Page 65 of Trust In Me

“Fine, but I don’t want her high as a kite. None of the hard stuff.” As soon as Lionel has finished speaking, he slams the door closed, and I hear the lock clicking. Now we are both locked in here.

I feel the bed dip beside me, and a gentle hand touches my shoulder. I think it’s supposed to be reassuring, but I can’t help but flinch away. I can’t bear to have anyone touch me. I look up, and as soon as my gaze locks on the woman sitting beside me, my eyes widen in shock.

“You?” It’s all I manage to squeak out, not entirely sure what else to say. I thought this woman had ruined my life enough, but now she’s here to dig the knife in. Fucking Shayla!

Scurrying away from Shayla, I climb off the bed, desperate to put some distance between us. Her face crumbles to sadness, and I’m so fucking confused. “Mia, I know you don’t trust me, but I promise you, I’m not working with Kyle. I’m here to get you out safely. Kellan knows I’m here, and it won’t be long until he arrives, along with his small army, to help get you out of here.”

“Why the fuck would you help me? You ruined my life,” I spit, anger bubbling under the surface, and I can’t even feel sorry for her when Shayla’s face drops with shame.

“I’m so sorry. I should have listened to you. Fuck, I know I shouldn’t have interfered in your life. Please believe me when I say I was acting in Hallie’s best interests. I was raised by abusers, and my childhood was a shitstorm. Everything I’ve ever done, all the pain I’ve put people through, it has always been for Hallie. I didn’t leave her because I wanted to, I did it to keep her safe. Everything I’ve ever done is to keep Hallie safe. I have experience of working with Whitlock. I know exactly what he’s capable of, and I don’t want someone like him in her life. When you said you weren’t in his life, I should’ve believed you. I’m so sorry. I know there’s no way I can give you back the time I took from you and Kellan, but I sure as fuck will do my best to get you out of here, so you can live your lives together,” Shayla explains, sadness and shame lacing every word.

I have no idea if I should believe her, but right now, she’s my only hope of getting out of here. There’s a whole fucking lot that we need to discuss, and she’s going to have to prove herself before I start to trust her, but I’m willing to try. I don’t have a whole host of options right now.

“Okay…well, if we can start with the pain relief, then I’ll hear this plan of yours to get me the fuck out of here. I can’t trust you right away, but I sure as fuck am going to give you the chance to prove yourself. Get me the fuck out of here, then we can talk. Agreed?” I ask, stepping towards Shayla as a smile spreads across her face. She reaches over to her bag that’s sitting on top of a suitcase, it looks like the type a mobile beautician would carry, and she pulls out a pill bottle. She shakes a couple loose and hands me them along with a bottle of water. My gaze flits between looking at the pills and looking at Shayla, unsure whether I should take them or not.

Seeing the distrust on my face, she holds out the bottle for me to read. As soon as I see the word ‘codeine’, I’m reassured she is only giving me strong pain killers, and I swallow two instantly. Once I’ve done that, I look at her, raising my eyebrow in question, silently asking where we go from here.

“Right, now we get ready for the wedding. I know it doesn’t seem like a plan, but it is. I need Kyle to think that everything is going exactly as he planned. In reality, Kellan and his team will be getting ready, waiting for the exact moment to strike. I’ve sent them all the information they need from the inside. It won’t be long, Mia, until your rescue party arrives. But until then, it’s business as usual. Okay?”

I nod my head and allow myself to hope for just a moment. I imagine Kellan getting everything organised, and all my friends banding together to come and rescue me. I’ve always believed they would come for me, I just hope they get here and do it before I have to marry this asshole. I would much prefer to kill him.

We’re all gathered in the living room, everyone is shouting out plans or suggestions, while the others bat them down as stupid or not feasible ideas. I simply pace around the living room, listening to what everyone has to say, but at the same time my brain is working continuously, evaluating and analysing everything I’ve done so far. Trying to think of what I’ve missed. Any little clue I may have overlooked that could help me find her. But there's nothing.

A buzz vibrates in my pocket, and I pull it out instantly, praying that it’s Mia. That she’s been able to find a phone to ask for help. The number is unknown, and I open it as quickly as I can.

Unknown: Kellan, this is Shayla. Please, trust me and click this link.

Obviously I have no reason in this world to trust her, but I don’t hesitate even for a second before I click on the link. My phone would alert me if she was attempting to do anything dodgy. All it does is take me to a secure server with a couple of links. I open the one that says ‘open me first’ and it looks like a letter.

Kellan,

First of all, I want to apologise for interfering in your life. I should never have done that. I have my reasons, and I will share them when the time is right, but for now, please know that I’m trying to make amends. I’ve found Mia, and I’ve gone undercover to get you the information you’ll need to come and get Mia. As soon as it’s safe, I’ll email you everything you need. Please promise me you won’t make a move on the location before I tell you. You could be putting a lot of lives, mine and Mia’s included, in danger. Please, I know you have no reason to, but trust me on this one. I want to get Mia home to you and Hallie. Please let me do this. I’m sorry for all the hurt I've caused you. This is my meagre attempt at putting things right.

The next couple of links contain details of where I am and who has taken Mia. It will give you all the information you need to prepare. The files are password protected, and I will share the password with you when you need to access them. Until then, I need you to stay calm. I want to get Mia out safely, and I promise I can do that. Just give me the chance.

Shayla xx

“Motherfucker!” I shout, as I try to access the other files. They’re all password protected and after I try typing in a few obvious choices, I know I’m going to have to run a password detection scanner, which could take ages depending on the size of the password. I can hack in, but it will take forever. I may be left with no other choice than to trust Shayla, to wait for her.

My cursing catches the attention of the people around me, and Liam jumps up from the sofa along with Bree, asking what’s happened. I decide to tell everyone at the same time, rather than having to explain myself over and over.

Once I’ve finished, the room erupts into shouts, as everyone has a thought on whether I should trust Shayla or not. I look to Liam for his advice, as he’s the person I trust most, but he looks perplexed. “Honestly, bro, I have no idea why she would want to help you. If she means what she says, that this is her way of helping, then we have no choice but to go with it. We have no reason not to trust her.”

“You mean, if we don’t include the fact that she lied and abandoned Hallie and you back in Ireland,” Ryleigh adds with a sneer. She’s never met Shayla, but she hates her nonetheless.

Finn, who is normally one of the quietest of the Doughty kids, stands up and he looks almost shy as he starts to speak. “Look, Kel, before I say this I want you to know that I don’t approve of what Shayla did to you, and if it ever comes down to it, I will always side with you. I saw you as my brother before the revelation, but now you really are my brother, and I’m with you. But I haven’t been totally honest with you. You know I bonded with Shayla when I came to help her get ready for the job in Ireland. We became close, and we texted a bit afterwards. I never interfered, I was just there for her to talk to me if she needed. I’m sorry if it upsets you knowing I stayed in touch with her, but I always got the impression she could use a friend. We never talked about what happened, not really, but she did tell me she believes she acted in Hallie’s best interests. I don’t agree with her decisions, but having gotten to know her a little over the last year, I don’t think she is a malicious person. I think she is broken, and maybe this is her way of trying to fix the things she had a hand in breaking.”

“You kept in touch with her after what she did?” I choke out, and Finn just drops his head, looking almost embarrassed.

“I’m sorry. I genuinely believe she needed a friend,” Finn explains, but my anger is already bubbling over. Hearing this is the tipping point.

“That didn’t have to fucking be you, did it? How the fuck could you do this to me?” I shout, pacing towards Finn, who seems to almost cower. Fuck, does he think I’m going to attack him?

I look down to see my hands are curled into fists, my rage causing my face to distort, and I hate the guy I’m turning into. I would never hit any of my family, no matter how much they piss me off.

Kian, who is the closest to us, stands to act as a barrier preventing me from getting closer to Finn, and that just pisses me off even more. There’s no way I would hurt Finn. “Okay, Kellan, why don’t you go and sit on the sofa until you’ve cooled down a bit? Clearly we have no choice but to follow Shayla’s demands. It's the only lead we have. We don’t have to trust her, but we do have to listen to her.” Kian guides me to the sofa as he speaks, and I flop down, resigning myself to the fact that he is right. Stupid, smug asshole. Who would have thought he’d be the voice of reason.

I agree to wait it out, to follow Shayla’s plan, but that doesn’t mean I can’t start running the hacking software to crack the password, just in case. The longer I have to sit here and wait, wondering what kind of hell Mia is having to endure, my patience begins to wear thin.

---