Chapter 5

My dad was driving. My mom was in the front seat. And Jared was right next to me. I was 8 and Jared was 5. We were on our way to Texas to visit Aunt Jenna. And of course, it was the best time of the year. Christmas. I could smell the pine trees and hot chocolate. It was cold enough in Georgia that I swear there was going to be snow upon snow in the morning. Jared was snoring at full volume and I couldn't help but laugh.

He was in his race car PJ's with his little teddy bear wrapped in a grip that could have choked him. My dad was in the passenger seat and passed out completely. He was sleep talking and the only words I could actually hear past Jared's snoring was "Coconut....Palm trees...Sun..."

And of course, those 3 words registered in my mom's mind completely.

"My goodness that was one of the best trips him and I had," she said laughing

"What was the trip?" I asked, curious about what she meant.

"Well it was our honeymoon. We went to Cancun. The beach was so clear and beautiful, they had real coconuts. We have never been anywhere so wonderful as that place. Even though your dad had to go to the hospital for a concussion from getting hit in the head with a coconut, it was still the best honeymoon I could ask for," she said. She had a smile on her as if she could see the coconut falling on his head again.

"Would you ever leave him? Leave us?" I asked. She spoke so fondly of our family it made me curious if she ever had the guts to leave us behind.

She took a moment to answer. It made me uneasy that she had to think about her answer.

"Amber...Why would you ask that?" she asked, but something in her voice made me suspicious.

Then for some reason, my instincts told me to tap her shoulder. And that's exactly what I did. But the only thing that happened was my finger went through her. At that moment, fear struck in my body, sending a shiver down my spine. I turn around to see if Jared is still there but he is gone. I turn back to the front and I don't hear my dad snoring anymore. I looked over his seat and he was gone. I looked back at the driver's seat and nobody was there.

Next thing I knew I was sitting on the floor in the dark. I saw the blood. I stood up from the position I was sitting in and followed the trail of blood on the floor. Then there was a puddle of blood on the floor but in the center of it was my dad.

I ran towards him as fast as I could. He was still warm and he was mumbling something. I couldn't hear it clearly.

"Dad," I said. My voice cracked when I said it.

"Amber...," he said. His voice was rough and he couldn't get a good breath in.

He pulled me down to his mouth so I could hear what he had to say.

"You...you did this...," he said. I looked at him with a face filled with shock. Is he saying I was the one who killed him? Did I kill my own dad? And then he pointed to a place in the dark. I looked at where he was pointing but I couldn't see anything. I looked back down to where my dad was laying on the ground in the pool of blood. But it wasn't my dad anymore.

Fear struck my face in what I saw. Jared was laying there, staring up at me with eyes so dark. And he looked like he had no life in him anymore. He was so still in my arms.

"Jared!" I said, with fear in my voice

I shook him in panic. He was so cold and still, I couldn't make him move.

"Jared please wake up!" I said

"You...did this...to me," he said in a low voice. I didn't understand. I would never hurt Jared or anyone in my family. But that's when I looked down at my hand. Something familiar was in the palm of my hand. Something hard. I lifted my hand to my face and saw what I was holding.

It was the Glock that belonged to my dad. My hand was covered in blood. Jared's blood.

I couldn't hear him breathe anymore and I shook him frantically. Then I heard my name.

"Amber!" he whispered. I woke up at that moment and realized who was calling my name.

"Trevor?" I said, in a confused tone

He looked at me with concerned eyes.

"Are you ok? You're trembling...," he said, helping me sit up correctly. I could barely move when he helped me. I let a little wince of pain escape from me.

"What? What is it?" he said as soon as he heard me wince. His eyes were searching my face to figure out what was wrong.

"Everything hurts. I can probably walk but when I sit, it hurts," I said looking at him

"Don't worry, as soon as we get out of here nothing is going to hurt you," he said with a serious face. That's when I noticed Ly standing behind him. I looked at her with questioning eyes. Trevor followed my eyes.

He gave a little chuckle when he saw I was staring at her. I looked at him with confused eyes and he met my eyes.

"You remember the sister I told you about?" he said with a smile on his face

Ly was his sister. I really didn't see that one coming. Maybe he could finally explain to me why she hates me so much.

I felt his arm go around my waist. His touch was feather-light and delicate to make sure he doesn't touch my bruises. He helped me stand up straight and then he let go of my waist.

"All the guys are out partying right now. The doors are locked so we can't get out through there. I can manage to get us away from here but I can't find a way to get out of the warehouse without making a noise," he said looking at me and Lydia.

I could feel Lydia's eyes on me. She would have thought that her dark hair would cover her light brown eyes but I could see her through the corner of my eye.

"Why is the princess coming with us?" she asked. Her tone was filled with complete curiosity instead of hate.

"Because she's my friend, Lydia. I know you 2 don't get along very well but either you deal or you stay. Now we have to figure out a way to get out before the guys come back," he said

Lydia? Was that her real name?

"Whatever you say, big brain," Lydia said under her breath.

"I know how to get out. I found it in the morning that we were arguing. It will probably take 10 minutes to get the hole big enough to fit us all through. After that we have to close it back up so that they don't know that we left," I said with a focused look aimed in Trevor's direction.

"Little princess has a brain. Didn't expect that," Lydia said laughing quietly

Trevor shot her a look. Lydia just rolled her eyes. I walked towards the door, opening it quietly before I looked outside to make sure nobody was in the warehouse.

"It's clear to walk around but there are two guys in the left corner of the warehouse that are sound asleep so we need to be careful," I said.

Trevor put his hand on the small of my back, pushing me forward so we can get out.

"Lydia, go make sure that nobody is awake," Trevor said, giving her a signal that she understood automatically since she nodded at him. As she ran off, Trevor's eyes were watching the warehouse, scanning every inch of it as he pulled something out of his waistband.

I watched him check the magazine filled with bullets and slide it back in. He then checked the gun to see if it was loaded and letting the slide snap back into place. He looked at me and then gave me the gun with the barrel pointing towards him.

"I don't want Lydia to kill anyone, she is too young for this and I want you to have something to protect yourself," he said as I took the gun. I looked down at it and my brows drew together and then I looked back up at him. I gave him a nod with focus expressed on my face.

"I will be right behind you. I may have just put a gun in your hands and who knows if you're a klutz and accidentally pull the trigger. I don't want you to shoot me," he said in a teasing manner.

My face was still serious as I tucked the gun into my waistband, peeling my eyes from his.

"We are all good. The guards are completely knocked out. They're probably wasted because even from a mile away people could smell the tequila on their breath," Lydia said coming around the corner.

"Ok Amber, show us where the hole is," I heard Trevor say.

As I led the way to where I saw the hole, I kept my eyes on the guards. Making sure that they wouldn't wake up. The hole was in the very back of the warehouse. Nobody went there, especially when it was closed off. The warehouse was very open. We had a whole area that was completely open. The open area was surrounded by rooms.

In the middle of the warehouse was the guys' rooms. The warehouse was 2 stories so the guys had their rooms upstairs and downstairs. The girls had theirs upstairs and below us was the gym. Everything always had walls for privacy reasons. In the very back of the warehouse upstairs was the office for the big guy. His name is Finn. He started this whole thing and he was the person we would always see if we got in trouble with a client. Below his office was a lounge. The lounge wasn't built with concrete and windows like the rest of the warehouse. It was built with a metal sheet. They weren't thin but they also weren't that thick, but they were stable enough to make a room. I guess they made it like that just for the appeal because that was my favorite room in the whole warehouse.

We made our way past the gym and into the lounge.

I pointed to the hole that was big enough for a mouse to fit through in the very corner of it. I remember that the guys had to replace a sheet of metal because it had a bunch of bullet marks in it from training the younger boys. So this sheet was light enough to bend.

"The sheet they replaced about a month ago has a hole in it. I figured you would be strong enough to bend it since it was thinner than the others. Do you think you can?" I asked Trevor. He nodded his head and walked over to the sheet of metal.

I heard him bending the metal, while I was watching the guards, making sure that they didn't wake up from their drunk daze. Then I saw one of them waking up.

"Trevor, Do you have the hole open?" I asked in a panicked tone. That's when I turned around to see Lydia gone.

"Come on Amber, it's your turn," he said. I looked back at the guard and he was seconds away from breaking out of his drunk daze. Shit. was my thought. Shit, Shit, Shit, I kept thinking.

I grabbed the gun from my waistband and clicked the safety off.

"Amber, come on!" he said, approaching me about to grab my arm.

"Trevor, go with Lydia. I will be out there in 2 minutes," I said aiming my gun at the guard that now had his eyes on us. I couldn't tell if he had shock on his face or if he was just so wasted, he had no idea what was happening.

I turned my head to look at Trevor and shouted, "Go! Now!"

He stepped away from me and opened the hole even more. I could hear the metal bend even more.

The guard finally managed to get up and grab the gun that was on the table. How did I manage to miss that tiny detail? He started walking towards me and I focused all of my anger on him. He woke up the other guard that was sleeping and pointed in my direction. That's when I backed to where the hole was so I can make it fast and easy. I still had my gun pointed at him.

"You're not gonna shoot me," he said with an evil smile on his face

"I wouldn't question what I would or would do," I said with a deceiving expression on my face

He switched the safety off his gun, and when I heard the click, I shot his arm.

"Bitch!" he shouted, gripping his arm

"Wanna come closer? If I could shoot you from that far I'm pretty sure I can do a lot worse if you got closer," I said

He started walking towards me and grabbed his gun with his good hand and before he could even aim the gun at me, I felt my finger squeeze the trigger. And the bullet went flying.

Right in his chest. But not dead. Not yet at least.

He fell to the ground and his gun slid forward to reach my feet.

I grabbed the gun, releasing the magazine and putting it in my pocket. I dropped the gun back on the ground.

"Just be grateful I didn't kill you," I said to him as he groaned in pain. Then I continued, "And tell Luke and Jason that their little princess says that if they want me, their gonna have to kill me,"

"They will kill you and everyone you know," he said

"Not if I kill them first," I said, lowering my gun.

I backed up and crawled through the whole that Trevor made. I felt strong arms help me up through the hole and for a moment lost my balance and the arms supported me. I looked up and met his dark brown eyes.

"Are you ok?! I heard gunshots, are you shot?!" he asked, his voice filled with panic.

"I'm fine Trevor, close the hole and let's go," I said. I looked past him and saw Lydia in one of the vans. I heard the metal bend back to, I hope, the same position as it was before.

I started running towards the car and jumped in the passenger seat. I slammed the door as soon as I entered the car.

Trevor opened the driver's door and got in. I felt the engine growl to life.

"Seat belts?" Trevor said

"Just go," I heard Lydia say in a sarcastic tone.

The dark van sped off into the dark night.