William
I sighed and stared out the jet window. I really missed Heather and it had only been about three hours since we left. There were still two more hours to go before we reached Alabama.
“You okay, Will?” I turned in my seat to look at Andrew, who had a concerned look on his face.
I shrugged. “I’m just really worried about Heather. I have a feeling that something’s wrong.”
He smiled comfortingly. “Don’t worry. She’ll be fine at our parents’ place.”
I nodded and stared at my phone, hoping it would light up with something from Heather.
“Wow, you are so whipped.” Ethan snorted, pinching my cheek. He was in the seat in front of mine, peering over the headrest like a little kid.
“Shut it, Ethan. I’m not the only one. Don’t think I didn’t see you texting Chelsea every five minutes, asking how she is.” I smirked.
He gave me a sheepish smile. “Hey, I’m worried about her. She’s pregnant. Also, instead of sitting here and moaning about how you miss her, why don’t you just try calling her on FaceTime? We are in the twenty-first century where we have cellphones for a reason!”
I frowned. “I already tried, like, ten times, but she didn’t pick up.”
He shrugged. “Tough luck. Well, as long as you don’t get any phone calls from the hospital, you’re good.”
I paled slightly at the possibility of the hospital calling me about Heather.
Andrew chuckled. “You sure know how to give a man a heart attack, Ethan.”
“Dude, I didn’t mean to worry you. I’m being honest!” Ethan said, patting my head like a dog.
“Can’t a man get some sleep around here?” Jackson groaned, sitting up like Ethan and glaring at us over his seat.
“Nice to see you’re awake, Sleeping Beauty. It looks like you woke up on the wrong side of the seat,” Ethan mumbled.
Jackson slapped the back of his head, and Ethan glared at him.
“Speaking of sleeping,” Andrew said, peering down the aisle to where Nathan and Alex were snoring away. “Is there a reason why you guys practically forced those two to sit together?”
The three of us laughed evilly while Andrew looked at us weirdly. Before we had gotten on the jet, Jackson, Ethan, and I planned to get Nathan and Alex to sit together. The two of them were avoiding each other, so we decided to play matchmaker. When we boarded, the three of us practically leaped into our seats, and I had dragged a puzzled Andrew along with me, leaving them with no choice but to sit next to each other.
Though I was pretty sure they figured out our plan, thanks to Ethan. He had dramatically yelled “Noooo!” when Alex was about to plop down beside Jackson and shoved him to the ground. Although, it was amusing to watch Alex chase Ethan around the jet for a couple of minutes after that.
“Let’s just say we’re playing matchmaker,” Jackson said, tapping his fingers against the seat.
Andrew smiled and nodded in understanding. While they continued talking, I checked my phone to see if there was anything from Heather, but to my disappointment, there was nothing.
I pursed my lips and stared at the picture of Heather I was using for my wallpaper.
It was from yesterday evening, when she was playing with Jonah in the backyard. She had a huge smile on her face and the sunlight shone on her at such an angle that her eyes and hair were sparkling. She looked absolutely breathtaking.
I sighed and closed my eyes slowly, thinking to myself, Heather, I hope you’re okay right now.
***
Heather
“Flashlights?”
“Check,” Dexter confirmed.
“Butcher knives?”
“Che—butcher knives?” He turned to me with a puzzled look.
I smiled sheepishly. “I wanted to try them out since everyone seems to use them these days.”
He shook his head in amusement and went back to checking the backpacks.
“Water?”
“Check.”
“Okay, are you ready to get this show on the road?” I asked, grabbing my backpack.
“I am if you are.”
“Let’s go,” I said, and we left the hotel room in a hurry.
Once the guys had left, we had dropped Jonah off at my parents’ place again and took their private plane. We had landed in Alabama about two hours ago, and using the tracking device I had installed on William’s phone before he left, we were following them to find Winston.
According to my phone, they were heading toward the cabin, which was about an hour away from the hotel.
I grabbed the rental car keys from the valet and started the engine while I waited for Dexter to check us out of the hotel. My fingers tapped impatiently against the steering wheel as I glanced at myself in the rearview mirror. My outfit consisted of a black sweatshirt, a comfy pair of black joggers, black sunglasses, and black gloves. I obviously looked really suspicious, but I didn’t care. I also had a black ski mask in my backpack for when we arrived at the cabin
Dexter opened the passenger door and plopped into his seat. “Okay, let’s go.”
I nodded and started out of the hotel’s driveway. An hour and a half later, we finally arrived at the cabin. It was a pretty big log cabin, but it looked abandoned. I parked the car in the middle of an area surrounded by a mass of trees so nobody could see it. I took off my sunglasses, put on my ski mask, and looked at Dexter, who had done the same.
We got out of the car slowly and began to walk toward the cabin. Once we were close enough, we hid behind a tree to watch a bunch of guards march around the outside of the building. I gasped when I saw that they had tied up all the guys and were dragging them along. From my hiding spot, I could see they had scratches and cuts on their faces. The guards shoved them inside and closed the door. Obviously, they were outnumbered.
I mentally smiled smugly. It was a good thing I’d come.
“I want you to create a distraction for the guards while I sneak in through the back door and get inside, okay?” Dexter said, glaring at the guards.
I nodded. Without thinking about what I was going to do, I leaped out from behind the tree and yelled, “Free pizza! Come and get it!”
The guards turned to look at me and growled. They were huge, bulky, and just plain ugly. I jogged off in the opposite direction and could hear them coming after me. Luckily, I was far ahead of them. As I dodged a tree, I saw there was a dead end up ahead, so I turned right and dove behind a thick bush that was nearby. I held my breath and waited for the guards to run by.
As soon as they ran past me, I crawled out of the bush and shook off the twigs.
God, I needed a shower after this.
I went back and tiptoed around the cabin before climbing in through a window as quietly as I could with my squeaking Converse. I looked around and saw I was in what looked to be a living room. There was a TV and a couple of sofas. The hardwood floors were a dark brown and the walls were black. I slowly peeked around the entryway, into the hallway, and saw that no one was there. Although, there were voices coming from one of the rooms.
I stopped in front of a couple of stairs that led down to a door. The voices were definitely coming from that room.
I tiptoed down the stairs and leaned against the door to eavesdrop.
“What the hell is your problem, Winston?” I heard William yell.
“Shut up, William!” I cringed at the sound of Kelly screeching.
There was some loud scuffling and I used that as my chance to open the door. There were more stairs, and I went down them as quietly as I could. I peeked around the wall to see the guys glaring murderously at Kelly, Natasha, and Winston.
“Now, now, William. Don’t be so upset. If you give them Heather, we can run off and get married,” Natasha said, trailing a finger down his chest.
He stared at her in disgust and spat in her face. “If you think I’ll do that, you’re insane.”
“All we’re asking for is Heather. Not a big thing.” Winston shrugged.
William growled. “Why do you even want her?”
I could see a look of pure lust on Winston’s face. “I want her in my bed.”
I shuddered in disgust.
I felt a tap on my shoulder and jumped, spinning around to face Dexter, who had an eyebrow raised at my disheveled appearance. I shrugged at him and turned back around.
The guys’ faces were so angry and they looked like they were ready to pound Winston into a pulp. Winston kept rambling, and I blocked his voice out since I didn’t want to hear what he had to say about me.
I turned to Dexter and gave him a what-are-we-going-to-do-now look. He smiled and handed me a butcher knife. I stared at it, wide-eyed, and gave Dexter a huge smile.
“You actually packed them?” I whispered.
“Nah, I found them. I figured we could use them,” he whispered back, holding his own knife up.
I nodded and looked back to the guys. They were standing in a row, still tied up in ropes. We quickly sneaked behind a couch that was near the staircase. It was dark in this part of the room so they couldn’t see us. The only source of light was a lightbulb hanging from the ceiling.
“What now?” Dexter asked.
I leaned over. “Cause a distraction so that I can untie the guys.”
He nodded and went back down the hallway. I heard the door close, so I assumed he had gone outside. A few minutes later, I heard an extremely loud boom.
“What was that?” Winston asked, turning around.
Kelly frowned. “I’m not sure. Natasha, you go check the front, and we’ll check the back.”
I watched as they left through a door on the other side and made my appearance. The guys’ heads snapped to me, and they all glared.
“What do you want?” Nathan snapped. He probably thought I was working for Kelly.
I put my hands up to show I wasn’t going to cause harm and took out the knife. They stiffened and watched as I approached Jackson. Once they saw I was just cutting his ropes, they relaxed a bit.
“Thanks, dude,” Jackson said, giving me a small smile.
Oh right, they couldn’t see my face with the ski mask on.
I decided to not reveal myself yet and continued to cut each of their ropes. When I turned back around, I came face-to-face with Natasha, who was holding a baseball bat. She raised the bat, ready to hit me with it, when I grabbed her arm and flipped her over my shoulder. She groaned and stood back up. I punched her in the nose and she fell to the ground, unconscious.
I heard a gasp and saw Kelly standing in the doorway. She gave me a fearful look and began to back up slowly. Right into Dexter, who immediately tied her up. He grabbed a handkerchief from his pocket, that I guessed was covered in chloroform, and covered her nose with it. She fainted in his arms and he laid her on the ground beside Natasha. Then he dragged in an unconscious Winston and dumped him beside the other two.
Dexter turned to me as if asking if I was okay, and I nodded. I slowly took off my ski mask and shook my wet hair out.
“Heather?” the guys yelled, staring at me with incredulous looks.
I grinned mischievously. “Hi, guys!”
William immediately marched over to me and began to check me for injuries.
“I should have known you would come along,” he muttered angrily, handing me his jacket since mine was muddy.
I chuckled and put it on. “I’m fine, William.”
He sighed and squeezed me tightly. “Why are you so stubborn? I thought I made you promise to stay out of trouble.”
“I said I would stay safe, not out of trouble.” I smirked.
He let go of me and turned to Dexter, who still hadn’t taken off his ski mask.
“Obviously that’s not Chelsea, so who is it?” he asked.
Dexter took off his mask and beamed. “Dexter Frederick McMillan, at your service.”
William shook his head with amusement. “Thanks, man, for helping my wife.”
“Not a problem.” Dexter grinned.
While they began discussing what to do with the three wackos, I ran toward the rest of the guys.
“Are you all okay?” I asked, looking over each of them.
“We are slightly scratched up and our egos are hurt, but other than that, we are fine. You were amazing,” Ethan said, ruffling my hair and giving me a hug.
“I’m proud of you, sis,” Andrew said, hugging me tightly.
Alex took me from Andrew’s arms and gave me a bear hug. “Thank goodness you’re okay.”
I laughed. “Shouldn’t I be saying that?”
He snorted. “I think you’re more accident-prone than the rest of us.”
I smiled at him and turned to hug Jackson and Nathan.
“So, how about we get out of here?” William asked, walking toward us.
We nodded in agreement and made our way back up the stairs. Nathan was carrying Natasha, Alex was carrying Winston, and William was carrying Kelly. As we walked outside, I saw that William was staring at Kelly sadly. I placed a hand on his shoulder, and he looked at me with a solemn look.
“You all right?” I asked softly.
He sighed and kissed my temple. “I’m just sad that revenge destroyed her mind, and I couldn’t stop it. She’s still my sister and a part of me cares. Though I don’t think I can forgive her for this.”
I frowned. “There was nothing you could do. Don’t blame yourself for this.”
“I helped her out in the beginning, and that was the biggest mistake I’ve ever made in my life. I hurt you so many times, and yet you forgave me. I’m the worst husband on this planet, and if there was any way I could take everything back, I would,” he said, glaring at his feet.
“What’s done is done. It’s our past. I want to concentrate on our future, especially since we are through with this mess,” I said, giving him a smile.
He returned it and kissed my cheek.
As we walked down the trail, I couldn’t help but smile.
Finally, we were free.