Chapter Twenty-Four

Red. It’s all I could see when my eyes finally fluttered open, as if the sky had been painted in the color. At first, when I snapped back into consciousness, I was scared it might have been blood, but there were gold lanterns dangling above my head, which didn’t make any sense. Where was I? Wasn’t I meant to be at the Golden Globes, or did that already happen? It was definitely night time; everything else besides the lanterns was dark. But what day was it?

And then suddenly everything came screeching back. The red carpet, my fight with Jack, the mystery guy in the baseball cap and the overwhelming sensation of being suffocated. I straightened my head so I could get a better understanding of where I was, even though it was still spinning and I was partially seeing double.

“Oh good, you’re awake,” I heard a man’s voice say, and I turned my head in the direction of the sound, still groggy from whatever had happened to me.

“Where am I?” I croaked.

I tried to move the hair falling onto my face from my loosened bun, but found that I was unable to lift my hands. I forced my eyes to widen long enough to realize I was sitting on a chair with my hands tied together behind my back. I tried to move my feet, but the same thing had been done to stop me from running away. My gown was still on me, its fabric covering my legs so I couldn’t see my feet. It was still in fairly good condition, although it looked dirty now, and some of the netting had been torn.

“Gia Winters,” the man said, coming into view from behind the shadows. “Pleasure to finally meet you.”

It took me no more than two seconds to figure out who the mystery man was. Frank Parker. He didn’t look much older than my dad, but his face showed weariness and exhaustion. Frank Parker was definitely a man who would have had Hollywood good looks back in the day, but now the stress of his life was painted across his face. He was fairly tall, and was dressed in creased blue jeans, a white shirt and the same leather jacket he had worn at the Coco Club. His brown hair had traces of grey in it, and his smile seemed friendly. If I had run into him at the grocery store, I would never have been able to tell he was capable of kidnapping.

“Frank Parker.” I said. “Dr. D.”

“The one and only,” he replied. “Welcome to my humble abode.”

I scanned my surroundings. The chair I was tied to seemed to be in the middle of a deserted street. There were shops on either side of me, all labeled in Chinese characters, but every one of them was closed. There must have been a hundred lanterns woven through string above my head, lighting up the otherwise dim street. The sidewalks were empty and unusually clean. There was no sign of life around. No one to help me out.

“Are we in China?” I asked, my voice feeling hoarse.

Frank gave me a pleased look and said, “Close enough. I’m glad the set managed to convince you.”

I turned my attention back to him. “Set?”

“Gia, we’re on a film set. Welcome to Universal Studios.”

Suddenly everything clicked into place, and I saw things as they really were. Of course the street was deserted. None of it was real! The shops began to look like paintings and the sidewalk completely fake. The ceiling may have been shining with golden lights, but it wasn’t a real parade. I was in a movie.

I looked down at the chair I was sitting on and felt the strings that were wrapped around my feet and hands dig into my skin roughly. I tugged on them desperately, but they only scratched my skin harder. My heels were still on my feet, which felt like they were about to fall off, and the hair continued to tumble down my face.

“The Golden Globes?” I asked, trying to keep the panic out of my voice.

“Happening as we speak,” Frank replied, pacing around in front of me.

“Listen . . .” I struggled to find the right thing to call Frank. “Mr. Parker . . . Sir. I’m really sorry about everything that happened to you. But kidnapping me isn’t going to solve anything! I swear if you let me go, I won’t press charges.”

Yeah right. I was going to go straight to Milo and the Feds and not looking back for one second.

“How noble of you,” Frank said, feigning appreciation. “But I think I’ll stick to my plan for now.”

I heard footsteps come from my right, and the guy from backstage appeared from the shadows. This time I had a pretty good idea of how he fit into the puzzle. He was the waiter at the Dumpling Hospital. He was the karate kid from the UCLA party. Ao Jie Kai. My gaze cut into him, intensely watching the almost helpless look on his face. He was trying to keep his eyes ahead of him, but every few seconds he would glance at me tied to the chair. Oh, so now you’re sorry for helping a crazy guy kidnap me? Thanks. A fat lot of help your apology will do now.

“Ah,” Frank said, patting AJ on the back. “I see you’ve recognized my right-hand man.”

“How did you even get me here?” I asked, my voice threatening to give way to tears.

“Through a lot of careful planning, and this guy,” Frank replied, proudly looking at AJ.

“You drugged me,” I said, helplessly tugging on the ropes once more.

“Uh, kind of,” AJ mumbled, staring at his feet.

“You see,” Frank began, “AJ here managed to slip backstage through the hustle and bustle. Everyone was so fixated on the award ceremony going smoothly no one would notice the people in the black uniforms. Then, when you had your little tiff with that bodyguard of yours, AJ called security and had him thrown out. All we needed was a little distraction to keep him busy while we dealt with you.”

“Yes, but how did I end up here? Someone must have noticed you drugging me in the middle of a crowd!”

“That’s the best part, Gia!” Frank exclaimed, clapping his hands together in excitement. “It was all about the timing. You turned, he chloroformed, you collapsed and he told everyone that you had fainted due to the pressure of the awards. Besides, everyone had seen your fight with the bodyguard and how upset you were. It was such an honor to be named Miss Golden Globe. Everyone could understand the stress that came with it.”

Chloroform? This kind of stuff didn’t happen in real life. There was no way Frank’s story was true, yet the evidence was damning. I was strapped to a chair in a dimly lit warehouse with nobody to help me. I wasn’t sure if that was terrifying or impressive.

“So then . . .” I began, playing the scenario out in my head.

“So then the kind helper volunteered to help you out, get you some fresh air and some water before you went on stage. After that it was just a matter of sneaking you out of the nearest backdoor emergency exit. And here we are.”

Staring up at Frank Parker’s almost manic smile had made something very clear: he was a total nut job. And quite possibly a genius. That plan had so many opportunities to go wrong, and yet he had managed to pull it off. He had managed to snatch me up in front of a room full of people, and get away without being caught.

I opened my mouth to plead with him once more, but the muffled sound of my ringtone stopped me. Frank pulled out my phone from his jacket pocket and smiled at the screen.

“Oh look, it’s Blondie!” he said, holding the phone to show me. The screen told me it was Jack calling. “This must be call number twenty four. That’s three more times than that cop. Makes you wonder what that means.”

I had no idea how long it had been since I had been gone, but at least people were out looking for me. It was no use if I knew where I was if I couldn’t tell them. All I needed was a few seconds with Jack to yell out our location, and that was it.

“Please let me talk to him!” I cried over the sound of the ringing.

Dr. D ignored me and answered, looking at Ao Jie Kai. He cocked his head toward me and AJ walked over to my chair, putting a hand aggressively over my mouth.

“Gia’s phone!” Frank chirped in a singsong voice. I shook my head from side to side desperately, and AJ’s grip hardened. “I’m sorry, she can’t come to the phone right now. She’s a little . . .” Frank paused, taking a moment to smile at me. “Tied up.”

I’m not sure what was more painful; being tied to a chair or having to listen to Frank’s lame joke. I bit AJ’s finger as hard as I could, causing him to sharply remove it from my mouth and yelp out in pain.

“JACK, WE’RE AT—” I screamed as loud as I could, and AJ immediately pulled out a handkerchief from his pocket and wrapped it around my mouth, between my parted lips.

Frank shot AJ a look that read get it together and turned his attention back to Jack on the phone. Tears were streaming down my cheek and I sobbed into the handkerchief. It tasted foul, its fabric brushing against my tongue roughly. The ropes on my feet and hands were cutting into my skin with every second that passed, and there was nothing I could do to about it.

“You have half an hour to bring me five million dollars at Universal Studios. And for every minute you’re late, I cut off one of her fingers. Does that sound fair?”

Oh. HELL. No. I needed my fingers, big time. What the hell was Milo going to do if he ever decided to propose? I wasn’t going to wear the ring on a necklace like some girl whose flaky fiancé couldn’t commit to a wedding date. Plus I had just gotten my nails done, so that would have been a complete waste of time. I tried to scream, but it was muted by the handkerchief. I wriggled harder in my chair. It was almost as useless as just asking Frank to kindly let me go. If I only I had practiced telepathy with Jack before I got kidnapped. All my life’s problems might have been solved.

“Oh, you’re smart. You can work that out for yourself,” Frank was saying into the phone.

I had no idea what Jack had asked him, but I knew he wouldn’t be happy with his reply. Frank thrust the phone to my ear and pulled the handkerchief down roughly.

“He wants to make sure you’re alive,” Frank told me, in an almost bored voice.

“Jack, please!” My sobbing was practically hysterical now.

“Gia! Oh my God! Are you alright? Of course you’re not alright, what am I saying?” Jack was yelling into the phone. His voice was frantic, as if he couldn’t get his thoughts in order. “Don’t worry! I’m coming. We’re going to get you out of there and we’re going to—”

The phone and Jack’s voice were yanked away from me, as Dr. D placed the phone back to his ear and replaced the handkerchief over my mouth.

“No police. Just you and Harry. You’ve now got twenty-eight minutes. Tick tock,” he said, and cut the phone abruptly. “For your sake,” Frank said, putting my phone in his jeans pocket. “I hope your boyfriend’s punctual.”

I rested my back against the chair again, wriggling my wrists around and trying to loosen the strings with no luck. I tried to steady myself but I couldn’t stop crying. I didn’t care that Frank was pacing in front of me, looking completely disinterested in my pain. I cried because I was helpless. I cried because I wanted to go home. I cried because I had been immature and spiteful, and maybe Jack could have stopped this if I had been smarter. I cried because I was completely alone and absolutely terrified. But crying wasn’t going to get me out of there alive. So when I had given myself enough time for self-pity, I concentrated on composing myself as best as I could so I could review my options.

I sniffled, shaking the tears off my cheeks. Through my blurred vision, it looked like there might have been a door in the far corner of the room. I couldn’t tell for sure because it was mostly hidden by a large, red dragon; the kind used in Chinese parades which needs people to make up its body within the long fabric. If I could somehow get myself off this chair, I might be able to make it to the door and out of the studio. It was a long shot, but I had less than half an hour to try to save myself.

“You can go,” Dr. D told Ao Jie Kai, who was standing behind my chair, out of sight. “But I may need you later.”

I heard footsteps walk away into the distance, and forced myself to concentrate. AJ was clearly going somewhere, which meant there was another possible exit route behind me.

“You know, it’s pretty lucky you got chosen to do that thing at the Golden Globes,” Frank said, and I stared at him, concentrating on keeping my breathing steady. “I was going to go through with the plan with or without the whole fancy title, but I guess life throws you a bone once in a while.”

I stared at Frank silently. I couldn’t reply even if I wanted to. Not with the stupid cloth in my mouth. Clearly Frank had chosen it as a symbolic date, and had gotten lucky with me being crowned Miss Golden Globe. He was right. Sometimes luck does change. Sometimes it’s not for the best.

“I’m bored,” Frank continued, giving a small sigh. Now that I had stopped crying, he had run out of entertainment. “We’ve got all this time, and there really isn’t much to do on a half completed film set.”

I looked at Frank in disbelief. How could he just sit less than a few feet away from me and tell me he was bored, while I furiously tried to untie myself? I wriggled my hands once more, but the rope wasn’t budging. Frank looked at me thoughtfully, as if contemplating something in his mind. He finally leaned over and removed the cloth from my mouth.

“Please!” I begged, the moment I could move my lips freely. “If it’s money you want, then we have plenty! A lot more than five million. Just please let me go!”

“Easy there, kid,” he replied with a scoff. “I only took that out of your mouth so you could actually reply when I said something, and it didn’t feel like I was talking to a wall. The begging isn’t going to help.”

If begging wouldn’t work, then I would try reasoning. Either way, I wouldn’t stop trying.

“I get it,” I said slowly, carefully choosing my words. The tears on my cheeks were beginning to dry. “I understand why you’re angry. You’ve had a crap life that you didn’t deserve, while my dad got super lucky. Bu—”

Frank gave a humorless laugh and said, “Lucky? Winning the lottery is lucky, Gia. No, this wasn’t luck. Your father took my big break from me. He stole my life from me and claimed it as his own.”

“You must have made a mistake! My dad would never do that to someone. Especially someone who was his best friend!”

“Why,” Frank demanded, looking at me with cold hatred in his eyes. “Do you think I felt so betrayed? I was his best friend. He was like my brother! Why do you think it hurt so much, huh?”

I didn’t answer. There was no way my dad would do that to someone. Yes, we didn’t always get along. Yes, things had been the rockiest recently given all his secret keeping, and mine too, to be fair. But there was no way Dad was capable of what Frank thought he had done to him all those years ago. Frank blinked and suddenly his friendly smile reappeared, as if he had flicked a switch in his brain. I yanked on my ropes one more time, not expecting anything to come of it. Sure enough, they remained tightly wrapped around my wrists and ankles.

“Well, can I ask you a question?” I said, not giving him time to respond before continuing. “What are you going to do with the five million? I mean, how is it going to fix everything?”

“Ah!” Frank said, as if he were conducting a magic trick. “I’m glad you asked. I’m going to add it to my movie fund.”

“Movie fund?”

“Gia, I didn’t bring you to this set randomly. Everything I’m doing, everything I’ve done has had a purpose.”

I looked at him, confused. “I—I don’t understand.”

Frank extended his arms by his side, a proud look on his face. “This,” he said. “This is all mine.”

I looked around at the set, eyeing the lanterns and painted shops one more time. His? There was no way someone like Frank Parker could afford a set like this. The Dumpling Hospital was on the verge of going out of business, he’d been living out of his car for the past week and his apartment wasn’t exactly a Beverly Hills condo. None of this was adding up.

“This is for your movie?” I asked, turning my attention back to Frank, who had resumed pacing in front of my chair.

“Yes, Gia. This is my movie. And to answer your second question, those five million dollars aren’t going to change the past. But it’ll certainly help the future.”

“No offense,” I said slowly, being extra careful not to say the wrong thing. “But five million is kind of a small budget for a movie. And this set is . . .” I trailed off, hoping he’d understand what I was saying.

“I’m not a fool, Gia,” Frank replied. “Admittedly I’ve had some help on the money front. I did some work back in China for some men who offered to help me out a little.”

My thoughts immediately shifted to Jack and his mysterious trust fund. There was no way Jack was involved, like Milo thought he was. Or else he’d be in Ao Jie Kai’s place instead of panicking on the phone. That, or he was an excellent actor.

“Some men?” I repeated, raising an eyebrow.

“Powerful men.”

“What kind of work?”

Frank stopped pacing and looked over at me thoughtfully. “You ask a lot of questions.”

“I’m just trying to figure out how it came to this,” I told him.

And I meant it too. Also I had managed to loosen one of the ropes off one of my wrists and was tugging on it gently so that it would give way. My skin underneath the ropes felt raw and ached every time I moved my hands, but if I could manage to get them off me then I had a chance to get away. That was only a possibility if I kept Frank distracted.

“I think I’ve already made it pretty clear how it came to this, and I think you have your father to blame for that.”

If this were a movie, I would have managed to get the ropes untied, picked up the chair and smashed it into Frank, managing to look sexy the whole time. But this was real life, and real life sucked. There was some revenge-driven psychopath who hated my dad and wouldn’t stop talking about it, and then there was me. Helpless little Gia, tied to a chair with a ripped gown and mascara probably running all down my face and ruining my perfect contour.

“How did you manage to bug my house?” I asked. “I know you infiltrated that cleaning company, but h—”

“Infiltrated?” Frank echoed with a genuine laugh. “You make it sound like a spy movie.”

Really? At a time like this he was going to be iffy about my word choices?

“Was it Ao Jie Kai?”

“Yes, actually, it was” Frank said, beginning to sound impatient. I knew there was only so much more I could ask, but I pushed on.

“How did he manage it?”

I cast my mind back to the day the cleaning crew were in the house. I had been fighting with Dad that day about something or the other; I couldn’t even remember. Ao Jie Kai, however he managed to get into the cleaning company undercover, would have had plenty of opportunity to plant the bugs all over my house. He was an IT specialist after all, so it probably wouldn’t have been that hard to break apart my phone. Dad and I were so distracted yelling at each other I wouldn’t have noticed for one second if he had cracked my phone open in front of me. Now whatever we had been fighting about seemed so stupid and insignificant.

“You know,” Frank said, narrowing his eyes at me. I turned my attention away from my daydream and back to the nightmare playing out in front of me. “It was bad enough that I had to listen to your nonsense all day long through the bugs. And now this interrogation? Do you ever just keep quiet?”

Not going to lie, he had bruised my feelings a bit with that one. I mean, wasn’t it bad enough that he had tied me to a chair? It’s not like I had asked him to eavesdrop on me all day long! Now he was just getting personal.

“That final bug . . .” I began, suddenly remembering that it was still somewhere in my house.

“And it continues!” Frank exclaimed, an amused look on his face.

I ignored him but tugged on the ropes a little harder, wincing as it dug further into my skin. I tried to be subtle, not moving my body too much to raise suspicion. Luckily I had loosened one to the point where I could almost release my hand.

“Where’s that last one? The police never found it.”

“That’s because you never bothered to check your dog’s collar.”

“My dog?” My jaw dropped, and I momentarily forgot the ropes.

“Clever, isn’t it? Although sometimes very inconvenient. That dog spends most of his time hiding in bushes, by the sounds of it.”

Okay, messing with me was one thing. But touching my dog was a whole different game. If I ever got out of the ropes, I was going to kill him.

“And I guess you were behind the paparazzi ambush too?” I asked, and Frank nodded.

“Bad publicity is still good publicity, Gia,” he said simply.

“You didn’t by any chance have a hand in the Meghan Adams prank did you?”

Frank looked confused. “That one I can’t take credit for.”

It was worth asking. Evil people run in the same crowds.

“Tell me about the poisoned dumpling,” I demanded. “If you say my dad did all those things to you, then I deserve to know everything from the beginning. How else can I believe you?”

Frank sighed and checked his watch. I didn’t know how much time had passed, but judging by his impatience, it hadn’t been long. He looked at me reluctantly, and gave another sigh as he launched into his explanation.

Frank began his story about how he approached Brendan after school, a few days after Jack’s first day. He told me about offering him a discount on catering, telling Brendan a sob story about how he worked in the school cafeteria and heard about the party, and how he was a restaurateur, struggling to make ends meet. Brendan, being the nice guy he was, gave him a chance. That became the point where he roped Ao Jie Kai in as a “waiter” at the party, offering him a little extra cash for his troubles. He had all the technology experience necessary, and needed the money to pay for school.

“But there was poison in that dumpling,” I cried, waiting for him to finish. “You could have killed me if your original plan had worked!”

“Oh calm down, it was a tiny amount. It was just meant to send a message,” Frank said, waving a hand dismissively. “Such an over actor, just like your father.”

Careful Frank, your jealousy is showing.

“So how come you went after me, and not my brother?”

Frank slapped a hand over his eyes and groaned in frustration. “You seriously never stop talking!”

“I’m just curious!”

“I swear, I’m going to shove that handkerchief back in your mouth.”

“No! Okay, sorry! I’ll shut up.”

I clasped my lips together, and looked down at my lap. Anything to stop that filthy cloth from being thrust between my lips again. After about a minute of silence, Frank rolled his eyes dramatically.

“I called your brother first,” he said, and I looked up in surprise. “Tried to threaten him a little; scare him. But he kept laughing and calling me Brody. He must have thought I was his friend prank calling or something. It must have been the voice-altering app that AJ suggested I use on my phone. It didn’t always make me sound as threatening as I would have hoped.”

Well there you have it folks. Mike was literally too dumb to stalk.

“I still don’t get why you went after us and not Dad. If he’s the one who betrayed you, then why didn’t you do anything to him?”

“Gia,” Frank said. “Targeting your father would have done nothing. What could I have possibly taken from him that he truly cared about? A car? A watch? These material things come and go. But his kids, on the other hand, are irreplaceable. Possibly the only people he loves more than himself.”

I hated to admit it, but he was right. Frank wanted Dad’s suffering to be long and extensive, just like his had been. It’s not like he could snatch Dad’s career away from him. The damage was already done in his eyes, and there was no turning back time. His only option was to make my dad feel so scared of losing everything he cared about, despite having it all.

“Can I have one more question?”

“You’re going to ask it either way, right?”

“That depends. Not if you’re going to kill me for it.”

“One!” he said, throwing his hands up in frustration. “You get one more question and that’s it.”

It was as if we were playing celebrity heads and I couldn’t guess which celebrity he had appointed me. I racked my brain for a good question to ask him, something that would hopefully make a difference to my situation in some way.

“Can I save it for later?” I asked.

“No.”

“Who’s going to be in your movie?”

Nice one, Gia. You didn’t bother to ask him if he could pass you a bottle of water or maybe an apple or gee, I don’t know, something to help untie you. Instead you asked him who his fantasy cast would be. There was no way in hell Frank Parker was going to get away with what he did fast enough to round up a group of actors. Even if they were all unemployed and desperate for work, the chances of Frank having more than just himself and his pal AJ as the leads, was slim to none. And I didn’t think anyone would want to watch The Adventures of a Crazed Lunatic and His At Times Uncertain Sidekick.

“I was thinking about asking your mother to play the lead role opposite me,” Frank said with a smile that made me want to knock him out. “Think she’ll agree?”

I didn’t dignify his sick question with a response. Instead I carefully squeezed my hand through the loosened rope and began freeing my other hand as discreetly as I could. My legs were still firmly tied and hidden underneath my gown. But at least if I got my hands free I would have a better chance of fighting back if necessary.

“Just over ten minutes to go,” Frank said, tapping on his watch. “I hope they’re close.”

“They’ll never make it here on time,” I replied, trying to keep the defeat and panic out of my voice. “You’re setting them up for a loss.”

Frank nodded sympathetically and said, “What a shame for you.”

“I don’t suppose you want to untie me?”

“I don’t suppose I do.”

Okay, worth a shot.

“Frank,” Ao Jie Kai’s voice came from somewhere behind me, his footsteps growing louder as he approached us.

I quickly slipped my hand through the rope once more, wincing as it roughly grazed my skin. I sent a little prayer to Baby J, hoping that AJ hadn’t noticed, and that Jack and my dad were close by. With lots of backup.

“What?” Frank asked AJ, who was still standing behind me and out of my sight.

“The car won’t start.”

“You’re kidding me, right?” Frank said, with an incredulous look on his face.

“I don’t know what happened,” came Ao Jie Kai’s voice. “But it won’t start. I think something’s wrong with the engine.”

“Well fix it!” Frank snapped.

“I—I don’t know how,” Ao Jie Kai replied.

Oh lordy. I actually felt bad for Ao Jie Kai then. Frank was not having a good day, or two decades, to be exact. And AJ was about to become minced meat if he didn’t get that car running. As much as he had it coming, I was scared enough of Frank for the both of us. I could lend him some of my terror.

“You literally had one job!” Frank cried, clasping his eyes shut as if he was struggling to accept his current bad luck. “Forget it, I’ll do it!”

Ao Jie Kai remained silent, but after a few seconds his footsteps began to fade until I couldn’t hear them anymore. One job seemed a little inaccurate. I mean the poor weirdo did have to do most of his dirty work for him.

“Wait—” I began, as Frank gave a frustrated sigh and headed toward the exit.

“I’ll be right back,” Frank said gruffly. “Don’t try anything smart! You’ll get yourself killed.”

I opened my mouth to say something and then closed it again when I saw how scary Frank looked. I nodded to tell him I understood and sat there silently until I heard his footsteps disappear behind me just like AJ’s had. I counted to five in my head after I couldn’t hear anything except my own heart in my chest, and craned my neck to look behind my shoulder. No Frank hiding behind my chair, ready to scare me. Just more lanterns, shadows and pretend Chinese shops.

I whipped my right hand out from rope and examined it carefully. The skin around my wrist was red, and the rope had cut in so far that it was almost bleeding. I blew gently on the raw skin, not knowing how that would help, but doing it anyway. Forcing myself to not burst into tears, I twisted my torso uncomfortably so I could see where my other hand was behind the chair.

“Come on!” I hissed, as I pulled the rope wrapped around my left hand.

It finally began to loosen and I sighed in relief. I yanked on it a little more, only enough so that I could slide my hand in and out of the loop like I could with my other one, but not enough that Frank would notice. Unfortunately there was no hope for my legs. Each one of my ankles had been tied to a separate chair leg and not together like my hands were. If I tried to untie them then I risked exposing the fact that my hands were free. There was no point even attempting to run for it. I’d never free myself in time, and there was no saying what Frank would do to me if he caught me trying to escape.

I did some breathing exercises and carefully took in my surroundings, trying to figure out what could help me in my escape. Finally, by the large dragon in the corner of the room, my eye caught a door handle. I leaned to the left on my chair, squinting to get a better look in the light from the lanterns. Yes! Definitely a door handle. All I needed to do was get past Frank.

I suddenly heard distant talking and I sat up straight in my chair, pushing my hands closer together.

“They’re here!” Frank called from behind me in an almost singsong voice.

My heart began to race as I clasped my eyes shut in a mixture of anxiety and relief. Finally, Frank would get his money and leave us alone forever. Hopefully. I heard footsteps walking from behind me, and my eyes fluttered open just in time to see Frank reappear in front of my chair.

“Where are they?” I asked.

“Timing, Gia. It’s all about the timing. You should know better,” Frank said, as if he were telling his child he was disappointed in them.

I waited silently, holding my breath as Frank mouthed three, two, one. Sure enough, after only three seconds I heard the very same door I planned to escape from, open.

“Oh, thank God,” I whispered, as my dad and Jack came into view, still in their tuxedos.

I tried desperately to hold back my tears, but they sprung to my eyes anyway. I had never been so glad to see Jack in my life, and never as appreciative of my father until that moment. We watched in silence as they approached, Ao Jie Kai re-emerging like a ninja from the dark corners of the set. Dad’s face was painted with worry lines. He looked about twenty years older than he actually was, and was taking deep breaths as he walked over to us. Jack seemed a little calmer, but not at all relaxed. More than anything he looked ready to battle, which I hoped was something that would get us all out alive.

“Welcome!” Frank said with a cheerful smile. “Harry, old pal. Long time, no see.”

“Jesus, Frank!” Dad practically exploded in reply. “That’s my daughter you’ve got tied up there! She’s just a kid!”

“She’s close enough to how old you were when you—”

“When I what?” Dad cried, clearly expressing all the frustration he had managed to keep bottled in until then. “I didn’t do anything to you! This whole vendetta you’ve got against me is ridiculous!”

“Check them,” Frank said, and we all gave him a confused look.

AJ seemed to understand that the instructions were directed toward him, because he stepped into view and began patting down Jack, checking his pockets for any weapons. Jack extended his arms in compliance, locking eyes with me as Ao Jie Kai searched him. He gave me a nod so subtle that I would have missed it if I had blinked, just as AJ moved onto my father to do the same. When he was satisfied that neither had brought in any weapons, he stepped back silently into the shadows.

Fantastic. Jack had brought nothing along to defend us from a lunatic who had me tied to a chair. I know half an hour isn’t much time, but the planning on his part was seriously shoddy. I knew we should have hired John Cena instead.

“Question,” Jack said. “What exactly am I doing here?”

“Are you serious?” I said incredulously, still half-crying. Jack cut his eyes to me, expressionless.

Typical. I was strapped to a chair in the middle of fake China and Jack wanted to know his role in the whole situation.

“You’re here to make sure she cooperates,” Frank told him, cocking his head in my direction.

“Which means?” Jack said.

“So where’s the money, boys?” Frank asked, ignoring Jack.

My gaze dropped to Dad’s hands. No briefcase, so plastic bag, no nothing. I looked at Jack. His hands were empty too.

“I have a check in my pocket,” Dad told him, slowly pulling out a piece of paper from inside his tuxedo coat.

Frank snatched the check from Dad the second it came into view and inspected it thoughtfully. I sniffled.

“Did I not say five million cash?” he asked Dad.

“No,” Jack replied roughly. “You didn’t.”

“Oh silly me,” Frank said, handing the check to AJ. “That check’s not gonna cut it.”

“What?” Jack exclaimed. “No bank just hands you five million dollars on such short notice! It doesn’t work like that!”

“It’s okay, Jack.” Dad said in a surprisingly calm voice. “I’ll give you whatever you want, Frank. Just please let my daughter go.”

“Well that doesn’t seem fair,” Frank replied. “First, you show up late—”

“We’re early!” Jack cried.

“Then you don’t even have what I asked for. And now you want me to give you the one thing I have over you, right now? Yeah, no thanks. I think I’ll keep her tied for a bit longer.”

“Come on, Frank!” Dad said, his desperation beginning to show. “What happened to you? We used to be best friends. Brothers. And now this is what it’s come to?”

“Really breaks your heart, doesn’t it?” Frank sneered, stepping closer to Dad. “Poor Harry and his poor little girl. Well guess what? You got yourself into this mess the moment you chose your fame over your best friend. Your so-called brother.”

Frank spat the word “brother” out like venom. All his cheeriness had disappeared from his face, and in its place was only hatred. It was at that point that I realized Frank was beyond the hope of reason. We just needed to figure out a way to get around him and run.

“I don’t even know what you’re talking about!” Dad cried, throwing his hands in the air in frustration. “You keep yelling about how I betrayed you, when all I did was support you!”

“Support me?” Frank said with a scoff. “So you were supporting me when you convinced Marty to give you a once in a lifetime role that made your career? A role that was given to me first!”

“What role?” Dad cried out in exasperation. “I don’t understand!”

“Piece of My Heart!” Frank shot back, his loud voice echoing off the set walls. “That role was mine and you took it from me! You left me with nothing!”

Dad’s face filled with confusion. “You were offered the lead in Piece of My Heart?”

“Oh come on!” Frank exclaimed, glaring at Dad. “Don’t act so surprised. You’re not that good of an actor.”

“Frank, I swear,” Dad said firmly. “I didn’t know!”

“So you’re telling me,” Frank began. “That you didn’t know I was offered the part? And that you didn’t know Marty came to me, told me they decided to go with you instead. That they held another audition for you upon your request for a second chance, and they gave it to you instead of me.”

“Yes!” Dad cried. “That’s exactly right. I didn’t know any of that! And they never held another audition for me!”

Frank shook his head in disbelief. “You’re lying.”

“Frank,” Dad said, steadying his voice. “I swear to you. I didn’t know you got offered the role. You never even told me!”

“You never gave me a chance!” Frank snapped. “Nobody did. They just handed you the role like you got handed everything else.”

“That’s not fair!” Dad said angrily.

“Oh give it a rest!” Frank replied, his irritation growing. “We both know that if you hadn’t gotten that role then you would have made it big anyway! Your father was huge in the theatre! He probably helped you get that second audition.”

“Frank, be reasonable,” Dad said. “If what you’re saying is true, then why did I need to steal your role? Why did I need another audition?”

Everyone fell silent as we thought about how logical his argument was. I made eye contact with Jack, who just stared back at me. He was as lost as I was.

“I don’t need to know your reasons,” Frank finally said. “All that matters is that you stole my life from me! I was completely invisible to everyone after that! Every audition, every opportunity! It was just taken away!”

Dad opened his mouth to say something but Jack got there first. “If I may,” he said, holding up his palms so that the argument would stop. “I think you should talk to this Marty guy. Clearly he seems to be the cause of this misunderstanding.”

“We can’t,” Dad replied with a sigh, looking at his hands. “He had a heart attack about twelve years ago and died.”

“Karma, I’d like to think,” Frank said, a hint of a smile across his lips.

Fantastic. The one man who seemed to really be at fault here was conveniently not alive to deal with the mess he created. Just swell.

“Well,” Jack said, awkwardly. “Okay then.”

“It wouldn’t have mattered anyway,” Frank scoffed. “Marty always played favorites with Harry.”

“He was our agent, Frank!” Dad exclaimed, frustration growing in his voice. “If he really liked me more than you, then he wouldn’t have even told you about the audition in the first place!”

“Ye—” Frank began, but Dad cut him off.

“And maybe he would have like you better,” Dad continued. “If you hadn’t been messing around with his wife!”

I inhaled sharply without realizing, and whispered oh snap to myself. Frank had his very own Mrs. Robinson situation! I knew there had to be a more scandalous aspect to the whole equation. Ao Jie Kai, who had been so silent I had forgotten he was there, shifted uncomfortably from one foot to another.

“What?” Frank said, his voice becoming dead quiet. “What did you say?”

“Oh come on, Frank!” Dad said, shaking his head lightly. “We were best friends! You think I didn’t know you and Monica were doing something?”

Frank’s body went stiff as he looked at Dad in surprise. “T—That’s . . . Y—You never said anything.”

“You were happy,” Dad replied with a light shrug. “I mean, I didn’t think it was a great idea, but I figured it was none of my business.”

Suddenly everything became clear. Frank must have been offered the lead role in Piece of My Heart and in his happiness, he went and told Marty’s wife first. Somehow, Marty must have found out about his wife, who I was desperately hoping was not like a sixty-year-old woman back then, and taken his revenge on Frank by blacklisting him. He probably called the producers, made up some story so they would drop Frank, and convinced them to go for my father instead. I guess it was just easier for Marty to lie to everyone than confront Frank and let him know the truth.

My theory clearly seemed to be shared by Frank, who was shaking his head as if rejecting the possibility that he could be the one to blame for his own misfortune.

“It doesn’t matter now,” Frank said, shaking his head even harder. “None of it matters anymore.”

“Fran—” Dad began, calmly extending his hand toward his ex-friend.

“No!” Frank cried, slapping Dad’s hand away. “Don’t you dare pity me!”

In what seemed like a blink of an eye, Frank reached for something tucked into the back of his jeans hidden under his jacket and pulled out a revolver, aiming it at my dad.

“Frank!” AJ exclaimed, shooting him an alarmed look. “What the hell?”

“The money isn’t going to cut it anymore,” Frank declared, his hand shaking a little as he tightened his grasp on the gun.

“Frank!” AJ hissed, coming up next to him in a panic. “Come on man, this wasn’t part of the plan!”

“Let’s be reasonable, Frank,” Jack said, his voice surprisingly steady. “No need to do anything stupid.”

“I’m done being reasonable!” Frank snapped. “Someone has to pay for what happened!”

Everyone was quiet for a few seconds, as Frank considered his options. I watched carefully, moving only my eyes. It’s one thing to watch someone point a gun at your dad in a movie. It’s a whole other thing to watch it play out in reality, where the possibility of him getting killed is a lot higher. Every part of my body was aching with fear.

“Frank,” Dad said calmly. “If you want to shoot me, then do it. But please let Gia go.”

I gave Dad an are you serious look, but he wasn’t looking at me. His eyes were now glued to the gun that was pointed at him.

“Fine,” Frank said. “Works for me.”

“Wait, what?” I exclaimed in alarm, and everyone looked at me. “Are you insane?”

“Gia!” Jack shot me a warning glare, but I ignored him.

“No!” I cried. “That’s ridiculous! You didn’t even do anything wrong, Dad! He can’t just shoot you!”

Jack mouthed my name angrily and shook his head. I probably should have listened to him and calmed down a little, given that I was yelling at a guy who was pointing a gun at my father. But it felt like a little part of me had snapped. Although the timing was inconvenient, I was getting real sick of being stalked, scared and tormented. Especially now that I knew it was all done by a maniac who really only had himself to blame for everything that went wrong in his life. And if I’m being really honest here, Piece of My Heart was a pretty lame movie. Dad couldn’t pull off the doctor look, and the scene transitioning was nothing to brag about. If you’re going to hold a grudge, at least make it worth your while.

Plus, the way Frank’s hand was shaking as he held that gun, it was clear he didn’t really want to shoot any of us. He was good at making threats, but not great at acting on them. He had been stalking me for over two months, with multiple opportunities to make a move, and he still hadn’t done any major damage. If he wanted to hurt me, he would have by now. It was definitely a crazy risk to take, but the way I saw it, I didn’t have too many options.

“Gia, it’s fine,” Dad said.

“How is it fine?” I practically yelled. I turned my attention to Frank, who was still aiming the gun in my dad’s direction. “None of this is fine! Even you know he didn’t do anything!”

I didn’t care about the dangers at that point. Frank’s hand was beginning to shake again violently, which meant my words were hitting home. It even began to lower ever so slightly. There was still hope.

“Gi—”

“Shut up, Jack!” I said while I glowered at Frank, “You don’t get to stalk me for months, ruin my life, kidnap me, tie me to a chair, destroy my dress, steal my phone and now shoot my dad all because you couldn’t keep it in your pants a million years ago!”

“GIA.” Jack’s voice had risen in volume.

“You really think that killing my dad is going to make it all better?” I demanded angrily. “At the end of the day, you’ll still know the truth. You’ll know you only have yourself to blame for your life!”

“That’s enough, Gia,” Dad said quietly, but there wasn’t enough strength in it to stop me from finishing.

“He’s had a full career. Everyone will mourn him. The whole world will cry! Everyone respects him! That’s something you’ll never have, even if you try to take it from someone at gunpoint. At the end of the day you’ll always be what you are inside.”

“GIA!”

“Nothing! A completely worthless nobody!”

My words echoed across the set walls, as I snapped my mouth shut. I may have overdone it slightly, and made him more angry than before. Which isn’t great because if he shot my dad it would be my fault. If he shot me, it would suck an equal amount. If he shot Jack then Jack would probably shoot me in revenge. So either way the plan wasn’t looking so great anymore.

“It seems,” Frank finally said, eyes locked on me. “That bringing the blonde one here was a bit of a waste. He couldn’t shut you up after all. Should’ve tried the cop.”

Frank’s gun slowly rose once more so that it was staring at my dad’s chest, eager for someone to pull on the trigger. I stopped breathing, not daring to look at Jack. My heart had constricted so much, I was scared it had shrivelled up completely and evaporated. I had officially sealed my father’s death, and there was no emotion to describe the pain that brought with it.

“Shut her up,” Frank snapped at Ao Jie Kai, his eyes still on me.

AJ reluctantly walked over to me, mumbling something to himself. If there was anyone who felt unhappiest about this whole thing, it was probably Ao Jie Kai. But he had gotten himself into the mess, so my sympathy levels were pretty low.

“There’s no need for you to keep Gia,” Dad said, as I watched AJ approach me almost sheepishly. “You’re already getting your revenge.”

“I’ll be the judge of that,” Frank replied, his eyes narrowed with fury.

“Yeah, I don’t think so,” Jack said, launching at Frank and knocking the gun out of his hands.

Frank watched his gun hit the floor in surprise, but Jack wasn’t done yet. He grabbed Frank by neck of his jacket and dragged him backward.

“What the hell . . .” AJ said, turning to face Jack, who was struggling with Frank.

I did some quick thinking and slipped my hands out of the rope as fast as I could. I clasped one hand on each side of the chair seat and lifted myself up as though I was awkwardly bowing. With my ankles still tied to the legs of the chair, I clumsily launched at Ao Jie Kai, ramming my chair into him as hard as I could. I gave out a small yelp as he crumpled to the floor in surprise, clutching his arm in pain. I watched him roll around in pain for a few seconds, slightly apologetic for coming at him full force with a chair. But then Dad came rushing up to help and I realized I didn’t feel so bad any more.

“Untie your legs!” Dad instructed, and I obediently placed the back legs of the chair back on the ground. “I’ll deal with this.”

Dad punched AJ in the face, and blood immediately began spurting out of his nose.

“Dad!” I cried in disgust, but I didn’t blink once. “You’ve got blood on your Givenchy suit!”

Once Brendan had gotten into a fight with some guy he met at a party, and kicked the crap out him. But in that moment, I was glad Brendan had never gone head to head with my dad. My father had a mean punch.

“Untie yourself!” Dad barked, flexing his hand.

There was blood on Dad’s knuckles, and I watched as he wiggled his fingers with a wince. He had probably broken his hand, or cracked something at the very least. Ao Jie Kai was in a slightly worse off situation, as was his nose, which was most definitely a goner.

I snapped myself into attention and began clawing at the ropes on my ankles. In the distance I could hear Jack and Frank struggling with each other, but I forced myself to work on freeing my ankles from the ropes. I wasn’t much help if I was still tied up. I wasn’t much help period, but the freedom to walk would definitely come in handy.

“I’m going to go help,” Dad told me hurriedly. “Are you okay here?”

“I’m fine.”

“Are you su—”

“Yes! Go!”

I watched as he rushed over to Jack, who was wrestling with Frank on the ground, trying to keep the gun out of reach. If Frank got his hands on that gun, he would be far from willing to let us go without a scratch. I wrenched my left leg free from the rope, ignoring the pain my foot was in. The heels didn’t exactly help the raw skin around my ankles, identical to that on my wrists. One ankle was free, just one more to go. And now thanks to Dad, AJ didn’t seem to be much of a threat anymore. He was struggling to just stay conscious.

“Finally!” I whispered in relief, as I tugged the remaining rope off my ankle and threw it on the ground.

I jumped up from the chair, my gown falling to floor length again. Beautiful as it was, it wasn’t really appropriate attire for kicking ass. I pushed the chair away; ready to help in any way I could when I felt something yank my gown so hard that I almost fell over. I looked down to see Ao Jie Kai, writhing in pain but attempting to hold me back with a surprisingly strong hold.

“Get. Off. My. Dress!” I cried, enunciating each word with a tug.

AJ was badly hurt, and slowly running out of energy. He would probably give up in a minute, but that was a minute I didn’t have. I sank to the floor, yanking on the dress in frustration.

“Seriously?” I looked at him with exasperation. “You and I both know you don’t even want to be here! So just let go so we can all move on with our lives!”

After a few more pain-filled groans, AJ’s bloodied hand unclenched and moved to his nose, which was looking worse by the second. If he thought a broken bone and a prison cell were going to get him out of the dry cleaning bill I’d be mailing him, he had another thing coming. I was in the process of scrambling to my feet when the sound of a loud bang stopped me. I hit the ground instinctively, clenching my eyelids shut as I lay my cheek onto the cold set floor.

My heart was beating so fast; I was scared it would burst through my chest. I was no expert, but my dad had been in enough action movies for me to immediately recognize the source of the noise. A gunshot. After a few long seconds of heavy silence, I sat up breathlessly. Jack and my father rose slowly from the ground, backing away from Frank who had the gun pointed at the ceiling. Thankfully the bullet had hit the roof and nothing or no one else. Jack was bleeding a little near his right eye, Frank’s cheek looked a little too red and Dad’s shirt was ripped. They looked like they were part of some well-dressed fight club, breathing heavily with bowties and clenched fists.

In what felt like a millisecond after, the sound of chaos filled the set. I turned to look behind me, as police officers and men in black uniforms came swarming in from doors I didn’t even know existed.

“FREEZE,” one yelled.

“PUT YOUR WEAPON ON THE GROUND,” another instructed, rushing closer to us.

I turned once again, just in time to see another team of men making their way through the door I had first spotted as my best escape route. They were all yelling out instructions to Frank, who was looking around the set with a panicked look on his face. None of the agents were nearly close enough to wrestle the gun out of Frank’s hand like Jack had done before, but they were getting there.

“SIR, I SAID DROP YOUR WEAPON.”

I had time to only blink once when I head another gunshot, then another and another. I clapped my hand over my eyes and let out a scream. The ringing in my ears was so harsh I wanted to cry. It was finally the sound of something clattering to the floor that forced me to face Frank again, the yelling around me growing louder. I removed my hands from my eyes cautiously and saw Frank was on his knees, his fingers laced together behind his head. He didn’t look injured at all. My eyes trailed to the gun lying next to him, and the body lying a few feet away from it.

The chaos around me became a blur as I focused on Jack and his lifeless body. He lay next to my stunned father, who thankfully seemed fine, albeit a little bruised. A police officer knelt down and helped my father up, as two more crouched down near Jack. It was Detective Reynolds. I pulled my gaze back to Frank, my ears unable to register any sound around me. There were two men dress in black from head to toe holstering their guns, pulling Frank to his feet. I assumed somewhere behind me, Ao Jie Kai was getting the same treatment. Everyone’s lips were moving but I couldn’t hear anything. I couldn’t feel anything. All I knew was Jack had been shot, a pool of blood escaping from beneath his body.

I felt someone place a hand on my shoulder, but I didn’t move. They were asking me if I could stand up, whether or not I was injured. There were voices speaking above me, but I couldn’t stop staring. It was like I had momentarily forgotten how to function. Then suddenly Milo came into view, kneeling down in front of me with concern.

“Gia,” he said as calmly as he could. “You’re in shock right now; it’s perfectly normal. But we need to get you out of here. Do you think you’re okay to stand?”

I blinked, snapping back to attention. Suddenly every sound in the warehouse was crashing against my ears. I could hear the officers and agents scattered everywhere, calling out instructions, handcuffs clicking into place, someone calling for an ambulance. Everything was catching up with me so quickly, it felt like I was suffocating.

“J—Jack!” I cried, and I realized I was crying.

Milo cupped my face in his hands and looked at me straight in my eyes. “Gia, I want you to listen to me.” He said, sounding more strained. “I’m going to need you to stand up for me. Can you do that?”

I wrapped my hands around his wrists and shook my head frantically. “Milo, we can’t just leave him here! We have to help him! We have to—”

“He’ll be fine, Gia! The ambulance is right outside. So are the FBI.” Milo interrupted before I could argue. “Right now, you need to get out of here. Are you listening?”

I nodded meekly, and Milo removed my hands from my face. He took my hands and helped me to my feet slowly. Ten seconds ago I was ready to make the floor my permanent home, but now I was desperate to break through the walls. Milo put his arm around my waist, holding me upright as I hobbled forward in my heels. An officer who I vaguely recognized held my other arm supportively, watching me apprehensively as if I were going to collapse any second.

“Careful,” Milo said, like I was made of glass. I wasn’t sure if he was talking to his colleague or me.

I let them lead me out the exit without a second look back. I was already having a hard time breathing, and I didn’t entirely trust what my heart would do if I did sneak a glance of the scene behind me.

Milo and the officer exchanged wary glances. Neither of them mentioned the grim possibility looming over our heads. Neither of them acknowledged that Jack might be dead.