“Doing good, Chase. What happened to your car? You need a loaner?”
“Yeah man, mine is in the shop and I need to run out to my brother’s cabin for the weekend. Thanks so much for letting me borrow one of your sweet rides.”
“No problem. Anything for you. Maybe you’ll even decide to keep it,” he said with a smile.
I could tell he had no idea I had been cut off from my father’s money and that was perfectly all right with me. I needed a vehicle, and he was giving me one. There was nothing else that I needed to talk to him about.
“Thanks again, Rick. Yeah, I think I’d like to have one of these bad boys around my house,” I said as Rick handed me a set of keys to a black Jeep Wrangler.
It was souped up, with extra-large wheels and tinted windows. The vehicle was sweet and, if I had the money, I certainly would have purchased it from him. But driving it over to Escabar’s to save Jordan was going to have to be the end of my use of the vehicle.
I pulled away without staying around for small talk. I needed to get to Jordan before Escabar tried his torture techniques on her. I knew there would be no forgiving me if she ended up having her fingernails removed by a drug lord on her third night in town.
Jordan had been so afraid that I was some sort of sex trafficker or someone that I said I wasn’t. But she really should have been more afraid of the person I was. I hated that I had put her in danger like I had, and I knew there was nothing I could do to ensure she was one hundred percent safe. But I had to at least go over to Escabar’s. I had to try and make things right with him.
Before going to get Jordan, I swung by my house and grabbed the black book out of my safe. I hadn’t brought it to my brother’s house because I was afraid of having it with me. The book had been the worst decision I had made in a very long time. It was worse than deciding to take money from Escabar. I needed to give it back to him. Whatever happened to me, I would just have to deal with. But I needed to keep Jordan safe.
I put the book in the glove compartment of the Jeep and made my way to Carlos’ house. I knew he had said no because he was trying to protect himself and people he loved, but I also knew there was no way I could go to Escabar’s house alone. I had to get Carlos to come with me. He was level-headed and strong. He would be able to help me get Jordan out alive. My whole body felt like it could collapse at any moment, and I could hardly see straight as I drove there, but I wasn’t going to stop until I had Jordan. And that meant I needed Carlos’ help.
“I’m not getting involved in this mess,” he said as I knocked on his door.
“I’m sorry, Carlos, but I need your help. I’m hurt really bad and I won’t be able to get Jordan if someone doesn’t help me.”
He looked at me with disdain in his eyes as he tried to decide if he was going to help me. It was a tough decision for him, I knew that for sure. His life was calm and he had a girl of his own. He didn’t want to get mixed up into something that could possibly get him killed.
“I’ll come. But at the first sign of trouble, I’m calling the police.”
“Fine, it’s a deal.”
I had made way too many mistakes over the last few weeks, but I wasn’t going to make a mistake when it came to Jordan. I knew Escabar would be waiting for me and I knew he was going to want his book back. That was fine. I would let Jordan leave with Carlos. I would offer myself up to Escabar and beg for his forgiveness.
Perhaps I could convince him to spare me so I could get him the money he needed. I would even go to my father and get the money right away, if it meant that Jordan and I would be safe. I was willing to give up my claim to the company. I was willing to give up any chance I had of ever taking over Foster Industries, if only Escabar would spare Jordan and me our lives.
I knew Escabar all too well, though. And it scared the shit out of me that Jordan was there with him. Having a pretty woman like her in his house meant that he was either going to try and seduce her, or he was going to force her to be with him. It was also entirely possible that he was so angry with me that he would actually hurt her in order to find out where his black book was.
I took a couple deep breaths as we pulled into the driveway and up to the front of Escabar’s house. It was strangely quiet outside, and that made me nervous. Normally, there were a few of his goons there to greet anyone who showed up. But on that night, there was no one. I got out and made my way up to the front door. I was just about to knock when I noticed the door was open a little bit.
No matter what, I couldn’t let anything happen to Jordan.
Chapter Sixteen
Jordan
The second Salina shoved me into her car, I knew I was in trouble. I didn’t have any way of getting out of the vehicle unless I was willing to jump, and I thought it was entirely possible that Salina would just shoot me if I tried it.
My years of watching American television had not prepared me as much as I thought they had. I sat in the back of the car shaking for several minutes before I remembered I should be looking around for some landmarks so I knew where we were going. I watched the interstate signs go by and took mental notes, so I could call for help from wherever we were going.
“I’ll give you some advice, Jordan. If you know where that black book is, you need to tell Jose. Don’t fuck around with him. This is Chase’s fault for getting you into the mess. You shouldn’t protect a man who would willingly do something like that to you.”
Salina had a point, and she was getting it right into my head. I shouldn’t be around any man who would willingly put me in danger. But had Chase actually done that? I wasn’t really sure of that. He had tried to get me not to leave the cabin. It was me who had not listened to him.
If Chase had his way, I would still be there with him and not in a car with a gun pointed at me. Yes, it was his fault that I was in the mess in the first place because he shouldn’t have stolen from this man. He also shouldn’t have started taking money from a person who had the ability to hurt people if they didn’t pay him back.
I just couldn’t get my brain around why he had started borrowing money from this Escabar guy in the first place. If his father had money and Chase had money, there just didn’t seem like a reason for him to need more. Even if his father cut him off from finances, Chase still had a million dollar home he could have sold for money. I felt like there was something more to the story, but at the point I was at right then, it didn’t really matter.
Salvador pulled around behind a beautiful mansion, and I had to assume we had arrived at Jose Escabar’s home. It was certainly a beautiful house and had to have been worth millions of dollars. I kept my eyes out as we walked inside, and Salina brought me down an ornately decorated hallway.
“Jose, this is the woman who was in Chase’s safe when your men went over there,” she said.