Page 4 of The Brat Tamers

“The FBI is looking into that, too,” Mr. Townsend states.

My father takes my hand. “I know I haven’t been a very good father, and I know I haven’t been there for you, but I promise I’m going to do everything in my power to bring Leti home and keep you safe. The Townsend Security Agency is the best money can buy, and if they are recommending we do this, then this is what we should do.”

“What’s wrong with staying here?” My eyes travel over the men assembled. “We have a decent security system installed in this house.”

My father raises his eyebrows. “How many parties have you had here? How many people have the code to the gate?”

“We can change all that.”

Lee steps forward and shakes his head. “The most secure location will be out of town, somewhere you’ve never been. According to your most recent posts, your followers believe you are taking a weekend sabbatical at some ultra-reclusive luxury spa. Correct?”

Holy hell, he’s researched me? “Yes.”

“Then we need to not be anywhere you’ve been before.”

Scoffing, I jump out of my chair and throw my hands out at my side. “For how long?”

“For as long as it takes to get your sister back and eliminate the threat.”

I spin around to face my father. “Daddy! I have a shoot this Wednesday.”

Yes, it’s a tactic I rarely employ, but it almost always works.

My father speaks up. “Gentleman, surely there is a way to protect my daughter and impact her life as little as possible.”

I spin back around to face all of them. I’ll admit, I am not used to hearing no, and I definitely don’t like hearing it now. “I have a business to run, appointments to keep, and endorsements to do. My fans expect to see me daily. Hourly, even.”

Lee stares down at me, his face chiseled in stone. The only hint I have to any thought process going on in his head is the hard heat in his eyes. I swear, this man looks like he wants to beat me for being a petulant child, which honestly only makes me want to act out more.

The phone in the office rings, breaking through our staring contest. My father jumps up and walks to his office faster than I’ve ever seen him move. I jog after him, pushing past another group of large men to stand by my father’s side. Someone hits a button, putting the call on speaker.

My father speaks, “Hello. This is Walter Krushner.”

A distorted voice screams on the line. “Why didn’t you tell me I had the wrong daughter when we spoke this morning? Is this one even worth thirty million to you?”

My heart pounds in my chest with this revelation. I rush forward, slamming my hands down on the desk. “You son of a bitch. Let my sister go.”

They meet my outburst with a moment of silence, followed by a mechanical, sinister chuckle that sounds fabricated. “Epi, Epi, Epi. I had no idea you had a twin sister. You’ve never mentioned her. Should I do to her all the things I was going to do to you?”

My father’s voice cracks as he leans forward. “Don’t hurt her. Please, we’ll pay whatever you want.”

The voice screams.

There’s wrestling in the background, and I hear a distinctive slap of flesh against flesh before my sister screams. For the first time in I don’t know how many years, I sink into my father’s embrace, his arms wrapping tightly around me.

“It’s amazing. She looks just like you, and yet, she’s nothing like you. At first, I thought it was because you put on a public persona for the cameras and that this is the real you. It’s the birthmark on her leg that finally clued me in. She never once told me I was calling her by the wrong name. Do you know what kind of sister you have here that would risk torture to keep you safe?”

Her birthmark? I glance up at my father, wondering if he remembers that Leti’s birthmark is high on her inner thigh. My sister is not like me. She doesn’t run around the house in bikinis. She certainly doesn’t live on camera like I do. There’s no way to see that birthmark casually. They had to have stripped her, which for someone like Leti, would be seriously traumatic.

Emotions I haven’t felt in years bubble up, and memories of our childhood before my mother died flood to the surface. We used to be so close. We did everything together, and I was often my sister’s protector. I choke back a sob. “What do you want?”

“Well, I wanted you and thirty million, but now I’m going to apply an inconvenience fee of one hundred twelve million.”

My father shakes his head. “It’s Saturday afternoon. Even with my resources, it’s going to take time to assemble one hundred forty-two million. We need more time.”

“I’m going to give you plenty of time. I’m giving you seventy-two hours. At noon on Tuesday, I will call you again at this number and give you instructions on where to send my money. Oh, and let me be specific, I want 142,368,212.72. Did you write that down?”

The voice on the line chuckles. “I guess you don’t need to, as you’re currently recording this conversation. Don’t think I don’t know the FBI is there trying to trace my call. Good luck with that. I’ll be in touch on Tuesday. Meanwhile, I’m going to take some time to get to know your other daughter.”

The line goes dead. My father squeezes me tightly against his chest, running his hand up and down my back, trying to soothe me. It’s only in that moment I realize I’m shaking, and maybe for the first time in my life, I’m truly scared.

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