Page 22 of Rescued By the SEAL

“This will be a good lesson for other assholes who think they can not pay us too.” But some of the words filter through my brain. I can’t seem to stop them, but I can’t figure out who’s talking anymore. All the voices have blurred into one. “We don’t wantto have to go down the same road we did with the Kelley twins again. That was fucking brutal. Istilldon’t know if they’re buried deep enough to never be discovered. I know the cops here are pretty useless, but one day, it might happen.”

Fucking hell, two more people are dead. Kelley is a name I’m going to have to remember just in case I ever do get out of here. They might be some missing people on a list somewhere with families wanting to know what happened to them. Which reminds me, just like the moment I was in Bill’s cupboard, I’ll have to try and leave some DNA and fingerprints here. These criminals might well be higher up the ladder and better at what they’re doing, so this van might be cleaned after… well, whatever happens to me, but I have to give it a try. I have to see what I can do, so I touch my fingers over everything that I can get ahold of.

“Did they ever find Axel? No, of course not. Don’t fucking worry about it. He’s still deep in that well, never to be seen again.”

Axel, Kelley twins. Bill Ross.This only gets worse by the minute. I wonder if Landon even knows about his dad. Oh, God, this is only going to get worse as time goes on and more people die, isn’t it?Soon, I might be added to that list.

“Fuck, I keep thinking about what we’re going to do to this bitch, to her father.” One of the men laughs. “It’s going to be hilarious.ButI do keep thinking that we could use her for ransom instead. Do some like, kidnapper video shit and make her father pay up. I know that isn’t the sort of shit we normally do, but it could be fun, right? It could be a way to branch out.”

“Youwantto end up in jail, bro? Fucking hell, you are talking some crazy shit there, Greg. I don’t know what has gotten into you. We have Buchan’s kid, and we can do some real shit here which doesn’t put us in jail. I’m not about to have my ass thrownin the slammer for anything. I’ve spent too much time there and I ain’t keen to go back. No fucking kidnapper video.”

Boiling hot tears bubble at the back of my eyes, but I refuse to let them fall. Not right now. I’m not trying to lose myself into tears while I have a job at hand, and that job is attempting to leave as much of myself behind as I can. I even spend some time trying to injure my wrists further to let some blood spill out. I only manage to get a couple of drops out, but it’s better than nothing. If this van doesn’t end up getting thoroughly cleaned, then my father might be able to track me down.

“Okay, so if no kidnapping video, then what? Where are we going? Because I’m fucking starving.”

“Hungry for human flesh or actual food? Because we all know that you are a goddamn animal.”

I wish there were a back window in this van so I could look out into the world. One to see if Landon has managed to follow us, not that I can imagine he has at this speed, but also so I can get a clue as to where we’re going. I would love to be able to have a plan just in case I could get out of here. Just in case there is a chance for me to run the hell away. If I have the opportunity, I’m going to run like the wind, I’m going to move so fast that they won’t be able to see me, but I would prefer to know which way I’m going. I don’t exactly want to end up running into even more danger.

Eventually, when I feel happy that I’ve left a lot of evidence behind, I lie back and rest my head on the van floor. It isn’t comfortable, but it’s better for me to close my eyes and to allow myself to connect with my mother in a way that I never have before. To be honest, I’ve never tried because I haven’t felt a need to, but now it’s almost like she’s with me. I can feel thesame fear that she must have, although probably to a lesser degree right now. I can feel the knowledge that I’ve done the wrong thing, just like she did, the sensation that I’ve let everyone down just like she must have, at the end of her life too.

Mom,I think to myself as I desperately try to connect with her on yet another level.Mom, I wish I had known you. I wish I could remember you. I wish… I wish that you had listened to Dad and were still alive, and that I had too.

I can’t stop the tears from coming then. I don’t stand a chance. By the time my eyes pop open once more, my face is absolutely covered in tears. I’m soaking wet, but I don’t even bother to mop them up. I simply let them keep on coming. Fuck this whole situation. It’s absolutely terrible. I just wish… I wish that I were still at my father’s place, waiting for him.

I need something, Mom,I beg her silently.I need some kind of clue that I’ll survive this, or maybe a warmth to help me through it. You must understand that, you must have needed it too. I don’t want to be alone in all of this.

But I get nothing. Nothing but a horrible, icy-cold sensation that runs all the way through my body. I curl into myself, holding onto my knees as the sadness rockets through me. All the faces in my life, the ones I really want to hold on to, flood me. Mom, from the one picture that I’ve seen of her, and Dad too. Then there’s Landon. Of course, there’s Landon. The teenager I fell in love with so many years ago, and the man he’s come to be. The man whom I still adore even now.

It was a love story, wasn’t it? A while back. It was a dream come true when we were younger, a fairy tale, a fantasy that the rest of the world couldn’t seem to understand. We were torn apart and the world came to an end, but somehow, we managed to find ourway back together, which was everything, wasn’t it? It was the best thing to ever happen to me. I was honestly starting to think that I was like the lead in a rom-com movie and living the dream, living the sort of fantasy that I always wanted but never dared dream could be for me, the sort of love that every girl wants. I thought that it was finally happening for me, and even if things weren’t great with my father, I was having a happy ever after anyway. I needed that, I wanted it.

Yet seeing him there on the side of the road just before I was whipped away from him… that was almost the best memory ever. It would have been the grand finale in the movie, wouldn’t it? The best ending ever. Instead, I was yanked away and now, I’m in the fucking horror film about to be buried in the fucking forest. Along with Axel and the Kelley twins. Never to be found again.

This isn’t even because of me. It’s because of my father. Because of Landon’s parents too. How crazy is that? We’re being punished for what our parents have done like it’s some kind of old-fashioned time in England where those crazy rules applied. Children bearing the burdens of the parents is insane, yet here I am, suffering everything…

Oh, my God.I bolt upright into a sitting position.Is that the van stopping? What the hell is going on?

My heart stops beating. I feel like I’m going to be sick. Whatever is going to happen is going to go down right now.

20

LANDON

Ihear the yelling a long time before I realize what’s going on. I’m so busy trying to tune everything out that I don’t even want to hear it until I pick up on Max talking about good news. News related to Heather, which of course gets to me. I’m hitting a brick wall no matter which way I turn, which is flooding me with frustration. I want to be the one to get answers, but if I can’t, I suppose I’m open to someone else doing it. As long as we get her, everything will be fine. That’s all I’m concerned about.

“What’s going on?” I demand, not really caring whether I sound rude or not. Being polite isn’t exactly my priority right now.

“These guys have got a hit on where the criminals are going.” Max’s face has lit up. “We’re going to head out now.”

“I’m ready.” I nod rapidly. “I’m ready for whatever you need of me. Give me the address and I’m out there.”

“Oh, no. Not a chance. Not a chance in hell.” Max’s face falls. He’s looking at me like he’s already explained things to me and I’m still not quite getting it. “You know I need you here in the office. Your place is here right now. Youhaveto stay here.”

“No, Max, I’ve done what you told me. I’ve been inside, I’ve waited around, but if we know where these people are, then I need to be the one let out. I have to be the one to solve this and you know it. Don’t do this to me, Max.”

“One day, when this whole situation is all over, you will see what I’m doing here. You’ll understand what’s happening, why I need to keep you out of it. When your emotions are gone, you’ll see why I need to keep you away from all of it.”

He rests his hand reassuringly on my shoulder, but I shake it off because the anger is crushing me right now. I couldn’t be more annoyed if I tried. I don’t give a shit what he’s saying to me. He’s being an asshole, pushing me out of things for absolutely no reason. I’ll neverthankhim for doing this, but I might walk out of this goddamn job and never look back at this rate. I don’t need Max right now, I don’t need to work in a place that doesn’t respect my wishes here. No way.

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