Seven Years

meet and greet.

I grabbed my bag and went across the hall into Austin’s room, glancing around for anything that belonged to Maizy. I stuffed her wand into my bag and walked with a determined pace to the living room.

“Come on, Maizy. We’re leaving.”

“But my movie just came on,” she whined.

“Lexi, what do you think you’re doing?” Austin said, attempting to be calm but not doing a very good job of it. Ivy stepped around us and found the bathroom in the hall.

I snapped my fingers impatiently. “Come on, Maizy. I’ve got movies at the house and Auntie Naya bought you a new one as a surprise.”

She got up and pouted, coming over to stand at my side, her blond hair in tangles. I didn’t have time to look for her shoes, so I lifted her up and grunted from her weight. “Sorry, Austin, it’s time for us to return to our lives.”

“I can’t let you go,” he said firmly. The words lingered in the air and he lowered his eyes.

“Let’s not do this here, okay? It’ll get ugly. I really appreciate everything, and I’m going to come back over tomorrow so we can find my mom. I just need to be home, and it’s totally safe. My dad has no idea where I live and just let him try. I think my mom went willingly with him because she still loves him. I don’t know. I have Naya next door to watch Maizy when I’m out, but I can’t keep crashing on your brother’s bed.”

I ignored his hostile stare and brows sloped at a disagreeable angle.

We breezed past the men and into the hall when Maizy cried out. “Wait!”

“What is it?”

“I want to give Uncle Denny a hug,” she whimpered in a small voice.

Denver attempted to suppress his handsome grin, but I could see how such a small request touched him. She gave him a tight squeeze while still in my arms, and I heard the rattle of a plastic candy wrapper and decided to let it go and allow her to have it. Denver’s lips pressed tightly as he turned away and folded his arms.

My car keys were on the same ring as Austin’s—a little red flashlight dangled from the ring, so I spotted them easily. I had Maizy grab them since my arms were occupied holding her along with the bag. Austin followed me outside but seemed reluctant to make a scene in front of my sister.

After I buckled her in the car, I crossed around the front and Austin caught my arm. “Wait,” he said in a softened voice. That sexy, growly, just got out of bed voice. “Don’t go. Stay with us until we find Lynn.”

“I have to go, Austin. I need to check on things at work and take care of personal matters. There could also be a message on my machine.”

“We got that covered,” he said.

“You don’t have my life covered. I know you mean well, but maybe it’s better that I’m not in the house if I’m about to have a pheromone party in a few days. I’m sure you can agree.”

He stuffed his hands in his jean pockets and I could see every line of his body through the thin shirt he wore. Shirts shouldn’t be that tight on a man; there should be some kind of a law against it. And then there was that lazy smile of his that nearly made me change my mind.

I stepped forward and slid my arms around his waist, leaning into his chest. His heart beat heavily against my ear where I rested my head. It felt so good to have him back in my life again, and despite all my anger I’d carried through the years, I could never hate Austin Cole.

“Thanks,” I murmured. “Not just for helping with everything, but for coming back. I missed you.”

His hands cupped the top of my head and he whispered into my hair. “Be careful, Ladybug.”

Chapter 18

After cleaning up feathers and hanging the curtains in my bedroom, I tucked Maizy in the bed and covered her with a fuzzy blue blanket. The door remained closed so that I could grill a cheese sandwich and not wake her up with the cacophony of pans rattling around. I relaxed on the sofa and noticed my apartment had that weird smell it gets when it’s been left alone for too long.

The door handle jiggled and I shot up with half a sandwich in my mouth. I tossed the plate on the coffee table and hurried to the door. Naya waved through the peephole and I stepped outside, closing the door behind me.

“Everything okay? I was about to go to work and saw your lights on,” she said.

“Yeah. Maizy’s sleeping in the other room.”

“I’m so glad the little baby’s okay.” She breathed a sigh of relief. “Does Auntie Naya get to see her? I bought her the prettiest dress the other week and—”

“I really don’t know why you do that, Naya. You spoil her way too much.” I chuckled and we sat on the steps together. Her makeup looked like spackle with a heavy coat of foundation and glossed-up lips. She had on a pair of shorts and a button-up blouse, but her real work clothes were underneath. I never understood why men liked that look, because she was prettier without it in her normal clothes. But I guess she had to project an image on stage.

“The dress is adorable,” she answered. “You’re going to flip out when you see it. I picked it up at a thrift store, but it looks exactly like a dress a princess should be wearing.”

“You’re just feeding her obsession,” I said with a distant sigh, staring across the street at the shadow of a man as it disappeared behind one of the buildings.

“I don’t have kids; let me live vicariously through you. Someday, she’ll find out all that fairy-tale stuff about love is just a lie, so let her enjoy it while she can. Did you find your mama?”

That’s when the waterworks came on. Naya hugged my shoulders and I cried against her shimmery white blouse.

“Don’t cry, chickypoo. It’s going to be okay, you just wait and see. I really hate to leave you,” she said guiltily.

“No, it’s fine. I know you’re late. Maybe we can talk tomorrow, but I’m going to be in and out all day.”

“That’s what he said,” she purred.

Naya knew how to snap me out of my funk and make me laugh. She blew a kiss and dashed off, leaving me alone on the steps. I had just wiped a crumb from the corner of my mouth when the sound of heavy footsteps approached from below. A long shadow emerged on the walkway and a man came into view. He slowly ascended the stairs and I leaned to the left to see if it was one of Naya’s lovesick puppies who often swung by when she was at work.

Officer McNeal rounded the corner and smiled.

“Alexia Knight,” he said from the landing below. “Have you been dodging me?”

“How come you’re never in uniform?” I asked skeptically, looking at his black pants and shirt. McNeal looked like a cop, but it didn’t feel legit, if that makes any sense. He looked forty, but something about his grey eyes seemed much older.

“I’m a detective—we’re not required to wear uniforms.”

“So why did you introduce yourself as an officer?”

He threw his left foot up on the step and leaned on the railing. “Your father is in some serious trouble and we need to locate him.”

“You know about the kidnapping?”

His brow arched. Apparently he didn’t. “Nelson stole something that’s extremely valuable, and now the owner wants it back. He threatened to hunt down Nelson’s family, and we’re just looking to track your father down before this escalates out of hand.”

Then a light bulb switched on. “You’re not a cop, are you?” I rose to my feet with each foot on a different step. “You’re working with the man my dad owes, aren’t you? What did he do? Because he kidnapped my mother.”

McNeal looked me over and cocked his head to the side. “It doesn’t seem like he took everything of value.”

The remark confused me, but I quickly realized McNeal might see me as a way to bait my father.