Chapter 122 Untitled Chapter

Chapter 122 Untitled Chapter
ANDREA

For a little while, I was disoriented. The room was dim from the darkness outside; it was clear from the looks of it that night had fallen. The sound came again.

A ringtone. The call suddenly ended.

My heart pounded, and for a split second, I wondered if it was really the call I'd been waiting for.

The phone rings again, the sound even louder this time, as I sit frozen. Then I jumped down from the bed.

A knock sounded right outside my door before the guard's voice came through.

“Ma'am, are you okay? Do you need help?”

I couldn't answer as I followed the sound. It wasn’t my phone; my phone was still in my hand. The sound was muffled, distant, coming from somewhere close. My heart began to pound so hard I could hear it in my ears.

The ringing stopped, then started all over again. My gaze snapped to my bag on the dressing table.

My hands shook as I dug through it, fingers brushing past keys, hospital papers, baby wipes, and chewable toys before my fingers closed around the phone.

I don't recognize the phone; it's an old model flip phone, and now that it's in my hand, the ringing is shrill enough to wake the dead. The screen lit up with a single word.

UNKNOWN

My breath stuttered in my chest, and I hesitated just for a second. Every instinct told me not to answer, to call Alessandro first, even after our arguments, or at least call Logan and the other guards stationed right outside my door.

But I know this is about my children, it's the call I've been expecting. My breath hitched as I tapped on the answer button and put the phone to my ear.

“Hello?” I quickly undo my jeans button, and just as expected.

“Ma'am!” The guard bursts into the room. “Is everything okay?” I quickly hide the phone.

“Of course, everything is not okay?” I snapped, glaring at him. “Can't I even have a normal conversation with my children?”

His brows crease as he looks around the empty room for the kids I was conversing with. “Ma'am? There's no one here?”

“Are you fucking blind? Can't you see Adamo and Alessia playing right here?” I point to the space between us.

“Or are you saying that I'm crazy?”

“No, Ma'am, it's…” he started, about to say something when another guard walked in and dragged him away, whispering something like. “She's probably gone crazy from grief, don't sign your death warrant, idiot.”

“We’re sorry for disturbing you, Ma'am,” the second guard whispered before they stepped out and shut the door. I stepped inside the bathroom and lowered my voice.

“Hello?”

For a moment, there was only silence and fear, almost choking me, with the thought that I'd missed this opportunity, but then a woman’s voice filled it, calm and smooth, as if all were right in the world.

Something about it sounded familiar, but I couldn't place it. “Andrea,” she called my name. My grip tightens on the phone so hard it aches.

“Who are you? What do you want?” I asked.

“Is that really what you want to ask?”

No! Although I'm curious. That's not really important.

“Where are they?” I demanded, the words ripping out of my throat. “Where are my children?”

“Still alive,” the voice said. “For now.”

The threat came ripping out of my throat before I could stop it. “If you’ve touched them, if you’ve hurt them, I swear to God…” It was a half snarl, half broken sound, that came from my deepest fear.

“You’ll do what?” the woman interrupted lightly. “Cry harder? Threaten me?”

Rage flared through the fear, hot and blinding. “You don’t know who you’re dealing with.”

“Oh, I know exactly who I’m dealing with,” the voice spat. “Where's Alessandro, by the way? Is he running around searching for me?”

I pressed the phone tighter to my ear, as if proximity might somehow bring me closer to my babies. “Let me hear them,” she begged. “Let me hear my children, please let me see them.”

There was a pause, then I heard it gurgling, then a sudden burst of crying as both my Adamo and Alessia voices filled my ears.

“What did you do? What's going on? Why are they crying? Stop it! Please stop it!”

The sound cut off abruptly. “Don't worry, I won't hurt them just yet.”

But she will at some point, is what she's saying. “Where's Meredith? Let me talk to her, you have so many demands, don't you? Fine, I'm in a good mood.”

A couple of seconds later, a whimper sounded through the phone. “Come on, say something to Andrea, dear.”

A loud smack rang out through the silence, followed by a moan. My stomach dropped to my feet. Anger churned inside me.

“Please don't hit her,” I begged.

There was a long, drawn sigh. “There's really no pleasing you, is there?” the voice tutted, just a fraction.

My vision blurred with tears. “Please,” I whispered, dignity forgotten. “Please don’t hurt them. I’ll do anything.”

“Of course you will,” the woman said, smugly.

“You’re going to listen very carefully, Andrea,” she continued. “Because you only get one chance.”

I nodded frantically, even though she couldn’t see me. “I’m listening.”

“You’re going to come alone. You will not tell your husband,” the woman went on. “You will not bring guards. You will not wear a wire. You will not try to be clever with me.”

I swallowed. “I'll come alone.”

“If Alessandro knows, or the cops, if I find out you lied to me, I will skin Meredith alive, and then your children will be next.”

The words were delivered without emotion—a simple fact. Something tells me I'm dealing with someone completely crazy.

“How will I get there?” I asked.

“You have one hour,” the woman continued. “I’ll send you the location when you leave the house. Remember, I have eyes and ears on you even now, so don't try to act smart with me; your children will be the ones to pay the price.”

“I'm not going to risk my children or Meredith's life, just please don't hurt them.”

“Lastly, if you’re late, I take a finger, don't know who just yet,” she giggles. “Tough choice.” Cold fear slid down the length of my spine.

I swallowed hard as the phone went dead.
Fear, anxiety, and a sense of urgency hit me straight in the gut, my heart racing deafeningly loud.

How am I going to leave the house with all the people guarding me? Should I knock them out? How? What about Alessandro? He deserves to know; these are his children, too. And his sister.

I get out of the bathroom, cross to the door, and slowly put the locks in place, not wanting to alert the guards.

I pace in my bedroom as my brain runs a mile a second, an idea clicking in my head. I grab bedsheets, blankets, and one of Alessandro's guns and one of his deadly, sharp daggers.

I storm back into the bathroom and shut the door, so no one will know what I'm up to if they decide to just barge into my bedroom again.

I already know I can't use the bedroom windows to escape. There are guards stationed there. My best bet is the bathroom windows.

Using the dagger, I tore all the blankets into strips, then began tying them into knots to make a long rope.

Then I walk back to the bedroom and tie one end to the bed. I'm not sure if this will work, but I've seen it done in several movies. Besides, it's the only way I can think of.

When I was done, I glanced at the small window for the first time. It's small and a bit high, but if I get something to step on, I can do it.

I've lost a lot of weight after childbirth and breastfeeding my kids, so my body can get through without me getting stuck. The biggest problem is the rope ending midway, and me getting caught before I made it.

Or even worse, me cracking my head against the ground right behind my window.

It took me less time than I thought to get to the ground, another couple of minutes of maneuvering between guards, hiding in the shadows, and any place that protects me from being seen.

The entire time my heart pounded deafeningly loud, I managed to find an SUV with its keys still inside, and I gunned it out of the house while the guards yelled, shouting and running after me.

A few fired at me, probably thinking I was an intruder, before they stopped when they realized it was just me.

I glanced at the time and my heartbeat thundered in my chest.

Twenty minutes gone, I only have forty minutes to go.