“I can guarantee the screams I made last night were totally genuine,” I said as I grabbed him and pulled him toward me.
Our mouths seemed to fit perfectly together, and I wanted to keep him right there with me for the rest of the morning. But there was a knock on the door that distracted us.
Something about the knock scared me, and I saw a little fear in Chase’s eyes as well. It wasn’t a friendly knock. Instead, it sounded like someone was angry.
The pounding on the door came again, and this time it was much more urgent. It sounded like a fist being pounded against the door, and I was afraid. I looked at Chase to see if he was going to answer it.
He grabbed my hand and pulled me back toward to his room. He handed me a black book and pushed me toward the back of his closet. The fear in his eyes was crazy, and I knew something really wrong was going on.
Whoever was at the door scared Chase enough that he didn’t want me around. He opened up what looked like a safe room, like I had seen in movies. The room was hidden by a shelf of shoes, and you couldn’t even tell it was there until he had opened it. He shoved me into the room and I just stared up at him, as he started to close the door.
Chapter Eleven
Chase
“Don’t come out unless you hear me say the word unicorn,” I said to her before closing the door.
“What?” she asked.
“Listen to me. No matter what you hear, no matter what! You don’t open that door unless you hear me say the word unicorn. Do you understand, Jordan?”
“I understand,” Jordan said.
I shut the safe room door and put the shelf back in front of it. If Jose Escabar had decided to come after me for his book, I was going to make sure that Jordan didn?
?t get hurt and that she would at least have the book to show the police.
Quickly, I made my way out to the front door, but just as I was about to open it, there was a loud bang of a gun. The door blew open.
I ducked down to the ground and looked up to see the lock had been shot off my door and three men pushed their way into the house. It was Marco and two other guys. They didn’t look like they had come for a regular visit.
Marco stayed in the back and let the two other men come and pick me up off of the ground. They grabbed my arms firmly and held onto me so hard that I couldn’t feel my fingers anymore.
“Chase, you took something from Jose, and I need to get that back,” Marco said.
“I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
“Don’t fuck with me, Chase. Jose sent these two to get that book and me to make sure it gets done. We will do whatever we need to in order to get the book.”
I was afraid. More afraid than I could ever imagine being. Although Marco and I were friends from high school, I knew he would do whatever it was that Jose told him to. The problem was, I didn’t think that handing over the book at that point was going to benefit me in any way.
Right after I took the book, I knew I shouldn’t have. There was no assurance I could keep myself or my family safe with that book. It was an impulsive decision that I should have thought through much longer than I did.
But it was too late now. I had the book, and I wasn’t about to give it up. If Jose and his goons knew I had indeed taken it, there would be nothing to stop them from killing me and just going after my father for the money I owed. Or, they might kill me and forget about the money owed, just be done with me and the whole mess.
No! I can’t do it!
The only way I could keep myself and my family safe was to keep the book and use it when I needed to. But I knew that meant I would have to try and convince Marco and his goons that someone else had actually taken the book.
“Marco, you know me. I wouldn’t do something that stupid.”
He looked at me and thought about my words. I knew he didn’t think I would be stupid enough to take such an important item. But yet, it was missing and I had been in the house right around that time. I had to put someone else in the line of fire. It was a horrible thing to do and I knew it, but my own life was in danger.
“You were at the house, Chase,” Marco said.
“You can’t tell me I was the only one at the house the last couple of days. I don’t even know what you’re talking about. What kind of book is it? I’ll buy him a new one if that will make him happy. There was a guy leaving the house when I got there. Did you check with him?”
One of the thugs that had my arm twisted it up behind me while the other led the way into my room. They did not mess around, and I knew it was going to be difficult to get out of the situation alive. The look Marco had in his eyes did not leave me feeling very confident in my future.