Kidnap My Heart

Chapter Thirty-Three: Emma

Kidnap My Heart

Chapter 33: Emma

My spine stiffened at the sound of his voice, but I refused to show any fear or weakness. I forced myself to smoothly turn around and remove my hood. I crossed my arms over my chest and studied the mastermind behind all of this closely. He was one person I wouldn’t hesitate to rat out to the police. “Charles Knight.”

My previous guess had turned out to be right. Charles was a carbon copy of both Will and Eric. He was tall and broad-shouldered, just like his sons, and he had dark hair like Will’s and light brown eyes like Eric’s. His face was just more weathered and aged; he looked like an older version of the two of them squished together.

Charles narrowed his eyes at me. “Where’s the bag?”

My reply was somehow calm and smooth. “Where’s Taylor?”

“Not here. Safe, but not here. Where’s the bag?” he repeated. His tone was impatient, much more impatient than it had been just a few seconds ago.

“Not here,” I said, only slightly mockingly. What was I doing? This was not the time for a surge of attitude!

“Did you read the note I sent you? You seem to have missed the point of the ransom note.” His tone was angry, but at the same time, it was also calm like mine, and that was worse than the anger. Again, it was like the calm before the storm.

“It was either me or the money. Did you honestly think I was going to be allowed to bring you the money?” I asked. “They wouldn’t even consider it.”

“I was very—” Charles took a shallow breath, and I could feel my confidence waning. I suddenly had no idea what the hell I was doing here. “I was very clear about what I wanted from you. And you show up empty-handed.”

His hand inched towards the inner pocket of his jacket, and my face lost every bit of color it had. I didn’t know if he actually had a gun or some sort of weapon in there, but I didn’t want to find out.

After that, I had to search through the very depths of my being for the confidence to reply, and in the end, I found it. I couldn’t show how terrified and worried I was; I had to fake my way out of this. “Don’t act like this is such a loss,” I said, struggling to keep the bitchy attitude from my voice. That wasn’t going to help, but I couldn’t help it. “You have what you really wanted. You have me back in your grubby little hands. This will make my parents and Taylor’s parents that much more desperate to get us back. They’ll pay anything. You’ll get more money than you would’ve gotten today. Do you think two-hundred and fifty thousand dollars is all I’m worth? All Taylor is worth?”

“I told you to bring the money,” he snapped. I thought he was going to start shaking, but he remained eerily still.

“You’ll get your money,” I said, forcing composure on myself. I had to get through this. I had to. “You won’t even remember this little bump in the road when you do. Taylor’s dad has money—a lot of it. My dad also has money—a lot more of it. You’ll be swimming in cash once this is over. Isn’t that what this is all about? The money? You don’t strike me as the masochistic murderous type.”

“I’m not,” he said, but the way he barked it out kind of contradicted his words. His anger didn’t exactly subside at first, but once my words really sunk in, he visibly relaxed and nodded. “Get in the car. No tricks.”

“Because I’m the kind of girl who would step into the lion’s den just to see if I could claw my way out,” I said sarcastically. Now that I was a little surer that he wasn’t going to murder me for this, I didn’t feel as terrified. Maybe that was a mistake, but it was how I felt. “I’m not interested in tricks. I’m interested in ensuring the safety of my best friend. Let’s go.”