Chapter 0235
I grimaced at the thought, but said nothing.
Jake’s eyes flashed dangerously as he continued. “I was so close, too. Just a month until the wedding. And it would have worked perfectly if you hadn’t stuck your nose where it didn’t belong. You and your little schemes to figure me out. And now Amber has dumped me, and I’m left with nothing.”
“That’s your own damn fault,” I hissed.
This time, Jake was the one who hit me–right in the side of my face. I saw a flash of light and felt a burning sensation on my cheek, followed by the feeling of the hard rocks beneath me as I fell to the side. Then, just as quickly, I was righted again by Joseph’s callused hands.
“Hit me all you want,” I said, spitting out a wad of blood and saliva, “but you know it’s the truth.”
Jake growled menacingly. In a strange sort of way, I almost hoped he would just kill me now and be done with it. I had died once before; I could do it again. Maybe this was the real reason why the Moon Goddess had brought me back: to give me the chance to save my friend. If I would die again for that, then so be it.
But he didn’t kill me. Instead, he crouched in front of me, his hand coming up to touch my chin. I recoiled, but didn’t have anywhere to go, so I let him turn my head to look at him.
“What do you want from me?” I whispered.
Jake’s lips curved into a cruel smile. “If I can’t get Amber’s money,” he whispered, “then I’ll just have to take yours.”
My mind scrambled to understand the implications. Then, it hit me: “A ransom,” I muttered.
“Smart girl.” Jake rose and dusted himself off.
“You won’t get it,” I said, swallowing. “No one would…”
“Oh, don’t be so miserable,” Jake cut me off. “As if your precious husband wouldn’t give everything he owns to get you back.”
I raised a disbelieving eyebrow at him, and he chuckled. “Amber told me everything about you two, you know. She told me everything about, well… Everything. That idiot still loves you. Of course he’ll pay whatever necessary.” (1
I didn’t know what to say. I wanted to believe him, but at the same time, I just… couldn’t bring myself to believe that Noah would pay a ransom for me. Maybe if I were Zoe instead…
But at the same time, a bigger part of me knew that I had to try. If not for myself, then for my baby.
“Very well,” I said, leaning back on my heels again. “You can try to get Noah’s money. Just let me go home whenever you get what you want.”
Jake’s laughter echoed off the rocks around us. “Oh, Hannah. You’re not going home. Did you really think it would be that easy?”
The finality in his voice made my blood run cold, but before I could ask what he meant, he continued. “I can’t risk you coming after me. So, you’ll take a little swim over this waterfall the moment Noah wires that money to me.”
1/2
+79 BOW
“By the time your body washes up somewhere far downstream.” Jake took another step forward and lowered himself to me again, and this time, his voice was even more menacing than ever.” I’ll be long
gone.”
It was at that moment that the finality of the situation finally hit me. My blood ran cold, my chest fightening until I was certain my heart would explode.
But before I could even begin to process it, Jake was taking a burner phone from one of his cohorts and dialing a number. “You’re going to follow our script,” he said as another one of his goons pulled out an index card and held it up in front of me.
He crouched in front of me and held the phone out, pressing it to my ear. I could hear it ringing already.
“And if you stray from our script,” he whispered, “then your friends back at the cabin will get hurt–not just you.”
