Only One (22 page)

“I know you didn’t take it,” he said, but paused, “I made a copy and hid it in your make up bag.”

I racked my brain, thinking about if I’d seen it, but came up with nothing.

“It’s small, a microchip. You wouldn’t have even noticed it. I cut a small opening and sewed it in there.”

I stared out the window, driving faster.

“Anna, don’t be stupid. Take it down to the speed limit. I know what you’re doing.”

Reluctant, I eased up on the gas pedal.

We drove in a scary silence for the next two hours. Aaron pressed his gun against my thigh every time I sped up or passed someone in the left lane. I thought about Cole and my family and how stupid I had been by not listening to them. I needed to change tactics. I had to do something.

“Aaron?”

“What?”

“This isn’t you. I thought you loved me.”

He looked at me incredulously. “Why do you think I’m doing this? I do love you. I’m saving you. I found out three days ago from an inside source that I keep on my payroll that he was coming after you again. I had to get to you first. I got in last night and kept my eye on you. It’s dumb luck that you took off to see your little boyfriend. I knew it was my chance.”

Stunned at his answer, I sat there speechless.

“Oh, Anna, I can’t wait to be inside you again. It’s been too long.” His voice was raspy as he came close enough that I could feel his breath on my cheek. I wanted to move away, but I didn’t as his mouth grazed my cheek and then my ear, kissing it roughly, tugging it with his teeth. I thought about flipping the truck, but was too terrified to actually do it, so I resorted to heavy thinking.

“Once I nail Jorge he’ll go away, and we can go back to L.A. together and start over. I promise I’ve changed, Anna. I’ll treat you right this time. I won’t hit you or follow you, or even try to control you. Once you come back with me, I’ll change. I promise, Anna. I love you.”

“Okay,” I mumbled, trying to come up with something. I needed to keep him happy so he wouldn’t do anything that I’d regret.

We pulled into a small gas station several hours later. It was just getting dark. He told me we should reach our destination in another hour or so. I looked at the dash clock and let the first tear fall. I was supposed to be in Cole’s arms about this time. Instead I was being kidnapped by a man that I once gave myself to, a man I once trusted, a man I hated with every fiber of my being now.

“I have to use the bathroom.”

He scrutinized me for a minute. “No. You have to hold it.”

“Aaron, please, I’m going to pee my pants. I haven’t gone since I left this morning,” I pleaded, hoping he’d believe me.

“You scream, if you say anything to anyone, I will shoot you, do you understand?”

I nodded.

“I’m coming with you. Move slowly, but not too slowly.” He followed me from behind. The feel of the gun butting up into my back kept me moving at the pace he expected. Once we got to the door he opened it and ushered me inside the restroom that was attached to the side of the gas station. “You have two minutes and no more before I open this door back up.”

“Okay, that’s fine.” As soon as the door closed, I grabbed the lipstick that I had in the pocket of my hoody that I’d put on right before he hijacked me. Nervous, I glanced around for somewhere to write but was afraid he’d see it. Quickly, knowing I was running out of time, I jotted down the number to reach my dad and to tell him I’m in Florida and how I’m in trouble on the back of the door.

The door flew open just as I was cleaning my hands. He did a quick check, but must have been satisfied because he yanked me out. “Let’s go.”

The gas station was tiny and all but empty. It was my only hope that my daddy would find me before it was too late.

Cole

My phone rang just as I entered my room from practice. “Yeah,” I answered.

“Cole, it’s Aunt Ashton, honey.”

Something about her tone caused me sit down. There was silence for a few seconds. I was dying inside because I knew something had happened. The lack of words coming from her scared the fuck out of me.

“Just tell me what it is.” I finally managed to say.

“Cole, Annabelle took off this morning to come and see you. Dane was worried and took off with Josh after her. She had at least an hour or more on them.”

“What?” I looked over to my desk clock. “What time did she leave?” I asked, knowing she should been here by now. “Jesus, tell me she wasn’t in an accident.” My fingers shook as I held the phone up to my ear, waiting to hear the worst.

“She called Dane at a rest stop, Cole. Before they got off the phone she screamed that Aaron was with her.”

I sat, unable to breathe, to move, to speak. Aaron had her. Aaron, who was fucking sick and had abused her physically and mentally, had her because once more I hadn’t been there to protect her.

“Cole, honey, are you there?”

“Yeah,” I forced the word past the lump in my throat.

“Jason’s on his way down. He should be there in about an hour to get you. That is if you want to come home. I know you have a big game tomorrow.”

“Fuck football,” I cut her off. I stood, pacing the floor as I threw things into a bag, screaming at the top of my lungs. I didn’t even know what I was doing. It was like I was on autopilot. I felt completely numb. People kept coming in, but once they saw me they walked right back out of my dorm room.

Taking deep breaths, I called coach and explained that I had a family emergency. I broke down on the phone as I told him, pleading for him to understand that I couldn’t play in tomorrow’s big game. He wasn’t happy, but he let me off with a word of warning. The sound of my voice must have made him realize it wouldn’t be any use to put me in, anyway.

Jason and I headed back on the last flight out of Tuscaloosa. We didn’t say much to one another because both of us were about to lose our minds if we voiced our fears out loud. Finally, just as we were about to land, he turned to me. “We’ll get her back, Cole. There is no way Dane is going to allow anything to happen to her.”

I just nodded, pretending to believe him, when in reality she’d been missing for over ten hours, and Aaron could have done whatever he pleased to her by now.

Jason didn’t drive me home. He took me to Annabelle’s house. It was just after dinner and I was thankful to see Mama’s truck was parked out front. I stormed out of Jason’s truck the minute he came to a stop. I flew up the porch stairs. Everyone was gathered around except Dane and Josh. All heads spun around, and before I knew it Ashton was gripping me tight in her arms. I loosely held onto her, closing my eyes briefly. When Ashton took me in her arms I bit back the tears that wanted to come spilling out.

“Hey, darling,” my mama called out, and she joined us in a group hug.

We drank pot after pot of coffee. It wasn’t until eleven that night when the house phone rang. Ashton jumped up and answered it while we all held our breath, waiting.

It was Dane, but all we could get was a bunch of agreement on Ashton’s part as she listened. Just before she hung up, she let out a small sigh of relief.

“What? What did he say?” I jumped out my seat.

“She’s in Florida. A woman called Dane from a gas station five minutes ago. They didn’t know if it was a recent message on the door, but she called him anyway.”

“What message?” Mama asked before I could.

“Annabelle wrote that he was taking her to Florida. That’s all we know, but Dane has a call in to an old army friend. He’s in the FBI and thinks he can figure out where she and Aaron are headed. He sounds hopeful, Cole.”

I nodded several times, listening, trying to make myself believe it. “I want to go to Florida.”

Jason came over to me. “We don’t know where in Florida, yet, but as soon as we do, I’ll take you.”

“Okay. Shit! I feel so helpless,” I yelled out, resting my head on the table.

“Honey, why don’t you go home and try to sleep for a few hours,” Mama suggested.

I looked over to Aunt Ashton. “Do you mind if I lie up there in her room. I just need to right now.”

She smiled sympathetically. “Sure, honey, go on up.”

When I saw the picture of us from the beach over the summer I allowed myself to break down, hugging her pillow that still smelled of her.

It was barely dawn when Jason woke me by yanking my arm. “We gotta move now, Cole. Get up. They know where she is. They’re a few hours out,” he said calmly, grabbing my shirt off the floor and tossing it to me.

“Where is she? Is she okay?” I tossed the shirt from the day before over my head. I could smell the odor coming off from sweating through the night. At one point I’d awakened after dreaming about finding Belly dead and ripped it off of me. It had been hard to fall back asleep, but smelling her on the sheets and pillows provided me some comfort.

AJ handed us two mugs of coffee as we ran down the steps. Poor kid looked as beat up as I felt. “Make sure you bring her back,” he yelled out, but neither one of us responded.

Jason hauled ass to the airport, and in no time we had two tickets on the next flight out of here to Tampa. We both breathed sighs of relief when the plane taxied us out to the runway on time.

Jason grabbed my arm once we were in the air. “Cole, I only brought you along because I can’t even imagine going through this shit with Amy. Dane’s going to kick my ass for bringing you along, but I know you love her and just want to get to her.”

“Yeah,” I nodded. “I do. Do you think she’s safe? You don’t think he’ll hurt her, do ya?” I took a gulp of air, waiting for him to answer.

He just shook his head. “I hope not, man. I love that little girl like she’s my own. Dane and Josh have got to be flipping the fuck out right now.”

“How’d they find out where she is?”

“Dane’s old buddy who works for the bureau. You met him once at one of the barbeques. Nathan Casey. He’s doing some digging. He gave them an address near Tampa. It has to be where they are. It just has to be. Dane and Josh should be there soon.”

“What are we going to do when we get there? What if something goes wrong?” I had so many more questions, but I kept them inside, pretending like if I didn’t ask them, they wouldn’t come true.

“You, my friend, are going to do nothing. You need to stay in the rental with your head fucking down and let the three of us do our job.”

“Wait! So they’re waiting on you to get there? What if it’s too late?”

“They’re not there yet, Cole. They’re still driving to get to her. Whoever gets there first will go in. Think of it as support instead of rescue that she’s going to need after this.”

“No.” I shook my head. “She’s strong. She’ll be all right, Jason. She will,” I said all this out loud, trying to convince myself that Belly was a survivor and could handle anything. I just hoped to god I was right, because Belly didn’t stand a chance against a gun, and I sure as hell didn’t stand a chance without Belly.

Annabelle

Aaron had me cuffed and gagged to a bed in the back room with the window curtains closed and no lights on. We arrived late last night. Thankfully he was too nervous, like he was fighting a clock, to bother with me. As he tied me up he kept making promises that he was saving me from Jorge, from Cole, from my family and anyone else who wasn’t him. At one point he stopped making sense, so I closed my eyes, pretending to doze off while he ranted on and on.

But now even I could tell the sun was shining brightly through the soiled curtains in the room. The house and the sheets smelled musty from not being washed in a long time. The stale odor made the bile creep up, but I swallowed it back down, afraid of choking on my own vomit. I knew it was only a matter of time before he made good on his promise to take me today. I’d seen it in his eyes last night as he tied me up. He wanted me. Why he didn’t try last night, I didn’t know and I didn’t care. I was just grateful he didn’t.

The faint odor of food brought me upright. I was starving since my last meal had been the night before I left. The sound of the door unlocking made me rethink my plan. I hadn’t noticed last night that the lock was on the outside versus the inside.

Aaron strolled in with a plate of eggs and a cup of tea. “Eat,” he ordered as he pulled off the gag and un-cuffed my on hand.

“Thank you,” I mumbled. There wasn’t much, but it was something to put in my growling stomach.

Once I devoured what he served, he took it away and paced back and forth at the bottom of the bed. “When we get back to L.A. you need to go back on my schedule. You gained all that fucking weight back.”

“I’m sorry,” I said, and just like that I felt like he was controlling me again.

“I told you time and time again that your family doesn’t want you to be successful, but nooo, you never listen to me. They want to keep you fat so that you can’t be famous or so I can’t make my money off of you.” He pulled the gun out from his waistband and pointed it at me.

I closed my eyes, praying, and let the tears fall out. “Say it, Anna,” he screamed.

“Say what?”

“Tell me you understand.”

When I didn’t answer him right away he came closer. “Say it,” he shouted in my ear.

“You’re right. I should have never left you, Aaron. They don’t know what’s best for me, you do. It’s always been you who cares. It’s you I love.”

It worked. He took several deep breaths and immediately calmed down, but didn’t put his gun away.

“We can’t stay much longer. Jorge is on a flight as we speak. We have about four hours until we need to leave.”

“Who told you that?”

“I told you I have someone on the inside. She wants to be famous just like you. I thought we’d be safe here for longer, but Jorge has his ways.”

“So you promised her fame for information?”

He shrugged but didn’t reply. “I’m going to let you up to use the bathroom, Anna, but please don’t be stupid. I won’t hesitate to hurt you if you try anything.”

Fear struck me again as I thought of a game plan. When he undid the other cuff I brought my hand around and massaged my wrists. He noticed that they were red and he sighed before his disgusting mouth kissed every inch of them. His head lifted up and our eyes locked as he ran the gun down my chest. “Take a shower. I want you cleaned up and don’t bother putting any clothes back on.”