Page 22 of Fire

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~16~

Axe

I was only gone a couple of hours and thought for sure that Kenzi would still be wearing her cute pajamas while having her morning coffee. It was odd that she wasn’t in the apartment. Usually, she wasn’t up and moving until ten or so. She hadn’t left a note about where she went, so I pulled out my cell. The call went straight to voicemail, which told me that either her phone died or she turned it off. There was also the possibility that she was on another call.

Without giving it another thought, I headed to the kitchen to grab a bite to eat. Getting to the gym before it got crowded denied me a healthy breakfast. In reality, it was still morning, and having cereal and O.J. was acceptable.

Pouring myself a healthy serving of my favorite frosted flakes, I took a seat at the breakfast bar and dug in. While enjoying my flakes, I sent Kenzi a quick text and told her to call me when she got the chance.

After downing the remaining milk from my bowl, I pushed away from the breakfast bar. I put my bowl and the empty glass in the sink before heading to the bathroom. I was sweaty from my workout and in desperate need of a shower. The scent of Kenzi’s perfume still lingered in the air when I entered the bathroom. It warmed my heart and reminded me how much I loved her. Smiling to myself, I turned the volume up on my cell before setting it on the counter. If Kenzi called while I was in the shower, I didn’t want to miss her.

Not a single call came in during my shower, and since two hours had passed since I left her a text, I started wondering where the hell she was that she couldn’t acknowledge my request to call. Holding my cell to my ear, I waited for her to answer. Once again, the call went straight to voicemail. Instead of hanging up, I left a message. “Kenzi, give me a call as soon as you get this.”

On the off chance that she might have been with Reyna, I called The Regency. “The Regency Hotel,” a young voice greeted me. “This is Amanda. How can I help you?”

“Can you connect me to Mrs. Cross’s office, please,” I replied.

“Can I ask who is calling?” Amanda asked politely.

“Axe Riley.”

“One moment, Mr. Riley. I’ll connect you.”

Amanda’s voice was exchanged with violin music as I waited for Reyna to answer. The music was worse than the music played in the hotel's lobby. It could put a wild bear to sleep. I made a mental note to tell Davian he should consider changing it.

Thankfully, I didn’t have to listen to it long before Reyna came on the line. “Axe, how are you?”

“I’m good,” I said. “Kenzi didn’t by chance call you today, did she?”

“She came by earlier,” Reyna paused for a moment, “to visit and bring me a latte. Why do you ask?”

“What time was that?”

“It was around 8:30. Is something wrong?”

I didn’t want to worry Reyna or give her the impression that I was concerned. “Nothing… nothing at all. Just wondering. Can you let her know that I’m looking for her if she calls you?”

“Sure thing, Axe.”

It wasn’t like Kenzi not to let me know where she was. If she saw Reyna around 8:30 this morning, six hours have passed since I’d seen her—too soon to get worked up. I decided to wait until 3 p.m. for Kenzi to call me. If I didn’t hear from her by then, I would be putting a search team together.On second thought, screw it. Waiting another two hours might be too late. I left the apartment, my heart beating so fast I thought it would burst. Kenzi was my life, and if anything happened to her, I didn’t know what I would do.

~

When I entered the warehouse, Patton, Davian, and Marcus were in the computer room, each sitting at a station and concentrating on their computers. The first person I greeted was Davian. “I think something has happened to Kenzi. She isn’t answering my calls or texts.”

Davian gave me a puzzled look. “What makes you think something happened to her? It wouldn’t be the first time Kenzi hasn’t returned your calls.”

“Maybe I am overreacting,” I said, forking my hand through my hair. “I just have this gut feeling that something is wrong.”

When something was off, I could always trust my body. My heart would beat uncontrollably, and my gut felt like it would expel all its contents. One could call it a gift, but to me, it was a curse. Nothing good ever came of it, and hoping I was wrong was a waste of time.

Grabbing a chair across the way, I positioned it next to Davian before taking a seat. “Can we access the GPS in her car and find out where she is?”

Davian patted me on the back and stood. “Patton, let’s see if we can put Axe’s mind at ease.”

Patton left his station and walked over to where Davian and I were. Taking a seat in Davian’s chair, Patton went to work on accessing Kenzi’s GPS. “I should be able to pull up Kenzi’s location in a few minutes,” Patton reassured me, giving me hope that I was wrong.

I watched Patton move his fingers across the keyboard with great speed, and just as he stated, Kenzi's location was determined. Her car was parked at the Grant Park Market. I felt like a dick. There was a first time for everything. My instinct that something had happened to Kenzi was wrong. She was shopping for groceries. I let out a sigh of relief. At least I knew where she was.