I pull Molly’s huge cardigan around me as I walk through the garden in the darkness. It gets kind of chilly here at night. I take a seat on the old wooden bench and glance around me. My husband’s men are scattered around this entire property, but I don’t see any right now.
Taking my cell out of the pocket of the cardigan, I open it up. My fingers tremble as I dial the number. It isn’t stored in my phone, but it is etched into my brain like one of those things from your childhood that almost becomes a part of you. I mean, I forget my computer password every other week, but I can easily remember the phone number of my parent’s house in New York, a place where I haven’t lived or called for years.
I take a deep breath as it rings. Suddenly, I hope he doesn’t pick up.
“Hello?” his voice is the same as it always was. Deep and soothing. It hits me in the chest like someone just punched me right in the heart.
“D-daddy?” the word gets stuck on my tongue. I haven’t used it in so long.
“Alana?” I hear the gasp as though he’s as affected at the sound of my voice as I am by his.
“Yes, it’s me,” I whisper.
“What? Why?” He takes a deep breath. “How are you, sweetheart? It’s been…” he pauses.
“Five years,” I finish for him.
“Feels like longer,” he adds softly.
My heart is racing and a whole raft of emotions wash over me. I feel like I’m going to pass out. But I need to do this while I still have the nerve. “I need to tell you something, Daddy.”
“Anything, sweetheart.”
“Alejandro knows about the five million dollars.”
Silence.
“He knows that you blackmailed him, Daddy. He’s going to kill you.”
That certainly gets his attention. “How do you know about this?”
I close my eyes. The man’s arrogance is astounding. Just because he shares nothing of his life with my mother, he assumes that all men treat their wives the same way.
“Because he told me all about it. He and Jackson are going to ask you to meet them at your lake house in Virginia. But it’s a trap, Daddy. They’re going to kill you.”
“And why are you telling me this? You chose your side, Alana. You chose him over your mother and me.”
“This isn’t about choosing sides, Daddy. This is about saving your life,” I snap. “No matter what you have done, you’re still my father.”
He’s silent for a little longer. “Thank you for telling me, sweetheart. I always knew you’d be there for me if I needed you.”
“I will always be your daughter.”
“Yes you will. So, it’s a trap, you say? They’re onto me?”
“Yes. They’ll both be waiting for you, and my daughter Lucia too.”
“Right.”
“You have to promise me you won’t hurt them though, Daddy. They’re my family and I love them too.”
“Of course, sweetheart,” he says softly in that deep, soothing politicians voice that reminds me of my teenage years.
“You promise? Because I would die if anything happened to them,” I ask again. I need him to know what I’m potentially giving up for him here.
“Promise,” he assures me.
“Okay. I have to go before Alejandro notices that I’m gone. Bye, Daddy.”
“Bye, sweetheart.”
I slip the phone back into my pocket. I know that was the right thing to do, but I still feel like I’m about to throw up.
I suck in a lungful of cool night air, push myself up and make my way back to the house.
