“Coming!” her sister yells. “Who is it?” she barks, appearing annoyed.
“I’m looking for a Charlie Smith?” a deep, masculine voice Sunjiya knows very well asks.
“Akeem,” Sunjiya utters, deadpan.
Six hours earlier…
Her twin is here, in her home, in her domain, and her sister will do whatever to make sure the life they planned as teenagers and executed as adults continues. Ending their years of trading places, swapping lives, and having fun isn’t an option for her.Sunjiya is all she has left in this world and this new dynamic Sunjiya suggests will pull them apart.
The minute she hears the water running, she eases upstairs and creeps to the guest room door. It’s closed, so she gingerly presses the latch and slowly pushes the door open. When she sees Sunjiya isn’t in the bedroom, she tiptoes in, locates Sunjiya’s cell phone, and eases out like a thief. She rushes downstairs and puts her deceitful plan in motion.
After walking out of her inherited home, she takes full advantage of being a twin, switch mode in full effect. Using her face, her sister’s face, she unlocks the phone, and finds the contact she needs.Husbae.
“Here goes nothing and every fucking thing,” she says with a smirk before taking a deep ass breath and pressing the contact.
Akeem’s deep baritone flows through the phone. “What’s up, bae?”
Breathily and with panic laced in her voice, she says, “Oh good, baby. I need you. They got me.”
“What? Who got you?” he responds with equal panic as he stands and leaves the waiting area of Mount Sinai’s Vision Center. Hurriedly, he powers his way out of the door. “Where are you?”
“This house in Georgia,” she cries frantically.
“Georgia?” he barks, chest tightening as he speaks. “Fuck! How did you get there?”
“Baby, please,” she cries, then she lowers her voice for dramatic effect. “Oh god. . . They’re coming.”
“Send me your location,” he demands.
“Okay,” she adds, then abruptly ends the call.Mission fucking accepted.She snickers to herself as she sends her location.
“Bae, bae. Fuck!” he grits while fuming. Her location pops in his messages and he opens it. After screen saving it, he dial herback but it goes to voicemail. “Fuck!” he groans again.Who the fuck has her?Filled with rage, he continues to redial her as he storms back into the hospital. Conyers, Georgia is his next stop and his brother will definitely understand. Sunjiya’s in danger and he needs to get her and kill every muthafucka who put their hands on her.
Chapter
Twenty-Three
Now…
Akeem arrived at the house twenty minutes ago. After parking his rental at the end of the street, he jogged to the corner lot home and scoped things out. Only one car in the driveway and three possible entrances—the front door, garage, and back door. The half-acre lot has a small basketball court in the back and the lawn looks well-kept and landscaped. On its face, it looks like a normal, upper-middle class family home and the property information details the same.
Discreetly, without drawing any unwanted attention from neighbors or the inhabitants, he scans the few open blinds and shades and doesn’t see anyone. He hears music and whispers in the room with closed shades but no voices sound masculine. Cautious but ready to handle who or whatever is inside the house, he walks to the door and rings the bell. When no one answers, he draws his gun, rings it again, then calls out.
“I’m looking for a Charlie Smith?”
“Akeem,” Sunjiya utters, deadpan.
“Who?” Sunjiya hears her sister ask but she can’t move. She can’t speak nor even process how she’s hearing his voice.
Akeem? He’s in Crescent Falls.
Isn’t he?
“Charlie Smith,” he repeats loud and very clear.
It’s definitely him…Akeem.
Stuck. Shocked. Devastated. Panicked.
