ONE
JULIE SLID A TREMBLING FINGER across the screen of her phone, picked the message from the unfamiliar number and hit call. The phone rang twice before it was answered.
“Ms. Blake, it’s so nice of you to call.”
In the movies, the voice would have a foreign accent, be cultured or menacing, or at least have some distinguishing characteristic. This wasn’t the movies and the man’s voice on the other end of the line was unremarkable, only noticeable because of the lack of Southern drawl common in the Carolinas. That didn’t stop Julie’s heart from trying to beat its way out of her chest.
“I want to talk to my brother,” she said, clenching the phone in her hand and trying to keep the fear out of her voice.
“Of course you do. And I want my money.”
“I’m not going to talk to you until I know he’s okay.” She prayed she sounded steadier than she felt. She’d been shaking since she opened the message demanding one hundred thousand dollars in exchange for her brother’s safe return – the message she’d gotten when she’d been sleeping in Eric’s arms. She scrubbed the heel of her hand against her forehead and forced herself to push thoughts of Eric and their brief time together out of her mind. She’d walked away from him a decade ago and survived; she could do it again.
“I’m sorry, Julie. I’m so sorry.” Caleb’s familiar voice cut through her thoughts.
“Are you okay? Did they hurt you? My God Caleb, what did you get yourself into this time?”
“I’m okay. For now at least. I had everything under control. None of this was supposed to happen.”
“I imagine not,” said Julie, grateful that he still sounded like himself, a little shaken up but okay.
“The timing just got screwed up, and I was really counting on the deposit from the Smithfield job.”
“Don’t you fucking dare blame this mess on me, Caleb Blake, or I swear to God, I’ll walk away and leave you to deal with this shit on your own.” The temptation to do just that was palpable, a pull so strong she felt it in her solar plexus. Let her brother handle his own mess and go back to Eric and try to convince him to forgive her for the way she left him.
“No, no, I’m sorry. I didn’t mean it like that. Listen Julie, these guys mean business. I need you to do what they say or they’re gonna kill me.”
“I don’t know what to do. You know I don’t have that kind of money. I can pull some of it out of the business but…” She heard a scuffle and before she could finish her sentence, the owner of the unremarkable voice was back on the line.
“Your brother’s correct, Ms. Blake. If you don’t do what I say, we’ll kill him. It’s bad for business to leave loose ends.”
“I don’t have a hundred thousand dollars. I have no idea how to get my hands on that kind of money.” She ran through everything she and her father and brother owned, adding figures in her head. There wasn’t any money left from the sale of the farm. All of that had gone into her father’s care and into starting her brother’s tech security firm. She might be able to pull some money from the business but probably not more than twenty thousand. If she added in her meager life’s savings, she might be able to get the number up to twenty-five.
Oh God. She dropped her head in her hands, cursing her brother for getting her into this mess. At the same time fear that something would happen to him made her pulse race and her stomach hurt.
“I can give you twenty-five thousand, but that’s all I have. Honestly that’s all I have.”
“That’s a start.”
Julie let out the breath she’d been holding. “Okay. It will take me a couple of days to get the money together.”
“You have twenty-four hours. Don’t let me down. I don’t deal well with disappointment.”
She heard the smack of skin against skin followed by a low groan.
“Don’t hurt him!”
“That’s entirely up to you, Ms. Blake. I’m sure I don’t
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