Life moved on while ours stood still.
The waiting was the hardest and something inside me knew it was only going to get worse with whatever Jonah had come out here to tell me.
“Baby…” He held me close.
“You have news.” I whispered to the wind and the breeze stole off with it.
“I have bad news, honey. We need to gather everyone.” He squeezed me tighter to his form.
“Is she dead?” I asked, as unbelievable pain ripped through my heart, reminding me of the day I lost my parents in that horrible fire. Like the physical pain of sliding down the roof of my first childhood home in my nightgown. The flames had engulfed every inch of the hallway outside of our room. Sonia lifted me up and shoved me out the window into the cool night air. I was so scared, barely six years old. Screaming for my parents, my thighs and legs abrading along every shingle as we slid down the side of the first story roofline. Flames crackled and groaned in our ears as ember and ash sizzled into the soft skin of my arms as we narrowly escaped the fire that took my parents’ lives.
“Simone.” He breathed against my neck bringing me back while I trembled in his arms.
“Is. My. Sister. Dead?” I choked out, staring at the skyline and watching the blackness get darker, my vision focused on a single square inch of light in the distance as I waited to hear if my sister was still breathing.
“We don’t know. She wasn’t in the car. Come on. What I have to say, honey, I don’t want to say it twice. At this point…” His voice cracked, the only hint that the information he had to share was breaking him in half. He took a breath. “At this point, it doesn’t look good,” he finished.
I closed my eyes and let the pain fill me up. It was the only thing that would keep me standing. If I succumbed to the grief, it would take me away. Right now, for Addison, for my sisters, for Mama Kerri, I had to be as strong as possible. I held on to my pain and dug my fingernails into my hands, piercing indentations in my palms until the pain turned into anger and not sadness.
“Let’s go.” I turned around and started to enter the condo. Jonah took my hand, interlaced our fingers, and pressed my sore palm against his warm one.
I gasped as our connection zapped through our palms reminding me of his presence. Of his loyalty. His commitment to me. To us.
“You’re not alone in this.” His dark gaze was lasered on mine, so much compassion filling them. Too much. I had to hold on to the anger, the pain.
“I know. I have my family.” The statement came out flat, emotionless. This was not the time for emotions. This was the time for action.
“And you have me, Simone. Me. I’m here. Right here. Standing in front of you. Alive. Fighting alongside you.” His expression was ravaged with unease and desperation. He too was probably holding on by a thread. The thin rope that we’d built between us since this all started pulling tight, reminding me of my anchor.
Jonah.
I squeezed his hand and held back the tears. Instead, I nodded curtly and opened the patio door.
We entered the living room hand in hand.
Mama Kerri’s head lifted off of Blessing’s shoulder. Liliana sat on the other side, both of her hands holding one of our Mama’s.
“Did you find her at the airport? Does he have her?” she asked, rapid fire.
“The FBI found the Town Car and no sign of Addison.” Jonah’s words were gentle yet direct.
“What does that mean?” Genesis spoke softly.
Jonah cleared his throat and rubbed at the back of his neck with his free hand but kept hold of one of mine.
“Unfortunately, we found her bodyguard in the trunk of the Town Car. He had been strangled with the same tool the Backseat Strangler used on almost all of his other victims. The car was then moved and abandoned in long term parking. The FBI were able to work with airport security to review the security cameras. The cameras show a white man with a dark mustache and beard and a hat pull up to baggage claim at the same time that Addison came out of the airport. He got out, showed her a sign with her name on it. He took her luggage and put it in the trunk of his car. The license plate was covered with a piece of paper with a fake number on it. Addison got in the backseat and the man drove off. We don’t have more than that at this time, but I can promise you the FBI has every man in the vicinity and the boys in blue on the lookout.”
I let go of Jonah’s hand and went straight into the kitchen and opened every cabinet until I found what I was looking for. The booze. I pulled down the tequila and sucked it back straight from the bottle. From the other room I could hear my sisters crying and whispering soft words to one another.
Anger sizzled through my blood as I got a tumbler and poured four fingers of straight tequila and then took a full mouthful and let it burn my throat and stomach as it went down. I gloried in the heat. The bite of pain.
What was Addy experiencing right now? Did he knock her out? Strangle her already? Or was he holding her as bait?
What was his plan?
I could hear Jonah murmuring softly to my sisters and mother.
Jonah.
My God, the man’s ex-wife had been killed only a short few days ago and now he was dealing with his girlfriend’s sister being kidnapped.
I closed my eyes and lifted the drink, sucking back some more.
“You better have enough for me, sister.” Blessing entered the kitchen and leaned her back to the counter I was standing in front of.
I handed her my glass with two fingers’ worth still inside. She curled her long fingers around it and shot the entire lot back in one go.
“Fuck.” She hissed. “I’m gonna call my dad. Get him and his gang brothers looking out for a black Town Car with a white dude in it carrying a comatose pretty brunette woman around.”
I reached out my hand and gripped her wrist. “I’m not sure if that will help. And you know it’s a risk every time you connect with your dad, especially if you’re asking for gang assistance. Not only do we want you far away from Tyrell Jones and his goons, he wants you away from that life. Otherwise, he would have stopped at nothing to take you away from Kerrighan House all those years ago. He wouldn’t have made that deal with Mama Kerri. Getting you away from that gang is the one thing he did right for his daughter in his entire life. Don’t ruin that now.”
She set the glass down, grabbed the bottle of tequila, and filled that sucker back up. She took another drink, then passed it back to me.
“Gotta do something, boo.” Her lips pressed together but her eyes filled with tears. She was feeling this as deep as we all were.
Blessing Jones-Kerrighan was a hard ass, beautiful, take-no-shit, Black businesswoman. She did not let anyone mess with her or any of us. She’d watched her mother get murdered right in front of her eyes at a young age. Her father had been and still was big in the gang scene in Chicago. After her mother’s murder, the Child Protective Services got involved. They needed to ensure Blessing’s safety. Which is when Mama Kerri took her on. It wasn’t easy at first. She was a street kid who had lived a hard life by the time she was ten. She got in all kinds of trouble until Mama Kerri showed her another way to live. Mama’s way was love, kindness, and sisterhood. Eventually Blessing grew into the successful fashionista she was today. But seeing that hollow look in her eye, I knew she was not going to let this sit.