Cocky (17 page)

Chapter Thirty Two

Chelsea slept on the couch. She didn’t know why. She could have gone into the bedroom and slept on the big bed, but something about that seemed wrong. How was she supposed to sleep when Blue wasn’t there? He had left and she had let him go. She had let him walk out that door so he could fight to the death for her sister.

He should have stayed; they should have spent the night together. They should have run away and never looked back. But she could never do that; she could never leave her family. The house was cold and her limbs were stiff when she woke. She felt old and tired as she pulled herself into a sitting position and rubbed her eyes.

She had been too scared to go to sleep. Every stray noise made her jump. A car driving down the street made her hunker and reach for the gun in her purse. She had stayed up all night with the television on and had finally fallen asleep to infomercials around two in the morning.

A pale dawn was appearing behind her. It wasn’t quite six o’clock. It was early, but Chelsea knew she wasn’t going to be able to fall back asleep. She made coffee and drank it at the empty kitchen counter. She felt numb and empty. She was regretting every decision she had ever made.

It was six-thirty when Chelsea called Blue’s number, but the phone just rang. What if something had happened? What if he had got into a fight with his dad?
Calm down
, she told herself.
Don’t let your imagination make things worse than they actually are.
She got his voicemail and left him a message to call her with news.

At seven-thirty there was a knock at the door. Chelsea jumped and looked at the door as if she could magically see who was on the other side. She grabbed her gun from her purse and slowly walked up to the door. She put her eye to the peephole and on the other side was Paul. She put the safety back on the gun and stowed it in her purse before opening the door and embracing Paul in a big hug.

“Where’s Blue?” Paul asked as he stepped into the house.

All Chelsea could do was shake her head as tears streamed down her face. “He’s gone,” she finally managed to stammer out.

“Gone where?”

“Back to his father. He’s going to do the fight; it’s the only way to get Jamie back.”

Paul looked stunned and he took a few steps back from Chelsea and covered his mouth with his hand. “Chelsea, if he gets into that fight and kills someone, it will be considered murder. They could give him the death penalty,” Paul said.

“I know,” she whispered. “But it was the only way. It was Terrance, this whole thing was Terrance’s doing.” She filled him in on everything they had learned. And he sat through it in stunned silence.

“You offered him ten million dollars and he wouldn’t take it?” Paul asked.

Chelsea nodded and they sat in silence on the couch for a moment. “We need to stop this,” Chelsea said shaking her head. “We need to bring these fighting pits down. They’re disgusting and horrible and the people who fight are desperate. They don’t want to do it, but they’re forced to. So how do we do it, how do we bring them down? Blue said the local cops are corrupt, that they’re paid to look the other way when the fights come to town.”

“I can believe that,” Paul said with a nod of his head. “But we still need to get them arrested somehow. We can’t kill them all Chelsea, then we’ll end up in jail.”

“What then?”

“The local cops aren’t the only game in town,” Paul said. “There are other agencies we could call.”

“Like who?”

“The FBI or the Federal Marshals, but it needs to be someone we can trust. I think I know someone. She’s this woman I went to college with. I know she was headed to Quantico and she might be done with her training and in the field by now.”

“Call her,” Chelsea said.

“I will, but I can’t promise anything. We still don’t have any info on the fight and we can’t get in touch with Blue. We don’t have much to give them.”

Chelsea was willing to do anything at that point. She would have got on a plane and travelled to DC if there was any chance that would help. Something needed to be done. The fighting pits were an open secret, it seemed everyone knew, but no one was willing to do anything about it. Blue was willing to fight to the death for Chelsea and she was ready to fight for him, as well. She had already promised Blue would never have to go back to the pits, but that’s exactly where he was headed. She had broken her promise and the only way to keep it would be to destroy the fights themselves.

Chelsea’s cellphone sat on the table between her and Paul and when it buzzed, she jumped up to answer it. But sadly it was only her manager, Lauren, calling to check in. “I should take this...” Chelsea said and she could hear the defeat in her own voice. She felt like she had already lost. Blue was going back to the fighting pits, he was entering a fight to the death, and it was all for her.

“I should go, too,” Paul said. “There’s no point in either of us sitting around and sulking. We need to do something. I’m going to look into the FBI and if there’s nothing there, then I’ll contact the Federal Marshals. Let me know ASAP if you hear from Blue.” Chelsea nodded numbly as Paul squeezed her shoulder and then walked out the door.

Chelsea locked the door behind him and then called her manager. “Hey, Lauren,” Chelsea said into the phone as she slowly paced her living room.

“That doesn’t sound like a happy ‘hey’,” Lauren said. “Is your family stuff still a problem?”

“Yeah,” Chelsea said. “I’m working on it, but everything’s still up in the air.” Lauren was being surprisingly understanding. It must have been Chelsea’s voice, even she could hear it. She sounded gravelly and tired.

“So, the other day we talked about money and I just wanted to remind you not to-”

“I don’t need the money,” Chelsea said. “I don’t need it, so there’s no need to go and try and get it for me. But thank you, Lauren, I really appreciate you telling me a number.”

“Of course...Chelsea, what is going on over there? I don’t like it. I can hear from your voice that you sound exhausted and drained, and your voice is kind of important, remember? No voice, no record contract.”

“I know. I just thought this thing would be over now, but it’s not. I’m just sitting at home and waiting for news. It’s not fun. But will tell you this, I’m excited to get back to LA. I am ready to get out of this town once and for all.”

“Glad to hear it,” Lauren answered with a sigh and Chelsea could hear the relief in her voice.

“I do have some bad news,” Chelsea said. “This thing with Ryan Baron, I can’t do it. I’m sorry. He’s been perfectly nice with all of this, but I can’t do a fake relationship. It’s not who I am. I know that a certain amount of polish has to happen in Hollywood, but I’m not willing to do this. It’s wrong and I don’t want to do it anymore. I’m sorry, you can spin it however you want.”

“I’m sorry to hear that, Chelsea. This is not going to look good. We still have all those pictures where you look like a disaster. This is going to give you an image of the heartbroken girl, are you okay with that?”

“I am a little heartbroken,” Chelsea answered. “So I guess it fits. I trust you, Lauren. Spin it however you want.”

“We do have some great ballads on the album,” Lauren mused. “
Love in Amber
,
Broken Chains
, those could all work great as singles. Then we could come back with
Life is for Lovers
, something a little bit more upbeat, move past the sadness...”

“I leave it up to you,” Chelsea answered. “But there’s one thing, could you tell Ryan for me? I just feel so weird about this whole thing.”

“Of course, leave it up to me. You just focus on getting some sleep, drinking some green tea for your throat, and coming home. We miss you over here in La La Land,” Lauren said.

“Thanks.” Chelsea ended the call and was surprised to find that she felt a little better. It felt like there were a thousand different weights she was carrying around with her, but she had just let one go. Ryan Baron, that relationship had never felt right and, worse, it had hurt Blue. She was glad to be rid of him.

Chelsea couldn’t go into the fighting pits for Blue, but she could remove all of the other obstacles that were keeping them apart. First had been Ryan Baron, she wanted to be with Blue and only Blue, so she had ended it. Now she needed to deal with the bigger problem and make sure Blue didn’t end up her stepbrother. It was time to talk to Colleen.

Chapter Thirty Three

Chelsea didn’t have a car. They had been driving around in Blue’s old high school car and another car Jamie had borrowed from a friend. So at nine in the morning, she called the only cab service in all of Snowbird and got a ride. She knew her mother wouldn’t be up yet. Colleen preferred to sleep in, calling it her “beauty sleep.” Her whole life Colleen had been a night owl, keeping the girls up with her to hang out until two in the morning and then writing them notes for school when they were late.

She sat on her front steps and waited for the car. She was in jeans, a pair of knee high boots, an old puffy jacket, and a winter cap pulled low on her head. The paparazzi had taken Ryan’s bait and returned to sunny California. Chelsea was all alone as her breath plumed in front of her in the cold air and she pulled her legs close to try and keep herself warm.

How many mornings had she waited just like this? Sitting in the cold looking up the street and waiting for Blue’s car to come zooming up the lane. He always drove too fast. It made her nervous. He cut corners and he tailgated, but he had never been in an accident. He was a good driver and he knew it. He used to love to show off. His spins and doughnuts would terrify and delight Chelsea all at the same time.

The cab was five minutes late, but Chelsea didn’t mind. She slid into the backseat and gave the driver Terrance’s address. They drove in silence. Maybe Blue would be there; maybe Jamie would be there. But Chelsea refused to let her hopes rise. She had a mission to get her mother away from Terrance; that was what she needed to stay focused on. Terrance was dangerous and Chelsea needed to protect the people she loved from him. She needed to get her mother out of that house, then she needed her sister and Blue so they could all leave together.

The cab pulled up in front of the house and Chelsea closed the door quietly and approached the sleepy mansion. All of the lights were off and the only car in the driveway was her mother’s. Chelsea walked up to the front door and tried the knob, but it was locked. This didn’t deter her. Colleen was notorious for forgetting her keys and there was always a spare hidden somewhere.

Chelsea began to pick up rocks that were in the garden and checking underneath them until she found it. A hide-a-key in the same rock her mother had used at their old house. Chelsea let herself in and stood for a moment in the barren foyer. It was cold and desolate and it felt empty. It was a big mansion with only two people to live in it; it was always going to feel empty.

Chelsea checked the rooms Jamie and Blue had stayed in briefly, but they were both empty. The beds had been made and there was no luggage or stray bits of clothes anywhere. It looked like no one had ever been in those rooms. Her heart saddened, Chelsea climbed the stairs to the master bedroom.

She opened the door quietly and looked in on the dark room. She could see the shape of her mother in bed and see the small movements she made as she slept, deep breaths that moved the blankets and little twitches from her hands and feet. Chelsea walked over the windows and slowly opened the shades allowing the morning light to enter the room.

Colleen gave out a low whine and buried herself under the covers. Chelsea slipped out of her shoes and then joined her mother in bed, wrapping her arms around her dozing shoulders and nuzzling her nose into her neck.

“Have you come to apologize?” Colleen asked without turning around.

“No,” Chelsea answered. “Mom, do you really love Terrance?”

“Of course I do!” Colleen said sitting up in bed with a huff. She took off her eye mask and ran her hands through her messy hair.

“What do you love about him?” Chelsea asked as she sat up, as well.

“I love that he takes care of me. He has this nice big house that’s all paid off and he has a successful business. I love that he likes to go out; we go dancing and to the best restaurants.”

“Is that all?” Chelsea asked.

“I know it don’t sound like much to you, Chelsea. I know you have your record contract and piles of money, but it means something to me. You know all those men I’ve dated: bartenders, guys who worked in tattoo parlors, bouncers. They weren’t real men of substance and I have struggled a great deal providing for you girls. It’s nice to have someone to take care of me in my old age.”

“You’re not old-”

“No, but I soon will be, and then who will have me?”

“I will, Mom, and Jamie will. We can take care of you. I do have piles of money and I want to share them with you. You could come back to LA with me and you could have your own house that’s all paid for.”

“And who will I spend time with, you? You’re young and famous. I’ll just be your old mom, slowing you down.”

“That’s not true and you know it. You can party with the best of them.”

“Yeah, and I also know that after a certain age that starts to get pathetic. I don’t want to go to Hollywood. Snowbird is my home. I want to live here, and I don’t want to be alone.”

“But Terrance is a bad guy, Mom. He’s really bad, he’s dangerous-”

“I don’t want to hear you repeating Blue DeMarco’s lies! He has it in for his poor father. Terrance worked a lot when Blue was little and he pushed him hard and made him work too and now Blue is all mad that he didn’t have a childhood like everyone else’s. Sure he didn’t get to play video games and had to work instead, but that doesn’t make Terrance a monster.”

“No,” Chelsea agreed, “but this does. Terrance has Jamie, Mom. He’s had her for days. I called and try to offer him some money, but he wasn’t interested.” Colleen opened her mother to interject, but Chelsea had already pressed play on the recording app and the sound of her voice and Terrance’s was carried out through the phone’s speakers.

At first Colleen refused to listen, turning her head away and rolling her eyes. But the voices couldn’t be denied; they clearly belonged to Chelsea and Terrance. Then her eyes went wide as Terrance so casually spoke of kidnapping Jamie. She looked at the phone as her face became horrified. But she listened to it, she listened to every last second, and when the recording was done, she stared at Chelsea as tears began to slip from her eyes.

“I don’t...how could this...Jamie is missing...I don’t...” Wracked with sobs Colleen tried to form a coherent sentence, but half-formed thoughts kept slipping out as she tried to process what was happening.

“Terrance swore Jamie was safe. He was just keeping her as a collateral so Blue would fight. We tried to find her, we looked for days, but there was nothing. So Blue agreed to fight and Terrance swears that once the fight is over, we get Jamie back.”

“This whole time...” Colleen said, putting her hand over her mouth. “He’s been sleeping next to me for days. I kept telling him I was worried about you girls, but he said not to worry, that Blue’s lies would fall apart and you would all come home. I believed him. I’ve been with him. We went to dinner last night! My daughter is trapped somewhere and I was dining with her kidnapper.” She fell into sobs and Chelsea took her mother in her arms and ran her hands up and down her back and shushed and soothed her.

“It’ll be all right,” she whispered over and over again as she rocked her mother.

“The police!” Colleen said, sitting up and pulling herself out of Chelsea’s hold. “We need to call the police.” She fell out of bed and began racing around the room reaching for jeans and tops and dressing quickly.

“The local police are in on it. They know all about the fighting pits and if we call the police they’ll hurt Jamie as a punishment.”

Colleen stood next to her dresser a pair of pants in one hand and a boot in the other. At Chelsea’s words she slumped over and dropped her clothes and then came back and sat on the edge of the bed. She shook her head, “I can’t believe I trusted this man. I can’t believe I trusted him more than my own daughters, but I do that, don’t I?” Chelsea didn’t say anything. “Well no more. You’re right, Chelsea. We need to get out of this town. Let’s get your sister and never look back.”