Chapter 43: Chapter 43

I have been thinking about it for several minutes now. I never thought life will throw me in the middle of a crossroads. I just can’t figure out what to do, it’s almost like I am stuck in a position, where I have to make a life-and-death decision. Ruin Alice's life and save Rachel or let Rachel die and let Alice live peacefully. Either way, there is no guarantee that Aiden won’t take another step.

I have thought of so many ways I can get out of this but no matter what I do, Aiden is a step ahead of me; he has eyes everywhere, and for that, I sent all my bodyguards including the maids home. No one is returning to work until I settle this.

Pacing around the room, I groan In exhaustion. After so many thoughts, I couldn’t make a decision. Alice is like a sister to me, I can’t ruin her life, and Jake is just a little boy, he’s too young to be in such a situation. If I take him to Aiden he might end up living his life traumatized. Aiden will make him regret waking up every morning.

This isn’t something I can think about and easily make a decision. It’s too hard and even if I decide to save Rachel- which I am still thinking about, Alice will never agree to back to Aiden and I am in full support of that. He tortured her and I don’t want her to go through that again.

Releasing a deep breath, I sit on the bed. I give up, I can’t do this. I can’t make a decision. I just need to come up with a way for Rachel, Alice, and Jake will get out of this safely. Trying to decide what to do, I hear a knock on the door, and just as I said "Come in", the door opens, and the chief of police; Andrew walks into the room

I stood up in shock to see him there. I didn’t tell him to come here so what is he doing?

"What are you doing here?" That was the first thing that came out of my mouth. Aiden knows everything that is happening around me, I can’t risk Rachel’s life because he’s here.

"I came here to see you." He responds approaching me "I know something is wrong but I don’t know what it is. When you spoke to me on the phone, I sense some tension in your voice."

"Aiden." I tell him "That bastard has crossed all lines."

"What did he do now?" He asks

I tell him everything that happened, He already knows about Rachel’s kidnap so I just told him about the whole threatening situation and how I have to take Alice and Jake to Aiden if I want Rachel to survive.

"That’s intense." He sighs

"I know and the worst part is that I can’t use any of my connections. Aiden knows every move of mine, he has an eye on me and you know what, you shouldn’t even be here because if he finds out that you are here, he will hurt Rachel."

"If he finds out. He’s never gonna know I’m here."

"You can’t be sure about that. He has eyes everywhere, I had to dismiss all my bodyguards and maid because of him."

"No, he doesn’t have eyes everywhere. He has ears; listening ears." He says

"What are you talking about?"

He takes my phone, holds it up, and says "This." I pin my gaze on him waiting for him to continue

"Aiden has been tracking all your phone calls, messages, and emails. Every single thing you do on your phone, Aiden gets alerted."

"What!"

"That’s right Richie, he doesn’t have eyes on you, he has listening ears on your phone. I don’t know how he did it but he used a tracking app to track all your calls and messages."

"Oh shit! Brad must have put the app on my phone." I say after thinking it through. I trusted Brad so much that he sometimes holds my phone for me, there is no doubt that he installed such an app on my phone.

"Whose Brad?" He asked

"My ex-bodyguard," I respond to him

"Ohh I see."

"Yeah but wait a minute, how did you know this?"

"I am the chief of police for some reason. Little things like this don’t miss my sight. When we were on call, I noticed some disturbing noises and when I scanned our call, I found out about this."

"Ohh." I release a sigh. At least now I know his eyes aren’t on me. "Can you take down that app from my phone?"

"I can but I won’t." He says

"What?"

"Aiden has been playing the card all day, why don’t we shuffle it a little bit." He says.

I don’t understand a single word he says "What do you mean by that?"

"You see Richie, Aiden is a very powerful man and he has a lot of connections when it comes to the police department or other authorities. And going against him will be very risky since he has your fiancé as his captive."

"So you’re telling me to do what he wants me to do?" I inquire in disbelief.

"No, I’m telling you to make him think that you are doing exactly what he wants you to do."

"I don’t understand. You gotta explain further."

"You know what why don’t I just tell you the whole thing? I have a plan for you." He says and points at the couch "Take a sit and I’ll explain everything to you."

I take a sit and Andrew sits next to me. He tells me the whole plan and I give him a listening ear. With each sentence he says, I nod in agreement. He’s really helping me out. If this goes as planned, I will forever be grateful to him.

"So, what do you think?" He asks

"It’s a good idea, but do you think it’s gonna work?" I ask. I don't want to endanger Alice's life with this.

"If it goes as planned, yes it will work out perfectly but if not." He releases a sigh "Let’s just hope for the best."

I have no other choice right now so I just have to go with this plan. Releasing a breath I say "I will go get Alice."

I walk out of the room and into the living room where I meet Alice pacing around the room. She looks very tense.

"Alice," I call her name making her turn to look at me expectedly.

"Richie, I need to talk to you. It’s about John-"

"Hear me out first," I say cutting her off. What am about to tell her is way more important than anything else.

Her face falls as she looks at me, questionably. "You thought about it didn’t you?" She asks referring to my discussion with Aiden.

"Yes."

"I knew it. You are taking me and Jake to Aiden, aren’t you?" She inquires

"Yes but that’s not the case, I have a plan."

"Jake is just a little boy. He cannot handle Aiden’s torture. I can agree to come with you but Jake, no way." She says

"I understand what you are saying but you have to listen to me. I have a plan and it’s gonna work, I promise you that."

"No, Richie, what if it doesn’t work, I don’t want to risk Jake’s life. Mine I can but Jake, never."

"I won’t let anything happen to you or Jake; I promise. Just hear me out, this is gonna work, I know it." I say. She lets me speak and I tell her the plan, though she doesn’t seem to be okay with it

Alice takes a deep breath and shakes her head "I don’t think it’s a good idea, Richie. It’s too risky."

"This is the only option I have. If you don’t cooperate with me, Rachel will die."

"But Jake." She grieves over it.

"I promise I won’t let anything happen to him," I assure

"But you don’t understand, I want to help you and save Rachel but I can’t. Aiden is a monster, he will turn everything around and he will get capture all of us. He’s not gonna let Rachel go." She begins to panic. Alice really suffered when she was with Aiden and I understand why she’s so scared; Aiden is a beast he could go extra mile to get what he wants.

"Alice please, just trust me, I know what I’m doing," I tell her.

Alice looks like she’s thinking and taking a breath she gives in "Fine. Jake and I will come with you."

"Thank you, thank you so much." I sigh. I palmed her face with my hand "I know you are scared Alice but I need you to trust me right now. I’m just gonna let Aiden think that I’m taking you to him but I’m not. I promise I won’t let anything happen to you or Jake, just trust me." I assure

"I trust you." She sighs holding my hand against her face. I wrap my arms around her to comfort her. I can feel her heart beating so fast. This makes me feel more anxious than am already am. I just hope this goes as planned. I can’t imagine ruining three lives.

Pulling out of the hug, my phone starts to ring. Andrew quickly brings the phone to me. I look at the number, it was not the same number that called me earlier. Though I know it’s Aiden, I wonder why he keeps using different numbers to call me.

I answer the call and put it on speaker "It’s already an hour, Richie. I hope you’ve made a decision." He says almost immediately as I answer the call.

"I have. How do I get Alice and Jake to you?"