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Seth hauled me to my feet. My body rejected the movement, and I reacted awkwardly.
“You are going to walk out the back door with me. You will not cause a scene. You will not try to motion for anyone. Do you understand me?”
I nodded yes. My head moved like a robot. My arms jerked involuntarily as I started to move. My legs struggled to hold my weight. Seth draped my left arm over his shoulders. I sagged my body against his, hoping my weight would slow him down. It didn’t.
Nobody paid us any mind while we walked through the kitchen. I tried to make eye contact with members of the kitchen staff hoping one would notice my need for help. Since the restaurant was at its busiest everyone kept their heads down and focused on their jobs. I sighed in frustration. Seth squeezed my hand hard, reminding me to stay quiet.
A freight elevator for hauling garbage and recycling down at the end of the night was in the rear of the kitchen. It was also used to take us to our employee parking places. The staff was so accustomed to other employees using the elevator nobody paid us any mind as we entered it. The doors closed for the descent, leaving me alone with my captor. Seth continued to hold my weight easily. I realized, while he may be slight in stature, he was all muscle and very strong after all. My heart ached knowing I probably wouldn’t win in a fight against him.
Seth unlocked the door of his car and handed me the keys. I moved to the driver’s side. I thought about pushing the alarm button on the key remote, but we were two floors below street level. No one would hear it, and I’d only anger Seth. I needed to wait for a better opportunity to make my move. I racked my brain for any ideas. My muscles twitched in response. The slight spasms were receding but were still present. Maybe I could usethem as an excuse to drive erratically and get pulled over? I glanced at Seth and kept the thoughts to myself. I’d keep my eyes focused for a police car in the meantime.
“Where am I going?” I asked as I started the car. I didn’t need to adjust the seat since Seth was barely taller than I.
“You know where Anais lives?” Seth asked.
“Of course.” He motioned with his hand for me to proceed. I exited the same place where I had watched Peter pull out not long before. I headed south on State Street. Anais lived in the Bridgeport neighborhood, in the same home she and Patrick had purchased years before. Seth made a call on his cell phone. I didn’t have to wonder for long.
“Get rid of Peter. I’m on my way with Regan. Found her snooping . . . Everything. . . No other choice . . . Sorry.”
The conversation scared me more than if he had said the words ‘we need to kill her’ out loud. I played with my options in my head. I could try and wreck the car, but I didn’t think it would play in my favor. One: We weren’t going fast enough to do any real damage in this traffic. Two: No one would stop. They would all drive around us, honking and angry that we were blocking traffic. Three: The cops wouldn’t come for an accident until he had killed me. By then, I wouldn’t care they had arrived. All around, that option was a no-go.
I didn’t have any weapons. I didn’t even have my purse or cell phone. I’d left it with Gray hanging on the bar stool next to him. I had been more concerned at the time to use it as evidence that I was merely in the restroom.
Traffic was heavy but moved at a decent clip. I only had a few more minutes before I turned off for the house. I was at a loss. Right now, my only hope was Gray. I prayed he would figure out a way to find me.
When I made the final turn, I had one last prayer that Peter was still there. Maybe he could put a stop to this craziness. Honestly, they could go on running the business, I couldn’t care less. But, I didn’t think they would believe me when I said, “Cross my heart, hope to die. I won’t tell anyone.”
My hope faded out when I didn’t see Peter’s car. I pulled into the vacant spot in front of the house. It was probably where Peter was parked only moments before. I didn’t even fight Seth again when he took my arm to lead me inside. He still had the stun gun in his hand. He opened the front door without knocking, leading me to the kitchen. He tossed the stun gun on the table. After pulling out a chair for me, he taped my hands and ankles to the arms and legs of it.
The kitchen table was still set for two. Half-eaten food covered the plate in front of me. It must’ve been Peter’s because the other plate was barely touched. Anais hadn’t had much of an appetite lately.
My heart was breaking that she would allow this. I’d always loved her like a second mom. I never took my eyes off of hers. I wanted her to look at me the whole time. I wanted her to remember all of the holidays and vacations we’d spent together. I wanted her to remember the thousands of dinners we’d shared. Dinners we’d shared at this very table. I used to love sitting in here with her while she cooked.
Seth excused himself and left the room when he finished securing me. I tested the tape, but it held firm.
“Seth said he didn’t hurt Anya,” I asked.
“He didn’t.” Anais took her seat at the table.
“Then who did?”
“You haven’t figured it out? I expected more from you. You’ve always been a bright girl.”
“As bright as the girls you forced to sell their bodies?”
“I never forced them. Does my dinner look appetizing?” Anais pushed the food around on her plate with her fork but didn’t take a bite.
“Not especially.”
“For you, it won’t be. My special baked chicken with peanut sauce. I made it, especially for Peter. He loves it.”
“Why the girls?” I asked again, hoping to distract her. Anais continued speaking, acknowledging my question, but ignoring it.
“Do you really need to waste your breath with a question like that? It’s for you,” she said, again gesturing to her dinner. “Well, not originally. It’s one of Peter’s favorite dishes. He’s been under so much stress. Lately, I wanted to do something nice for him. It will work to my benefit, though. You see, you stopped by to say hello. I was busy cleaning up and didn’t pay attention to what you were doing. You tasted a piece of the chicken without knowing. I tried to find your injectors but couldn’t find them anywhere. I tried . . . I can’t believe . . . she’s like a daughter to me.” Fake tears swam in her eyes. “It’ll work beautifully. Don’t you think? I’ll be gone soon so it won’t matter if they believe me or not.”
I didn’t like the sound of her plan. I didn’t think there was anything scarier than someone with nothing to lose. She was right, she would be dead soon. Why would she care about any consequences now?
“But, why Anya?” I asked.
“Anya is not worth your concern.”
“But you have to tell me!” I yell. I couldn’t have come this far not to know it all now.
“Why?” Anais asked.
“What do you mean ‘why’? It’s show-and-tell time. The big reveal. The grand finale. You can’t let me suffocate to death on peanuts without telling me why first.”
“Why? Why? Which ‘why’ shall we start with? Do you know why I was so hard on you and Jax? Because you two were floundering. You didn’t know what you wanted to do. You just wanted to have fun, go to the beach, drink away a day. Anything, but actually work and focus.”
Anais waved her arms in the air while speaking to me. It was the most animated I’d ever seen her. It was far scarier than her usual quiet, judgmental demeanor. I started pulling on the restraints as hard as I could.
“I encouraged you to start traveling to give you some focus. I knew if you weren’t distracted, you would find yourself. I give you grief over your writing so you will work harder. I use your competitive edge against you.”
“Well, that’s just mean!” I kept pulling. My forehead broke out in sweat from the exertion.
“I stabbed a woman to death, and the only word you can find is ‘mean’? Pathetic. I obviously have not pushed you hard enough,” Anais said.
“You killed her? How?”
“Focus. Adrenaline. A mother’s need to protect her child. It all works together to get the job done.”
“What did you have to protect Peter from? Why did you stab her?” I wanted both questions answered. Not necessarily in that order.
“Stop fussing, child,” Anais said. She scolded me like a toddler needing a nap.
“I’m allowed some fussing, Anais. I know what you plan to do. I think that gives me the right to do some fussing.”
I rocked the chair back and forth, trying again, in vain to loosen or break the tape. I only managed to tip myself sideways onto the floor.
“Fine. Fine. I’m done. Just tell me, please,” I huffed, my breath coming out ragged.
“Your curiosity always gets the best of you.” Anais smiled. “No matter. I’m going to feed you this chicken with peanut sauce whenever Seth gets back. I shall indulge you.”
Like hell, I was eating that. I needed to think of a way to get free.
“After Patrick died, the truth all came out. We were in debt up to our ears, and the bar was barely breaking even. I felt betrayed by him. I was so happy and in love with him that I was blind to our reality.”
“The bar was making money when I worked there. What happened?” I asked.
“The bar was making some money, dear. Not enough to support both Peter and me. Peter knew no different. He thought everything was good, the same. You know Peter; he is not one for change. It takes him time. I flailed along for a while, but then, just when I didn’t know what I would do, I met Anya. She understood. And, had a solution.”
“I’m sorry. I’m just shocked. Speechless. Dumbfounded.” I had even stopped working on my restraints. I laid my head on the kitchen floor, like a child settling in for a story.
Anais continued to play with the food while looking out the window. She appeared to be lost in thought. I worked on my restraints again. I had a corner of the tape pinched between my first two fingers and was tugging it with all of my strength. The position was awkward with my hand bent back. I couldn’t get enough of a hold to pull it further.
Until that moment, I’d never realized how claustrophobic being tied up felt. I was in a rather large kitchen, but it might as well have been a car trunk. The walls were playing tricks on me, moving in and out. I didn’t know what was stronger: the need to breathe deeply, the urge to curl up into the fetal position and cry, or the longing to hear the rest of the story.
“Women are strong, Regan. We are able to put aside our wants, desires, and feelings to do what needs to be done. I just had a few roadblocks in my way. One was you. I knew you would be too goody-goody to manage the books, so I encouraged you to see the world. With your wanderlust, it was easy.”
“That makes me feel dirty. Like used Silly Putty.” I shivered.
“Your smart mouth returns. Two, I moved Anya into place. I saved her from the streets and the little minx betrayed me. I could just kill her, I get so irate thinking about it.”
I did not point out the irony of the statement.
“Three, I hired the girls. Four, I found some clientele. Anya gave us a good start with hers, but we needed more. She was a blessing and set up the website. I would’ve been, what do you say? ‘Old school’ and kept the books by hand. Anya was correct. We managed to bring in quite a bit more money her way,” Anais said.
I thought back to Peyton’s last comment to me. Someone like you who can make order out of chaos. I should’ve figured out Anais was involved at that very moment. I had watched her for years come into the restaurant and whip lazy servers and disobedient staff into shape. I learned how to lead from her. If I were given any control over an area that needed to be cleaned up and organized, I would’ve done the same as Anais—figured out a plan and then made a list of how to accomplish the plan. One, clean house. Two, hire a manager . . .
“I’m confused. Why did you kill Anya then, if she was your partner?”
“The little vixen got greedy. I told Anya she could supplement her income like the other girls, but, no. She became lazy. She wanted the ‘easy’ money by trying to bribe the mayor.”
“That doesn’t make sense to me. Wouldn’t it be smarter to keep the money rolling in? Like a passive income.”
“Keep up, Regan. She was lazy.”
“Well, excuse me for not keeping up. I’ve had a rough week. So, pardon me for not being quick enough,” I yelled. The adrenaline running through me gave me the strength to free my right arm. I held the tape firmly and yanked. Relief surged through me as I lifted my arm. My left arm and both feet were still confined, but I took my little victory. I had a chance now.