Twisted Proposal (38 page)

I thought about it for minute. “I won’t tell Stuart you were the one who scratched his car.”

Lexus stared at me. Then she handed over the keys. “You know, it wasn’t even my fault. That stupid pole was in the way.”

"Right." With no more time to listen to her excuses, I raced out to the garage where her car was parked. As soon as I was on the road, I drove around through the neighborhood, looping around the blocks, while I figured out what I needed to do. I couldn't afford to be rash, and I knew I had to make Jackson afraid of me. It was late in the afternoon when I finally pulled up in front of Carli’s house.

Jackson’s red BMW was still parked outside. I could only imagine what they were up to. Instead of knocking, I barged into her house where I found Carli sitting on a chair in her room. She wore nothing but a bra and panties.

“What are you doing here?” she said, as she snatched a blanket from the bed to cover herself. It seemed like a silly thing to do, since I'd seen her naked plenty of times when we were in Mexico.

“Don’t worry. I’m not staying.” The shower was running. When I entered the bathroom, I took a deep breath. Jackson's silhouette was framed against the steamed glass shower door.
Here goes.
I opened the door.

              Jackson turned and stared as I stepped, fully clothed, into the spray of water. “Where did you go?”

But I didn't speak. Instead, I slid close to him and kissed him, grabbing his balls at the same time. My lips pressed against his ear. Jackson flinched but didn't move. “Why did you beat Kevin up?” I asked in a whispery voice. My fingers tightened around his balls. He jumped, but I didn't let go. I squeezed harder.

He squealed. “He’s a drug dealer. Addie, you need to stay away from him.”

“But it’s okay for me to hang out with Carli, who drugged me?” I twisted the jewels in my hand left, then right.

              “Carli’s different.” His voice was choked, and his face paled.

              “What, because she’s one of your whores? Or because she's female?”

              “No, because I trust her. She won’t hurt you." He groaned in pain. "Now, will you please let go?"

              “You can’t have me all the time, Jackson. We aren’t dating. Remember? I can and
will
see other people.” I released him.

He slipped to the floor, gasping.

“Put some ice on it!” I shouted as I grabbed a towel and breezed out of the room. Carli followed me, screaming obscenities all the way to the front door, but I ignored her. I had one more stop.

When I arrived at the Van Buren's mansion, the maid told me Mr. Van Buren was expecting me and escorted me to his home office. Mr. Van Buren wasn't in his office when I entered, so she requested I wait in a chair until he came back.

After she left, I walked over to his desk, which was covered with piles of papers. He was obviously working on a case. I flipped casually through the documents, wondering if there was something worth stealing, when I turned over a folder with my name on it.
Had Mr. Van Buren been keeping a secret file on me?

At first, the documents seemed innocuous: emails from Dr. Johnson and even my old boss at the pizza place. I didn’t have time read them fully. The toilet flushed, and I quickly ruffled through the remaining pages. The last page made me pause. It had a list of account numbers with dollar amounts. Over a million dollars. All of the accounts in my name. Whoa. I was rich. Rich enough to get out of this mess--if I could get access to the money. But I needed leverage. I closed the folder. There was a bowl of brightly-colored paperclips on the desk, and next to the bowl, a green flash drive. I scooped up the flash drive and a matching green paperclip. The flash drive I tucked into my jeans pocket, but I palmed the clip. I was in my seat when Mr. Van Buren walked in.

“What are you doing?” He gave me suspicious glance and surveyed his desk.

Had I mixed up any of the papers? I needed to act quickly.
Rising, I squared my shoulders and tried to appear indignant. “I know it’s customary for you to beat people up when you don’t get your way. But Kevin was my friend and a good one at that.” Tossing the green paper clip on the floor, I stomped on it before Mr. Van Buren could get a good look. A satisfying crunch followed.

He rushed toward me. “What the hell was that?” 

“The green flash drive from your computer.” Within seconds, he had a firm grip on my wrist.

“There was some very important information on that drive, information I need.” Twisting my arm, Mr. Van Buren dragged toward the bathroom. "You're out of control."

"Ow! Let me go," I cried as I struggled to free myself.

I tried the knob, but it was locked. “Let me out.” I kicked the door but only managed to bruise my toes. The room felt claustrophobic, like a tiny cell, with a glaring overhead light, no windows, and pale gray walls. There was nowhere for me to go, so I crawled into the bathtub, pulled the shower curtain closed, and bawled. My cell phone was in the car, but who could I call? I had no one, no one who cared anyway.
Maybe this wasn’t the smartest thing I’d ever done
.
How long would Mr. Van Buren keep me here?
Someone opened the bathroom door.

“Addison?” Stuart said. I didn’t respond. Stuart touched the curtain but didn't pull it back. “Addison, show yourself.” I cringed against the wall.

When I didn’t move, he threw the curtain back and grabbed my arm, yanking me forward. His fingers dug into my skin like sharp claws. “You have embarrassed me for the last time!”

Tears streamed from my eyes. “What are you going to do to me?”

“You are going someplace where you won’t get into any trouble.” He pulled me into the other room where Jackson and his father waited.

“Where’s the drive, Addison?” Mr. Van Buren asked.

I reached in my pocket and tossed it at him. “I wouldn’t do that to you.”

“Well, it’s very obvious we have no idea what you’ll do," Stuart said. "So you're leaving. Going somewhere you can't cause more damage."

I blinked. “Where?”

“Spain,” Jackson said before his father could.

“Spain?” I glanced at Stuart.
What was in Spain?

“You’ll be spending the summer studying Art and Music,” Jackson continued, but there was an uncertainty in his father’s eyes I didn’t understand. That didn’t sound bad at all.
Maybe a vacation was just what I needed.

“Okay. I guess.” I wiped my eyes and straightened up. “But don’t I need a passport for that?”

“Already have one.” Jackson handed a blue booklet to my father.

“Then it’s settled.” Mr. Van Buren said, and my father led me out of the room.

A burly guard was waiting for us by the front door. "Mr. Van Buren said I should go with you in case you need help," he told Stuart.

The three of us drove straight home, the guard and I sitting in the back seat. I thought about opening a door and falling out onto the road, but Stuart had used the child safety locks. When we arrived at the house, Stuart locked me in the car with the guard. "Keep her here. I'll be right back."

A few minutes later, he returned. He turned the key in the ignition. “I can’t believe you’d behave like this after everything we’ve done for you.”

“The only thing you’ve done for me is get me into a situation I can’t get out of.”

“Shut up.” He peeled out of the driveway.
Why did it feel like we were in a hurry?

“Where are we going?”

“The airport.”

I glanced at the guard, whose expression showed nothing. “I’m leaving tonight? But I haven’t packed or said goodbye to anyone.”

“You should have thought about that before you went bat shit crazy. I mean, what is wrong with you?” He continued to berate me until we arrived at the airport. The guard parked the car while Stuart and I went inside.

The next two hours were filled with waiting in line for tickets and waiting for our flight. When the speaker announced our plane was landing, a lady in a grey skirt and shirt walked up to us. “Mr. McDaniel, I presume?”

“Yes?”

“I’m Mrs. Stebbler. I’m here to assist with Addison’s transition.”

“Oh, I was going to go with her.”

She smiled. “That’s not necessary. Mr. Van Buren has taken care of everything.”

I glanced at Stuart, and he nodded. He turned to me. “I’ll see you when you get back."

“Yeah, okay.” I thought about giving him a hug goodbye but then decided against it. He strode off without once looking back. Mrs. Stebbler took my ticket, placed a firm hand on my shoulder, and led me into the terminal where a new life was waiting.

Epilogue

The sound of water stirred me from a deep sleep. When I opened my eyes, I was staring up at clear blue skies. Where was I?

I sat up, wincing in pain. My arms were sun burnt and my neck stiff. The sun was bright against the white sand. I was alone.

              Someone had dressed me in a pair of khaki shorts and a bright green shirt with a strange black triangle on the upper left shoulder. After checking my pockets and finding them empty, I got up and decided to start walking. It wasn’t like staying where I was going to help me.

Nothing looked familiar. There were no people, animals, or even boats in the water. Maybe Stuart just made me think I was leaving on a plane….

But I remember fastening my seatbelt, but that was it. I glanced down at my shirt again and noticed Campamento de Trinidad. What kind of camp ditched you alone on a beach? I thought about taking the shirt off, but I didn’t want to expose anymore skin to the harsh sunshine. So I kept walking.

What is Campamento de Trinidad?

What happens in Spain?

Don't miss the exciting sequel Twisted Desire coming soon!!