“Where is she?”
“Sleeping right
now.”
“Let her go
Marisol…this isn’t about her!”
“Oh, you silly
girl, but it is. I told you should you not complete your task she would be the
one to do it. Now that you are unable to do as I need, she will step in for
you!”
My entire body
shook. I knew there was only a matter of time before Marisol reared her ugly
head again. She had my baby, the one child that seemed to have the worst of it
in life.
“What do you
want?” Marcus asked grabbing the phone from me.
“What makes you
think I want anything?”
“You wouldn’t
have called otherwise. If you were going to force Cece into anything you would
have done so without announcing your plans. You want something so what is it?”
There was
silence on her end for a moment. “How’s the marriage?”
Marcus’ eyes met
mine. “It’s fine,” he answered with a bit of edge in his voice.
“Really…you are
a forgiving man then. I wonder if your wife would be as forgiving if the
situation was reversed.”
“We’ll never
know since she’ll never be in that situation.”
I hung my head
in shame listening to him defend me. I didn’t know if I’d ever be able to make
things right with us, but I was determined to try should Marcus give me the
chance.
For now I needed
to push those thoughts aside and focus on getting Ceula returned safely.
“Marisol, where
is my daughter?”
“Let’s play a
game.”
“A game!? This
is my child’s life you heartless bitch! I’m not playing any games!”
Her sinister
laughter rang out over the speaker. “Temper, temper girl. If you want her back
whole and not in pieces, we play!”
“What is this
game?” Marcus asked.
“Ah good the
sensible one. I have a riddle for you. Figure it out, you can get the next
clue. Maids and men walking through sand. Don’t
you remember where it all began? Twenty-four hours…tick tock, tick tock.”
She disconnected
the call, leaving us both confused as to what she meant. I grabbed for the
phone. She had my baby and I needed her back safe and unharmed.
“Who are you
calling?” that same edge was in his voice.
“Trey,” I lied.
“May…maybe she’s lying and Cece is safe at home.”
With shaking
hands, I quickly dialed the number to her house. It rang and rang, but no
answer. I hung up and tried his cell.
“Hello.”
“Trey! Oh thank
god have you heard from CeCe?”
“No, she is at
some spa retreat for the weekend. Limited cell phone access. Why?”
Shit! Shit! Shit! I couldn’t tell him.
Not right now. He had to look after Ashley I didn’t need him worrying.
“No…no reason. I
just needed to talk to her.”
“Why didn’t you
tell him?” Marcus asked after I’d hung up the phone. “He has a right to know
his wife has been kidnapped!”
I looked at him,
but didn’t respond. I thought back over Marisol’s riddle. What the hell did she
mean? Mulo. I looked at Marcus and
knew he was not an option. If I called him, my marriage was as good as over,
but at the same time how could I put Marcus’ feelings over Ceula’s life?
“Amari!” Marcus
yelled, getting my attention. “He needs to know.”
“What did she
mean Marcus? I…I don’t know what she meant!”
My breathing
became restricted, the phone fell from my hand. I started shaking, I couldn’t
think. I don’t know what she meant.
“What did she
mean? What did she mean?”
