Chapter 260
Elena
“Dad, you haven’t touched your food at all.”
My dad looked up at me before he sunk his head towards his laptop. The suspension was the worst thing that could’ve happen to him and did not come to my advantage.
Being stuck in a house with a man obsessed with going after the cartel was nothing to be happy about. I could still not believe that this man was willing to bring the entire family in danger just to prove his point, and I could also not believe that he had dragged my brother into this.
Poor Alex could not lead his own life and even went along with my dad’s crazy ideas. It was no surprise his ex-wife divorced him because she couldn’t take it anymore.
He didn’t even have time for his two-year-old daughter because all he focused on was his job, just like dad. I was never the one to look up any trouble, so I could genuinely not understand why those two airheads planned on going after some cartel.
“Dad,” I tried again. “You haven’t closed a single eye. You can’t go on like this any longer.”
“I can, and I will.” He spoke determinedly. “I will bring them all down, even if that’s the last thing I’ll do.”
“Well, okay.” I sighed, exhausted. I would not argue any longer, and if dad and Alex wanted to put themselves in danger, they could go ahead and do that, but I had other plans. The wedding was coming up, and there was still so much to do.
“What have you been up to lately?” My dad somehow found the nerve to ask me. I got interrupted by the sound of email notification and shrugged him off. “Oh, nothing much-the wedding thing I told you about,” I mumbled as I scanned through the mail, which I had been waiting on for a long time.
Marvin’s email.
1 Inbox
From M. Romero
Today I have some bittersweet news. It seems like my dream come true because I’m getting released from prison in just four hours!
“What the fuck,” I muttered, surprised, as I went through the first sentence. Was it April fools already? The smile on my face had slowly changed from a confused frown to a frightened look. What the hell did inmate Marvin mean? Was he really out of prison?
“What does it say?” My dad asked as he attempted to peak over my shoulder, but I freaked out and backed away as my hands shook hysterically.
I’ll be at the Vermont Street Bridge this Saturday at 12 PM, and I’ll be waiting for you.
This couldn’t be.
Please don’t tell me my biggest nightmare was becoming a reality.
“I-it’s just some spam mail!” I spoke in a hurry as I gathered my laptop and all my other belongings. “Anyway, I won’t keep you busy-bye!”
I rushed to my room before my dad could even say anything and closed the bedroom door. Was I dreaming!
I leaned my head against the wall and closed my eyes while I tried to catch my breath. All I had to do was breathe and think. I was overreacting, and everything was going to be okay.
There was nothing wrong with some prison pen pal who was supposed to get life without parole, asking me to meet up with him.
Who was I even kidding?
Just the thought of it made my skin crawl,
“No!” I huffed as I slammed my head against my desk. Maybe if I’d hit it a bit harder, I would pa*s out and die. That was the only thing that could save me at the moment.
How could I ever be that stupid?
That was it. I could pack my stuff and move to the woods, where no one could find me. One thing was for sure. I was not going to that appointment. I had watched enough shows to know how that would end up, but I had also watched enough shows to know that I couldn’t just ignore someone like that.
I brushed my fingers through my hair and walked back and forth while I thought of what to do. What if this guy was some weird stalker? What if he wouldn’t leave me alone?
I should’ve listened to my dad and my brother and lived my life as boring as possible. Why did I decide to write some random dude in the first place?
“Yeah, that’s it,” I muttered as I threw open my closet and pulled out a large travel bag. My mind went numb, and I didn’t even know what I was doing, but I pulled out every piece of clothing I owned and threw it into the bag.
That Marvin guy was probably already on his way to kidnap me.
My hands were getting sweaty, and my heartbeat was rising. I felt dizzy, and I was close to losing my eyesight. I was losing my damn mind.
This wouldn’t do any good.
“Breathe, Elena,” I whispered to myself as I held my hands against my closet and took several deep breaths. I was overreacting.
I mean, judging from the emails, he didn’t seem all that bad, and he told me it was my own choice. I didn’t have to show up if I didn’t want to, and I was going nuts for absolutely no reason.
There was only one person who would know what to do, and that person had always been the one with the most brains out of us. Victoria.
I hadn’t told her a single thing about how I decided to send Marvin something in return because I knew she would disagree.
Perhaps if I told her from the start, she could’ve talked me out of it.
I grabbed my phone and desperately searched for Tori’s work number. “Victoria Schmidt speaking!” A cheerful voice answered the phone.
I let out a relieved breath and closed my eyes as I prepared myself for her upcoming outburst. “Tori, it’s me, Lena.”
“Lena?” Victoria greeted me. I barely called her on that number because I knew she was a busy lawyer and didn’t want to distract her from her job, but this concerned the law. I mean, a criminal broke out of prison. Well, released, but there wasn’t that much of a difference in this case.
“Please tell me you’re not busy!” I managed to get out in between breaths. “No, what’s wrong with you, girl?” Victoria laughed. “You sound like you’re running a marathon.”
“Well, I’m about to!”
Victoria giggled at my response, and the poor girl had no idea how serious I was. “What do you mean, you’re about to?”
“Victoria!” I spoke in a hurry while I grabbed my handbag and my keys. “Don’t go anywhere, don’t even move a muscle-I did something stupid, and I’m on my way right now!”
“Did you finally killed your dad and brother?” Victoria chuckled nervously. To be honest, I wished that was the case. It would’ve made stuff a bit easier, and at this moment, I felt a whole lot safer in prison.
“No… “I sulked. “But I think someone might be out to kill me.” I whispered the last part as my mind went to the worst-case scenarios. That Marvin guy was out here on these streets and was probably out to find me because I made a fool out of him.
I did not know whatever sounded worst between my dad and brother going after the cartel or my criminal pen pal getting released from prison.
“Elena, are you high?”
“No, not yet, not at the moment. “I sighed, confused. It was unlike me to be this stupid enough to give this random man all of my information. “Whatever, I’ll be waiting for you-make it quick. “Tori laughed.
One thing was for sure, and that was that she wouldn’t be laughing for too long. I grabbed my coat and pulled my hoodie to my nose. What if this Marvin guy was already at my doorsteps?
