“No, come straight home. Don’t make any stops.” I completely fail at keeping the panic out of my voice.
I glance at Aaron and think of getting dressed to go pick her up myself. However, as I think of the time it will take to get Aaron and me ready, I decide against it. Making her wait around for me could place her in danger.
“Is everything okay?”
“Yeah, everything is fine. I miss you and I want you home with me. You know what? I am concerned about you going out without security.
“With the podcast and all, I should be thinking about your safety more. I don’t know why I didn’t think of this sooner. Just come straight home, baby. We’ll talk more then.”
I’m becoming angry with myself. I really should have thought of giving Zah security sooner. She had been my own personal secret from the public until the podcast.
Now the world knows she’s everything to me. I proposed before them all. I’m feeling like such an idiot.
“Okay, I’ll call Erica and tell her not to meet me at the house. I had planned to go and pick a few things up.”
“No, baby. Leave it for the movers. Anything you don’t have, I’ll replace it. Come home.”
“I will … Bent, did something happen?”
“We’ll talk when you get home. I promise. I love you.”
“I love you too.”
She hangs up and I sit staring at my phone. I text Fred to let him know she’s on the move. I don’t think I’m going to be able to relax until she gets home.
“Dada, water,” Aaron says sleepily beside me.
I look at him and run a hand over his hair. He gives me a sleepy smile as he blinks up at me. I love his little face.
Being a father has become one of my greatest accomplishments. Seeing his smile and the trust in his eyes brings me so much happiness. God, I can’t lose either of them.
Zahirah
My stomach has beenin knots since I ended that call with Bentley. The spa I went to isn’t that far from the new house, so I raced all the way home.
By the time I got home, Bentley had been coming out of the house still in his basketball shorts and tank top he slept in, looking as if he were about to jump in his car. He had Aaron in his arms, still in his pajamas.
A guy pulled up in a black sedan, not too long after me. He’s a big guy with dark hair. Fred, that's who Bentley introduced him as.
“You have to be freaking kidding me,” I breathe as I sit here listening to the story Fred just relayed to me.
“I wish I were. I got the call before I pulled up. If the authorities don’t get to him first, he’s going to meet up with some not-so-nice guys.
“However, he’s in the wind. We know he’s back in the country, but he gave everyone the slip moments after his arrival. As I told Coswell, it would be better to have you safe, so he doesn’t get to you before someone gets to him,” Fred says.
“Hold on, slow this crazy train down. Grandma Christen is dead? He killed his own grandmother?”
“And his uncle. He promised to pay a guy he got to help him with the bodies, but that backfired as the feds froze his family’s assets after they dug into the information I tipped them off with.
“The guy didn’t get the money, so he turned himself in and coughed up the details in exchange for a deal. He’s escalating and leaving a trail in his wake,” he says.
“It’s Hamilton Deluca. That’s who he tried to kill. That’s who’s feeding you information,” Bentley says as realization lights his eyes.
“For the safety of everyone in this room, I won’t confirm or deny that statement,” Fred replies.
A knot forms in my throat. I try to swallow it down, but it doesn’t work. I feel like I’m going to lose it any second now.
What does all of this mean? How could he have killed his grandmother? Why is he so hell-bent on destroying our lives?
