She was more than likely texting my aunts to let them know what was going on.

“Well, what did the police say? Have they filed a missing person’s report? Is there an amber alert out for Riya?” I questioned. Both of my parents looked at me as if I had two heads, which caused a sinking feeling in my gut.

“Your father committed a crime, idiot. If we call the police, they will more than likely arrest him for his involvement in all of this. That isn’t a risk we’re willing to take.

” She sneered. “Your daughter isn’t worth it?

Are you fucking kidding me! Riya is a kid.

She didn’t ask to be a part of your bullshit ass scheme.

Now you’re telling me that the two of you are going up against a group of dangerous men with no backup and no money?

” My anger grew by the second as I glared at both of them in disgust.

“You can save your judgment because it won’t do a thing to fix the situation we’re in.

Either you’re going to help us, or you’ll be helping me bury them.

The choice is yours.” Her dismissive attitude blew my mind, but I shouldn’t have expected anything less.

She was right about one thing. Our focus needed to be on a solution.

Every hour my sister was missing was another hour that I would spend in constant worry.

Who knew what those men were doing to her?

“I have some money saved up as well. I planned to use it to put a down payment on a house, but this is far more important.”

“No, sweet pea, I can’t let you do that. You’ve worked hard for that money.”

“Oh, please. You call shaking her ass for chump change and crumbled up dollars working hard? If anything, she owes us that money for all the shame and embarrassment she has brought into our family. We worked our asses off to provide her with a decent life only for her to turn into a sex worker, for God’s sake.

” Judgment dripped from her tongue. Of course, she didn’t approve of my lifestyle.

She never approved of anything concerning me.

“Look, I’m not here to defend my career choice with you. Daddy, I have about $10,000 saved up. I’m going to work as many shifts as I have to until we have the money we need.” Even though I didn’t agree with his life choices, he was the only parent who made me feel like I mattered.

“I don’t see why anyone would wanna pay money to see you walking around, dressed in strings that are two sizes too small.

You look like a busted can of biscuits. I can’t imagine anyone would be turned on by that.

I see that you have completely given up on your diet.

” I didn’t have to look at her to know her nose was turned up in disgust. Under normal circumstances, I could handle my mother’s petty insults, but this particular one was a sore spot for me.