Chapter 26

Skylar

I had been pacing back and forth across the rug for at least an hour. Renee and Nikki hadn’t moved from their place on the sofa. They were clinging to one another, and Nikki had worked herself into a state of panic several times. Renee had been able to calm her down each time, but I feared she was edging closer to a full-blown panic attack.

“Nikki, you have to calm down,” Renee said, rubbing her friend’s back. “We can’t control any of this right now. You have to try to keep it together.”

Nikki glared at Renee. “Keep it together? We’ve been kidnapped and locked up a basement. You think they’re going to do what they say and just let us go if her stupid boyfriend pays the money? Why would he fork it over, anyway? He doesn’t owe us anything. He barely knows her!” She pointed at me. “It’s been a week!”

I continued pacing.

Renee slapped Nikki’s accusing hand down. “Pointing blame isn’t going to fix anything right now. You need to relax.”

“I can’t relax,” Nikki said in a rush of air as she tried to fill her lungs.

Her breathing was growing steadily quicker. All the color from her complexion had drained, and her whole body had started shaking. I recognized the symptoms of shock instantly.

I went to the sofa and crouched down in front of her. “I know you’re mad at me right now. I’m mad at me, too. But you have to listen to me. You’re going into shock. You need to calm down. Breathe with me, okay? I’m going to help you feel better.”

Nikki shook her head back and forth as tears spilled down her cheeks. She tried to speak, but all that came out were short gasps.

I gathered her hands in mine. “Breathe with me, Nikki.”

I took a slow, deep breath.

Nikki wasn’t following along.

“If you don’t calm down, you’re going to have a panic attack,” I said to her. “Just breathe with me, and it will all go away. Just trust me. You can do this. Breathe.” I took another deep breath.

Nikki followed suit, surprising me. She watched my mouth as I breathed in and out, and she copied my pattern. Soon, Renee was following along, and the three of us were practicing deep breaths to slow our heart rates.

“Very good,” I said slowly. “Just like that. Nice and steady.”

Nikki closed her eyes and took deep breaths without having to follow my lead. I let go of her hands and encouraged her to lay down. She did, and as soon as her head hit the pillow, she drifted off to sleep.

Renee looked up at me. “How did you do that?”

“She was going into shock. I needed to calm her down. Without proper care, she could have worked herself into such a state that she might have had a heart attack. It’s happened to one of my patients before.”

“It’s a good thing you’re a nurse,” Renee said.

“Yeah, I guess.” I sat down on the opposite couch. Renee stood and joined me. I wrung my hands in my lap. “I’m sorry, Renee. This is all my fault. I can’t believe I put you guys in danger like this. I had no idea.”

“I know,” Renee said. “I know you would never do anything to hurt us. This is out of your control.”

“But you warned me,” I said. My eyes started watering. I looked at the ceiling and took a deep breath as the tears leaked out of the corners of my eyes. “You warned me to be careful about Greyson. You told me that I didn’t really know him. I don’t know why I didn’t listen to you. This isn’t the kind of girl I am. I don’t take risks. I don’t sleep with strangers. I gave him everything, Renee. Everything. And now look where we are.”

“Hey,” Renee said, grabbing my hands and pulling them into her lap. “You couldn’t have known. It’s okay.”

“It’s not okay.” I sobbed, leaning into her.

She gathered me in her arms and held my head to her chest as I cried. She soothed me by running her hand over my hair. “Listen to me, Sky. This isn’t your fault. I don’t blame you. And what I said yesterday? I never should have said any of it. I love you. And I’m sorry. This whole trip was a fiasco.”

“I’m sorry, too,” I said, sniffling.

We sat together for a while, quietly clinging to one another for comfort until eventually my tears had stopped and I was able to sit up.

“Do you think he’ll pay them the money?” Renee asked.

I couldn’t lie to her. “I don’t know. I thought I knew him. But all of a sudden, it feels like I never really knew him at all. Owing people like this money? What kind of stuff is he into?”

“I don’t know.” Renee shrugged. “But maybe it was real. Maybe he does really care for you. It sure seemed like he did. The way he looked at you.”

“The way he looked at me doesn’t matter. Not when he’s been keeping so much of his life in the dark. These guys are serious. They’re professional criminals. This house isn’t the kind of place casual, petty criminals live in. These guys are the real thing.”

“Gangsters?” Renee suggested.

“Maybe. Don’t tell Nikki.”

“Why the hell would I tell Nikki?” Renee giggled and then covered her mouth. I cracked a smile of my own. Renee looked over at her sleeping friend. “She puts on a pretty big act, you know?”

“I should hope so. No one can be that self-absorbed.”

“It’s a defense mechanism I think,” Renee said. “It helps her keep people at bay. She has a lot of trust issues. I know the real Nikki, and she’s actually pretty great. I think the two of you could be friends if you both tried just a little bit.”

“Well,” I said. “If we get out of this, I’ll extend an olive branch.”

“When we get out of this,” Renee corrected. “We’ll be okay. I know we will. And when we get back home, the two of us are going to spend a lot more time together. We need to. I miss you.”

“I miss you, too,” I said, trying not to be swallowed up by tears again. “You’re my best friend, Renee. I don’t know what I would do without you. And from now on, I’m going to listen when you tell me something might be a bad idea. I never want to make a mistake like this again. I fell for his stupid face and body and his fancy house. I can’t believe I was one of those girls.”

“To be fair, we don’t know the whole situation yet. There could be a perfectly reasonable explanation for all of this.”

“Perfectly reasonable?” I asked.

Renee shrugged weakly.

I shook my head. “I don’t know what Greyson could do or say that would make me forgive him for this.”

“But it might not be his fault. Bad things happen to good people all the time. What if it’s all just a big misunderstanding?”

“You’re just trying to make me feel better,” I said.

“Maybe, but I’m also kind of hopeful that he’s not the asshole we think he is. I wonder how much money he owes them.”

“Who knows?”

“He’s really rich, right?” Renee asked.

“Very rich. Like, whole other world kind of rich.”

Renee sighed. “Then we have to hope we’re worth the price they’re asking for us.”

That statement would have made me feel confident a day ago. I had been so sure that Greyson truly cared about me. I even thought he might have loved me. Now, after all of this, everything I thought I knew had been blown apart. I felt like something inside me was missing, like it had been carved out with a dull spoon.

Now, the man I thought I loved was a stranger.

The lock in the door creaked as someone on the other side unlocked it. Renee and I both crammed ourselves against each other and shuffled into the far corner of the couch.

The man who had driven us to the house appeared in the doorway. He looked us over with a neutral expression and clasped his hands behind his back.

“I see you haven’t touched the water we provided for you. Make sure you drink something. You don’t want to get dehydrated. Someone will be down with some dinner shortly, as well. Like I said, we don’t want to hurt you. As long as your sweetheart fronts the bill, you ladies can all walk out of here.”

“He’s not my sweetheart,” I said. The words were out of my mouth before I realized I had even thought them. Renee stiffened beside me.

The man smiled. “Well, it would seem that you are his.”

“What does that mean?” I asked.

“I don’t think you have anything to worry about,” the man said. “He will pay the money. I could see it in his eyes. He cares about you, doll. To hear you don’t care about him? I’d hate to see his face then. Poor bastard.”

“He knows we’re here?” I asked.

The man nodded.

Anger flared inside me. “And he hasn’t come for us?”

“Doll, it’s more complicated than that. There are rules he has to follow. He’s a smart guy. He won’t misstep. First, he has to get the money. Then, he will be awaiting further instructions. Coming up with a hundred and fifty grand in less than twenty-four hours isn’t easy.”

One hundred and fifty thousand dollars.

The man pointed to the water bottles. “Have something to drink. I’ll have dinner sent down in an hour or so. Do you ladies need anything else?”

“No,” I growled.

“Very well. See you shortly.”

He turned and closed the door behind him, leaving Nikki and I staring at one another in shock.

“He’s going to pay a hundred and fifty thousand dollars to get us back?” Renee asked.

“I hope so,” I muttered.