I'm Not Who I Used to Be Ch. 02

"Yeah, he is," Josh Willis frightfully added, "And if he doesn't hear from us before too much longer, he's gonna think something's gone wrong."

"Josh is right," Shane McGowan said, "Whatever we're gonna do, we need to do it soon."

"Leave everything to me," I told them, "This is what we're going to do..."

~~~~~~

"We're going to kidnap them tomorrow after they get back home..." Josh Willis told Jimmy Don Worley over a pay phone down the street from our house in Malibu, "I'll call you with directions where to meet us as soon as we have them in custody...Yes, sir...No, sir, I haven't forgotten...I'll talk to you tomorrow morning as soon as it's done...bye," and then he hung the phone up.

"It sounds like he took the bait," I told Josh, "What did he say?"

"He reminded me that my wife and daughter are still in danger," Josh worriedly replied, "This had better work."

"I promise you that it will," I calmly told him, while gently patting him on the shoulder, Trust me," and then looking at Shane McGowan, I asked him, "What does that animal have on you? Has he threatened someone in your family, too?"

"No," Shane sullenly replied, shamefully looking at the ground, and nervously wringing his hands, "He did offer to pay me twenty-five thousand dollars to help Josh though."

"I'll tell you what, guys," I smiled, "If you help me catch this asshole with his pants down, I give you my word that I'll personally pay you fifty-thousand dollars apiece. Does that sound like a good deal?"

"You really don't have to do that," Josh quietly answered me, "I just want my wife and daughter to be safe and sound, and not have to spend the rest of our lives looking over our shoulders, Mike."

"What about you, Shane?" I asked him, "What do you want out of this?"

"I want the bastard dead," he viciously growled, his eyes beginning to fill with angry tears "Jimmy Don doesn't know this, but I was there the night he killed my father."

"What do you mean?" I asked him.

"My Dad had borrowed two thousand dollars from him," Shane began, "And when he went to pay him back, Jimmy Don Worley demanded that my father pay him another two thousand dollars on top of what Dad borrowed...they got into an argument and then I saw Jimmy Don Worley pull a gun from his coat pocket and shoot my Dad in the head at point blank range. I was going to use this job as a way to get close enough to Worley to kill him"

"Where were you when all of this happened?" I asked, "And why didn't you go to the police?"

"Are you kidding me?" Shane spat, "Jimmy Don Worley owns both the Conroe Police Department, as well as the Montgomery County Sherriff's Office."

"Is that right?" Sarah chuckled, "I know someone who can look into that."

"Please be careful, Miss Sarah," Shane warned her, "Jimmy Don Worley is a very dangerous man."

"Yeah, well, fuck him," she angrily replied, "He doesn't frighten me one bit."

"You're alot braver than I am," Josh frightfully replied, "Because he scares the hell outta me..."

~~~~~~

THAT AFTERNOON

I'd just gotten off the phone from having apprised Dad, Uncle Jack, and Uncle Brian of what had taken place over the last twenty-four hours. Sarah had also spoken to her father, John, and let him know about Jimmy Don Worley. I could only imagine the feeling of shock that she had at discovering what an animal the father of someone she'd dated in college was.

"Now that I look back at some of the things that Dennis did, I'm not really surprised," she shamefully admitted, "I just feel so stupid because I let him fool me into thinking that he was this really smart student and upstanding guy...hell, the sonofabitch probably bought his way to the top if you want to know the truth. At least I didn't sleep with that dickless sonofabitch...There was this one girl that actually did, and she said that he was a needle-dick, wham-bam, thank you ma'am piece of shit."

"Damn, Sarah," I heartily laughed, "Why don't you tell us how you really feel?"

"Oh, you need to hush your mouth," she softly giggled, "Smart ass..."

~~~~~~

THAT NIGHT

We borrowed a limousine that belonged to Sarah's father's law firm, which John gladly allowed Josh and Shane to use once he'd been informed of our plan to take Jimmy Don Worley down once and for all. And because of my Uncle Brian's connections with the F.B.I. who assured us that thirty-five agents were going to be in place to take Worley into custody the moment he showed up at the place where Josh and Shane were going to instruct him to meet them.

The plan was for Josh and Shane to tell Jimmy Don Worley that Sarah and I had been placed into the trunk of the limo for safe keeping; and then when Worley opened the trunk to verify that we were actually there, it was going to be rigged with a flash grenade that would trigger and stun him long enough for the F.B.I. agents to move in and take him into custody...

~~~~~~

Because of the fact that they were going to be complicit in Worley's apprehension, and also because the F.B.I., a federal agency, had been called in to help deal with this particular situation; the Attorney General had agreed to exonerate both Josh Willis and Shane McGowan, giving them full immunity from any and all prosecution for their original part in Worley's plan to kidnap Sarah and I.

On the night before we were going to execute our plan, Josh Willis called me aside and away from everyone else and told me that there was something he felt I needed to know.

"What can I do for you, Josh?" I asked him.

"I don't know how to tell you this," he began, "So, I'm just going to tell you, Mike."

"What is it?" I asked again, "You know that you can tell me anything."

"Alright then," he quietly replied, "I overheard Jimmy Don Worley talking about Sarah...he said that he was going to rape and sodomize her right in front of you, and then he was going to cut her throat and let you watch her die before he killed you and the rest of the band."

I suddenly felt a form of anger overcome me that I'd never felt, not even once in my entire life and as that same anger began to take root and take shape deep within me, I silently promised myself that I was going to kill Jimmy Don Worley with my bare hands, regardless of the F.B.I.'s wish to take him alive for the purposes of making an example out of him in the federal court system. The only thing about that was the fact that I was going to have to make it look like I was left with no choice, as in...it was going to have to look like self-defense.

However, in order to make Josh think that nothing was going on, and also to quell the rage that I was now fighting tooth and nail to not only contain, but also keep from boiling out of me, I simply smiled and told him, "I think you know that that's not going to happen, don't you?"

"Yeah," he grinned, "I just thought you might want to know what that monstrous bastard said, that's all."

"Thanks, Josh," I warmly replied, gently patting him on the shoulder, "I really appreciate it..."

~~~~~~

That night as Sarah climbed into bed with me, I pulled her tightly into my arms in order to keep her as close to me as I possibly could.

"Are you alright, baby?" she softly asked me.

"Of course," I softly replied, "Why do you ask?"

"It's not that I don't love it," she quietly giggled, turning around in my arms to be able to face me, "But you're holding me a little tighter than usual...it's almost like you're afraid of losing me or something. But that's never going to happen in a million years, Michael."

"I know, Sarah," I admitted, and then I told her what Josh had relayed to me earlier that evening, all because I promised myself that I would never lie to her, and/or withhold information from her for any reason.

"Oh, my God," she disgustedly spat, "Jimmy Don Worley actually said that?"

"Yeah, he did," I said, "But I'll kill him with my bare fucking hands before even I let him get near you, Sarah, I swear to God."

"Shh, easy my love," she lovingly said, placing her index finger softly against my lips, "You're not like that, Michael, and you never have been. Why do you think I fell in in love with you, baby?"

"I don't know, now that you mention it," I honestly replied, "And while we're on the subject, why did you fall in love with me, Sarah? You could've had any man you wanted."

"It was not only because of the way I would start to feel every time I looked into those beautifully deep dark brown eyes of yours," she tenderly replied, "But no boy had ever made me feel like that, Michael, not ever," as tears began to fill her eyes, "And because of the way you took me into your arms and carried me to the hospital on the night that piece of shit punched me in the face...not to mention the sweet things you said to me when you thought I was unconscious and couldn't hear you."

"You heard what I said that night?" I stupidly asked her, "But I thought that you were..."

"I thought I'd dreamed it at first," Sarah told me, gently kissing my lips, "But then after I woke up in the hospital and I found out that you were gone," and then she couldn't continue for crying, making me pull her closer to me so that I could kiss her tears away.

"Shh, it's okay, baby," I softly smiled, "I'm sorry for making you cry, my beautiful Sarah."

"You have to know that I love you, Michael," she softly cried, "You just have to."

"I do know, Sarah," I assured her, "And I won't ever doubt it wither, okay baby?"

"Okay," she sighed, "I love you, my handsome husband, I'll always love you."

"As will I love you," I told her, affectionately holding her naked body against my own, "My beautiful wife..."

~~~~~~

THE NEXT MORNING

Because of what all was taking place at that particular time, I called Ahmet to not only let him know what was happening, but also to ask him if there was any way at all that he could postpone the release of Odyssey's first album.

"I'll do it under two conditions," he seriously replied, "And there will no room for negotiation on these conditions either."

"No problem," I told him, with absolute certainty, "What is it?"

"First of all, I want this problem taken care of immediately," he said, "And secondly, I don't want you guys to have to deal with shit like this again...and please come back in one piece, alright?"

"Today is Friday," I smiled, "I promise you that we'll all be back no later than Wednesday. Does that sound fair?"

"Of course," he smiled, "Just as long as you can keep your promise, kid..."

~~~~~~

THAT NEXT MORNING

Josh had called Jimmy Don Worley and set up the meeting, telling him that he and Shane had the two of us and we were still safe and alive.

"It took some doing" he told Worley, "But we managed to surprise the both of them without anyone getting hurt."

"Good job, kid," he sinisterly replied, "Your wife and daughter are safe now, and I'll have them with me at the exchange...see you soon," and then he hung the phone up...

~~~~~~

THAT EVENING

Things went rather well and no one got hurt. Plus Worley was stupid enough to bring not only the Sherriff with him, but the Chief of Police as well. Needless to say, his capture went down without a hitch, and shortly thereafter, the rat's nests know as the Conroe City Police Department and the Montgomery County Sherriff's Department both got cleaned out...

~~~~~~

LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA
ONE WEEK LATER

Odyssey's debut album was released platinum and to say that the press ate it up would be an understatement. The critics heralded us as "The Second Coming of Rock and Roll," and I was never more proud than I was that day. Of course Ahmet told us that we'd be back on the road within the next ten days, all because of the fact that our album had been so well received by the general public as well as the critics

Each of us, Lee, Mark, Kevin and I, all four were given platinum albums to hang on our wall, not to mention the fact that the money began be rolling in. This was going to allow me to build Sarah her dream house, and when the time came that I would tell her about it, I knew that she would be tickled to death, not to mention thrilled to no end. Because of the fact that he was so brilliant with numbers, Sarah's father counseled us about investing our monies so that we would have plenty to fall back on once we chose to retire from the music industry...

~~~~~~

Chapter Five
NINETY DAYS LATER

We'd been on the road for a little over three months by this time, and not only were we a "Headline Act" now, but we'd also played to "Standing Room Only" crowds at every venue we'd performed at thus far. This particular night, however, we were getting ready to play Madison Square Garden in New York City; and like my bandmates, I was as excited as a kid on Christmas morning.

One of the local radio station had sponsored a contest where the winner got not only two front row center tickets, but also two, all access, backstage passes in order to be able to attend the meet-and-greet that always took place after every show. I was, as always, very eager to meet the people that had become fans of our music, however; little did I realize the impact that this particular meet-and-greet would leave on not only me, but also Sarah as well? I never saw it coming, hence the reason it affected me the way it did...

~~~~~~

Like I said earlier, Sarah traveled with me to every show, and because of the fact that we'd made so much money for the record label, Ahmet leased another tour bus exclusively for just Sarah and me. Of course Mark, Lee, and Kevin had no problem with me having my own bus, because not only were Sarah and I still considered to be newlyweds, but with the exception of Mark, who was my blood relative, Lee and Kevin came to love me and Sarah just as much as if we were members of their family and they were members of ours.

Besides, Sarah felt more at ease and dressed more comfortably while we traveled from one city to the next. She was able to go without having to wear her bra all the time, making it easier on her, as well as the fact that she and I were able to make love any time of the day or night without having to worry about my bandmates hearing her let loose when her orgasm came upon her... (Smile)...anyway, back to the story...

~~~~~~

We were made aware of which seats were going to be occupied by the radio contest winner(s), and being surprised could, in no way, describe what I felt the moment I looked down to encounter two of the prettiest twin girls that I'd ever seen. They were somewhere around eleven or twelve years old I'd say, and when it came time for me to perform a song I'd written for Sarah, but hadn't yet recorded, called, "You're The Best of Me". I always played it solo with just my acoustic guitar, this time I made certain that I sat on the edge of the stage directly in front of them that night. I think what touched me the most about them was the fact that, with the exception of that one song; they both sang along, word-for-word, with every song we performed that night.

I didn't know what it was about these two kids, but at the end of the song, the smiles they both wore, accompanied by the looks on their pretty little faces and the sparkles in their big blue eyes as they rendered a loud applause, seemed to make my heart melt from the inside out. Although Sarah was watching the show from backstage, she didn't miss a thing. In fact she said something to me about it at the end of the show that night.

"Aren't those two of the prettiest children you've ever seen, honey?" she sweetly asked, "I don't know how I know this, but there seems to be something very special about those two. Don't you think so, too?"

"Yeah," I readily agreed, "I can't wait to meet them when they get backstage..."

~~~~~~

After the show was over and I'd had time to change clothes, Sarah and I walked backstage to attend the meet-and-greet where these two little cuties anxiously awaited our arrival. However, before I talk about what took place, let me take a moment to describe the two angels that God had placed into mine and Sarah's lives for reasons yet known to us at the time.

They both stood as tall as their four feet, eleven and a half inches would let them, and I would say that they weighed somewhere around eighty-five to ninety pound each. They both had long, corn-silk blonde hair, and like I said earlier, great big bright blue eyes which, at the time were wide as could be and clearly filled with excitement.

The one thing about them that made my heart absolutely ache was the fact that they clearly came from a poor and/or impoverished family, as their hand-me-down clothes seems to be almost two sizes too big for them. However, that, in no way, diminished the excitement on both of their pretty little faces.

"Hello there," I smiled when I greet them, "My name is Mike Taylor."

"Hi, Mister Taylor," the one on the right quickly replied smiling, "My name is Karlie Harrison, and my sister's name is Kerrie."

"I can speak for myself," Kerrie giggled, "But you'll have to forgive my sister, she's been yapping about this ever since we won the contest on the radio."

"I can't tell you both how nice it is to meet you," I smiled, "Did you like the show tonight."

"We loved it" they both replied in unison, eliciting my laughter.

"I really like that song that you sang when you sat on the stage in front us and played your guitar," Karlie sweetly told me, "We haven't heard that one before. Is it new?"

"As a matter of fact it is" I grinned "I wrote it for my wife. Would you like to meet her? She'd really like to meet the two of you."

"Oh, yes, please," they again cutely replied in unison.

Not two seconds later, Sarah appeared beside me wearing a smile on her face the likes of which I'd never seen before.

"Aren't you going to introduce me to your friends, Michael?" she tenderly smiled, "I've never seen two prettier young ladies than what I'm looking at right now."

"Hi, Honey," I warmly replied, reaching over and taking her hand, "Please allow me to introduce you to my new friends, the Harrison sisters, Karlie and Kerrie," and then I turned to the girls and said, "Ladies, this beautiful woman standing beside me is my wife, Sarah Taylor."

"Hi, Missus Taylor," Kerrie softly smiled, "It's really nice to meet you...you're very pretty."

"My name is Sarah, and my husband's name is Michael," she tenderly told them, as she leaned down so that she was face-to-face with them, "And we'd really like it if you girls called us by our first names, okay?"

"Okay," they both giggled, as Karlie informed us, "We were just trying to be polite."

"We understand, and thank you," I smiled, gently placing my arms around their shoulders, "But all of our friends call us by our first names, okay?"

"Okay," Kerrie gently smiled, placing her hand upon mine and firmly holding onto it, "Thank you...both of you..."

~~~~~~

HER

I had never seen two prettier girls in my life than the twins that Michael was introducing me to at that moment. I had to agree with my heart when it told me that there was something special about them; that much was certain. And it was clearly obvious to me that Michael was absolutely enamored with those little darlings from the moment he first laid eyes on them sitting in the front row.

I don't know how I knew, but something told me that they had no family to speak of and they were just this side of being destitute. That was when I decided, not only for myself, but also for my precious and beautiful Michael, that I was going to look into it first thing in the morning.

We were going to be in New York for the next ten days anyway while the band did a couple of television appearances and a number of radio interviews. Plus, Ahmet had scheduled some time for the band to record at one the many recording studios there in the city...