Betrayed Read online

  Betrayed

  Copyright © 2014

  Marisa Michaels

  All rights reserved.

  This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are the product of the author's imagination. Any resemblance to actual persons living or dead, businesses or establishments, events, or locales, is entirely coincidental.

  PROLOGUE

  It was heavily gold plated with a weird square of squiggly lines right under the trigger. Rick couldn’t stop staring at the dangerous looking pistols carried by all three men in the room. He shifted his eyes from the pistol and observed the men. One was totally engrossed in a football match screening on the flat screen, another was fast asleep on the couch his pistol placed carelessly on his chest and when he turned to look at the third man, he was greeted by deep, dark eyes glaring at his own. Rick quickly looked away. That second, the door behind him opened and yet another man entered the room. He was around six feet tall, on the leaner side, his eyes black and his skin pale. He was wearing a deep blue suit and came right in front of Rick who got up hastily.

  “Forty five thousand,” he said, his voice deep and clear as he handed a briefcase to Rick.

  “Yes. Yes, thank you so much,” he said and held the briefcase. But the man didn’t let go of the handle. “I better find you right here in exactly ten months with the money including interest or I will have to show you my dirty hand of blood. Do you understand?”

  “Y-yes, sir, I will return the money, I promise.” He spluttered but looked as strong and confident as he could, staring back at those dangerous eyes. The man let go of the handle and walked out through the door he came in. After a quick thank you to the three unresponsive men, Rick dashed outside the room and quickly walked towards the elevator.

  He was at the West Care hotel, on the twentieth floor. An hour back, he had come here after a hasty phone call he made the previous night, when his fiancée had fallen asleep. That morning, he was unsure of his decision but here he was, with the briefcase of cash in his hand as he waited for the elevator doors to open.

  Once inside the elevator, he took a breath of relief. The elevator was empty, and he placed the briefcase on the floor carefully and looked at it. Rick was a stockbroker in Chicago, and he earned just enough to keep himself and his fiancée comfortable. But lately, his beautiful fiancée, Tracy, was getting restless and stressed by the workload her office gave her. All of her earnings went to the bank for the student loan she had taken up during college. He needed the money more than ever as he had promised her a Mercedes for her birthday after a nasty fight they had gotten into. She told him the car wasn’t necessary but she wouldn’t turn it down, and he saw the glimmer in her eye when they went to the car dealership to look at the cars.

  Rick had planned to pay cash for the car as his semi-annual bonus was due at work. But two weeks ago, he had gotten the news that their company was being bought out, that his management role was being abolished, and his income would now be strictly commission. When his last bonus check arrived on his desk, $5000, it was substantially less than the $45,000 he was supposed to get.

  He didn’t know how to tell Tracy. Everyone said how lucky he was to have a woman like her; she was beautiful, smart, in shape, and everyone loved her. Rick had moments of doubts as she never seemed to have a hard time spending his hard earned money, but he pushed those thoughts out of his head. He really needed to keep his word. He knew he could get another job, and then his salary would be back up to where it needed to be. He was unable to get a loan from the bank due to his job uncertainty and the fact that Tracy had run up over $20,000 of charges on the only credit card they had. He didn’t have anyone to borrow money from. When he heard about the Green brothers through a colleague of his, he inquired about them and knew for a fact that they were, what one might call, the men of underground business. But being desperate, Rick had made the phone call.

  It was all for good, he reassured himself, and the elevator opened.

  CHAPTER 1

  Exhausted and spent, Rick rolled over. Eight months had flown by since Tracy’s birthday. Amidst the busy work schedule, Rick and Tracy squeezed in some pleasure time during the weekend. Today, Rick needed it desperately to keep himself from crumbling down in panic. Time had run out, and he still hadn’t gotten or saved enough money to return to the Green brothers. He should have given it all back today but he hadn’t. In the last weeks, he had made a dozen calls for money but it all went in vain. The interest rates were so high that Rick couldn’t think of any other means to collect it. He hadn’t told his fiancée about the Green brothers; he had lied to her. She thought the money was a loan from the bank, and they had their entire lives ahead to pay it back in installments. What if she found out?

  He turned back to Tracy who had her eyes fixed on the TV, watching the news. When she looked at him, he kissed her full and juicy lips making him hungry for more. Cupping her face, he kissed her with passion meeting her tongue which rolled into his mouth. She climbed on top of him as he got inside her for the third time. Her hair wild, Tracy pushed it over one side of her shoulder and bent down to kiss his chest as Rick ran his hands all over her. Just when she lifted her face and invited him to nuzzle between her mounds, the shrill ring of the phone interrupted them.

  “Let it ring, baby,” she whispered and stretched herself over his face. After the initial hesitation, Rick gave in but when the phone rang again, he gently pushed her away and reached out to the bedside table. He screwed his eyes wide open, looked at the mobile screen and adrenaline rushed in. He hastily climbed out of bed, murmured something about a client and slid out of the bedroom. He swiped the screen and placed it on his ears.

  “Hello?”

  “You were supposed to come here this morning,” a raspy voice growled from the other end of the line.

  “Y-yes. I was about to call you. I just need a little more time. I’ll-”

  “You have until midnight. Bring it or prepare to face your worst nightmare.”

  The line went dead, and Rick began to hyperventilate and paced around in dismay. He couldn’t mortgage his house because it wasn’t his to begin with. They had rented it when they got engaged. He couldn’t ask his father because he had enough worry and debts on his head. He tried all the legal ways but had no luck. He mused on the option of coming clean with his fiancée and asking her to help him.

  “What’s wrong, baby?”

  Tracy’s voice made him jump. He saw her by the doorway, holding the bedspread to cover herself. She walked towards him and worry spread over her face when she saw his pale skin numbed with shock.

  “What is it, Rick?” she asked touching his shoulder. He moved past her and sat on the couch. Looking at her, he prepared himself.

  “Trace, I lied to you. I hadn’t gotten the money from the bank. I had gone to the Green brothers and borrowed money from them. They gave me ten months but I didn’t realize the interest rates would be so high. I tried to get the money to pay them back, I swear. I was supposed to pay them back today but I didn’t. They just called and told me I have until midnight - after which I’ll get into some big trouble,” Rick vented it all in a single breath.

  Afraid to look at her, he looked to his left, outside the window and waited. The neighborhood looked beautiful covered with a thin layer of snow. It was the first week of December, and the house opposite already had their Christmas lights up. His eyes then focused on Tracy’s motionless silhouette by the window.

  It took an entire minute for Tracy to process his run on words. When the truth finally clicked, blood surged within her. She snatched the clock from the mantelpiece and threw it over at Rick. It hit him on his arm, and he screamed.

  “What are you doing? I’m sorry, okay?” he cried out standing up, just avoidi
ng a vase which smashed against the window, cracking it.

  “How could you be so stupid? I told you we couldn’t afford it! I told you I didn’t need a car!” she screamed.

  “Are you kidding me? That’s all you talked about! You told me if I insisted then you would accept it! You didn’t put up much of a fight not to get it!”

  “Oh, this is my fault now? You, bastard, you lied to me! You kept it from me for ten months!”

  After a fifteen minute screaming match - which involved a lot more than the current issue -died out in exhaustion, the couple sat beside each other, lost in thoughts. The room was a mess with broken shards of glass on the floor, and the bedspread spread half on the table and half on the ground. In the middle of their quarrel, they had gotten into their nightwear - obviously in no mood for sex anymore.

  “I’ll ask my boss for the Christmas bonus first thing tomorrow and . . .”

  “I need to pay them back by midnight,” Rick interrupted, and Tracy gave him a murderous stare. “I doubt your $2000 Christmas bonus would do any good”, he said sarcastically.

  “Did you ask Steven? I’m sure he’ll be able to help you.”

  “Steven is out of town for a case.”

  “Why don’t you give him a call?”

  “The last time I talked to him, he told me his phone is being tapped. So I don’t want to risk it. He is a lawyer, it may affect him professionally.”

  “Alright, never mind.”

  After a couple of hours of hopeless thoughts, Tracy managed to convince Rick to ask his father since they had absolutely no other choice. They had less than a couple of hours left. After a quick cup of coffee, Rick left the apartment. After he had left, Tracy hopped in her red Mercedes. She wiped away the snow from the windshield and got inside the driver’s seat. Starting up the car, she made a quick reverse from the driveway and just avoided colliding with an SUV that came speeding down the road. It was going to be a long drive, and she hardly had the energy to honk or swear at the reckless driver.

  ***

  After a twenty minute drive, Rick found himself standing outside his childhood home. Sixteen years of his life was spent in that red brick house which held memories, love and pain. He peeped into the mailbox and picked up two letters and walked to the door. He rang the familiar bell and waited for his father, Peter, to open the door. He looked at the two envelopes and recognized them as bills. Already hopeless, he clutched them tight in his hand. The door opened and a large, pot-bellied man stood grinning at the sight of his son.

  “This is a pre-Christmas surprise! Come on in, son. Isn’t Tracy with you? Ah, thank you for getting them,” he said as Rick handed the mail to him and stepped inside the door, removing his coat and shoes.

  “Hello, Dad. No she had something come up. How are you?” he asked, looking around at the state of the house. Unwashed dishes to the brim of the sink, an overloaded trashcan, and clothes on the table and on the couch. A typewriter stood in the front of the side table with sheets of paper by its side.

  “I’ve been good. Yes, I guess I do need to get the mess cleaned up, huh?” he said following Rick’s eyes.

  “I think so, Dad. Where is Mrs. Cooper? Shouldn’t she be coming every week for housekeeping?”

  “Her husband is sick so she had to take a month off. Don’t worry I’ll ask one of our neighbor’s housekeeper,” Peter said and sat down on the couch, and Rick followed suit. “So, what’s going on? You look a little pale.”

  “Nah, I’m fine. How’s the book going? Did you talk to a publisher yet?” asked Rick, unable to get to the point. He looked at his watch; it was quarter past eleven.

  “I’m going to meet one tomorrow but I still a have a lot to write. Don’t change the subject; I’m sure something is bothering you. Tell me,” he coaxed.

  It took Rick ten minutes to properly explain the situation through his rambling. By the end of it, Peter had patted his shoulder in understanding. He got up and walked into the bedroom and after a couple of minutes, he returned with a stack of money in hand.

  “I have about five thousand, Rick. Not a penny more. I wish I could help you,” he said handing the money to him. “I could lecture you about your foolishness but I know you already know it. Do remember, Rick, every easy penny has a tough price to pay.”

  “Thank you, Dad. I will pay you back, I promise,” he said with sincere eyes and a grateful heart.

  “Now run along and think of how you are going to get the rest of the money.” he said and Rick responded with a shameful nod. “Alright, then. Let me know how things go.”

  ***

  I hope I beat him home, Tracy thought as she drove back onto her street. The party at the penthouse was full of stoners and people making out in the corners of the rooms. She wondered where she would be today if she hadn’t met Rick. He rescued her and was her plan to leave her former life and this awful city of Chicago behind. It was way past midnight, and she prayed Rick had gotten hold of the money somehow. As she got closer to home, she noticed a black limo parked outside her neighbor’s. Just when she was about to pass by it, the limo lurched forward in front of her car, causing Tracy to screech the Mercedes to a halt, barely missing hitting the limo.

  “Are you crazy?” she shouted, leaning out the window. A figure got out of the car and quickly walked towards her. She only had a second’s time to make out a pistol in his hand before an ear splitting shot and the shattering of glass filled the silent night. Before she could scream or open her eyes, rough hands grabbed her from the car, and a cloth of some sort was pressed to her nose. The next few seconds were exactly like a fast forwarded, bad scene from the movies. A stinging pain cut through her thigh and arms where the splinters of glass had lodged deep inside her. She was thrown into the back seat of the limo and a sudden dizziness washed inside her. The last thing she saw was a blurry figure of a man in a black suit, glaring at her and then the black suit seemed to have expanded to cover the entire space, and she closed her eyes.

  ***

  Rick arrived home, heard a gunshot, and saw a man dragging Tracy into a limo. Fumbling with the lock on the car door, he rushed out towards the limo. By the time he reached the pavement, the limo had driven down the road and was turning around the corner. He chased it down the street but was soon left behind, losing sight and direction of it.

  He slumped down on the road, panting and cursing his life. Blood rushed to his head, and his heart beat furiously with fear. What was he to do now? His phone rang, and he retrieved it from his pocket and looked at the screen. With shaky hands, he swiped to answer his worst nightmare and held it against his ear.

  CHAPTER 2

  Rick’s heart was still racing, and his mind was completely numb with shock. He had trudged back home and sat by the window looking at the lights outside, through the crack the vase had made last night. Though it was almost five in the morning now, it was still dark and silent outside. The heavy weather was keeping the people in deep slumber. Rick hadn’t had a wink of sleep, and all he could do was stare at the street lights. When the lights went out and the world around started to stir, Rick could feel the numbness fade, being replaced with rage and anxiety. He began to curse himself for not being able to corral the money when a voice inside him taunted at his folly of getting money from dangerous people in the first place. He let out a cry of frustration and kicked the wall, regretting it the next moment. He limped into the kitchen to make a cup of coffee. He needed his brain to work, and coffee was a good beginning.

  The first sip made him feel better instantly. He picked up his cellphone from the mantel shelf and fished out Steven’s number. He did not have a choice anymore; he had to get hold of the money. The Green brothers had clearly told him that they would let Tracy free only when he brought them the money. They gave him three days, after which - Rick did not want to think about it.

  “Hello?” the voice cracked through the phone.

  “Steven? Hey, Rick here. Are you free?” asked Rick.

  “Rick
! How are you? Yes, I’m good. I just flew back in.”

  Rick requested Steven meet him at the Blue Café but he refused to travel again, being pretty jetlagged. He asked Rick to come by his place if it was really urgent. After a quick change of clothes, Rick hailed another cab to Steven’s apartment. He had parked the Mercedes outside his house and covered it up with a sheet. He didn’t want his neighbors questioning him about the broken glass.

  Rick was certain he would lose his job if he didn’t turn up at the office today. He made a plan in his head. First, he would quickly explain the story to Steven, and Steven would get the money in an hour. He would then go to West Care which was a five minute drive from Steven’s apartment, give them the money, get Tracy, put her safely in a cab and head to his office on the other side of town. He would get there by ten, just in time. The plan was straight and simple. Being confident, he closed his eyes to take a short nap. Before drifting off to sleep, he day- dreamed about quitting his job and being given the position of managing director in a bigger company.

  ***

  The sudden brake and blare of music jerked him from his thoughts. They had just entered the North side, and the cab was stuck behind a flash mob of some sort.

  “They are good, aren’t they? It’s for the election. Nice to see the kids involving themselves in something productive, eh?” said the cab driver.

  “By dancing in the middle of the road and wasting our time? Yes, productive indeed,” Rick mocked in annoyance. The cab driver raised his eyebrows at him through the rear mirror but talked no more. Rick looked through the window at the opposite road. They were parked right outside the most popular and expensive hotel in Chicago, the Grand Turn. It was seventy six story’s tall and celebrities, millionaires and other famous people regularly checked in. As he moved his eyes into the spacious lobby inside, he spotted a familiar face seated on the sofa. He narrowed his eyes and recognized her as Regan Solinski, the congressman’s daughter. The red-streaked hair was unmistakable. She was a beautiful woman, in her mid-twenties. She was kind-hearted and known for helping charities by giving them both her money and time. She stood by her father’s side and was mostly seen around Chicago going to parties and press conferences with him. It was surprising to see her seated at the Grand Turn all by herself.