(⚠️mentions of abuse⚠️)
Tuesday, October 18, 2016
Trey's House
"Don't get ahead of yourself—" Carter began, only to be cut off by Jason.
"Don't bother complaining," he muttered with a sigh. "Once he has decided, nothing you do will change his mind. The only one capable of effecting change is Alexandra, and she isn't here either."
Trey smiled at the defeated look on her face. "We will call Ethan with your phone," he started, watching as Mitch searched her pockets for it. "Then, you'll talk to him normally, telling him we know where he is and that we're coming for him. Understood?"
"What if I don't?"
"I'll break your nail," he replied without preamble. "And if after breaking the nail you still refuse to speak normally like nothing's wrong, like you aren't in pain, I'll break another till we're out of —"
"Which kind of monster are you?!" she asked, frustration coloring her voice.
Trey tilted his head. "Would you like to know?"
She went quiet, and though she remained glaring at him, it was quite evident she had given up. Billy chose then to come in from the front door. "The location is pointing to somewhere in Miami, sir, which I doubt is correct. Something isn't right," he finished as he entered the lounge with his long steps.
Trey smiled wryly. "We know what isn't. She just told us the building they're keeping Lexi and the babies in distorts the functioning of trackers."
"I see," he replied as he seated himself. "Oh, and your father said he'll be here soon."
Trey gave him an amused look. "What exactly did you tell him?"
Billy smirked. "Just gave him the impression it was urgent—a life or death situation."
Trey threw his head back and laughed, Jason chuckling while, like Billy, Mitch merely smiled. Andrew could be stubborn sometimes, and they'd quickly learned that Billy could handle him the best—which was why they weren't surprised.
"I see only one contact," Mitch said, calling their minds back to the main situation at hand. Then he looked at the owner of the phone. "It's his, isn't it?"
Carter turned her glare on him. "And why would I—"
"It's settled," Mitch concluded, turning to Trey. "It's his contact number."
"Listen when people are talking!" Carter screamed, extremely pissed.
"We don't really need to if we've got what we want," Jason said in a 'matter of fact' tone.
"Are you all like that?! No wonder you're perfect for each other!" They smiled in synchronism, then turned serious.
"By the way," Trey muttered, rising from his seat as Mitch hit the call button, "I'm convinced now that you were the one who handed our babies to them. I'm choosing to believe you cared enough for those innocent babies to add their blanket. For that I'm grateful."
She snarled, but before she could answer, Ethan answered the phone. "Yes?" He snapped impatiently.
In the background, Trey could hear who he swore was Alexandra yelling, 'Let go of me! If you think I would stand by and let you play with my baby daughter's privates, think again! Let go of my hair you sick bastard!'
Trey's heart stopped for a second, his hands fisting by his sides, and it was all he could do to remain quiet. He wanted to touch his daughter there. How sick was he?
The plan they had in mind flew out of his head and he found himself walking forward and snatching the phone out of Carter's hands while she was still speaking. "Donovan?"
There was a pause. "Why do you have the phone, Tremaine?" he asked.
"Don't ever call me that," Trey said with deathly calm. "If you think knowing of my past with my father gives you the upper hand, you better wipe that thought off your mind because I'm coming, and I'll get my family back.
"As for you," he clenched his fists to stop himself from saying anything that'll endanger them even more, "brace yourself. If you have any decent bone in you, leave them out of it and let's settle it like men."
Ethan laughed, saying 'It's your ex-husband on the phone. Why don't you say hi?' They had no idea what he did to her, but the next thing they heard was her screaming.
Then she said, "Trey? If you can hear me, don't come here for me. I'll be fine somehow, and I'll be back as soon as I can. If you do, — " she let out a loud gasp after a smacking sound.
'The beauty is finally asleep,' a mocking voice which Trey realized belonged to Nicolysse said. 'I'll take her away. Finish with the call.'
"Yes," Ethan said into the phone. "I'm back. Sorry, I had to shut that wench up else she would've spilled my plans." He laughed when he heard Trey's growl. "Anyway, you might want to bring the share of the assets which I was supposed to get."
"You've got yourself a deal," Trey muttered, choosing not to comment on the obvious hit he had given his woman. He would make him pay later. "See you in thirteen hours. 8pm sharp."
"Will be waiting," he sang. Trey hung up and tossed the phone to Carter.
Trey looked at Billy, about to issue a command when his dad entered the living room with quick strides though he looked his usual calm self.
"You called me here?" he said, addressing Trey. As he looked around at the other faces present, he caught sight of a bound Carter who was fuming and paused.
"Carter? What are you doing here?" Then he turned to Trey, a brow raised. "Why is she tied up?"
"Ah," Trey murmured, trying to control himself seeing as he'd already been angered, "so you do know her. Your daughter?"
"Don't call me that!" Carter spat, struggling against the ropes. "I refuse to acknowledge someone who dumped us for others as my family!"
"Then why do you want the inheritance to go to you then?" Jason muttered, closing his eyes with an exhausted sigh.
"I want the better life my mother wished me to have before she died! She said to fight for what was rightfully mine! But I've despised you for so long I didn't want to be within a 10 ft. distance of you," she finished, directing that last statement at Andrew.
"She said you should fight for it?" Andrew said calmly. Then he chuckled. "I'm going to tell you this, and whether you believe it or not is up to you.
"I didn't love your mother and before we started our quite brief affair, I made it clear to her. She was okay with it, only for me to find out she had convinced the doctor to not inject her with birth control and had her lie to me.
"So, she got pregnant with you, but even then, she wouldn't let me see you because she wanted me to marry her when I had no intention of binding myself to a scheming slut like her."
Jason winced at the ruthless man's choice of words, and that was right before Carter blew up. "Don't call my mother that!"
Andrew shrugged. "I told you you're free to believe me or not. Anyway, true to her words, I never met you and I never got to hold you even though I had wanted to. All I could do was pay your fees from behind and tell them to let you know you've gotten a scholarship."
Carter's eyes went wide because she realized the truth to his words. She'd never paid fees yet had attended the best private schools on 'scholarship' because her mother couldn't hold down a job, let alone fund her schooling.
"I kept tabs on you, sent money to your mother for upkeep but she spent it on her friends partying. And didn't you notice you got good pay everywhere you worked? That's because I always made sure to add up to it, so you'd have your necessities. —"
"Stop lying!"
Again, Andrew shrugged. "If that's what you think, so be it. I won't waste time trying to make you like me." Then he turned his attention to Trey. "Why am I here?"
"Her."
"Then I guess I'm done here," he replied, shoving his hands into his pockets. "And don't ever speak like someone is on the brink of death when it's just something like this William."
"Would you have come?" Billy asked in a wry tone.
"Absolutely not," he replied without inflection as he pulled his hands out to undo the buttons of his sleeves. "I could've explained this over the phone."
"You're being quite harsh on your own daughter," Billy muttered.
"I'm blunt, not harsh," he corrected. Then he patted Trey on the shoulder while addressing Carter, "He can give you tips on how to deal with it. He's a pro since he's been doing it since 18."
Trey scoffed, stalking away. "Everything okay though? Your kids?" Andrew asked after him, sounding a bit worried.
It surprised Trey so much that he stopped walking and turned to face him. "As a matter of fact, they're not back with me. In fact, my wife has joined them, and I need to get them back."
"Oh?" He murmured, nodding slowly. "I see."
"And actually, I find you suspicious," Trey said bluntly, ignoring the wide-eyed looks and the head shakes he was getting from Jason and Mitchell. "If you have anything to do with it, you better speak now."
Andrew narrowed his eyes. "What are you talking about? You think I'll kidnap your wife, the very woman I avoid like a plague?"
"Maybe, because she reminds you of Christine?"
Andrew stilled, then he let out a breath. "Well, I see you know about my past with her mother too. But that isn't enough motivation for me to do anything. And why would you think I'll kidnap your babies? Because I have no chance of meeting them?"
He laughed, "As far as reasons go, that's the most stupid one I could ever do something for." He smiled, shrugging, "Again, it's up to you to believe me or not."
Trey stood for a bit, then turned around. "I don't have time for this right now. Jason, Mitch, kindly take her out to the car."
"Sure," they responded, getting to it.
Trey turned around again. "Jason, did you tell them to fax it to the briefcase?"
"Yes," he answered as they lifted Carter out of the chair.
"Thank you. I'll go get it upstairs and join you. Be careful," he admonished, then he turned to Billy. "Please come with me."
*
A military camp
9:30 am....
"We're ready for you, sir," Commander Jenkins said, hands clasped behind him in an authoritative pose. Nodding, Trey stood, undoing the cuffs on his sleeves as he followed.
Upon leaving the house with the briefcase-like fax machine he'd made himself; Trey had met up with Jason who had called to make sure the transfer would be done before eight pm.
They'd shoved Carter—still bound—into the back of one of Trey's SUVs and questioned her about the exact location of Ethan and the others. She had tried to evade the question but had ended up letting it slip that she couldn't possibly know the location off head because a pin had been dropped to her.
They had been quick to take the phone out of her pocket again, watching as Mitch searched for a location pin. The other three men—Trey, Jason and Billy—had been surprised when Mitch had mentioned they were in Waverley, Edinburgh.
The transfer document was with him, signed, awaiting Donovan's signature. To be on the safe side, he called the state for assistance and had immediately been directed to the nearest military base to him.
And there was no catch. He had special forces to his disposal, and all he had to do was tell them what he needed done.
So, there he was at the military base, after gathering all his family as well as friends' wives—Melissa, Ashley, Tony, Andrew (had decided to stay), Sierra, Samantha, Wren, Paige, Dustin, Zoey—into his house and installing security tight around them.
Dustin had already begun directing Tech Geniuses' quietest drone to the location so they could survey the area and avoid unwanted surprises, and he was to let Trey know when the drone arrived.
Having finished folding his sleeves, Trey entered after Jenkins and came face to face with a team of the base's special forces. With a nod, Jenkins left him to it and sat down himself.
Trey took a deep breath. "I'm going to cut to the chase since we're on borrowed time." Upon getting nods, he continued, "I'm sure you've been briefed on the situation with Ethan Donovan.
"He called, asking for a quarter of my wealth in exchange for letting my family go scot-free. And so at exactly 8pm tonight, I'll be giving him this," he waved the paper in his hand. "It is a document which states that I am relinquishing a quarter of my wealth to him.
"What he doesn't know is that, as authentic as this document is—stating what is being exchanged for what—it is useless because before 8pm, there'll be nothing left in my account to hand over." When murmurs of approval erupted, Trey lifted a hand to quiet them.
"Between that farce, and his true intentions of which you've already been briefed, things might get messy, and that's why I need your help. Admittedly, a condition was that I meet him alone, but I don't trust that he'll make it a peaceful transaction.
"So, this is what I need you to do. How you do it is totally up to you." After a pause, he continued, walking now. "I have a member of my security team driving a drone to the location where my family is being held. As soon as the drone arrives, we'll give you access to the footage so you can plan it out.
"I'll need you in complete camouflage and for you to go ahead of me to the location and spread out to surround the building somehow. Note though, that no one is to shoot him dead. If he tries to hurt someone then a shot to somewhere not so vital should be enough. I hope everything is clear," he concluded.
He received a boisterous 'yes sir'. "Thank you for your time. We'll be counting on you to ensure it doesn't get bloody."
They all rose out of their seats, and after a uniform salute, sat back down as Jenkins walked forward to take the floor. He took Trey's hand in a firm handshake, then pressed a Kevlar vest to his chest, smiling a little. "My gut says you'll be needing this. We'll see you there."
Accepting the vest, Trey nodded and exited with a two-finger salute. Before he closed the door after him, he heard Jenkins clap twice and say, "Let's get to work!"