Sobs rack through my body, I can’t seem to stop them. Not that I’m putting in much effort to do so. After keeping everything locked in for such a long time, it’s actually nice to let it out. My emotions run free from me, the roll over and over in waves, so it’s probably good that I’m alone to just let it all out.

My father… I can’t stop thinking about my father and how he’s basically chosen Bryan over me. Okay, so he’s scared. It’s so obvious that he’s terrified for some reason, which is pretty strange on its own because I’ve always seen him as a very formidable man, but that still makes no sense. How can he not want to do this for me? The fact that he wants me to remain with Bryan says it all. Why would he want to be unhappy? And scared?

I hear the sound of the key sliding into the motel room door lock so I bolt into a sitting position and wipe my eyes rapidly. It’s still obvious that I’ve been crying but I want to save face a bit. I don’t want to be the pathetic weepy mess, I’m sick of my identity being defined by my emotions. I’ve been the slightly unhinged wife for far too long now. It’s time for me to be stronger, to overcome all the hardship that I’ve been through.

“Hey, Savannah.” As soon as Jayden sees me he rushes to my side and throws his arms around me. “Oh, my goodness, are you okay? What the hell happened today? You look absolutely devastated.”

“I… I don’t know really.” I try to clear up my snotty face. “It was horrible though. My dad didn’t really confirm or deny anything but there’s definitely some shady business going on between him and Bryan. He tried to pass it of as something I don’t understand, but it’s something bad, I’m certain of it. Then…” I sigh loudly, knowing this part isn’t going to come across well. Not to Jayden for sure. Which of course, I totally understand since everything that happened before. “Then he basically said that he wants me to stay with Bryan because he can protect me. Like he isn’t the dangerous person here, even though we both know that he is.”

“Oh, wow.” Jayden rubs my back gently, lovingly. It feels nice. “That’s heavy. It’s hard to imagine him saying that. Did you tell him everything that’s happened with Bryan?” I nod. “That’s really crazy. I don’t know…”

“I know,” I interrupt with a semi-snort. “I don’t know either. I don’t know what to think about it all.”

He holds me, embracing me and making me feel safe for a moment. It’s a nice sensation, one that I haven’t had ever since the moment I first walked away from him this morning. I need Jayden more than he knows.

I peer up at him through my eyelashes and search his face for something else. I can see there’s something darting behind his eyes which intrigues me. He must have something himself…

“What did you find out?” I snap up straighter. “Did you get anything from Hank Fry?”

“I would rather tell you with Tommy. He’s in his room at the moment. And we might as well wait until Pippa is back from work too so we don’t have to keep going over the same story again and again.”

Much as impatience rocks through my system, I know that he’s right so I nod. I’ve only told my story once and I’m already emotionally exhausted at the idea of having to say it over again. “Yeah, okay, shall we wait together? Did you say that Tommy is in his room? Would it be better for us to wait there?”

“He’s actually coming here once he’s got off the phone to Pippa, so we can just wait.”

I lean into Jayden, actually enjoying this moment of just the two of us. It feels nice to be alone with Jayden, I don’t feel like I’ve had enough time to just be with him recently. Although after missing a decade of time with him, I don’t think there’s enough time in the world. I want to be with him forever.

“Thank you for doing all of this for me,” I murmur with my eyes slide closed. “I appreciate it. Peter will too when we find him. He’s going to love you for all of this.”

I allow my mind to wander and I picture Peter back by my side, in my arms, and it’s an image that fills me with bliss. Only the picture is larger now. It isn’t just me and Peter anymore. Jayden is there with us. Pippa is around too and Tommy. I don’t even know Tommy but I already adore him because I owe him my life. Him and Pippa have been as much a life saver in all of this as Jayden. But of course, Jayden is my hero.

The words I love you float around in the back of my brain, but I don’t let them free. Not yet. It’s too heavy, too much to put on him, so I just think it inside of me instead. I let the love fill me up intensely.

“Oh, is that a knocking at the door?” Jayden pulls away from me. “It might be Tommy.”

I nod and try to straighten myself out once more. I don’t want Tommy to see me in such a state as well. The door swings open and an intense bright light fills the room. The sun light of the day, which I can’t handle. I shade my eyes with my hand and wait for Tommy to slide inside. “Pippa is on the way,” he says gruffly.

“Is she okay?” I demand, worry flooding through my system. “Did she sound alright?”

“Yeah, she sounds fine. I do think she’s found something out though so that should be interesting.”

“Oh God.” I groan and flop back onto the bed and grab the pillow to push it onto my face. “More? Really?”

I can almost sense the boys exchanging a look. I bet they’re wondering why they got involved in all of this. I’m sure they must be wanting to walk away right about now. I wouldn’t blame them if they wanted to.

“Yeah, more. But think of more as a good thing. It’s just leading us towards Peter, so it’s good.”

I nod and try to digest this but still it makes me very nervous. More means this is deeper, more means it’s about to get even more complicated. I don’t want it to get deeper, I just want it to be over.

“Oh look…” Tommy turns and points towards the parking lot. “Here she is now with her car.”

Tommy races out to meet Pippa and I smile at his back thinking that he’s a good man. He and Jayden are both so caring, not like the guys I’ve been used to in my life. They’re different, and in a really good way.

Once he and Pippa come back into the room, a more business-like atmosphere overshadows. We all have our own stories to share, and since mine is the least informative, I go first. I repeat what I said to Jayden about my father wanting me to be with Bryan even now after all of this. Pippa is the most shocked of all.

“Well, we spoke to Hank Fry,” Jayden tells me. “And he basically confirmed that he and the Rice brothers were a part of a plot involving Bryan. Do you know the Rice brothers?” I shake my head because they aren’t names I know properly. I’ve heard that they are drug dealers but that’s about it. “Well, they were all paid to do something. And since we already know it wasn’t a hit and run, we can assume it’s what you remember.”

“Wait.” I hold my hands up to stop him in his tracks. “They said it’s a plan? To kidnap Peter?”

“Well,” Tommy interjects. “Hank didn’t say that but when we went to see the Rice brothers they suggested as much. Unfortunately, we couldn’t get too much information out of them because the cops arrived.”

“I think Bryan found out about us visiting Hank and he wanted to make sure the brothers couldn’t say too much. I imagine there’s a lot he could get them locked up for so he just went with that.”

“If Bryan knows that something is going on, then he’ll know that I’m out.” That strikes lightning bolts of fear through my system. “He’ll be on a freaking manhunt for me right about now.”

Jayden rests his hand over mine. I dart my eyes towards Pippa to see if she can see the thick chemistry between me and him but she doesn’t seem to spot a damn thing. She’s too lost in her own thoughts.

“You don’t need to worry. We’ll take care of you, okay?” I nod, trying to act like I’m confident. I have confidence in him, it’s Bryan I don’t trust. “So, while they didn’t outright say it, they pretty much said that Peter is being kept captive somewhere. And…” He bites down on his lip looking guilty. I can tell he’s unsure about saying the next part which unnerves me even further. “That it’s something to do with your father.”

I groan loudly, hating the man who’s raised me even more. How can he be such a horrible, callous person? What sort of father behaves like that? How can that asshole even call himself a man?

“Actually, that kinda confirms what I learned too,” Pippa jumps in. “I’m sorry, Savannah, but there’s definitely something fishy going on here. From the research I could do at work, your father’s business is still very successful, but he’s plummeting money. Like, hemorrhaging it at a ridiculous rate. People want to put out a story about it but without any indication as to why it’s impossible. No one can work out what’s going on.”

I stare at her, needing her to see just how much I need her right now. “What do you think? Why do you think this is happening? I know you can’t have anything solid to give me, but you must have an idea.”

“I… I…” Her whole face blushes, she mustn’t want to say this at all but I don’t want people to keep me in the dark any longer. I want to just be let in to whatever the hell is going on.

“Just tell me already.” I claw my nails downwards. “I need to know what you think.”

“I think he’s being blackmailed. I think that Bryan has something over him and he’s rinsing him for money. I imagine it’s something that’s been going on for a very long time, over a decade, and it’s getting worse.”

“But… if my father is being blackmailed then he must have done something that he doesn’t want to get out.” I flick my eyes over the three other people in the room, none of whom want to look back at me. “What do you think he’s done? Do you think…?” I clutch at my chest as it becomes a struggle to breathe. “Do you think he’s a criminal? Do you think he’s a bad person? Like, worse than I already think he might be?”

The silence is too much, no one dares answer me which speaks volumes. They all think that he’s a horrible criminal, someone so bad as to sacrifice his grandson, and probably his daughter as well.

The scariest thing is that I think they might be right…

“Oh God,” I groan loudly. “Where the hell do we go from here?”

Again, no one can answer that. There is no answer right now. I guess we just have to keep on digging until we find Peter. I hope we get to him before my dad or Bryan, that’s my main concern.