Holding On

Chapter 40 - Day One

Courtney's POV

We sat around the table, quietly thinking. When I had come back down the stairs after Alex gave me the okay, I could tell something was wrong. However, when I asked about it, he just shook his head, telling me I had to wait until the others got home. That didn't help ease my nerves about it all though.

Upon Hunter arriving home, I saw the weapons he had purchased and the look of pure anger and worry on his face. He, Alex and John were unusually quiet, sharing looks with each other that I didn't understand. This just made me want to know more and more what was going on, and I couldn't help but ask questions.

It was when they were answered that I wished I had never even asked. Katherine at the door, Michael at the store, both saying we had just three days to give Michael his money, and I was the target of it all. Why does this have to happen? I don't understand why we can't just be left alone! I hated feeling like I was being watched 24/7, but that's all I felt when I sat with Hunter, trying to relax into the rest of the day.

But it was no use.

There was no relaxing for us. The rest of the afternoon and night went by slowly, haunted by the feel that Michael could be very near at any moment. No one really wanted to talk about what happened, and I guess that was just a way for all of us to let it seep in on its own. When darkness came, and it was time for all of us to go to bed, I hardly got any sleep to come to me. Hunter was the same way. I knew he was trying to lie still so he wouldn't bother or awaken me, but I could tell just how tense he was. It was as if he was ready to jump up at anyone who dared to come near me.

He held me close, like I was going to slip away from his grasp. His embrace was strong, and would normally feel safe, but right now I could hardly feel safety. All I could think about was the next three days and how everything could very easily be changed. We were walking on glass shards and it was hard to see the end of those shards.

Now here we all sat at the beginning of day one, trying to figure out what to do. Hunter and John shared looks that said that they knew to give up the money, but there was something else in those looks as well. It was something that I couldn't really read. I did, however, see sadness in Hunter's gaze, like something more was going to change. But just what that was, I had no idea. Finally, it was Alex who spoke up.

"I don't know why we are even thinking about any of this," he said as he leaned back in his seat. "This is Courtney we are talking about for crying out loud! We have to give them the money!" I smiled slightly at his words, though Hunter and John did not.

"We know we do," John said, his voice soft and muffled in the fists that he held to his lips. "But we have to be very careful about it. We will give them the money, we can promise you that, but there is no way we are just going to waltz up to Michael like all is right with the world. That would easily give Michael the ability to pull the trigger if we did." John shut his eyes now before he continued. "Besides, we still don't know where we are supposed to meet him."

Hunter breathed in deeply. "Yes we do," he said and took his phone from his pocket. "I got the text early this morning. He wants us to meet him at the old docks on the south side of town at 1:30 p.m. However, I highly doubt that he will be alone."

Alex frowned, crossed his arms over his chest, and then gave a slight shrug. "Alright fine. Then the three of us," he said as he motioned towards John, Hunter, and himself, "will go in with our guns by our sides just in case."

John was the first to put that idea down. "We can't take the chance that this is the only trick Michael has up his sleeve. If we all go in at once then Courtney will be alone and Michael might send someone here after her, even if he has the money."