Page 69 of Where We Found Our Home
I turn back to Sasha. “You gonna be okay here? I wanna go out on my own to look for her.”
“Yeah, yeah.”
I look up at Ciara and tilt my head toward the door, silently asking if she wants to come with me. She nods, rubs Sasha’s arm, and follows me to the door.
“Um, officer? Can I…?” She motions for the officer to meet us by the door. He comes over and waits for her to speak. “You need to have your guys checking obvious places near the shop. He probably didn’t go far with her,” she whispers. My heart breaks for her all over again. I know she’s right back in that trunk right now. If this bastard shoved my niece in a trunk somewhere, he is going to beg for death by the time I’m finished with him.
Ciara and I climb into my car. Her knees are tapping hard, and she has one of her braids wrapped around her finger so tight I think she might rip it out. I place my hand on top of her thigh, and she jumps before relaxing and giving me a fake smile.
My eyes are zeroed in on the streets, looking for any sign of Nevaeh. Ciara suggests we park and walk around, listening for seemingly ordinary things that are out of place or off in any way. She pays special attention to the trunks of cars as we walk around, tapping them lightly to see if she gets a response.
We spend hours searching for Nevaeh with no luck. My fear and anger are catapulting to new heights with every failed search. We’ve been checking in on Sasha and Carter the whole time we’ve been out, and Sasha is falling apart at the seams. I can’t imagine how she’s feeling right now. Our parents, Nina, Logan, Jada, Reggie, Michael, Niecy, and Malcolm are all at the shop. Isaiah, Kai, Dom, and Shane are all out searching like Ciara and me.
When my phone buzzes with Carter calling me, I almost fumble the phone trying to answer. “Carter, what’s up?”
“They found her. She’s safe but shaken up. Get to the police station.” I hang up, and Ciara and I rush to the station.
When we get there, Sasha is sobbing uncontrollably while hugging Nevaeh, and the family is crowded around them. Isaiah and Kai come in behind us, and Isaiah taps me on the back before we move up toward the commotion.
“We want to ask her some questions about what happened today. Do you want to come back to one of the interview rooms with your parents, sweetie?” A female police officer kneels down to Nevaeh’s level. She nods silently and grabs one of Sasha’s hands and one of Carter’s. They follow the officer to the back, and the minute they’re out of sight, the family explodes into chaos.
“How the fuck did he grab her so quickly?” Isaiah yells.
“Are we sure it was that guy?”
Isaiah looks at Reggie, bewildered. “Don’t be a fucking lawyer right now, Reggie. Of course it was him, who else would do this?” Ciara shrinks into her chair at that. I wrap my arm around her shoulder and give Isaiah a hard glare. “I’m sorry, Ci. Didn’t mean it to sound like that. This really isn’t your fault. It’s that sick fucker’s fault.”
Ciara shakes her head, but her eyes remain on the floor. “Doesn’t matter. All that matters is Nevaeh.”
Everyone continues talking, speculating about where he took Nevaeh when Sasha, Carter, and Nevaeh return to the lobby. Sasha bends down and whispers something to Nevaeh that makes her smile. Carter grabs her hand and leads her out of the building, waving goodbye to all of us on the way out.
“Umm, we’re going to get Nevaeh some ice cream and take her home to watch movies and relax. Just let us have tonight—just the three of us—and then everyone can come visit her tomorrow. Okay?” Everyone nods in agreement.
“Did she say where he took her?” my mom asks. My dad nudges her, but she dismisses him.
“She was in the park. She said she was so wrapped up in her tablet that she didn’t even hear him come into the store, but he grabbed her around the mouth so tight she couldn’t even scream.” Mom gasps and turns into Dad’s arms. Reggie hugs Malcolm and Niecy extra hard. Isaiah curses and slams his fist into the seat in front of him. I’m clenching my jaw as tight as possible, but I’m barely holding it in.
“She said he threw her in a car and tied her arms behind her back. Then he drove her to the park and tied her to a tree. A hiker found her and ungagged her. She said she was crying so hard and repeating that she wanted to go home that the woman just took her to the police station instead of waiting for police to arrive.”
“Fuck.” Is the only word spoken for a moment.
“Did he…did he touch her?” Dad asks. Mom cries harder into his shoulder.
Everyone freezes with rapt attention, but Sasha puts us out of our misery quickly. “No, he just tied her up and dragged her through the trees. She said he never even spoke to her. She didn’t see his face, but she said he had really bad scars on his hands. That’s all she got.” I turn to Ciara, and her entire face has gone gray.
“Why the hell would he do this? What’s the purpose?” Reggie wonders, and I think she’s more trying to piece it together herself than actually asking.
“I don’t know. Listen, I gotta go. Today has been too much, and I don’t want to spend anymore time tonight without my eyes on my baby. She’s surprisingly okay as she can be after everything, but I am far from it. Thank you all for coming to help. We appreciate it. I love you.” She rushes off, leaving the rest of us to try to collect ourselves. After saying our quick goodbyes, we all go our separate ways.
On the car ride back to Ciara’s, you can cut the tension with a knife. Nervous energy is flying off of Ciara, and I’m not sure how I can help her get through this. I reach for her hand, and she hesitates but she takes it. She doesn’t hold it tight though.
Walking to her door, I feel like I’m walking to a firing squad. Ciara takes off to do her security checks and I get the message loud and clear—she needs to do it herself tonight. When she comes back to the living room, she makes no move to sit down.
“It’s been a long day. What do you want to eat?”
Her head snaps up at my words. “Lincoln,” she sighs. “I’m tired. I think it would be best if I just spend the night by myself tonight.”
No.“No.” It comes out louder and firmer than I mean it to, but I don’t take it back.
