Saved By The Glass Slipper Read online

“Brandy,” Randy whispered. “I want what you two have together and she just doesn’t understand.”

  “Start slow,” Mark said, glancing at me from the side.

  “I tried that. Last night when I tried to take her clothes off her—”

  “That’s not slow,” Mark whispered to him. “That’s fast. With someone like that, it’ll take weeks to get to that step.”

  “Explain it to me?”

  Mark took a napkin from the table and pulled a pen from his pocket. He wrote down the steps for poor Randy to follow to seduce Brandy, like he was an expert. All he had to do was rent that Nymph movie and she’d be putty in his hands.

  I didn’t want to hear their disgusting stupid man discussion, so I went to get a cup of tea. John stopped me just as I put a teabag in the cup.

  “So how’s lover boy?”

  “What do you mean?” I asked.

  “Does he satisfy you?” He was always obnoxious, which was why I rarely dated when I was at home.

  “None of your business.”

  I tried to walk past him, but he grabbed my arm. “Did you get any sleep last night?”

  “Sure.”

  “How much?”

  “An hour, maybe?”

  John grinned. “Yep. He’s worthy of my sister.”

  I hated John. I was so glad Mark was nothing like him.

  Mark walked up to me with a smile. “Ready to go?”

  “Sure.”

  He turned to John. “We’ll need to go to your house for the tracking information. The FBI doesn’t want the person who knows the information to know we’re trying to get it. They’re going to take the chip on a little trip away from us and see if they can track the guy.”

  “Makes sense. Let me tell Annemarie and I’ll go with you.”

  John walked away and I all but stuck out my tongue at him.

  “Did he say something to upset you?” Mark asked, his eyes meeting mine.

  “He wanted to know about our sex life, the pig.”

  “Oh, I’ll tell him,” Mark said. He turned to talk to John, but my fingernails in his arm stopped him cold.

  “Over your dead body,” I muttered. “Don’t worry, he said you’re worthy of me.”

  Mark laughed, removed my hand from his arm and pulled me to him, his hands around my waist. “Oh, did he?”

  “Yeah. I told him we got an hour’s sleep. That’s all he needed to know to fill in the rest.”

  “But some of that was spent watching the movie.”

  “Yeah, to get more positions. Did you tell Randy to rent one of those? It’ll speed things up a bit.”

  “I guess I should have. You’re right.” He walked away and pulled Randy aside, writing more on the napkin. I’d created a monster.

  John joined us and we took an SUV with Andrew to John’s house. How and why they rented all of these vehicles wasn’t my concern. All I knew was that John was in the front directing Andrew as he drove and I was laying on Mark’s lap in the back while he stroked my hair and whispered sweet nothings into my ear, making me smile.

  Andrew pulled into John’s driveway and I sat up.

  “Uh-oh,” John said.

  I looked at the front of the house and saw where he was looking. We all jumped out of the car and Andrew drew his gun while Mark pulled out his cell phone and made a call.

  We stood at John’s slightly open front door, where a huge kitchen knife was shoved into the wood, with blood all over the handle. Under the blade was a note in big black letters that read, ‘Where is it?’

  ~~~~~

  Chapter 8

  “Don’t touch anything,” Mark said, moving the phone from his mouth. “Everyone’s supposed to get out of here in case the guy’s still here.”

  We all ran back to the car and high-tailed it out of there, heading back for the hotel and passing some police cars with their sirens blaring and their lights blinking.

  “Think it’s for a donut raid?” John asked, looking back at us.

  “Absolutely. A Monday morning coffee stop, for sure,” Mark answered. They both laughed. Stupid men humor.

  “So, Mark, did you have a nice night?” John asked.

  “You bet we did, right Amy?” He glanced at me and I gave him a dirty look. “We watched a great movie on television.”

  “You watched TV on your wedding night?” John asked.

  “Yep. Oh, it was a good one, too.” I saw him wink at John and they both started laughing.

  “Did you even follow the plot?” John asked me.

  “Sure. Want a blow-by-blow account?” As soon as the words were out of my mouth I turned away, feeling my face turn red. All of the men in the car howled, and I was afraid Andrew would run the car off the road.

  Mark put his arm on my shoulders. “That’s my Amy!”

  “You guys didn’t get married in Georgia, did you?” John asked.

  Mark glanced at me, then back at John. “No, but don’t tell Randy. We got married here, and it was for protection for Amy. That poor Justice of the Peace—”

  “Don’t tell that story,” I whined.

  “He probably had a heart attack after we left.”

  “You know it,” Andrew said. “I saw him fan himself and take some medication after you two walked out of the building.”

  I hid my face.

  “Why was that?” John asked, almost laughing.

  “She attacked me in front of the guy, just to get me back,” Mark said, pointing at me. “For what, I’m not sure.”

  “You deserved it, dragging me to get married so soon. But…” All eyes were on me.

  “But what?” Mark asked.

  “It was worth it.”

  He kissed my cheek. “I knew it would be.”

  “Did you guys take off work this week?” John asked Mark.

  “I did, and Amy’s kind of out of work right now. She quit so no one would track her to her job.”

  “Oh, I get it. So Amy, you’re living off Mark?”

  “Not really. It’s a long story, but I’ll find a job.” I glanced over at Mark and he raised his eyebrow. I was sure he thought I’d be looking for a job somewhere else. I couldn’t tell John that I intended to work for Mark. I’d tip my hand.

  We arrived at the hotel and walked back inside, while Al talked on the phone. Al and Jeffrey whisked us into a room off to the side and sat us down. The rest of my family was nowhere around.

  “This is confidential,” Al said, ending his phone call as we all sat down. “I don’t want anyone else to worry. There was a dead body in your house, John.”

  “What?” he said, jumping to his feet.

  “It was Ned Putnam,” Al explained. “He was in your living room and our guys are securing the scene. I wouldn’t advise going back there any time soon.”

  “My living room? Ned was a family friend, just like Jack Niles, but he only visited my parents a few times.” He glared at me. “This is all your fault, you know.”

  I pointed toward myself. “My fault?”

  “Yes. If you wouldn’t have come out here, they never would’ve found me.”

  “Look,” I said to my brother. “If you would’ve told me about that stupid tracking chip, none of this would’ve happened, from what I can see. No one would’ve tracked me wherever I went. You and Randy could’ve told me.”

  “Regardless,” Al said. “Someone is following your every movement. As soon as we get that tracking device from Amy, I want everyone to leave town.”

  “How can I get the codes for the tracking chip now?” John asked.

  “Tell me where we can find it, and I’ll have my guys take care of it.”

  “It’s locked in the desk in the dining room.” He took his keys from his pocket. “I have the key here.” He went through the many keys and displayed a small one.

  “Give it to me and I’ll have Jeffrey take care of it.” He glanced over at me. “In the meantime, I want you at the hospital. Our doctor is waiting for you.”

  “Yes, sir.”
I stood up and Mark walked out of the room with me. Andrew followed us and we headed for his SUV. He drove me to the emergency room and introduced us to the doctor who’d be performing the test.

  “Is this going to hurt?” I asked, heading for the examining room.

  “Not at all,” Dr. Gilbert said. “We give you a shot to numb the area then take the thing out. You’ll have a few stitches, and that’s it. When’s the last time you had a physical, anyway?”

  Darn. I was afraid of that. I glanced over at Mark and he gave me a dirty look.

  “It’s been a while,” I said, lowering my chin a bit.

  “Fine. We’ll take care of that too. I don’t want to operate on someone who might have other problems.”

  Mark put his arm on my shoulders and got closer to my ear. “Looks like this was a good thing after all.”

  “Meanie.”

  He chuckled and I entered the exam room. “I’ll be right out here waiting for you,” Mark said. “I wouldn’t want to spoil your fun.”

  “Sure.”

  The doctor instructed me to strip down and put on a gown, then returned for a full and lengthy physical. When he was done, he checked all of his notes. “You’re fine. They also found the code for the tracking chip, but I’m pretty sure it’s on your arm. You even have a scar there.”

  “Where?” I asked, looking down at my upper arm.

  He pointed high on my left arm and showed me an almost invisible scar. “Right here.” He took a small electronic device and put it up to the scar. The thing started to beep. “Yep. That’s it.” He moved a tray of cutting instruments closer to me and I noticed a huge needle on the tray. That’s all I remember, because I think I passed out.

  ~~~~~

  “Amy, can you wake up?”

  I hated hearing that. I opened my eyes and saw Mark and the doctor looking at me, almost laughing.

  “Sure. What’s for lunch?” I asked.

  “She’s fine,” the doctor said. “You don’t like medical procedures, do you?”

  “No.”

  “You passed out before I even numbed your arm, so I went ahead and took out the chip. You can get dressed and leave now.”

  I looked at the stitches in my arm and grimaced. “Yuck. Why do they have to be black?”

  “So they’ll be easy to see when they need to come out,” the doctor explained. “They need to come out in a few days. In the meantime, try to keep them dry.” He handed me some bandages. “Use these. It’ll help.”

  Mark helped me to my feet and I pulled on some clothes. We left the hospital with Andrew, who drove us directly to the plane, where my family, Al, Jeffrey, and the other three Madcap thugs were waiting for us. I was introduced to the two new ones, who were named Don and Troy. Al and Jeffrey talked to Mark for a minute, and after they left the plane, we were finally allowed to take off.

  Mark and I sat at the back of the plane and watched the rest of my family. As soon as we were at altitude and able to take off our seatbelts, the two girls started to dance, laughing hysterically. The rhyming couple was trying to learn how to hold hands and I was leaning against Mark’s arm.

  “Tired?”

  “Yeah, you?”

  “Come with me.” He took my hand and we walked toward the back of the plane. Mark opened a door that seemed to be hidden, and we both walked into the room. It had two couches and some overstuffed chairs with a big table in the middle of the room. He sat me on the couch, then went to a closet and retrieved some pillows and blankets. He put one pillow on the end of the couch, moved me down to it and covered me with a blanket.

  “Sleep well, dear Amy,” he whispered, kissing my cheek. “Because tonight you have meetings.”

  “Meetings?”

  “Yep. With me.” He grinned and I just closed my eyes. Whatever.

  He left me alone and I fell asleep almost instantly.

  I must have been having a nightmare because I heard someone singing really badly. Opening my eyes, I realized it wasn’t a dream. It was Randy. As soon as I pulled the pillow over my head, I heard someone start to laugh. I moved the pillow and saw Mark sitting in one of the overstuffed chairs, reading my thesis.

  “That’s awful,” I said.

  “Yep. That’s your family.”

  “Sorry you married into it?”

  “Nope.” He gazed over at me. “Not for the prize I got.” He looked at the brown front cover of the book. “You’re worth all of it.” He opened the book to the middle. “Is there anything you left out of your explanation to me? Something’s not jiving with the NSA guys.”

  He was going to figure it out. I couldn’t let him know anything else, because it wasn’t safe for him. “It’s been a while since I wrote the thing. Now, did anyone eat out there? Is that why they’re singing that awful stuff?”

  “Not exactly. I gave each of them a laptop to keep them busy, and they’re playing old Madcap games that are out on the market. One of the games is a karaoke machine.”

  “I bet that was a big seller,” I said in a sarcastic tone.

  “Actually, it’s our biggest seller.”

  I turned to him in shock. “You have to come up with something better than that.”

  “Any ideas?”

  “Actually, I do.”

  “Wait. I need to write this all down. You’ve got a head for business and I need to make sure I don’t forget anything.”

  After he got some paper and a pen, I gave him ideas for four more games for untapped markets. I even drew some of the graphics needed for the games.

  “Even if you don’t take a job with Madcap, we’ll pay you for all of this,” he said, looking over all of my notes. “Do you have any more ideas for my company?”

  “Tons of them, but it’s not important. How close are we to Pennsylvania?”

  “We’ll be landing in about ten minutes. You were asleep for a long time. We even all had lunch.”

  “You wore me out, stud muffin,” I whispered as I yawned. “You and the nymphs.”

  “Don’t forget that ogre, either.”

  “Oh yeah. The size was just like looking in a mirror for you, huh?”

  He started to laugh then put the book and all of the papers away. “Is it okay to have lunch after we land?”

  “Yeah, I’m not that hungry anyway.”

  “Want to join your family?”

  “Do I have to?”

  “Well, it’s only the polite thing to do. I think Randy and Brandy are getting further in their relationship, and John was actually smiling at his wife.”

  “They don’t get along, do they?” I asked.

  “I think it’s strained. You really are the most normal of the group.”

  “I guess so. That’s a scary thought.”

  We walked into the main room of the plane and joined everyone. They were all playing computer games, and Randy had finally stopped singing. Brandy and he were competing for some intelligence game, and I could only imagine which one would win. The girls were playing dress-up on their games, and John was saving the universe by killing all the bad guys. Annemarie was searching through recipes. I just glanced at the four thugs, and they all shook their heads at me and rolled their eyes in unison. Yep. My family embarrassed me.

  We all buckled our seatbelts and the plane finally landed. Two cars were waiting for us to take us to the address written on the bat after stopping at a fast food drive-thru for me.

  John and his family were with us in one SUV, with Mark beside me in the back. We landed in Philadelphia, which meant about a two-hour car ride with them to Lancaster.

  After ten minutes of listening to John and his wife arguing, Mark leaned over to me. “I should’ve brought the laptops.”

  “If they’d just stop fighting, my head would stop pounding.”

  He pulled me to his lap. “Take a nap,” he said. “I’ll think of something.”

  I closed my eyes and tried to ignore the bickering and crying. It was nasty, and made me realize that Mark and I would never fig
ht like that. Their girls were well behaved, but I couldn’t say the same thing for my brother.

  I must have fallen asleep because when I woke, John had switched seats with Annemarie and he and Mark were having a jovial discussion about politics. I couldn’t believe it. John always tried to pick a fight, no matter if he agreed with the other person or not, but Mark was doing very well holding his own. I sat up and Mark faced me. “Better?”

  “Oh yeah.” I grinned. “Thank you, more than you’ll ever know.”

  He smiled and kissed my cheek. “You’re welcome. We’re almost there.”

  I looked out the window and recognized the landscape. It was definitely Pennsylvania. The sight of the rolling hills and deciduous trees brought back many memories, most of which were good.

  Andrew went to West Acre Avenue, with Annemarie’s direction, and stopped at a storage business. The other SUV was behind us, and I only hoped we’d change passengers around for the next leg of the trip.

  “I have to talk to you for a minute,” Mark said. “After we’re done here.”

  “Why? What did I do?”

  He grinned. “Paranoid much?”

  I shot him a dirty look and he leaned toward my ear. “I got a phone call while you were sleeping. It was from the Denver agents.”

  “Oh. I understand.” At least it wasn’t about my thesis.

  Everyone got out of the SUVs to stretch their legs. Mark and I went into the small office and I approached the desk.

  “May I help you?” asked an overweight woman with a huge smile.

  “I hope so,” I answered. “My father opened a storage building a long time ago, and my brothers and I just found out that it existed. Is there any way we can see what he had inside?”

  “Sure. Do you know the number of the building?”

  I stared at Mark and sighed. “The number, huh?”

  “John might know,” Mark answered. He turned to the woman. “We know the name on the account. Does that help?”

  “I’ll need that too, just to verify it. But you have to have the number of the shed before I can let you go back there. Company policy.” She smiled again, and I was ready to slap the smirk off her face.

  John entered the building. “Can we go in?”

  “No. Do you know the number of the storage shed? We can’t get in unless we know it.”