Who I Became (Who I Was Book 2) (15 page)

I gasp and stare at the phone.  Tears freely falling down my face.  She knows about the baby, thank fuck! As happy as I am she remembers, it hurts each time I am reminded that she lied.

“Thank you Braxton, thank you.”

“I didn’t do it for you Wesson, listen I know you love her okay, but I did this for her. If something happened to that baby and she didn’t know she was carrying it. It would ruin her. Now what’s the plan? I called Chief, he is calling him back but none of us are there.  Vanessa? Is there anything you can do there? I think you guys are going to have to figure something out and I want to be involved none of this shit of us being split up anymore.”

“We need to get down there at least as close as possible if he agrees to let Mia go, we need to be there to get her before anyone else does.”              

“Agreed, look come get me on your way okay?”

“Okay.” Vanessa agrees for us as we start to run outside.

We stop and take note that the door is unlocked. It makes it real that she left, not that we didn’t believe it before but it is a visual example of it.

“We are leaving now Brax, Nessa will take us to you. After we have you, she will call the Chief to find out what’s going on.”

After we are piled into the car, we hang up with Brax and head over to get him. 

Vanessa is driving, neither Parker nor I able to right now as we are both shook up. I am sitting in the backseat with my eyes closed, kicking my ass for not telling her sooner. She is going to hate me for lying to her. I don’t even care that she remembers because I know she was hurting at the thought of losing Brax and our baby. She must have been a mess on the inside and I was just trying to get her to remember me. I am a selfish asshole and if she never forgives me I won’t say I don’t blame her.

Braxton climbs in quickly and we dart out of the city, headed toward where Lillian is. This is the only time I wish I had a patrol car so we could pass everyone with no problems. Vanessa calls Chief but doesn’t put him on speaker.  We hear yelling in the background but are not able to figure out what is being said from his end.

“I know but you guys were going to let her die! We did what we had to do.”

More yelling.

“I joined the force to help people, not condemn them to death because things don’t work out how we planned.”

“You were a better man before. You would have never done this, I respected you…”

“Yes, of course we are.”

“No. We can’t let you go at this alone, let us help.” He isn’t yelling as loudly on the other line.  Maybe he understands.

“We have Braxton already.”

Back to yelling once Braxton was brought up. I actually laugh at that. I can only imagine what he must be thinking.

“Thanks John.”

She hangs up and we are all holding our breath. Braxton and I leaned up against the back of the front seat waiting for what happened. She just goes back to driving and sighs like nothing happened. 

“So… Vanessa… What did he say?” Braxton coaches.

She glances at the mirror and jumps as she notices us so close to her.  She looks over to Parker and then back at us.  I am about to lose my cool when she finally starts talking.

“Oh sorry, I was in my own world. He made me so mad.  I hate that I am not always treated like I know what I am doing. Just because I am female doesn’t mean that I can’t be good at my job.  I mean yes, I went against orders and kind of kidnapped you guys but it was for the right cause. They were wrong-“

“Vanessa… What did he say?” I say through gritted teeth, trying so hard not to snap. I have grown used to the way she rambles but now is not the fucking time.

“Sorry, he said he was disappointed that I lied. That he doesn’t know what to do with us but he doesn’t have time. I told him to let us help and he said fine. That we could meet them at their location near Lucas’s house.  He got a bit angry when I mentioned we had Braxton already but it was probably a good thing that we will all be together.”

“Did he say if he contacted Luke in the time frame he was given?”

“He did, he said that Luke will be releasing her in the morning as soon as they discuss his demands.”

I sit back, I don’t really want to go to their location but we need to know what they know when they know it.  I sit back in the back seat with my eyes closed for the drive.  Reliving my last moments with Lil, hoping and praying I will get to hold her again.  That he doesn’t hurt her or our baby. Hating myself for everything that I lied about.

CHAPTER FOURTEEN

LILLIAN

I wake up in a dark room and sit straight up, my heart already racing trying to remember where I am.

“You’re okay; he carried you up here so you could sleep. It’s weird; he almost seemed concerned for you.”

I look around the dark room to find where Mia is sitting.  I see her against the door on the ground, knees up and looking straight at me with her head resting on her arms that are crossed over her knees.

“I don’t get it, why do they all care more about you? Even the bad guys seem to care more about you. I don’t know you and I want to care about you. I let you cry on my shoulder. I don’t do that.” She is whispering but I feel the hurt in her words.

              I jump out of the bed and crawl over to her.  I still have my clothes on but take notice that my shoes have been taken off. Thankful my socks are still on because the floor is chilly.  I sit directly across from her and mimic her stance.  I look directly into her eyes. She has no idea.

“I don’t think you understand how tore up Wesson was when he told me about his sister.  The sister he wasn’t able to help.  The sister who died because he was unable to help her.”

“I have a hard time believing that, I am sorry. I am sure he has guilt. I just don’t think he actually cares about me.”

“Fine, he will need to earn your trust again. That is fair but do you know who undoubtedly cares about you and because of these two people I am here because if they care about you, I care about you?”

She just shakes her head but I know she knows what I am going to say.

“Parker. He didn’t even have to tell me.  I can see it in his actions when you are brought up. I don’t know what is going on with Luke, maybe he just wants to make sure I am okay because I am his ticket.  I know that he didn’t hurt you though either.  I can see he took better care of you then even your father did.”

She stiffens. 

“Now don’t think that your father liked anyone else over you because we both know that man didn’t care for anyone but himself.”

She laughed.

“Yeah, he was a bastard. Not sorry he’s dead.”

“Listen, I know what you heard about the plan but it wasn’t going to happen, those who care about you wouldn’t have let it happen. Even if I didn’t come here first, Wesson and Parker were headed this way first thing in the morning.  I just wanted some insurance for them. I needed to help you for them.”

She nods and then wraps me in her arms tightly. I melt to her because I know that she doesn’t let people in. I know from the stories and from what time I have spent with her tonight that it’s not a normal thing for her and it will probably be a while before she shows emotion around anyone again. She lets me go just as abruptly as the hug started and stands up.

“Look, I am sorry for that okay?”

Her toughness shining through again. I can see her face change, building up the walls that she had let fall. I shake my head before standing up with her.  I must have stood up too quickly because the house starts to spin and my stomach turns just as fast as the room. I am going to throw up.

“Where’s the bathroom?” I say quickly and run toward the door.  “Shit, down the hall to the right.” She yells after me as I am already half way out the door.

I run as fast as I can. It’s not a long hallway but it seems like it is never ending. I open the door quickly, no time to shut it and fall to the ground, throwing up everything in my stomach, not that there was much.               

I start to remember what happened now before I passed out and I remember Braxton warning me that I was pregnant and to be careful. I can’t believe Wesson would hide that from me but it makes sense now. I have been sick recently. I was so tired, and then emotional. I start to cry into the toilet, not my most finest moment but it all just hit me.  Mia pulls me back white as a ghost as my hand goes to my stomach.

“Are you okay?” Still tough but concerned.

“Yeah, I’m pregnant, it just hit me.”

“Hey, you are and with my niece or nephew so let’s get you something to drink and eat okay? I may not like my brother too much but that’s my blood too.”

I laugh and follow her to the stairs to head to the kitchen. The stairs creak and I jump.

“What if Lucas hears?”

“Look, he isn’t as crazy as he seems. Don’t get me wrong, he has the potential of going ape shit but if you notice the door wasn’t locked to the bedroom.  He told me to make sure you were okay. I wasn’t lying when I said he looked concerned.”

“That’s weird.”

“Yeah, but like you said I am sure it’s just because you are his only hope.”

I think about what I told her, I should believe it but I don’t really because he didn’t care about me the last time I saw him.  He has knocked me unconscious, took me to the devil himself then let me almost be killed. Why would he care now, no one says he has to return me in one piece, something is different.

I follow Mia to the kitchen and we make a sandwich and I grab us two bottles of water before sitting on the counter to eat.

“So what’s the plan? I don’t know what happened after I blacked out-sorry about that. It was a lot to handle.”

I was still unsure if this was all a dream. It felt real but so did Braxton’s funeral that wasn’t obviously since he is alive and well. My head starts to spin again just thinking about it.

“Well, tomorrow they are going to call Lucas back and he is going to give his demands. And at that time he releases me. Once they go through with their part of the deal, he will release you.”

“Wow, I am happy they are getting you out of here so quickly.”

“Look Lillian, I don’t know if I can leave you here. I care for Parker too; we grew close when we were in captive together.  To know that you are his sister who he wouldn’t stop talking about and that you are pregnant with my niece or nephew, I wouldn’t feel right leaving you here alone.”

“Nonsense, like you said Lucas is being weird with me, like he cares and I came here to get you out, don’t make my trip not worth it and if you don’t follow through with leaving then how will he act? They won’t believe you don’t want to go, they will think he isn’t following through on his side of the deal.”

She nods but I can see she isn’t convinced. We ate in silence after that, both of us in our own heads unsure of how things are going to go.  We head back upstairs into the room I woke up in. There is only one bed and I see her trying to make a bed on the floor. I laugh at her face.

“I’ll sleep on the floor with you if you don’t get on this bed.”

“Whatever, scoot over.”

We drift off to a light sleep.

“Rise and shine girls! It’s go time.”  Lucas peaks in the room all bright eyed and bushytailed.

I look over at Mia and she shakes her head.

“He has never acted like that?”

“He must be in a good mood, thinking you won’t go to jail for the rest of your life I guess does that to some people.”

We head downstairs and sit back on the couch.

“Thank you girls for not trying to run away when you made your snack last night. It would have ruined my good mood to have to shoot you.”

I look over at Mia, actually surprised that she can see the question in my eyes.

“I saw him sitting by the door with the gun on his lap, trust me if it was possible I would have.”

“How did I not see him?”

“You weren’t looking.”

That isn’t like me, I have been watching over my shoulder my whole life. I need to make sure my guard is up better than it has been. He comes back in with some food and sits it down in front of us.

“Eat.”

We both stare at him.

“We have a long day ahead. I phoned in my demands this morning, now eat.”

I want to know what he asked for. I want to know what my life is worth to him but I don’t ask.  Mia was right, he isn’t as scary as he could be but it’s lurking under the surface, waiting for a ripple to push it through.

We eat in silence and I can’t help but look at the clock on the wall over and over watching the time pass by so slowly. I am so ready for this to be over, the fact that he said a long day makes me think it may be over sooner than I could have expected and that makes me happy.

***

WESSON

We arrived at the location just after Lucas had called. I wished I was here when he called, I need to hear her voice. We aren’t being told a lot but we do know he is going to release Mia in two hours.  Parker is pacing, Vanessa is talking to the Chief, and Braxton is throwing a ball he stole from Chief’s house against the car. driving me crazy and I am sitting here staring into space.  I am worrying if she is okay, if she is hurt, if the baby is okay. I need to know if she is hurt in anyway, but I want to know if she hates me, she should.

I head over to the tent they have set up, unable to sit and wait like I have been.  I need to do whatever they will let me do. Chief is on the phone now so I go to the one person who will talk to me, prepared to pull teeth to get her to tell me what’s going on and not ramble like she usually does.

“What’s up Nes?”

“Well, Lucas called like you know, he said the girls were sleeping so they weren’t able to be talked to, to confirm they were okay but he says he hasn’t touched them.”

Well that was easy-ish.

“What are his demands?”

“Well….” She isn’t going one hundred words per minute shit this can’t be good.

“Just tell me.”

“Well he is going to release Mia. He says he has some stuff to talk to Lillian about so he wants to keep her for awhile.  He will let us know when he will be ready for the rest of the demands which of course are to let him free, he will flee the country but he doesn’t want to be hunted.”

“What? Why does he need to talk to her? What if he does something to her?” I am getting angry, very angry. I turn around and run my hands through my hair, pulling on it, wanting to hurt something. I startle when Vanessa puts her hand on my arm.

“He won’t, if he so much as touches a hair on her head, he said they can call off the deal. He said he will make sure she is properly fed and rested but there is something he needs to tell her.”

“How long could that take?”

“Probably not long, maybe one more day and both girls will be free.”

“Seems too easy. I want in there with them. I need to see for my own eyes that she is okay.” That’s it; that should be easy enough right, two hostages for the price of one, a criminals dream right?

I turn around from her before she is able to say anything else and head over to the chief, who I hear is making arrangements for the rest of Lucas’s demands. I don’t care if he is busy, this needs to happen, and I tap his shoulder and wait for him to turn around.

“What do you want Wesson?”

“Let me trade places with Mia?”

“Hold on a minute.” He tells the person on the phone then stuffs it in his pocket.

“Why the hell would I give him another person when he is giving me one? He isn’t asking for a replacement Wesson, I am not sending anyone in there.”

“I need to be there, I need to see she is safe with my own eyes.”

“He said himself if he hurts her it’s okay to call off the deal. He isn’t going to hurt her.”

“I don’t believe him, it’s too easy, and when he calls to release Mia just ask him to let me in.”

“I can’t do that, you know that.”

“Fine, let me be the one to get Mia, and then don’t stop me when I run in.”

“You can be the one to get her, but at this point if he shoots you, I’ll be short one pain of the ass.”

“Thank you.”

I walk away, small justice made. I don’t know if it will work, he very well may shoot me but I have to hope that he doesn’t. I will put on a vest and go in without being armed.  I head over to where the cars are parked, where Parker and Braxton are. I feel their eyes on me as I head to one of the officers cars and ask for a jacket.  I know they are watching me pull it on and I know they are headed my way. I take a big breath and turn around.

“Look, I am going to get Mia when she is released-“

“What the fuck? No I want to go.” Oh Park, always so eager.

“NO!” I say firmly, he shuts his mouth. “Like I said Chief has agreed to let me go get Mia and then I am going to try to convince Luke to let me in.”

“Shit.” Braxton says and he and Parker look at me like I just said I was going to talk to aliens on the moon.

“Listen, I know he says he won’t hurt her, but he has in the past and I will not let it happen. If he needs someone to hurt it can be me. I will go in there and listen to what he has to tell her and make sure she and my baby are okay, and then when it’s time to release her, hopefully I will be walking out with her.”

“This doesn’t sound like a good plan, man. He could shoot you on the spot.”

“He could but something feels off. He seems to be willing to give in too easy and when do hostage situations ever go this easily? I need to know she is okay. I will give my life for hers over and over.”