T. Leigh - Gorgeous Chaos

“Before I forget, I know we’re having a special guest. Don’t want you recognizing who it is, so I better blindfold you, too.”

She shook her head violently, not wanting the one sense she needed most to be taken from her.

“Sorry, beautiful. Rules are rules.” Grant grabbed a rag and tied it tightly around her eyes.

Olivia’s world went dark. She would have to rely solely on her ears. She was doomed and she knew it. She screamed out in pain as Grant lifted her by the waist and dragged her body through the sand and up to the palatial beach house.

After overriding the security system, he turned to Simon. “Get out of here. Stand watch out front,” he growled.

“Grant. What are you going to do?” Simon asked, his voice shaking.

He raised his gun, pointing it at Simon’s temple. “Leave or I pull the trigger.”

Simon knew he didn’t have a choice. If he had any chance of trying to save Olivia, he had to play his cards right, and that meant listening to Grant for the time being. “Fine,” he huffed, spinning around and slamming the door behind him.

Grant smiled. “It will all be over soon. I promise.” He carried Olivia through the foyer. “We just need to wait for our special guest to get here and then you can tell us where that box is.”

Olivia willed herself to stop crying. That wasn’t how she wanted to spend the last few minutes of her life. If she was going to die, she wanted to die on her own terms and not pleading for her life.

“Wow. You should see this place,” he remarked as he dragged her into a large great room overlooking the coast. “Floor-to-ceiling ocean view in this room. I bet it’s gorgeous during the day.”

Olivia knew the exact room they were in. There was a grand piano in the center that she recalled playing as a little girl. The space was open and airy with light beige colored sofas on the far end facing the windows. The walls were wood planked and there were light drapes in front of the window. That’s how she remembered it looking, at least.

“Okay, this is good enough,” Grant said, his breathing heavy from dragging Olivia all that distance. He dropped her on the floor, hoping to cause her even more pain. When she had barely any reaction to being thrown down, he turned to look at her. Her face looked almost peaceful, as if she had begun to accept her fate.

That pissed Grant off. He liked it when she was scared of him. “Stand up!” he yelled.

Olivia started breathing heavy, thinking there would be no way she could actually stand up.

He walked over to her and grabbed her ponytail. “I said STAND UP!” he shouted, pulling Olivia up by the hair.

“FUCK!” she screamed out once she was on her feet. She tried to keep most of the weight off her left foot. She had no idea what was going through Grant’s head.

“On your knees!”

Olivia hesitated, unsure of how she could possibly obey the command and yet feel the least amount of pain.

“I said, ON YOUR KNEES!” He kicked her in the small of the back, causing her to topple over and fall flat on her stomach. Her reflexes were slow from her arms being bound together and she was unable to break her fall with her hands.

Olivia felt Grant kneel next to her. She began to shake, feeling his hot breath on her neck. He grabbed her arms and hoisted them over her head, readjusting her restraint, attaching it to the leg of the grand piano.

She tried to free herself, to no avail.

Grant laughed. “No use trying to run now. You’re stuck.”

Olivia lay there, her breathing heavy, as several minutes passed. She heard Grant walking through the house before returning and rummaging through a duffle bag. Almost immediately, she felt him by her side, pushing up her dress. Dread overwhelmed her when she heard a snipping sound, squirming at the feel of the cold metal on her skin cutting off her panties. Tears began falling even harder. She wanted to remain strong, but her entire body trembled in fear.

She felt him run a finger down the length of her torso and desperately tried to buck him off her, but he simply laughed and then brought the gun to her temple. “Stay still or I pull the fucking trigger. I don’t give a shit if you’re the only one who knows where the goddamn evidence is that these guys are looking for.”

Olivia swallowed, crying, feeling ashamed and humiliated, wanting Grant to pull the trigger instead.

“WHAT DID YOU JUST say, Carol?!” Alexander roared into the phone. “You’re shitting me!”

“I know. Where are you?”

“They’ve got Olivia.”

“Shit, Alex. Where did they take her?”

“I think to the beach house. That’s where I’m heading now. Can you pull up his cell on the tracker?” he asked, typing frantically at his own laptop as Martin sped down the interstate.

“Hold on a second.” Carol typed the cell number into her tracking software. “Damn it, Alex! He’s in Chatham!”

“FUCK! I’m on it. Oh, and sis, I’m forwarding a bunch of documents to you. Make sure they’re sent to every news outlet you can think of.” Alexander hung up his cell phone. “Martin! Step on it!”

~~~~~~~~~~

OLIVIA LAY PERFECTLY STILL on the floor, blocking out everything that was happening around her. She refused to cry. She simply remained unmoving against the cold hard wood and waited for him to pull the trigger.

She heard the door open and close and immediately grew hopeful. Grant remained where he was, not moving from his position on top of her.

“What the fuck is going on here?!” a familiar voice shouted.

Grant looked up at the person who had just walked in. “Are you him?”

“Get the fuck off of her!” He swung and punched Grant out cold.

Olivia released the breath she had been holding and began to sob even harder. She felt a blanket wrap around her body. “Oh, Livvy. I’m so sorry that all this has happened to you.”

“Daddy?” Olivia asked.

Her father quickly removed her restraints and took off her blindfold, wrapping his arms around her body as he tried to stop her cries. “Ssshhh… It’s okay, peanut. I’m so sorry. This is all my fault. It wasn’t supposed to be this way. He wasn’t supposed to touch you like that.”

Olivia’s eyes grew wide. “I don’t understand.”

Her father took a deep breath. “Where is it, Livvy?”

“I’m not sure…”

“Goddammit!” he shouted, grabbing her by the shoulder, causing her to cry out in pain. He looked at her in horror, noticing the fresh blood from the apparent bullet wound that had been soaking her white sundress. “He shot you? He was told to not hurt you until…”

“Until what?” Olivia asked between sobs.

“Oh, Livvy,” he exhaled. “I’ve made a mess of everything. I’m sorry I have to do this.”

She looked at her father. “Do what?”

“This, sweetheart.” He raised his hand and Olivia’s world went dark.

~~~~~~~~~~

“OLIVIA, LOVE. PLEASE COME here,” her mother called out.

“What is it, Mama?”

“I need to ask you a very important question. I need you to think very, very hard.”

“Okay.”

Olivia’s mother took a deep breath. “I know you and Daddy are playing a game of Treasure Map.”

“Yes!” she answered excitedly. “We are! He’s letting me hide the treasure this time. I just drew him a map!”

“Olivia, dear. You can NOT give him that map.”

She scowled. “Why not?”

“Darling. I need you to tell me where you buried that chest.”

“But that’s cheating. I can’t do that.”