The Bet

Chapter 36

Nicole's POV

"Good you're awake! Now we can start with our business." I frowned, still confused on what's happening. "You're family's rich. I wonder how much they would pay for you." At his words, I felt all the blood in my body drained as I paled in fear. Oh shit! I was kidnapped!

I tried to move but my body won't follow. I knew for a fact that I wasn't restraint for I don't feel anything around my ankle or wrist. All I could do now was stay calm and play with the situation. With a little more rest, maybe I could try to escape.

"Oh dear! Please stop scaring our guest." Came from a woman's voice. I tried to sit but it was still too painful so I just moved my neck in order to see her. "I'm Dana and this is my husband Alex. We saw you lying in the woods so we took you in." I was in the woods? I can't really remember anything much. Just who were these people.

"Hahaha! Sorry dear! I really just can't help it." The guy named Alex laugh and the scary aura that he project was gone. "Sorry kid! But you should have seen your face! It was priceless!"

"Stop it dear... You're not really helping... You're confusing her more." The woman named Dana said. "Again, forgive my husband. He really liked to play jokes." I don't really know if I should believe her but she sounded so honest and sincere.

"What happened?" I asked. "How did I get here?"

"As I told you, we found you near the creek. You were unconscious and soaking wet. Your body's full of bruises and your left wrist was broken. You have been in and out of consciousness for three days because of a fever." Dana explained. Craning my neck to see my left hand, it was confirmed that it was in a some kind of splint. I guess that I also broke some ribs as it was hard to breath.

"Mam-ma! Mam-ma!" I turned my head and saw a cute little blonde haired girl pushing a toy cart while stumbling a little.

"That's Dylan, our daughter, we often spend our vacation here in this cabin. Since it's the only place where my busy husband wont be able to be bothered by his job." I suddenly felt envy towards the girl. I hoped my parents would also spend some quality time with us. Now I can conclude that I'm in safe hands. "You should rest more, we'll talk about later."

"It's okay, I think I'm well rested enough." I replied. "Thank you for saving my life."

"It's nothing, glad you're safe."

"By the way... how many days have I been here and why didn't you just dropped me in the hospital?"

It was Alex who answered. "You have been here for three days now. And due to the continuous rain, there have been a landslide so until it's safe, we should stay here. But don't worry, this cabin's well stocked."

"What do you remember?" Dana inquired while carrying Dylan on her lap. The cute girl was playing with her mom's hair.

"I remember that I was in a car, then there's someone on the road to I stopped. They took everything and then began hitting me. I tried to fight but there were four of them, three men and a woman. Next thing I knew, I jumped through the woods... Then everything blacked out." It was so stupid of me for trying to help those people. But then again, I was disoriented since my heart has been broken by Emilia. "Emilia..."

"Is she someone special? You have been saying her name."

"She's... " I paused... Trying to find the right word. "Yeah... She's someone very special." Maybe one day, Emilia could forgive me and let me back in her life. I should have told her about the bet and explained everything before she found out by herself.

"Does anyone knows that I'm here?" They both shook their heads. That's great... it's an opportunity for me to disappear. And give Emilia some space. "If it's okay... can I take a rest?"

"Sure, please rest... dinner should be ready when you woke up." The three of them left the room and I was again consumed by darkness. But before I let sleep win... Emilia's face was the only image in my mind.

Emilia's POV

This week had been really tough. First, I found out about the bet; second, Nick was missing and probably dead; last, Maddy and I got thrown out of Nick's place.

But in every storm, there's a rainbow. Natalie and Michelle came and offered us to live with them.

"So how did it go?" I asked Natalie as she entered the house. She was out in a job interview and based on her expression, it wasn't good.

"I was doing fine until the interviewer got the call. As soon as I saw his expression, I knew it had something to do with my parents." She sighed.

"Don't worry... You'll find one." I encouraged but I knew she was fighting a war that's really hard to win. "Do you have any updates about Nick?" She just shook her head.

Not long after she returned, Mitch came home with a smile plastered on her face. "Emilia, Hun!" Natalie greeted her with a warm kiss. "Facial recognition came back." She began. "It's not Nick."

"Thank goodness!" We both screamed in delight.

"But she's still missing so there's still hope that she's alive. We'll find her. I promise."

"Thank you!"

Michelle's POV

Paul and I handed the four bodies to the arson team since it was originally their task. Their team had been tracking down the three victims and due to our combined efforts, we found out that there was indeed a fourth member. Antonio's new girl friend.

The crime lab had managed to clean the bones and do facial reconstruction and the results were negative for Nick. I was able to breath easier now that it was confirmed that my future sister-in-law could still be alive.

We were about to go for a search when two familiar figures came out from the captain's office and by the looks of it, it ain't good. The captain then yelled. "Torres in my office now!"

"What did you do?" My partner asked.

I shrugged. "I might have pissed off Nat's parents... is all." I then walked towards the captains office.

"What the hell are you thinking?" He asked before I could even say a word. "Threatening them? Are you out of your mind? Don't you know who they are?" His barraged of questions were getting annoying. The fact that his balding forehead crunches every time he yelled was the only thing keeping me sane. It was so funny that I'm thinking of annoying him more.

"With all due respect sir, what I do in my private life is none of your concern. First, they are trying to force Natalie in coming with them, by law it can be considered as kidnapping. Second, they were not invited at my crappy apartment so they are trespassing. Last, they were really assholes." I defended in the most serious voice that I could make.

The captain was a man of politics. Words were, that he crawled himself to the top by stepping on his colleagues. He likes to take the credits and kiss ass. "They are not the people you should mess with."

"I'm not messing with them, I'm just protecting my fiancee. If you don't have anything else for me then I'd like to leave." He just sighed and waved his hand to dismiss me. He knew I was right and he knew that I'm really stubborn especially if I know that I'm right.

"What was that all about partner? We could hear his voice from a mile!"

"Nothing much..." I then took some notes from my desk and my jacket. "I'm leaving, can you cover for me?" He just gave me a mock salute and then I left.

I hurried home to give Natalie and Emilia the good news.