Chapter Fourteen

Pony POV

"Hey, what're you up to, dad?"

"Just going through some paperwork."

He sat down at the table...

"You know, I never wanted you to go to Europe..."

I was frozen for a second. Finally, I met his eyes.

"You should've told me, James. I wouldn't have left..."

"No, you needed to. You need to go back... It's just... You hadn't been back long. Don't get me wrong, I love living with Uncle Soda and Aunt Lydia, but it's not the same when you're not here... One of you was always here..."

I reached out and rubbed his back.

"I know, kiddo... I miss her, too..."

"Please... Go back... This is your biggest book. You..."

We heard the door open and Nicky ran in with tears in his eyes. We ran up to him.

"What's wrong?"

"They... The big men... They took her!"

"Calm down. Who'd they take?"

He looked at me.

"The big man who tried to take me! He took her!"

"What're you...?"

I cut him James off while picking Nicky up.

"James, go call 911. Tell them Scar's been kidnapped."

He ran to the phone. It took me a while to calm down Nicky.

OoO

"Well, Nicky's finally asleep."

James sat on one of the chairs in the kitchen.

"Good."

Soda looked terrible.

"I don't know what to do. We should've been watching everybody close."

"I wanted to kill the cops."

The cops were asking Nicky questions and would get frustrated with him when he was struggling to answer. I finally told them that they had enough information and to leave.

"I called Matt, he told me that he'd gotten something slid under his door a few weeks back. Pictures."

"Of what?"

"Of all the boys. Not one of Scar..."

"Did you...?"

"Yeah. I told the cops. They sent someone to pick them up at his dorm. He's coming home after his finals. Taking the summer off. Lydia put someone else on her, so she's coming home."

James was being quiet.

"Keegan's really having a hard time with it..."

"Dad... What do they want?"

I didn't have an answer for him.

Scar POV

We drove around for a long time. When we stopped, they drug me out and took me to a room. They took my blindfold off and left me there.

The room had no windows, a mattress, and was damp. Eventually, two men, not the ones who took me, came in.

"We want to have a chat with your dad. We're hoping this will motivate him."

"That's gonna be kind of hard."

The guy barked out a laugh.

"Once he realizes you're gone, he'll cooperate."

"You guys are idiots!"

The guy backhanded me.

"Oh, yeah? And why's that."

I rubbed my stinging cheekbone.

"Kind of hard for a ghost to cooperate, don't you think? My dad's buried in Charleston, South Carolina. He died almost four years ago."

The guy then punched me in the stomach.

"Boss is getting pretty tired of being told that lie."

"Mac, stop talking. Let's just do what we came here to do."

Mac nodded and walked up to me, while the other guy held a camera.

"This will motivate him if nothing else will..."

Every step he took, I took one back until I hit the wall. Whatever was coming was bad...

OoO

I was black and blue all over from the beating three days before. I blacked out at some point. Apparently, that was the goal. To send a picture of me passed out.

They've beaten me every day, but not as bad.

"Your dad still ain't coming forward."

I rolled my eyes.

"I told you why. As much as I would love to see my dad again, death doesn't reverse itself."

That earned me a good punch.

"Mac, what do you think you're doing?!"

I looked up to see a man I'd never seen before. He had a woman beside him. Mac looked like a deer caught in the headlights.

"She was getting mouthy..."

"She wasn't getting mouthy, she was telling the truth."

"But boss..."

So, this was the boss that Mac and Larry always talked about.

"I had some guys go check it out. It's true. Darry's dead. We'll just get what we need from his brothers. Now, leave."

Mac sulked out of the room giving me a glare. The "boss" and woman came in and sat on the floor.

"What are you after? Money?"

"I wanted revenge, but I'll have to figure something else out."

They didn't say anything for a while.

"Oh, Freddy. She looks horrible."

I glared.

"How else am I suppose to look? I've gotten the shit beat out of me for the last few days."

Freddy frowned at that.

"Those two goons will get what's coming to them for that. They were only suppose to do it that first day."

I crossed my arms.

"Yeah, that makes me feel a whole lot better."

He chuckled at me.

"You're a smartass just like your mom was."

My head shot up.

"You knew my mom?"

"Yeah, I did."

"What is this, anyway. The mob? Mafia? I've heard Mac and Larry talk about making runs. I'm assuming they mean drug runs."

"We're kind of like that with one difference. We don't kill family. No matter what they do."

My eyes got wide.

"You're gonna kill me?!"

The woman grabbed my hand.

"No, honey. They're not going to kill you..."

The man stood up.

"We've gotta go. I'll check on you tomorrow."

Cam POV

We were all sitting at Jason's. Soda doesn't care that Keegan's here anymore. We're all on a tight leash because of the pictures. The police know where we are at all times.

Danny came to sit by me.

"Keegan looks worse and worse every day."

"I know..."

I can't even really talk. I feel nothing but guilt.

"You okay?"

"Danny, I'm an asshole."

He looks at me confused.

"No, you're not."

"You can't tell me that you haven't noticed that me and Scar weren't talking much lately."

"Well, yeah. I noticed."

I put my head in my hands.

"What happened?"

I took a deep breath getting ready to spill.

*flashback*

It was about a month after Scar moved in with Keegan and James that everything fell apart. Scar cornered me at school.

"Okay, what's up with you?"

"Nothing's up."

She was looking at the ground.

"You've been avoiding me. I know you're mad, but let me explain..."

"Explain what? How I'm suppose to be your best friend but you told Keegan everything?"

"That's not fair... I found out he was my cousin, it was a lot to take in."

"You told him about your mom, too. Way before this shit came out."

She sat beside me on the bench.

"I didn't. He figured it out when she wasn't around. He didn't buy that she was working."

She sighed.

"You're still my best friend, Cam. You've got..."

"No, I'm not. We never should've got close, and I wish we'd never had. Then, you wouldn't be in the gang and I wouldn't have to deal with you."

*end flashback*

I shook my head.

"We became civil. She tried to talk to me about it, but I never did..."

"Why did it bother you so bad that she told Keegan?"

Soda POV

Pony walked into the kitchen.

"I thought you were at work?"

"I couldn't concentrate..."

He sat down. I ran my hands down my face.

"These have been the longest 6 days of my life since I was 16 when you were in Windrexville. Only then, I knew you made that choice on your own."

"I know..."

The phone rang and Pony answered.

"Yeah, we'll come down."

He hung up the phone.

"That was the station. Something was delivered today. For us."

OoO

Dear Ponyboy and Sodapop Curtis,

My apologies. It seems you were not lying about Darrel being dead. Although I will tell you it was never my intention to kill your brother. I just wanted him to pay for what he did. But, since he's not here I don't know what to do. I can ask you for money, but I've grown to like Scar's company. I'll let you know soon of my decision. Either you'll pay for her or she'll be the payment. As I've said, I've grown very fond of her.

A friend

I just stared at the letter.

"Who does this sicko think he is?!"

I was frustrated and Pony was pacing.

"What did Darry do? We've been trying to figure out who he pissed off, but I can't think of anybody."