Chapter 6
****Melanie
From what little I could get from her, Damian had been draining her every time she was awake. She'd been passed out most of the time she'd been there and didn't even know how long she had been there. I kept waiting for her to wake up enough to hear me, but I couldn't keep my concentration long enough. After I had some room service delivered, I tried to find my mother. I got the feeling Damian kept her in much of the same state as Alexis. A little over three hours had passed since I had heard from Myron or Garret, so I gave Myron a call. Unfortunately, it went straight to voice mail, so I tried Garret. Voice mail, too. 'Maybe they're in a bad spot. I'll give them a few minutes and call back.' I picked at the room service for what felt like hours, but it had only been twenty minutes, before I tried both of their cell phones and got their voice mail, again. 'Okay. Now I'm worried. Where could they be? That S.O.B. better not have done anything to them.' Just then there was a knock on the door. I almost answered but I remember what Myron had said. 'They have keys!' My mind screamed. 'Be quiet! Don't move! Don't make a sound!' I hoped like crazy they'd go away. They knocked a couple more times, before finally giving up. I stayed as quiet as I could for long time. When my phone rang, I almost jump out of the chair. I glanced at the number before answering. "Myron, where the Hell are you guys?"
"On our way back now."
"Someone was here a few minutes ago. I didn't make a noise until my phone rang. I don't think they're still out there but be careful anyway."
"Just stay inside. We'll be there in about twenty minutes."
"Okay." He hung up, and I started to wonder, if whoever knocked on the door, would still be out there. I wanted to look, but I'm not that stupid. 'I'll wait for Myron and Garret. Twenty minutes isn't so bad.'
As it turns out, it was bad. An hour and twenty minutes later, I was pacing the floor, calling both their cell phones, non-stop. I had almost given up when they finally came through the door. "Where the Hell have you been!? I've been worried sick for over an hour!"
"Relax. We have some good news." Garret soothed.
"It better be good."
Myron calmly said "It is. Look outside the window."
As I walked to the window, I asked "What am I supposed to be looking for?"
"We were almost back here, when we saw one of Damian's goons, so we followed him." Garret said smugly.
Myron pointed across the street. "You see that white car over there? It belongs to Gregory. One of Damian's favorites."
"We knocked him out and put him in the truck." Garret gloated.
"Nice! Now what do we do?" I said excitedly.
"We make an exchange." Myron said with a hint of worry.
"An exchange for who? He won't give us all three of them for this Gregory."
"We might be able to get Vincent and Charlotte for him." Myron offered.
"What about Alexis?"
"We'll find another way." Garret quickly said.
"With all of us, we might have a better chance of getting her back." Myron added.
"I don't like it, but, if we get uncle Vin and my mother back, it's a start."
"It's all we've got for now." Garret said glumly.
"We have to try." Myron urged.
"When?" I asked.
"The sooner the better." Myron said.
"Don't tell me I'm staying here." I said angrily.
Garret glanced at Myron and said "She could drive the car while we follow on foot."
"She can't get to close, or they'll see her."
"They already know I exist. They could've taken, killed or knocked me out at the hospital. I was right there within their reach. I was an easy target. They didn't even try to do anything to me."
"I think that was because of Alexis." Myron said softly. "I doubt she would've have gone with them without securing your safety above any of ours or her own."
I swallowed hard, thinking of what she might have agreed to. "I guess I know that."
Garret put a hand on my shoulder and soothingly offered "He won't hurt her, Mel. He wants her alive. The worst thing he'll do to her is drink from her."
Myron added "And have her take away their thirst." I made a sound of disgust, and he added "She's been through much worse. She'll be fine, Mel. You know she will. She’s too damn strong to let anything put her down for too long."
"Yeah. I guess you're right. ... We're not just going to drive up and park in Damian's front yard, so what do we do?"
They looked at each other, and Garret shrugged "That's not a bad idea, actually."
"What!?" Myron and I blurted at the same time, and I added "Are you insane?!"
"No. Hear me out. ... We park the car on their doorstep with a note saying we'll trade Gregory for Charlotte and Vincent. Give them one of our cell numbers."
"Okay. Then what?" I asked.
"Then we wait."
As I grabbed my laptop bag and pulled out my notepad, I asked "What do we put on the note?"
"We have Gregory. We want to trade for Vincent and Charlotte. Leave it at that and put my number on the bottom." As Myron spoke, I scribbled it down.
Garret asked "What do we do with Gregory in the meantime?"
"We could bring him in here." I offered.
"No." They both snapped.
"Okay. It was just a suggestion." I said defensively.
"We can't leave him in the car much longer. He should be waking up soon. It won't take him long to get out of the truck." Garret said nervously.
"We could rough him up enough that he won't be able to get out. We could watch the car all night if we have to and send the message to Damian." I suggested.
"What do mean?" Myron asked.
"I mean, keep Gregory in the truck and send the note by messenger."
"That could work." Garret thought out loud, nodding.
"Okay. That's the plan, then." Myron agreed.
Myron and Garret spent the night keeping Gregory subdued. I on the other hand spent most of the night nervously pacing the floor. 'This has to work. ... I don't like leaving aunt Lex with that creep, but he won't give her up that easy. He's had way to long to plan this. He'd sooner give up his so called favorites than Lex. ... It has to be easier with Vin and my mother. Why would want them? ... Why did he take them and leave us? I need to call Myron.' I quickly picked up my cell and called him. When he answered, I could hardly contain my worry. "Myron, we were asking the wrong questions before."
"Slow down, Mel. What are you talking about?"
"Remember when you said something about why would they leave us alone? That it was because of Alexis, right? So why take Vin and my mother? That's the real question."
"I've already thought about, too. They are her favorites second only to you."
"Okay. So why leave me completely untouched?"
"The only thing we could think of would be because Alexis would've put a fight. She had to have gone willingly, or none of us would still be alive."
"I think we're missing something."
"What are we missing? Mel you have to trust me. Okay? We'll make the trade, and we will get Alexis back. It might take a little time, but we'll get her. You need to calm down and get some rest."
"Okay, Myron. I'm just scared and worried. I don't like this. Something doesn't feel right."
"I know. I feel it, too. Garret does, too. We just have to be careful and watch our backs. ... Get some rest. We've got a long day tomorrow."
"I'll try." I hung up and kept pacing. 'Why leave me completely alone? ... It doesn't make sense. ... I was right there. ... Why didn't I stay with her? ... I should've stayed. ... I could see all the driveway exits. How did they get her out without me seeing? ... Maybe I wasn't paying attention enough.' By seven in the morning I was exhausted. When I finally gave up and went to bed, I couldn't even see straight.
**** Melanie
