Janita was nervous as hell as she grabbed her blazer off of the backseat.
Von, behind the steering wheel, turned all the way around and looked at his sister. “I’ll wait on you,” he said.
“No, Von. You’ve been driving all day. And then waiting for hours. Go home and get some rest. I’ll call you as soon as I find out something.”
“But how will you get home?”
“I’ll call a rideshare. Don’t worry about that. Just go.”
Von stared at her. “You gave him some, didn’t you?”
A flush of embarrassment came over Janita. “Boy, that ain’t got nothing to do with you!”
“He uses women, Neet. I read all about it online. He’s got a cavalcade of ladies all over this country, they say. What you look like falling for him?”
“I haven’t fallen for anybody,” she said, although she knew that wasn’t entirely true. “Just go home, Von.”
But Von was worried about her. That same chief of police that arrested her earlier was in that house. “You don’t have to stay if you don’t want to,” he said to her.
“I wanna stay.” Ironically, she wasn’t ready to leave Hawk’s side either. Which she knew was insanity. But that wasn’t her main reason. “I bear some responsibility for that kidnapping. I need to know if she’s alright. And if nothing becomes of this, me and you will hit the road again tomorrow searching.”
“But it’s late. Aren’t you exhausted too?”
“I’m okay, Von. Really I am. We’ll get back at it tomorrow if we need to.”
“But remember we’ve got those two events tomorrow morning we have to provide security for.”
Janita had forgotten all about that. “You’re right. But I’m just gonna have to call and cancel. We can’t do anything else until we get Mrs. Webster back home safe and sound. That’s our only priority right now.”
“But can we afford to cancel gigs like that though?”
“No,” Janita said honestly. “But we have to. She went missing on our watch. We can’t allow that to stand and call ourselves a security company.”
Von nodded. He agreed. “But I’ll call the contacts tonight and cancel. You don’t worry about that.”
Janita loved her brother to bits. “Thanks, Von.”
“And don’t let thosehigh-and-mightiestreat you like a dog. You’re just as good as they are. You stand up for yourself.”
“When have I ever not stood up for myself, DeVontay? You know I will.”
“I’m just sayin’,” he said. “I don’t like the way he talks to you like you’re his pet and not his equal.”
She wasn’t his equal, she thought, but she wasn’t going there with her brother. Besides, she had already figured out that Hawk’s bluntness was just his hardcore personality. For the most part, she didn’t take offense to it whatsoever. But her baby brother took things to heart far more than she did. “I’ll be okay,” she said. “Just go home.”
Then she closed the door, he drove off, and then she made her way to the front door where Hawk still stood. At least, she thought, he didn’t leave her to go in alone. Which would have been terrifying for her.
As she walked up the steps toward him, she noticed he was looking down at her body.
And she was right. Even though he knew there was no real rest for him until his mother was back home safe and sound, Hawk couldn’t stop thinking about how it felt to be inside of her. He could have stayed there all night. And she was turning him on again. Which baffled him. No girl had ever turned him on the way she did and she was nothing like any girl he’d ever known. They were all so glamourous. She was the exact opposite. But she was the one? This girl? It seemed so unlikely.
“Everything okay?” he asked her when she finally made it by his side.
“It’s all good. We were just handling some loose ends for tomorrow.”
“Security jobs?”
“Yes, sir, but we’re going to focus on finding your mother instead.”
