“Honey,” my mom says. “You’re not going anywhere. We’re going to increase the security and no one will be able to get to you.”
“I can’t let that man kill Caleb!” I knew it would be difficult to convince my parents to let me go, but I’m not about to go meet with Raphael without anyone at least knowing about it. “He has contacts everywhere. Someone is probably monitoring this house right now. You can’t call anyone. They’ll know.”
My mom crosses her arms. “You should worry about your own life. Whatever that boy did to get himself involved with a psycho is his own fault. Let him get out of his mess on his own.”
I ignore my mom, and turn to my dad, who looks pensive.
“You say we can’t contact anyone?” he asks.
“Yeah, Raphael’s men could be monitoring everything. One wrong move, and he’ll either kill Caleb or take him somewhere far away and do God knows what to him.”
“I could probably get a message out without anyone seeing anything suspicious,” he says. “But it would take time. When did he tell you to meet him?”
“In three hours, at the old Wrinston factory.”
My dad mumbles under his breath. “That’s too soon. And that factory is too far away from here. You’d need at least two hours to get there and there’s nothing around it that could hide anyone we send with you.”
“Yeah, all I can do is go to the bank with you and I’m out of time.”
“You’re not actually considering this insanity!” my mom raises her voice. “What’s gotten into you? It’s not worth risking your life for that man. You are my daughter. I won’t... I won’t allow it!”
“Mom, I can’t let him die. Would you let Dad die if he were taken?”
She swallows, averting her gaze. “That’s different... Your father and I...”
“No, it’s not different. I love him, okay? I won’t be able to live with myself.”
“You said he was a sex slave. I don’t even know how you got in contact with such...” She curls her lip.
“That’s enough,” my dad says, gently placing his hands on my mom’s shoulders. “You’re distracting us. We need to come up with a plan so our daughter and her boyfriend return safe, okay?”
“You’re not actually going to...” my mom yells, then crosses her arms and takes a seat in one of the chairs. “Fine. Come up with your plan. I’m sure it will bebrilliant.”
“So how are we going to make this work?” I ask.
“About that Raphael guy... Are you sure he’s going to kill Caleb if you don’t come up with the money?”
“I don’t know, but he’s certainly capable of it.” No matter how much Raphael seems to care about Caleb, I assume his concern is more of an owner toward his property. I don’t think Raphael knows anything about truly loving anyone. He’s hurt Caleb for so many years that I believe he could kill him if it turns out that he can’t use him for what he wants.
“Does he know that you released that video of him and worked with the cops?” My dad’s eyes are intent on mine.
“He might. I don’t know.” I wonder if Raphael forced Caleb to tell him what he knows. I doubt Caleb would willingly betray me, but who knows how Raphael threatened him and what he’s done to him?
“If he knows, that means he’s very likely to try to kill you when you arrive. I don’t think he’d let you walk away if he thinks you’re responsible for everything that has happened.”
“Yeah, I thought about it, too. That’s why I don’t know what to do.”
“It would be useful to know how many men are with him.” My dad scratches his chin, then glances at his watch. “We’re going to be late to the bank. I’ll get my bodyguard to check for any bugs in the car.”
“Okay. But we still don’t have any plans.”
“We will. Just leave those things to me.”
I nod, trusting my dad to come up with something. His bodyguards have some military training and might be able to help us with this. I just hope that no one will tip off Raphael that something is wrong.
I tap my foot against the floor as my father and I sit in the bank. At least one of Raphael’s men is outside, waiting and observing, but my father said it was better not to engage him in case an attack on the man triggered some kind of alarm.
A young woman strolls in, a heavy dark blue bag on her arm, her eyes hidden behind huge sunglasses. I’m about to ask what is she doing here, when she drops the bag to the ground and offers a smile to my father.
