“My sweet daughter. I don’t have much time to explain but I’m gonna explain as much as I can. As you already know, there’s a lot I’ve kept from you, but I’ve only done it to protect you. I wish I would have had longer to tell you, but they came earlier than I had expected. You see, this is really hard to tell you, but your father and I were in a lot of trouble the year before I got pregnant with you. We had joined the wrong crowd, and basically made a deal with the devil to save my life. I was into a lot of drugs and would have ended my life if it wasn’t for these three guys. They promised to help us if we promised to help them in return. You have something they need and-” I heard a door slam shut in the background and the phone went silent. We sat there and listened to see if there was more, but that was the end of the message.
“What do I have that they want?” I quietly whispered, my hand automatically moving to the heart-shaped locket my mom had given me when I was four. Although I could never get it open, it was always close to my heart, and when I felt alone or afraid, it always made me feel better. It also helped that it still smelled like my father.
“Why would she have lied to you about this?” Jake asked.
“She didn’t lie. She just didn’t tell me the truth. She didn’t mention it at all. Why would they need me? What is the reason why I’m so important? Why me?”
“It’s okay, Case. We’ll figure this out.” Jake reassured me when I was finished with my rant. He put his arm around me and pulled me close as I laid my head against his shoulder and began to cry…again.
“I normally don’t cry this much,” I said through my sobs.
“I know. But it’s okay to cry sometimes.” He said. At that point, Aide walked in and started talking about the apartments she found for sale.
“Oh,” was all she said when she realized that Jake was in the room. “I’m sorry, I’ll come back later,” she winked at me, turned around, and walked out.
“No-” I began.
“What the heck was that all about?” Jake asked.
“Oh, um, they know a secret about me and they enjoy picking on me about it.” I explained as I wiped stray tears from my cheeks.
“Ah,” he said. “May I ask what that secret is?”
“Um…I don’t think that’s a good idea,” I said, smiling.
“Why not?” he asked, automatically smiling back.
“Just because,” I said.
“Tell me. Please?” I shook my head as to say ‘no.’ “Is it bad?”
“Hmmm, I don’t know. Depends on who’s asking.”
“Well, that doesn’t help me.”
“It wasn’t supposed to.” I got up off the bed and headed towards the door.
“Hey,” I heard him say from behind me, and I turned around. “I’m gonna find out sooner or later.”
“Yeah, okay,” I laughed and walked out the door. When Aide came into the view on the sofa, I said, “You were saying about the apartments? Did you find one?”
“I found a couple.” She said, “But that’s not really important right now. Maybe your dream is finally coming true.”
“He was making me feel better.” I tried to explain.
“Why? What happened?” Mel asked as she walked out of the bathroom.
“I got a voice mail from my mom. She basically said that I’ve got something important that those guys need.”
“Like what?” Aide asked.
“I don’t know. The message cut off before she got that far. I still don’t get it, though. She said that she and my father were into drugs at my age and almost lost their lives if it wasn’t for these creepy people. So these guys had to promise to help them in exchange for help back. But I still don’t know how I am put into this. It just doesn’t make any sense.” I explained.
“So what do we do now?” Jake asked, coming out of the bedroom.
“I don’t know. I think the only thing we can do is wait for another message.” Aide said, smiling.
“What are you smiling about?” he asked.
“Oh, nothing. Just you.” She laughed.
“Okay, why are you smiling at me?”
“No reason. Nevermind, don’t worry about it.” She said when she saw me glare at her.
“Alright?”
“Okay then. Aide, what about the apartments?” I asked, changing the subject.
“Yeah, I found three for sale. I set a date for a meeting tomorrow for one of them, but I haven’t set up any meetings for the other two.” She said, showing us a piece of paper with three different addresses scribbled on it. The first address had tomorrow’s date, July 19, and the time 1:30 pm written beside it.
“Sounds good,” I said. “I’m gonna go get a shower.” As I was walking towards the bathroom door, I heard Aide whispering.
“You’re such an idiot,” was what she said.
“What are you talking about?” Jake asked quietly. I assumed I was supposed to be out of ear shot, but I still heard them.
“It’s so obvious,” I recognized Mel’s whisper, and I shut the bathroom door before I’d overhear anymore.
