The Apple Tree (36 page)

“
Thanks for meeting me here,” Levi said. “I just didn’t have time to drive up to Salem today.”

“
No problem.” Wiley pulled a stack of papers from his leather briefcase and set them on the hardwood. “I prepared the will, like you asked. It only needs your signature.” He removed a pen from the side pocket. “I still can’t imagine why you need this, though.”

Levi lifted the papers, scanning them. “Like I said, I’m going to try something. I’m sure nothing will happen, but since how I’ve got a wife now, I want to have my bases covered.”

“
But what is there to even try?”

“
Wiley, you’ve always been a great friend and someone I can trust. Trust me now, when I say, I can’t tell you. Maybe one day.” Levi scrawled his name across the paper.

Wiley frowned and took a sip of his coffee. “If you figure out… how to die, tell us. Please. I’d like to see my children again someday, on the other side.”

“
I know.” Levi leaned back in his seat. “But if I’m dead, how can I tell you?”

“
Write it down, you bastard. Or you could just tell me now what you’re planning. Although, I can’t figure out why you’d even try, when you just got married. You don’t make any sense.” He took the pen from Levi and dropped it into his shirt pocket.

“
That’s why I love you, man. You do what needs done, without needing to know why.” Levi placed his hands around the paper coffee cup and the warmth soaked into his fingers.

Wiley grumbled something unintelligible and took another drink.

Half an hour later, Levi turned his truck into the parking lot of the rental company to pick up the wood chipper he’d reserved a few days before. After cutting the engine, he sat in front of the large yellow building and gripped the steering wheel. A young, bohemian couple strolled through the front door and Levi watched them chatting with the employee through the window.

If he was lucky, he’d live. He couldn’t believe that God would give him Bianca and then take everything away for trying to protect her. It wasn’t possible. Taking a deep breath, he opened the door and walked inside to get the equipment that would help him destroy the tree.

Bianca’s pocket buzzed as she pulled a small pizza out of the brick oven. She tossed it onto the cutting board and raced to the back prep area so she could look at her phone.

Still here. Still chopping branches. Love you.

A sigh of relief broke through her. She shoved her phone back in her pocket and went back into the front kitchen. Kate had chopped the pizza she’d left on the cutting board, so she glanced around the kitchen, looking for something else to do. It was unusually slow for a Sunday. Out in the seating area, only four tables were occupied with customers. She leaned against the peach countertop. Screw being responsible. She should’ve stayed home with Levi.

Home, the little cabin he’d built was now her home. The corners of her mouth turned into a smile.

Faustino stepped out of the office. He walked to the brick oven and pulled the silver door open, sending a rush of heat over them both. “Bianca, if you don’t have anything to do, go clean up the back. Then maybe, we can get you out of here early.”

Hopping up from the counter, she bounded to the back room. She swept the floor and then gathered the edges of a garbage bag, lifting it out of the can and carrying it outside.

The cold air brushed across her bare arms as she hurried to the industrial sized garbage bin behind the parlor. She lifted the lid, tossing the bag inside just as the ripe smell hit her nostrils. The lid slammed closed and she wiped her hands on her apron.

A hand wrapped over her mouth and an arm circled her waist.

“
Don’t scream,” said a familiar deep voice.

Peter.

B
ianca screamed as loud as she could, but Peter’s hand muffled the sound.

“
I told you to keep quiet,” he hissed in her ear, pulling her back toward the alley.

She cringed, remembering how that voice had once turned her on. Adrenaline shot through her body and she twisted her shoulders in jerky, panicked movements, trying to loosen his grip. She’d let this man into her apartment. Bile rose in her throat and she half hoped she’d puke just so he’d get it all over his hand. She tried to bite him, but he held such tight control of her jaw that she couldn’t get her teeth close enough to make contact.

His grasp remained firm around her waist as they continued backward. An engine idled behind her and then the sound of a van door sliding open.

She threw her body forward. No way would she let him take her away. Her heartbeat thrashed in her ears as Peter pulled her into the back of the van.

As soon as he released her, the door slammed shut and another pair of hands yanked her wrists backwards. Peter sat hunched in the corner, as another man wrapped a rope around her wrists. She twisted her neck to get a look at the person who held her. A guy with massive tattoos and a shaved head smirked at her through crooked teeth.

She whipped her head back around. “What the hell, Peter!?”

“
Now, now…” An older gentleman turned in the passenger seat and his sharp blue eyes glared at her. “No need for the harsh language.” He nodded toward the tattooed guy. “Cover her mouth.”

The van lurched forward as a piece of crumpled fabric crushed into her mouth and then the sound of duct tape being torn off the roll. The rag tasted of motor oil and turned her stomach. She tried to force it out with her tongue, but the man’s rough hands slapped the tape across her face, from one end of her jaw to the other. Panic rose as she tried to get enough air through her nose alone. She focused on taking long slow breaths like her mother did in yoga.

The back seats had all been removed, leaving a large open space in the back of the van. A heavy tinted film covered the windows. It might as well have a sign on the outside saying
Free Candy
, with all the creepy vibes the vehicle set off.

The rear view mirror reflected the face of the driver, a woman with long black hair and scarlet lipstick.

“
My sister, Anna,” Peter said.

Bianca narrowed her eyes at him, wishing the daggers she shot were real. Trying to push the dry fabric out of her mouth with her tongue, a muffled whimper escaped her chest.

“
We’re not going to hurt you. We just need answers from Levi.” Peter placed a hand on her arm and she jerked away.

“
Don’t make promises we’re not going to keep, Peter.” The blue-eyed man in the front seat turned around. He looked to be about mid-fifties. Peter’s father, she suddenly realized. The one Levi had warned her about.

Peter pursed his lips and remained silent.

Levi tossed a thick chunk of wood into the chipper causing a spray of sawdust to be released out the other side. Piles of branches and leaves littered the ground around him, all that was left of the apple tree. He placed two fingers on the vein in his throat
. Thump. Thump. Thump
. He released the breath he held and grabbed another branch, pitching it into the chipper.

Using the back of his palm, he wiped the sweat from his forehead and then pulled his phone out of his pocket. Before he’d finished typing a message to Bianca, the phone flashed an alert of an incoming call from her.

“
Hey, Bee. I’m fine, I just lost track of time.”

“
I’m glad to hear you’re doing well, Levi,” said a male voice. “I’m afraid I can’t say the same for your sweet Bianca.”

Levi’s hand tightened around the phone and his nostrils flared. “Uncle Charles. Where is she?”

“
Oh, where are my manners? Congratulations are in order. Although, I couldn’t help but notice I wasn’t invited to the wedding. That hurts, nephew.”

“
Tell me where she is!”

“
Calm down, we have her. If you’d like her returned, all you have to do is tell us how the hell this curse started. I’ll text you the address to meet us at.”

The line went dead.

Levi collapsed on the tree stump, taking ragged breaths as his heart thrashed in his ears. He clutched the phone in his hand, waiting for the text. How could he let this happen?

When his head had cleared enough to think straight, he dashed down the pathway through the woods. The mossy branches and thorns scratched against his bare chest as he sprinted the quarter mile to the driveway.

The phone buzzed in his hand just as reached his pickup. He glanced at the screen and recognized the road listed as being just off the highway.

A few minutes later, he pulled up to a shabby metal-framed warehouse on the edge of town. He flipped the glove box open and grabbed the pistol inside. Slamming the truck door, he hurried to the front of the building. It appeared to be some sort of car repair shop. He paused outside, his hand on the rusty knob. Maybe he should think this through, come up with some sort of plan?

A woman’s muffled scream came from within the building and his rational brain shut down. He threw open the metal door and stepped into the dim room.

Two sets of hands grabbed him from each side, pinning his arms against his back and pulling the gun from his waistband.

“
Where is she!?” Levi’s head darted from left to right.

He’d never met the men who now held him, a bald man with extensive tattoos and a man with long blond ponytail. They sneered, dragging him to a metal folding chair.

Another muffled scream ripped through the air and he turned his head toward the sound. Darkness covered the far end of the room and he squinted, trying to make out the forms.

A lamp flickered on revealing Bianca, tied to a chair, arms secured in front and her mouth covered. Wide and frantic eyes pleaded with him.

“
Bianca!” A tear streamed down his cheek. This was his fault. All. His. Fault.

The men shoved him into the chair and tied his arms behind him with a scratchy rope, then secured his feet to the chair legs. The room smelled of dust and gasoline and he faced several work benches scattered with tools.

Heavy footsteps across the cement floor alerted him to a man entering the room. His uncle Charles approached the chair, dressed in a business suit, his hands behind his back.