And all I could think about wasn’t regarding my safety or where they’d take me or what they’d do to me. My brain was frozen, mid-thought, on my smashed cell phone, out in the street, and the fact that I couldn’t remember the last time I’d unloaded the pictures on my cell. How many pictures of my husband, the boys’ father, were on there that I hadn’t saved, that they’d never get to see?
Tommy
I got to Pop’s house, which it would always be known as, and when I got inside, Tia was sitting in the living room with Sarah, Luc, Lisa and the kids. The kids were on the floor playing with Marley. Sarah had baby Nicky in her arms.
Tia rushed to me. The dog did, too. So, Serena and Katrina also threw their arms around my legs and gave me hugs with squealing laughter. The dog started jumping up against my legs.
I patted their heads and clipped, “Marley sit.”
I lifted Tia off her feet and buried my nose into her hair. I was worried sick about Contessa and relieved that Tia and Luc were all here safe.
“Hey,” she whispered against my lips.
“Hey.”
“What’s happening? Where’s Tess?”
I put her on her feet and looked to the room, “Sarah, get the kids to the other ro
om, all right?” Sarah immediately scooped up Lucas, who was a year and a half old in her free arm, and Antonio and my twin nieces followed with a promise of cookies.
When they were out of earshot I said, “Tessa’s missing. Her SUV was found abandoned a few blocks from the daycare. Her purse, locked inside with her keys. Her phone, on the street smashed. We are on lock down.”
I was fuckin’ relieved that when we called the daycare, the boys were actually there and not gone as well. Sarah would pick them up at their usual pick-up time and would try to keep things as calm and normal for them as possible.
Lisa gasped. Luc put her hand over her mouth and got to her feet. Tia moved away to make room for my sister. She put her hand on Luc’s back. I moved to her, “I’ve got people on this.” I hesitated and then put my arms around her and gave her a squeeze. My baby sister trembled in my arms.
Normally, this’d be Dare’s job. I wasn’t touchy feely with the girls, never had been. But since he wasn’t here, she grabbed me and held me tight. I felt a lump form in my throat.
“Who---” Tia started to ask. I gave her a look and she shut her mouth.
“We know who it is. You girls don’t need details. All that matters is that you’re all safe while we find her. I want us all under one roof tonight. Here makes the most sense with the security system.”
I was thinking about buying the house a few doors down and I needed to upgrade that security system, stat. I didn’t like the idea of being in this house overnight. It’d fucked with my head when we’d stayed here after coming back from Costa Rica. But I’d deal; it had to be done.
I let go of Luc and kissed Tia again, “Gotta make more calls.”
I walked down the hall and found myself in my father’s office.
After I shut the door, my blood chilled and acid rose in my throat.
It was exactly the same.
I could feel his presence, caught the faint scent of him. It was his aftershave, his expensive cigars. I half-expected to see him sitting in that chair, eyes that were just like mine on me.
I stared at the empty chair a beat but then I grabbed the phone and moved to the conference table, sitting where I usually sat during the many meetings we’d had there. Directly in my line of vision was a photo on the wall. Pop, me, Dare, and the girls all around a Christmas tree taken just last year.
Lisa had taken that picture. Pop was looking at the camera, joy in his eyes. The hairs stood up on the back of my neck and I clenched my jaw and dialed Dare’s number. He needed to get his ass home.
A Week Later
Tessa was still missing. No sign of her. And so was Denarda. His people were saying he was out of the country on business. Against my initial wishes, Dare involved Zack and he picked up a trail that followed Denarda to Canada.
He landed in Vancouver. Alone. Drove up to Whistler with one of his girlfriends, who checked in at a swanky Whistler hotel. We had a PI on Zack’s team tailing him but nothing was giving us leads regarding my sister.
Dare involving Zack? I wasn’t thrilled about it at first, but Zack was still running his PI agency, telling us it was his main gig, still, and would continue to be. And the guy was good. Fucking asshole. And his agency was responsible for a lot of our security for the last few months so we’d have been stuck without him. Didn’t mean I trusted him, though.
Dare did cut his honeymoon short. He and Angel would do the Iceland leg of their tour when things were settled down. He hadn’t told Annette, his ma, that Tessa was missing; she was wrapped up in her husband Tony, whose death was reportedly imminent.