Page 16 of The Holiday Set Up

“What does that mean?”

“All I can say is I know a guy, but you can assume the rest if you think hard enough about it.”

I get the feeling she knows a bad guy, and I nod my understanding.

“I could use a guy like that to help find Blair.” It’s not a question, and she nods, confirming. She pulls out a piece of paper from her pocket along with a button and a cough drop.

I watch nervously as she places the call. On the third ring, someone picks up without a word.

“Frank?”

Three beeps indicating someone pushed a button on the other end of the line three times.

“It’s Fitzy. I need that favor. Bourbon. Asap.”

Then she hangs up the phone.

Chapter Fifteen

Blair

The stupid slurping was going to make me murder this little twit before she even gave the order to this goon to kill me first. Seriously, who goes through a drive-through for a Frappuccino when you’ve got a hostage in the back of a creepy van. Granted, the Johnny Bravo goon I mentioned made it very clear I needed to keep my mouth shut, so I did, after I threw my shoe out the window trying to hit the stupid redhead. Now, we’re sitting here listening to her slurping, and I am more annoyed than I am fearful. This must be the mob princess out to save her daddy.

When she makes the call to Dalton, I kick and scream, but it’s no use. I’m tied up tight, and this duct tape muffles my attempt. We’re parked under a bridge. I think it’s the one on the other side of town, close to the courthouse. That makes sense. She’ll want to see if Dalton shows up to testify. After this little run-in I’m more certain than ever that he has to testify. I have to figure out a way to get out of here.

“Go throw this away,” She-Devil says, ordering Johnny Bravo to take care of her trash. Fucking finally, no more slurping.

When he leaves, closing the door behind him, I start wiggling against a pointed steel bar and quickly cut through my ropes. When I’m free, I stay quiet and work the ropes from my ankles; Red starts singing along to the pop song on the radio and doesn’t see me coming.

Before the big guy comes back, I pounce on her, pulling as much of that obnoxious hair as possible.

“Ouch! You stupid bitch!”

For the first time in my life, I used my hands for harm. I pull back my dainty fist, hoping it’ll be enough to hurt, and hit her nose as hard as I can. Blood shoots out along with snot, and she folds over, holding it tight, and I take off out the passenger door. Not looking back, I run as fast as I can, the other shoe falling off somewhere close to the van. I’m right, we are under a bridge, but I don’t know this area.

I start getting winded and slow down to check if I’m being followed. Trees surround me, and I’m all alone. I try calming down, thankful it’s early in the day. This would be scary as fuck if it weren’t broad daylight. The adrenaline starts to wear down, and my bare feet hurt, so I walk slowly. Not that I know where I’m going. I thought I would have cleared the trees by now. If I can get to a phone, I can call for help and make sure Dalton testifies. Without my cellphone, I have no idea which direction is right or wrong or even what time it is. I’m so worried he won’t show up to court, I start hiccupping. Great.

When I woke up without him this morning, I assumed he was at Sylvia’s, so I got dressed and walked over like any other morning. Then she-devil walked up to me asked me what time it was, and I apologized I didn’t bring my phone with me. She smiled and said, perfect, which was weird, but before I could think about it, she pushed me, and I fell into a van. Then she closed the door and hit me over the head with something. Minutes later, I awoke, tied up, with a headache and my stomach in knots with worry.

When I start to feel as though I’m walking in circles, I suddenly see a flare shoot up into the sky, followed by another. It’s him. Dalton, it has to be, so I start running into the tree brush to get to him faster. The trees finally clear, and I realize I’m right back to the van, only now it’s surrounded by police cars, and my knight in shining armor releases another flare before he finally sees me. We run toward each other for about a mile, and when he reaches me, he picks me up in the warmest hug. It’s perfect. Exactly what I need. Sobs of relief burst from me as I cry into his chest for a long while until he finally set my feet back on the ground. He keeps me squeezed in his arms so tight as if he was scared of letting me go.

“Are you ok? Did they hurt you?” His voice is muffled in my neck, and he plants kiss after kiss on my skin between words.

“I’m fine, but so happy to see you.”

He squeezes me tight, but then straightens to look down at me.

“Your head.”

“It’s ok, you should see the other guy,” I joke.

“You broke Ashley’s nose.”

I grin, seeing the pride in his eyes.

“Is that her name? I prefer she-devil.”

He kisses my lips in a quick but adoring kiss.