There was silence in the whole church for some minutes while Tracy desperately wracked her head for a way out of this mess and utter embarrassment, but she could not think of any. The main thing she had to do now was to stop this man from blurting out anything incriminating.“I know you need more money and you will get it, but this is my wedding day, and you’re ruining it,” Tracy told him in a furious, yet scared whisper. The murmuring had started up once again, and a quick glance at Ryan showed that he was looking appraisingly at Josh, apparently wondering who he was and what he had to do with Tracy.“I don’t trust you. I need it now.” Josh said, feeling bolder when he realized that there was no way that she had confessed what she had done to her groom. Granted, the man did not look like he was the happiest of grooms, but Josh figured that he would look even more unhappy if he knew what his bride-to-be was doing.“Alright. Fine. Please excuse me for a few moments. I’ll be back immedi
“Well, well, well. This is the entertainment of the century. Don’t you think so? I don’t think I’ve ever been so entertained in my entire life.” Ben said laughingly amidst the chaos that was going on in the church after the drama that the drunk guy had caused and the groom’s subsequent exit.“Don’t lose focus now. Keep the kids in sight.” Sam replied a little irritatedly, sweating in the suit that he was wearing. It was a little too tight for him, and his big hands hung out of the sleeves a little too conspicuously than he would have liked, but he didn’t have the money to get a better one, not that it mattered. He wasn’t a friend to anyone here, so he didn’t have to look good to save face. Besides, in no distant time, he would have more than enough money to buy as many well-fitted suits as he wanted.“I know. Calm your titties, man. If you keep being this tense, you might mess everything up.”“Where are they? I can’t see them anywhere around.” Sam asked, referring to the three childre
Becca returned from the grocery store not up to an hour after she left, to meet her front door wide open. Immediately, alarm bells went off in her head as she suspected the worst. It was probably a burglary. By the time she got inside, however, everything was intact and in its place, so she relaxed a little. The kids had probably gone over to Dan’s place and left the door open, something that she had warned them against doing several times, but which they still always forgot to take heed to. Inside the house, she met Dan’s dog, who was all alone and whining.Despite her best efforts to silence him, he kept on whining. Becca set down the groceries that she had bought and headed over to Dan’s place, the dog following her. At Dan’s house, she met Clarissa, who informed her that the kids were not in the house with her.“What do you mean they’re not in the house? Where are they, then?” Becca queried in disbelief. She had been calling out the names of the kids, and if they were anywhere aro
Ryan stared unseeingly at the television, the air conditioner in the room turned on full blast. Contrary to what he was sure that everyone was thinking about him, he wasn’t licking his wounds in private. Well, maybe he was in a way, but definitely not in the way that they thought. He was extremely embarrassed, that was for sure. He had had to steer clear of the gossip channels when he saw what they were saying about him. He couldn’t blame them though. How on earth could he tell anyone that the reason he hadn’t been having sex with his former fiancée was that he felt an odd sense of loyalty to his ex-wife, who clearly did not give a flying fuck about him? As a matter of fact, he was somehow relieved at the way things had turned out with Tracy. He wasn’t even mad at her, after all, he had literally been starving her of sex. So, in a way, her cheating had been partially his fault, or at least he thought so. Still, he had seen a way out of the wedding that he didn’t want, and hell, he ha
As soon as Ryan left, Becca got some water from the refrigerator in his room and gulped it down thirstily. She was hungry, considering that she hadn’t eaten since morning, but she lacked appetite. Her head was pounding, and after raising her hand to it, she was not surprised to find a knot forming where she had hit it on the stool in her house. She winced and called for Margie to bring her some ibuprofen, which she swallowed with more water. Soon, her phone began to ring. She dived for it, hoping it was some news about the kids, but it was Sandra who was calling.“Hello, Sandra.”“Sorry, Becca. I was busy when you called. Did you find the kids yet?”“No, I didn’t. Ryan is on his way to the police station as we speak. I’m afraid, Becca. I think it is Sam who has them. You didn’t take him back, did you?”“Of course not! What do you take me for? An idiot? Why do you think that Sam has them?” Sandra asked in an offended tone. Quickly, Becca filled her in on what Mrs. Alice, her elderly nei
“Damn! I can’t believe how far we’ve come. We’re going to be bloody millionaires before long.” Ben told Sam enthusiastically, as he wolfed down a large bowl of pasta that he had prepared himself. “Yeah, me too. I hope the account into which we’re sending the money is legit.” Sam said in turn. He was also eating a plate of pasta, but he was eating his food more slowly than Ben was.“You’ve asked me this several times, and I’ve told you several times that you have nothing to fear. I’ve done stuff like this numerous times before, just not with such a large amount, and I have the right connections. Or don’t you trust me? The only thing is that we’re going to give a commission to the person helping us, but we will still have a lot of cash when we’re done. That’s for sure.”“Okay. I trust you. Are you sure they’re not dead yet or going to die? Why aren’t they awake? It’s been hours. I’m starting to get worried. That Ryan guy seems like he might pose a problem. He would not give us the money
Sleep was a long time coming for Becca and when it finally came, it was filled with nightmares. Never in her life had she been so frightened. Her daughter and other kids whom she saw as hers were out there somewhere in the hands of a maniac and she was here lying in a very large and comfortable in one of the guest rooms in Ryan’s house. Maybe she had been wrong in asking Ryan not to involve the police. Maybe by now, the police would have found them, or at least, would be close to doing so. She sure as hell did not trust Sam to take care of three children for as long as it took them to send him the money.She tossed and turned on the bed, her mind drawing up different scenarios, none of them good. Finally, she fell into an unrestful sleep and dreamt that for some reason, Sam had gotten pissed, and had sent Emma’s two feet, and all ten of Taylor’s fingers in the mail, with a note that said Alex’s head would follow suit. In the dream, as soon as she opened the bag containing the gruesome
Becca awoke with a start, immediately realizing that she was not in her own bed. The events of the previous day came rushing back to her in a jiffy. Ryan was not in the room any longer and her phone was ringing. That was the sound that had woken her up. She dived for it, hoping that it was the kidnappers who were calling. They were to send the account details in which they wanted the ransom to be paid today, and also let Becca and Ryan talk to the kids today. Becca had sent the names of the drugs that Emma was supposed to be using, to the kidnappers, but she didn’t know if they received them. It wasn’t the kidnappers who were calling though, but Trevor. “Becca? Where are you? I was at your house last night, and I’m here now. I’m just coming from your school and was told you hadn’t come in today.”“I’m at Ryan’s place.” There was a short silence, which was filled with disapproval from Trevor’s end.“What are you doing there?”“Emma, Alex, and Taylor were kidnapped yesterday.” Becca in