Please—please take this bait.
“Anabelle…” He sighed and then I saw a look of determination form on his face. “Okay, I’ll take care of it.”
“Thank you, Daddy!” I ran over and hugged him—confirmation that he was doing the right thing for his baby girl. “Please make sure this nightmare ends. I feel so much better if I know they’re—not going to ever be able to hurt me again.”
“I’ll call you as soon as it’s over.” He nodded and leaned back from my embrace. “I promise you, darling—this ends tonight.”
I hope so, but not the way that you expect.
My father left Prescott Manor and I watched from my bedroom window as he got into his car with several armed guards. A second car followed the one he was in, leaving Prescott Manor mostly unguarded except for a few guys at the gate. He was a king—riding into the battle. I would have been touched by his gesture if I really was the heartbroken girl suffering from nightmares because of her trauma. But that wasn’t who I was. I was a broken girl that had been shattered and rebuilt into a stronger version of myself—a princess who would be queen. I ran to my father’s office, unlocked his computer, and pushed a thumb drive into the port on the front. I could sort through the information later—I just needed to find as much incriminating evidence as possible in a short amount of time.
My father was careful with his records, but I had names that I could search for. A lot of the information appeared to be encrypted and locked behind another password that didn’t match the one that unlocked his computer. I assumed that was the where the real evidence was. I wasn’t sure what I would find, but I kept pulling what I could find until my flash drive was full. I made sure there was no evidence of my visit to his computer, locked it, and ran back to my bedroom with the spoils of my trip. I spent some time looking through all of the documents before his car returned several hours later. I already knew he wasn’t going to be in a good mood, but I had a role to play before I could return to my work.
“Daddy!” I ran to the top of the stairs. “Is it over?”
“Darling…” He sighed and walked up to me. “They weren’t there—I’m sorry.”
I broke down. I didn’t just start crying. I dropped to the floor in sobs. I hoped I wasn’t putting too much into it, but I was cracking his armor—making him weaker—trying to tap into any part of my father that could still be impacted by my sorrow. He tried to lift me, but I just went dead weight in his arms. He finally resorted to carrying me to the bedroom—and immediately brought me one of the pills that would help me sleep. I had to hold it in my cheek for longer than normal because he sat down on the edge of my bed as soon as he gave me water to wash it down.
“I’m so sorry sweetheart. We’re going to get them—I swear a fucking oath on it.” I could see his whole body getting rigid. “I’ll make those monsters pay.”
“Thank you.” I stifled a smile and gave me a sob instead.
As soon as he left, I spit what was left of the pill out. It had started to dissolve, so I wasn’t going to be able to fight off sleep. I had to give in when I felt it starting to seep into my veins. That was okay. It would knock me out for a little while, but it wouldn’t put me in a coma like I would have probably been in if I swallowed the entire thing. I drifted off to sleep and had good dreams—dreams of my father in handcuffs—dreams of my happy reunion when Brody and Rourke. I couldn’t wait to see them again. So much time had passed already. I hoped they hadn’t lost hope.
Please have faith—my oath is much different than my father’s hollow words. I’m not going to stop until I bring him down.
I woke up the next morning and things were a bit chaotic in Prescott Manor. I had slept much later than I expected—so much later that the sun was up in the sky. I didn’t expect the pill to put me out for so long. I felt like I was in a fog as I stumbled down the hallway. I nearly ran into my father who was sliding on his coat and rushing towards the stairs.
“Daddy what’s going on.” I rubbed my eyes and yawned, trying to snap myself out of the fog.
“We got them!” He grabbed me with both hands. “They were hiding at a cabin near the city—I guess they relocated there after you escaped. We got them, baby.”
“You—did?” My heart started pounding in my chest and the fog lifted immediately.
“Yes.” He nodded quickly, and a huge smile spread across his face. “They were taken into custody before I got the call, but—I’m going to fix this. I swear I will.”
Oh no. No!
Rourke
Last night
“What the fuck is this shit?” I walked into the living room and noticed that the television was showing our faces again. “Brody—come here.”
“What?” Brody’s words were slurred, and he was obviously well past the point of being intoxicated. “Oh, we’re on television again—that’s nothing new.”
“No, the reporter says that they have our location and they’re coming to arrest us.” I pointed at the screen.
“Nah, they don’t know where we are. No fucking way.” Brody tried to light a cigarette and missed it two times with his lighter before he finally got the tip ignited.
“Oh…” I blinked in surprise when I saw the location of the squad cars. “They’re at O’Malley’s.”
“Well, we’re sure as fuck not there.” Brody laughed and poured himself another drink as he exhaled a stream of smoke.
“You should go easy on that, man. What if we really did need to run? You can barely walk.” I narrowed my eyes and exhaled sharply.
“I’ve been getting a—fucking buzz every day. This waiting shit is killing me. Either I get drunk or I’ll be tempted to do something stupid.” He downed his drink. “Join me—come on. I’m drinking so much because I have to drink your share too.”