Page 287 of Fame & Chaos

Silence.

Then…

“Caleb…” His voice changes completely. “Seriously… you haven’t heard?”

Every muscle in my body tightens. “Heard what?”

“It’s Annie.”

Ice floods my veins. “Her birth mother… Loretta…” He pauses. “She kidnapped her.”

The room tilts. “What the fuck?”

“She held Annie for ransom.” Each sentence lands like another punch. “She broke her thumb…

“Tortured her…

“Drugged her…

“Then she demanded that Colt bring her a million dollars.”

Holy fuck! I can’t breathe.

“When they made the exchange…” Another pause. “Loretta was shot and killed.”

My knees give out, and I drop onto the edge of the bed as my hands begin to shake uncontrollably. “Annie…” The word barely leaves my mouth. “Is she… is she okay?”

“She’s in hospital.” Rob sighs. “Physically, she’ll recover.” His voice softens. “But, Caleb… her birth mother kidnapped her, drugged her, tortured her, and then died in front of her.” There is a moment of silence before, “How do you think she is?”

Guilt crashes over me.

While I’d been celebrating the happiest day of my life…

Annie had been living through the worst day of hers.

I rub the back of my neck, trying to steady my breathing. “What can I do?”

“I honestly don’t know.” He sounds exhausted. “I’m in full crisis mode right now…” A long pause. “I can’t deal with anything else today.”

“Yeah…” I swallow hard. “Of course… Annie comes first.”

“I’m sorry this has overshadowed your news.” His voice softens again. “And… congratulations. It’s been a long time coming.”

I frown. “What do you mean?”

He lets out a small chuckle. “You and Indi? I’ve known you two were back together for ages. It’s my job to know these things, Caleb.” Despite everything, I almost smile. “It might come as a shock to everyone else, but not me.” His voice softens. “I’m just glad there’s a little bit of happiness in all this.” A beat of time passes. “But call Colt. See if he needs anything. Annie’s your family, and she needs you right now.”

“Thanks, Rob.” I swallow… hard. “Thanks for telling me.”

“Just be there for your family.” He sighs. “I’ve got to go. We’ll talk later.”

The line goes dead.

I sit motionless on the edge of the bed, elbows resting on my knees, my phone hanging loosely in my hand, but my mind won’t stop replaying it…

Kidnapped.

Drugged.