Daughter of the Mafia

There Are No Rules: Part 16

Even more awkward.

"Hi, Mr. Murphy," Jaci said. "Finn's taking me on a tour tomorrow. It should be really awesome. I'll send you guys pictures."

"Jaci." His voice was extremely calm, a little too calm. Jaci bit her lip, hating to put him through this. "Why don't you bring Finn back here? He can even stay at our hotel with us."

"You guys could join us on the tour," Jaci said, crossing her fingers. "I'll send you the info. I'm totally safe, I promise."

"What's the secret word?" he demanded.

"Secret word? Oh." She'd almost forgotten the safe words their parents established after the kidnapping. She had not once in the two years since then had to use them. But they would save her now. One code word was meant to indicate danger without letting the listener know, while the other to reassure that there was no danger. "Hopscotch." And then she played her trump card. "I'm eighteen now. I'm an adult, and I want to go with him." She put an icy edge to her voice. "You really don't have to worry."

"Now listen to me, honey. I think you're making a very rash decision, and it's not like you."

Jaci interrupted, a flash of genuine anger fueling her words. "How do you know what I'm like? How do any of you know? You all think I'm this perfect, straight-A student, quiet, hard-working. You don't know me. You have no idea what's going on in my head! I'm sick of it! I want to break free! This is my chance. I'm taking it." She choked back a sob, worried he might misunderstand her tears. "I'm not who any of you think I am. This is me."

"Jaci," he said, and she knew from his tone that he believed her. "I'll have to call your mom."

"That's fine. She can't do anything, either. Even if you guys call the police, the most they can do is call me a runaway. And I really wish you guys would just let me take this moment." She wasn't even talking about Finn anymore, but about her father, about this opportunity to get to know him, the one she'd had to sneak off to take. "I'm sorry. You guys can call me anytime on this number, it's his phone. I'll call my mom later. But I'm not coming back."

"Now, Jaci—"

"Bye." Jaci snapped the phone shut and tossed it on the bed. When she looked up, her father was leaning against the doorframe. "That was awful. Like extremely painful."

"I thought you did a good job," he said, his eyes probing her face. As if he knew the emotional outburst wasn't a lie.

Jaci opened her mouth to say something more, but then her phone rang. Not her real phone, but the burner her dad had given her. She stared at it, face down on the bed, afraid of who it might be.

"Is that for you?" she asked, hoping.

He shook his head. "I never used it before I gave it to you."

Jaci grabbed the phone off the bed. Her heart lurched when she recognized the number. Mr. Murphy must have called her as soon as they hung up. "It's Mom."

"Answer it," her father said softly.

Jaci flipped the phone open and put on her perkiest voice. "Mom!"

"Jaci?" There was a sob in her mother's voice, but it was tempered by confusion, even relief that Jaci had answered. She launched into Spanish, throwing out words at a much quicker pace in her native tongue. "Where are you? Why did you leave Amanda? What is this about a boy?"

Jaci closed her eyes briefly and then launched into her rehearsed story. "I know, Mom. I know it's crazy, but I can't even explain it to you. I feel so happy! I feel lighter than I have in weeks, months! It's like everything that happened isn't real, this is real, and I can just forget it all. I'm having a wonderful time."