Ransom (8 page)

“Hey, don’t cry,” he said.
 

He caught me in his arms, holding me tight in his embrace. And there in his arms I felt like it would all be okay, as if my life could be salvaged after all.

“I ruined it all…” I blurted out.
 

“What are you talking about?” Aiden asked, patting my back awkwardly as if I needed to be burped. Knowing that he was probably a little uncomfortable with my blubbering, I stepped back and out of his arms.
 

“Nothing,” I said, shaking my head.
 

An expression of relief flashed across his face for a moment, but was rapidly replaced by genuine worry. Aiden was an amazing guy, but he wasn’t Trinity. It wasn’t fair to unload my crap on him, besides, he and Trinity were supposed to be having fun. I wasn’t about to wreck their whole night.

Aiden appeared confused. A typical guy response. He dug into his pocket, retrieving his phone. I grabbed his wrist before he could text Trinity. The only time Trinity carried a cell phone was when she and Aiden went to parties or places where they might get separated. It was more for Aiden’s comfort than hers that she carried it all, but Aiden insisted, paying the monthly charges on the phone just so she could have it whenever the need arose. It was just another testament to how much he loved her.
 

“Don’t tell Trinity that I’m upset,” I said. Aiden stared at me, a flicker of uncertainty played in his eyes.

“Why not. I mean if anyone can make you feel better it’s…” he started to say.

“Yeah I know, but I don’t want to destroy this party for you guys too. Trin deserves to have fun.” I shook my head definitively before saying. “I can’t be responsible for her having anything less than a perfect night.”

 
I skewered Aiden with my eyes, determined to make him perfectly aware that there would be consequences if he brought Trinity into the mess.

“I…”
 

He glanced over his shoulder as if hoping to spot Trinity, but the parking lot remained empty.
 

“It’s okay Aiden…besides I’ve already called my Mom to pick me up,” I said, lying.

Aiden seemed a little surprised, but shrugged a shoulder.
 

“You sure?” he asked.
 

I nodded with conviction. Even though I hadn’t already called my mother, it was going to happen in the near future. I needed to get away from it all, despite the reaming out I was bound to get from her.

“I told her to pick me up in the parking area. I’ll wait in Trinity’s car until she gets here,” I said.
 

 
“You sure?” Aiden said again, sounding like a broken record.
 

The rain had turned from a thin mist to a steady stream, leaving Aiden’s hair pasted to his head. I felt rivulets of water run down my face. I wondered how much of my make-up had melted away and how frizzy my hair was.

“I’m sure,” I whispered.
 

The one thing that I appreciated about the rain was that it mixed with my tears, making it impossible to see that I was still crying.

“Let me at least walk you to the car,” he said.

I shrugged. “Fine,” I said, realizing that there was little point in arguing with him.
 

I hobbled toward the parking lot with my shoes dangling from my hand. Aiden walked beside me silently. I was grateful to reach Trinity’s car so I could take cover from the rain. Not to mention that as soon as I was alone, I could snap the fine thread of control that kept me from collapsing into a ball of tears and snot in front of Aiden.
 

I opened the door of the car, appreciative of the fact that Trinity never bothered to lock up. She always reasoned that if someone was desperate enough to take the car, then they should have it.

I slipped into the passengers side seat, closed the door and rolled down the window.

“You sure you’re going to be okay?” Aiden lifted his brows dubiously.

“Not when Mom gets here I won’t be, but before that happens I’ll be fine,” I said with a brittle smile.

Aiden nodded. “Don’t forget to lock the doors and roll up the windows,” he said.

I released a soft chuckle. “Thanks mother hen,” I said.

Aiden gave me a half smile. “Trinity is going to rip a strip off my ass for leaving you alone in the car anyway, but if some dumbass drunk messes with you…” He drew a line across his throat with his index finger.

I laughed again, this time it was real. It was enough to release the cords of tension that ran through every part of my body. Aiden turned away and walked slowly back to the party. Just before he disappeared from sight he shot another fleeting look my way. I waved and painted a fake grin across my face. He gave me a thumbs up then he was gone.

I pulled my phone from my purse then dialed Mom’s number. A part of me wanted it to go to voice mail, so I could leave a message for her to pick me up. Having the machine answer would have been so much easier than explaining that I needed to be rescued from a party that I wasn’t supposed to be at. It of course would only get worse when she arrived and caught me wearing clothes that were more than a touch slutty, not to mention that I probably smelled like a brewery.
 

Life just didn’t get any better.
 

Mom picked up on the third ring.

“Lexie? Is everything okay?” she said. Her voice was laced with tension.

I shook my head as if she could see me. Just hearing her voice made my throat close over with anguish.

“No Mom, I messed up,” I said, my voice trembling.

“Did someone hurt you? Are you okay, are you…” I heard the panic in her tone and I wanted to take it away. She didn’t deserve the stress that I was putting her through. Especially not after she had warned me about going to the party.

“No Mom, I’m fine physically…I just made a complete ass of myself in front of Mitch and I just want to go home…”

“I’m coming right now,” she said without hesitation. Her unwavering support and unconditional acceptance, only made me feel worse for the way I had acted earlier.
 

“I’m at Dallas’s party,” I said, simply.

“I’ll be there in about half an hour,” she said. “Stay safe.”
 

I was just about to hang up when she said. “Lexie no matter what mistakes you make, I still love you.” She paused and I heard her draw in a long breath before she finished. “It doesn’t mean that you’re not going to get an earful when I see you though.”

I smiled and the phone disconnected. Oddly, just talking to Mom for those few minutes was enough to calm me. The adrenaline that had filled me with dread and apprehension evaporated and the alcohol seemed to take over. I closed my eyes and allowed myself to drift.
 

I woke up to rapping on the window next to my head.
 

“Mom?” I said, opening my eyes.

 
I was more than a little surprised to see sunlight filtering through the car windows. Still groggy from sleep, I stared into the brown eyes of the State Trooper who was tapping furiously on the glass. My breath caught because the last thing I needed was to be pulled in for under-aged drinking.

“Can you come out of the car?” the Trooper said, his voice muffled by the glass window that separated us.
 

I nodded.

 
It was then that I noticed Trinity, Aiden, and quite a few other people I knew, gathered around the car. All wore somber expressions. I was positive that someone had reported the party and we were all going to be in a heap of trouble.

As I edged open the door I wondered if I had been drooling when I was sleeping, and how many of them had seen me in that state. It was a stupid thing to think about since I should have been more worried about the kind of trouble I was in.

Still barefoot, I stepped out of the car, unsure why Trinity hadn’t just opened the door and shook me awake, rather than having the State Trooper pound on the window. Now out of the car, I noticed that he was probably around my father’s age with a rounded face and deep lines in his cheeks that most likely turned into dimples when he smiled. His brow was furrowed beneath the wide brim of his regulation beige hat. For some reason his expression made my stomach tighten into a knot.
 

I opened my mouth to speak, but the trooper beat me to it.

“Lexie Adams?” he said.
 

His formal tone had me half expecting him to read me my rights. It was then that Trinity broke into tears. Aiden slung an arm around her, not taking his eyes off me. I saw a shimmer in his eyes too. Overwhelming cold enveloped me.

I nodded. “Yes.”
 

My voice was a raspy whisper.

The police officer shifted his stance. In that moment he seemed so tall, looming over me like an enormous Oak tree.

“I regret to inform you that last evening between the hours of one and one-thirty a.m. your mother was involved in a fatal car accident,” he said, almost in one breath.

At first his words were meaningless because I had just talked to Mom and… I grabbed my phone from the purse that was still wrapped around my wrist, ignoring the hands that seemed to paw at me.

I heard Trinity and Aiden, and too many other voices around me, but none of that mattered because I had to talk to Mom. I had to hear her voice and know that it was all a mistake. When I looked down at the screen, everything seemed to go in slow motion. I saw the missed call from her, and next to it a light flashing that indicated I had voice mail.

All the people around me fell away and all that mattered was the blinking square on the screen, because I knew it was Mom. I pressed the square and put the phone to my ear. I closed my eyes and as if in a dream I listened to my mother speak.

Her voice was breathy as if it took all she could muster to talk. There were long pauses between the words as she obviously needed a break to catch her breath. The words that she said chilled me more than I thought possible because they couldn’t be true. None of it was true.
 

Only it was.
 

Before I fell into the darkness that took me away I heard her say.

“Lexie…” She coughed loudly before she continued. “I’ve been in an accident…I’m not going to make it…I want you to know that I love you….”
 

There was another wracking cough then came words that chilled me to the bone.
 

“I’ll send you an angel to let you know that I’ve made it to heaven.”
 

There was a loud gurgle, a last heaving breath, then absolute silence.

6. RANSOM

The cops were on me in seconds as if I was in the wrong. Somehow the guys that had attacked me, including Rick, had recovered enough to slink off into the darkened alley. And with Charity gone too, I had no one to back me up and say that I was the one who had been attacked.
 

“Shit,” I said in a quick breath.
 

It seemed impossible for things to get any worse than they already were. But even as I thought it, I knew that they could. I was shocked at how rapidly everything had shifted from having hot sex, to being attacked and now trying to explain myself to the cops.

“Put your hands over your head and kick any weapons that you have on your person toward us,” a police officer said. He was short and stumpy with a shock of grey hair that had been gelled into spikes. When he trained his gun on me, I didn’t waste any time doing exactly what he said .

“I don’t have any weapons on me,” I said.

 
Even as I spoke the words I realized that I wasn’t exactly telling the truth; I had a knife strapped to my right calf. I hadn’t thought about the it because in my opinion it wasn’t actually a weapon, more of a sentimental piece. Ma had given me the miniature Swiss army knife for my last birthday before she had died. I had loved it so much that I had bought a holster for it and always wore it strapped to my lower calf. The pocket knife, much like the Legos, had become one of my most valuable possessions. Unlike the building blocks, the pocket knife was multi-purposed, serving as a can and bottle opener, a cork screw as well as countless other tasks. Even with the blade extended it was still only six-inches in length, not exactly a deadly weapon, but I wasn’t so sure the cops would see it as harmlessly as I did.
 

The taller of the two officers, who seemed to be in his mid-forties with piercing green eyes and hair as black as night, spun me around roughly. I stumbled, then took a few sidesteps to regain my balance. I clearly was still more than a little drunk. He rapidly patted me down. It didn’t take long for him to find the knife holster. I sighed hugely, knowing that things had just gotten a hell of a lot more complicated.
 

“He’s got a weapon,” the officer who had searched me said.

 
He confiscated the knife, placing it in a plastic evidence bag that he had retrieved from his pocket. My heart fell, not only because I was in a whole heap of trouble, but because I couldn’t lose the knife. It was a touchstone to yesterday, something that allowed me to remember how much my mother had meant to me, and how her loss felt like a wound that would never heal. Unbidden thoughts of Ma and the day she had died swirled through my mind as the officer recited my rights.
 

“You just bought yourself a night in lock-up,” the policeman said after he had finished. I swallowed a few times, trying to formulate a sensible response to his statement, nothing came.

I felt the handcuffs snap around my wrists, not a first for me. A wave of nausea surged through me when I imagined how pissed Pa was going to be. With the show literally hours away, not to mention that once again our puritanical image might get tarnished, I knew I was in deep shit.

 
The cops corralled me forward. I had been arrested a few times before, for public fights and other misdemeanors, but so far nothing had stuck and I had only had a slap on the wrist. It seemed ironic that the one time I was completely innocent could potentially be the one instance that left a mark on my perfect record.