Hooked (46 page)

     “Damn it!  Go
,
Millie!”

     Before I could respond to him
,
four guys walked in.  Well, there were three guys and one man.  I recognized a couple of the guys from that night at my basketball game.  The older man
,
I had never seen before.  He was short and had red hair that was slicked back and he wore sunglasses even though he was inside
.  His body was well maintained
,
but he looked small to me.  His attitude and the way he carried himself made him seem like he was in charge.  He stood there playing with the cuff links on his suit looking bored while the other guys stood around him with their arms crossed.

     “It’s too bad your girl here is caught in the middle of this
,
Cash.  You should have c
o
me back to Boston when I told you to.”

     “Rusty, look she doesn’t have anything to do with this, just let her go home and I’ll come with you.”

     “
Aww
, but your wrong
,
Cash.  This little lady actually helped me locate you.  I thought you were smarter than to hook up with a girl who had a pig for a daddy.  When her dad ran you through the system
,
we had your location.”

     “So
,
you had someone on the inside
,
”
Cash stated like he already knew the answer.

     “You are so naïve son.  Of course
,
we have people on the inside.  We have people on the inside of the inside.  We red flagged your name and social security number and two months later because of the pure luck of your stupidity, I imagine, here we stand.”

     I’m standing there amazed.  I can’t believe this guy has chased Cash down here and I have no idea how this is going to turn out.  I don’t feel good about this because it’s four against one, obviously I can’t count myself, and all of them look scary.  I’m having trouble wrapping my brain around the fact that my own father actually led them to Cash.  I look at Cash and his face is blank, no emotion.  I can’t tell what he’s thinking.  Is he freaking out on the inside like me?  What are we going to do?  I have no idea what these people want
,
but I can tell from their demeanor they are unlike anyone I’ve ever met.  I’m having trouble understanding their accents as well.  It’s thicker than Cash’s.  Well, I thought it was
,
until he started talking to them,
then
I realized maybe he was just hiding it well.

     “Listen, don’t be a wise guy.  Just let her go home and we’ll handle our business
,
”
C
ash said walking towards me.

     “Cash, what’s going on? 
You coming
back to work or what?”  Dave said as he walked in.  “Who are these folks?”
H
e asked carefully.

     “Don’t worry about us, we’re just here for some unfinished business with our boy Cash here,” one of the guys said.

     “It’s alright Dave, you can head on home
.
I can handle this
,
” Cash said with clenched teeth.

     “Uh, that’s not
gonna
happen old friend
.
”
T
he
larger
of the three boys started walking towards Dave.

     Dave just stood there shocked.  “Listen
,
we don’t want
any
trouble.  Does Cash owe you money or something?”

     “
I’ll go with or something, right Cash?
  We’re looking at a payback of time.  I’m guessing you owe us five to ten
,
Cash, what do you think?”  The man Cash called Rusty said.

     “Millie, go home now.”

     “Cash, I can’t leave you.”

     “I’m not asking you, just
go
!”

     Tears started rolling down my cheeks.  I knew I needed to get my dad so he could help
,
but I didn’t want to leave Cash.  “Cash please!”  I screamed as I was crying.

     “Millie
,
get your ass out of here now!”
H
e yelled and it echoed through the garage. 

    
Right as he said it
,
he lunged at
one
of the guys and Mr. Dave went for the other guy.  I took off running at the same time and made it out of the garage.  I got all the way to my car and once I got in
,
I locked my doors and took off as fast as I could. I dialed my dad’s number on the way to the police station.

     “Daddy
,
please!” I cried into the phone when he answered.

     “Millie, what’s wrong?”

     “Dad
,
these guys just came into the garage, their after Cash.”

     “Who are they?”

     “I don’t know
,
but one of the guys said that you lead them to him.  I don’t know what he was talking about
,
but he said they have people on the inside and when you ran Cash’s name through the system, they found out where he was.”

     “Damn it!”

     “Dad
,
please help him and Mr. Dave.”

     “How many of them are there?”

     “I only saw four.  The red
-
headed guy’s name is Rusty and I think he’s in charge.  The other three seem to do what he says.”

     “Alright, where are you now?”

     “I’m on my way to the police department.”

     “No, go home with your mom and Eli
.
I’ll be there as soon as I can.”

     “Be careful
,
daddy.”

     “I will, I love you.”

     I changed my path and went to my house instead.  I have never been so scared in all of my life.  I
was so
worried for Cash
,
that by the time I pulled into my drive, I didn’t even remember driving home. 

    
“Mom!
Mom!”
  I yelled, walking in the front door.

     “In the kitchen, what’s wrong?”

     I ran into the kitchen, “Mom, its Cash.  Those guys from Boston showed up at the garage tonight.” 

    
I started crying because I knew deep down they didn’
t come all the way to Tennessee to talk to him.  My imagination started running wild with questions about what was going on.  I felt bad that I left him there even though he made me.  I know it was the right thing to do because now my dad can help him
,
but I’m still feeling like I didn’t do enough.  I’m wondering what happened in the time it took me to get my dad there.

     “I’m sure your dad will take care of everything honey,” mom said while wiping my tears.  I could tell she was worried too.

     “Mom, I don’t feel good about this.  They looked so scary and mean.  The man named Rusty told Cash that he was goin
g
to pay him back for sending those guys to jail.”

     “Listen honey, I don’t know what’s going to happen
,
but I know it will be alright.  Let’s just pray for everyone’s safety and your dad’s training and if I haven’t heard anything in a little while, I’ll call the police department myself, alright?”  I just shook my head as she hugged me.  I’ve never been this scared.  “Why don’t you go lie down in my bed and I’ll make us some hot cocoa while we wait.”

     “Alright, I just don’t know what to do.”

     “There’s nothing we can do
,
Mil.  We just wait and pray everything will work out.”

     “Okay,” I sniffed out. 

    
O
n
my way to my mom and dad’s room
,
I heard Eli com
e
in and mom start to tell him what was going on.  I didn’t want to listen to it
,
so I went and got in their bed.  I
laid
there worried sick.  It had already been over an hour and we
haven’t
heard anything.  About thirty minutes later
, mom brought me hot cocoa.
  We sipped the cocoa along with Eli.  We all sat on the bed in silence.  Eli looked worried and mom was trying to stay positive for us
,
but I could tell she didn’t truly believe everything she was saying.  I cried almost the entire time.  I hadn’t meant to
,
it just kept flowing out of me.  It was wearing me out.  I felt so physically and emotionally drained that I guess I finally cried myself to sleep sometime during the night.  When mom woke me up at three-thirty in the morning, Eli had an arm draped around me from the side.  I sat straight up knowing she had news.

     “What?  What happened?”

     “Your dad had to go to the office and won’t be home for a while.”

     “Where’s Cash?” I asked as I got out of her bed.

     “Millie, sit down for a minute and---
”

    
“No, where’s Cash?”

     “Honey, hang---
”

    
“Mom
,
tell me now, please.”

     “Millie, he had to leave.  Dad had to get him on the earliest flight back to Boston.”

     “What?  Why didn’t he wake me up?”

     “Dad can explain everything to you when he gets home
,
but Cash left a letter for you on your bed.”

     I didn’t even let her finish.  I ran up to my room where I found a shoe box.  On top of the box was a piece of paper folded in half.  I slowly walked to the bed and looked down at the paper.  I was afraid to open it.  I didn’t want it to say what I knew in my gut it said.  I bent and picked it up and opened it.

Millie,

     I have to go back to Boston to take care of a few things.  Your dad can fill you in on the details.  I’m so sorry I brought all of this here with me.  I’m sorry I put you in danger and also that I yelled at you tonight.  I was scared and I just wanted you to get out of there before you got hurt.  I know this letter doesn’t begin to explain what you mean to me
,
but it’s the best I’ve got on such short notice.

     I didn’t wake you up because I honestly couldn’t bear to look you in the eye as I told you goodbye.  I will probably be gone for a while.  Your dad said it could even take up to eighteen months.  I would never ask you to wait on me for that long and I don’t expect you to.  Move forward with your life and have many great new experiences.  I don’t know what is going to happen with all of this
,
but what I do know is that I love you more than anything and just like I promised you on Christmas
d
ay, I will be back for you.  I can’t imagine my life without you.  I love you very much and to prove that
…(
I’m willing to risk my man card here)  Do you remember the day you got grounded and you joked with me that we should write letters to each other?  Well, I actually did that.  Some of them are short and lame
,
but I hope it will give you an idea of how much I’ve truly cared about you from the beginning. 

     I love you very much and I will miss you.  Please don’t get upset with me if you don’t hear from me soon.  I think it would be easier for me to deal with all of this if I didn’t have to hear
your voice everyday and be reminded of what I can’t have right now.  I know that is selfish
,
but I don’t really know how else to handle this.  I love you and please don’t ever forget that
,
sweetheart and I promise that in the end we will be together.  Take care of yourself for me.