Blake's POV
"Blake!"
"Blake! Get up!!"
Who was calling?
The voices that floated to me came from somewhere above me. I tried opening my eyes, but they felt so heavy. The distinct sounds of people talking, walking and the crunching of glass, kept me from falling back into deep sleep.
Why were people in my house? I tried to speak, but I couldn't even open my mouth to say anything. My tongue felt like leather and I could feel gashes throb inside my mouth.
"Dammit! Jerome, what do we do? He won't get up?!"
"Shelby, you need to calm down. I've already explained that someone's taken Jaden."
Jaden? What did they mean by 'taken'?!!
In a flash, the events flooded my mind. I remembered being surrounded by two men and even remembered the hit I took. It felt so vivid that I was jerked awake, my body bolting straight up. "Jaden! Where's Jaden?!" As I spoke, my entire jaw flamed up in utter anguish, and my head felt like it was swinging wildly in circles.
My entire body was aching, but as I let my eyes finally adjust, I could see the worried faces of Jerome and Shelby staring at me with concern."Blake! Hold on, you need to lay down and stay put. You got a nasty bat to the face and we need to take you to a hospital," Jerome stated, pushing me back down.
I swatted his hand away.
How could he say that?! Jaden was taken, and I wasn't going to be told to 'stay put' while I still have to time to find him... safely.
The last time I was confined in a hospital, he went through horrors that only he knows about. Being helpless then was my fault, but I wasn't going to let that happen again. I had to get up and save him before anything happened to him.
I felt like crying. My anger was erupting like a volcano but it was mostly aimed at myself because even at a time like this, I had been rendered useless in my aim to protect Jaden once more.
Looking past them, I saw policemen walking through my house. I had been placed on my couch, and they would periodically stare my way. Paramedics came and checked on me for any other injuries that hadn't already been stitched up.
An officer took his stance in front of me with a nod. "Well hello there Blake. Its been a while since I've last had to come babysit you," the officer sporting a white mustache and give me a knowing look as he started.
Officer Bergens was a "cop" who had been assigned to me during my lawless days. The last time I saw him was after Jaden had been attacked. He was the type of Commanding officer hired by my father to 'take care of things' quietly. "This was some scuffle you had here. It looks like they've been watching the house for quiet some time. Some of your neighbors had reported an unregistered car hanging about these areas."
"Why wasn't I made aware of it?" I spat out angrily. "Someone should've said something so I could've at the least did something."
"Unfortunately, our system is flawed Mr. Arons. You weren't completely taken off the family registery nor was your son, but you did leave the main house," Bergens explained. "I believe your Father let you go officially after the kid was attacked the first time. You know, to keep him out of the public eye for safety."
My fisted hands slammed unto the top of the center table. "Yeah right. That old coot doesn't think about anyone except his precious Arons empire," I swore.
"And empire that so happens to be made up of those with the Arons blood which runs through your veins as well," the seasoned officer pointed out. He hadn't lost his touch for putting me into place when I misspoke against my father.
I shook my head irritatedly. Shelby was by my side rubbing my back, worry etched all over her delicate features. A guy with a clipboard came to Bergens and whispered something to him and Jerome was returning after having been questioned himself.
"Could it have been an inside job?" Jerome suddenly asked.
Bergens gave Jerome a silent stare down and he directed his gaze at me as he confirmed the speculations. "We believe it might be. Some of the Arons property deeds had been stolen a couple nights ago."
"How convenient for that to have happened just before taking Jaden," I stated sarcastically. There was something deep within me that was bubbling up. I kept trying to calm my head, but I was so angry, that I couldn't think straight.
"Do you know of anyone that would want to hurt you and/or your family?"
I shook my head negatively. If I had any enemies, they were surely undercover because I don't exactly know anyone who'd hate me for any reason. What would I do if I couldn't help Jaden? He was all that I had. There was no way I'd let him just get taken away from me, when I was finally able to hold him in my arms without feeling like I was preying on his weaknesses.
"Okay. I really am sorry Blake. We'll do our best to locate Jaden. So far only one cabin property had been checked out but no other leads. For now, lets just try to get you to the hospital to get checked for any internal injuries."
I didn't move, and so we all watched the Officer walk away. I was looking down at the center table. My fists were clamped so tight that I could see the white of my knuckles. Why was this happening?
Jerome wrapped an arm around me and place my arm over his shoulders, so I could put my weight on him as we headed out. Shelby lead the way to the car, quickly opening the back seat to help me get in. I went through the motions but my head was chaos.
How was going to save Jaden? There had to be a way.
For all I knew, maybe this was some kind of sick joke by someone. I wouldn't put it pass an arrogant rogué to do something like this. As we drove towards the hospital, my mind and my heart were filled with Jaden. I hoped to the Gods that he was okay. I couldn't bare to loose him right now.
"Blake, there's something that I've been wondering for a while," Jerome said as he broke the silence in the car. "Neil had stayed on the phone even after they knocked you out. I had told the other guys that we heard someone over the phone said they were gonna take him to the cabin."
"All the cabins properties were gonna be surveyed first," Shelby stated her face going up in a scowl at the thought itself. "We'll just have to wait for something to come up."
"Why would Brad suddenly do a deed exchange??" I thought out loud. "It's just that we had an argument the other day about Jaden."
"I'm not surprise. Brad was obsessed with Susan back in the day. Susan would say 'jump' and Brad would be the one asking 'how high?'. It had gotten so bad that while you were off enjoying rehab, Brad broke into Susan's parents house threatening to kill your unborn offspring, saying that the kid should have been his. I'm pretty sure he was high on some other dealer's shit cause I had stopped supplying him long before that."
"Wait... what?!"
"Your family covered it up pretty well but I was at the party so I remembered the officials telling us that 'nothing happened here'. That's after they took Brad. You don't think Brad has something to do with this, do you? I mean, he's the Uncle; what's he gonna do?"
I didn't know anything about that!!
Susan never told me about this. Then again, Susan only cared about drugs. She never thought about anyone or anything else once she had gotten what she wanted.
"Between the hot gossips of Susan's pregnancy and your being in rehab, Brad was withdrew from school. No one noticed when he left. They just noted that none of the Arons were attending classes anymore," Shelby recounted.
"I heard from my Dad, that your folks sent him to private ward claiming that it was for his own good since he was misusing Misoprostol. He probably thought I didn't know what it was for and judging from your faces... I'm assuming you guys don't know what it's for either. It's a pill used for medical abortion purposes," Jerome explained. "People talk when you start hearing about a newbie asking around for Succinylcholine.'
My brain suddenly remembered that the orderlies at the rehab had once had to use Succinylcholine on one of the guys at the center because he had gotten way too violent. No one could have controlled him and they had to give him a dosage of the drug.
"Why would Brad need a paralyzing agent?" I asked out loud.
"He don't seem right man. His days in the loony bin give him these crazy eyes that don't rub me right. At the bar, he kept mumbling to himself. I completely disregarded him after Jaden started loosing his shit," Jerome explained.
My gut twisted.
"Brad is my brother. I don't think he'd want to hurt Jaden, would he?" I asked rhetorically.
It was already mid-evening. The skies were already preparing for the setting of the sun. To think that just a couple hours ago, I had woke up with Jaden right next to me.
Why hadn't I tried harder to keep them from taking him? Am I so useless that I can't even protect Jaden? My heart weighed heavily in my chest.
Something felt like it was steadily sinking inside me. I wasn't dumb but at the same time, I didn't want to think like this. My brother and I had had some rough patches, but it wasn't enough for him to want to hurt me or Jaden, was it?
But if I had to ask myself that question, then maybe there was.
I was now stuck with trying to swallow the idea that Brad could possibly be behind this. If I find Brad, I find Jaden but where do I even start looking? They could be anywhere. Jerome had said a cabin but what did a cabin had to do with this?
A cabin?
My parents were never the outdoorsy type. They'd never buy a cabin that wasn't in the least bit luxurious. A cabin was something that a commoner would have. I still wanted to believe that Brad had nothing to do with this.
At the same time, I wouldn't be surprised if he did. Why did he want Jaden in the first place? The brother inside me wished for some sign of his innocence, even though every thing else pointed to the opposite direction.
Suddenly Shelby gasped loudly jolting me from my thoughts. "Blake!! Susan's parents owned a cabin. After they left the town, the cabin was left abandoned and the Arons took ownership of it!!" Shelby exclaimed as she made the car do a perfect U-turn on the asphalt highway.
"How fast can we get there?" I asked.
"If Blondie is driving… in no time at all," Jerome stated. "You'll be shaking but in one piece. I'll call Bergens to meet us there." I didn't even care how we got there, as long as we did.
I just hope that I wasn't too late.
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