16. The Unknown
CHAPTER SIXTEEN
The Unknown
“Gu'n d'fhàg mi 'n so 'na shìneadh e…?*”
Holding her tiny hands between his fingers, Caleb sang in Gaelic as he looked down at Chloe’s big blue eyes staring up at him from the couch, while Jax changed her diaper. “I haven’t heard that lullaby in years,” Jax said, holding Chloe’s ankles.
Caleb pressed Chloe’s hands to his lips. “My mother used to sing it to Jamie and me… when she was done with her last client and putting us to bed…” Caleb’s eyes glazed over. “She was ashamed to look us in the eye… as if we would judge her… when I was just proud of her for surviving…”
“She was a good woman…” Jax said.
Caleb met Jax’s gaze with just a hint of a smile before looking back at Chloe. “It’s crazy how much she looks like you… mo bhana-phrionnsa,?*” Caleb hummed, kissing Chloe’s forehead as she giggled.
“Except that hair. Are you done?” Keith asked, reaching for Chloe. “I’m gonna give her a Frohawk.”
“A what?” Ian asked from the recliner.
“It’s like a mohawk but with an Afro,” Keith said, sitting Chloe on his lap.
“And just how would you know how to do her hair?” Ian asked with a raised brow.
“Google. Duh,” Keith snorted. “It was hard as fuck to find.”
“Keith,” Jax warned.
Keith rolled his eyes. “I googled ‘Black hair,’ and all I got were white girls with black hair. Didn’t find an actual Black girl till like… the 12th page. So I searched up ‘African American hair’ and boom! Gonna have my Little Killer lookin’ like a badass.”
“Just don’t ruin her hair. It took me hours to research how to do Deja’s hair when she was pregnant—the products, the steps, the process. There were like 15 steps, and that was before washing her hair,” Caleb sighed.
“15? Shit…” Keith muttered, combing his fingers through Chloe’s curls.
“Where’s the comb?” Jax asked.
“She’s a baby. My fingers work just fine,” Keith said.
Caleb snorted. “Deja’s gonna kill you.”
“I hope so. I need some entertainment,” Ian said casually. Leaning forward, he showed Jax his phone. “What about this one? It has 4.”
Jax furrowed his brows. “I don’t like the color.”
Ian rolled his eyes. “This is premium cut, Jax.”
“I want it to look like the original,” Jax rebutted.
“What about this one?” Caleb asked, holding up his phone.
Ian put on a fake smile. “It’s cute, but… leave this to me, Farmer Boy.”
“Asshole,” Caleb smirked when suddenly a text came in. He furrowed his brows before texting back. “Deja just asked me where I am.”
Glancing at his cousins, Caleb’s face fell as it clicked.
Deja frantically looked around, trying to find the face she knew she had seen. But he was nowhere to be found. She shook her head irritably, already sick of his mind games, when Ari, Diamond, and Shawna crowded her.
“Girl, why you standin’ around lookin’ lost?” Diamond asked as she sipped a cocktail.
“Yeah, seriously, Deja, come dance with us,” Ari said, grabbing her hand.
“This is your first time out with us in how long?” Shawna asked, bumping her hip.
“I know, I um… sorry. I thought I saw someone…” Deja looked at them apprehensively. “I think we should go home.”
“Girl, what?!” Diamond blurted.
“But we just got here!” Ari whined.
“We can go watch a movie or something,” Deja insisted.
“Ummm, baybeee! The tits are out and sit-ting. Does this look like ‘watch a movie’ attire?” Diamond asked with a raised brow.
“Nope. That’s ‘you can look, but you can’t touch’ attire,” Ari smirked.
“Exactly,” Diamond nodded. “Now leggo!”
Deja looked around anxiously. “I need to find-”
“Deja! You need to relax,” Shawna insisted. “Seriously, you’ve been cooped up with a bunch of men, and it’s made you paranoid. Spend some time with your friends.”
“Matter of fact. Get a drink,” Ari said, dragging her to the bar.
“Ari, I’m breastfeeding,” Deja reminded her.
“Then, watch me get a drink,” Ari smiled.
Deja rolled her eyes. “Don’t you think you’ve had enough drinks?”
“Not until at least one guy here looks fuckable,” Ari said, waving the bartender down. “3 Vodka martinis!”
“You better be sharing that,” Shawna grinned as Ari laughed.
Ari pulled out her wallet when the bartender stopped her. “It’s already covered,” he said.
“Ohhh…” Ari smiled flirtatiously.
“By the guy over there,” the bartender said, pointing to Joseph.
Ari’s face fell. “Oh.”
“Not him trying to win us over with booze,” Shawna muttered.
“Let’s pretend it’s working,” Diamond fake-smiled with a wave. Joseph waved back, but instead of joining him, the girls headed back to the dance floor.
Deja was still steadily looking around when Joseph grabbed her arm. “Can we talk about this?” he asked. “It’s bad enough Diamond, Shawna, and Ari won’t even look at me.”
“Can’t blame them if you’re cheating on Kristin,” Deja said before she could stop herself.
Joseph scoffed. “So, you’ve already taken sides.”
Deja sighed. “I’m not taking sides, Joseph. It’s just… Kristin is like a sister to us. And she’s hurting because she thinks you’re cheating.”
“I’m not cheating on her!” Joseph snapped, before lowering his voice. “Forget it. You wouldn’t understand,” he muttered, standing from the stool.
“Joseph, wait,” Deja said, grabbing his hand.
“No, Deja,” he sighed. “This was a mistake. I shouldn’t have come. Tell the girls… whatever. Not like it matters…”
Deja frowned as she watched Joseph walk off when she saw him again. Lost in the shadows of drunk people dancing to the music. She fast-walked towards him, but again, just as Deja reached his spot, he was nowhere to be seen. “Am I losing it?” she muttered.
She spent several minutes searching the bar when her phone went off.
Unknown Number
Nice dress.
Deja furrowed her brows as she texted back.
Deja
Who is this?
Unknown Number
Nobody.
Deja looked up to search the crowd. But no one looked familiar.
Deja
Is this Jamie?
She waited for him to respond, but… nothing.
Deja
Hello? Is this Jamie??
Still. No response.
Deja
What do you want?
Unknown Number
Nothing.
Deja growled in irritation.
Deja
Why are you texting me?
Deja exhaled, anxiously awaiting the answer.
Unknown Number
Why aren’t you comforting your friend crying in the last bathroom stall?
Deja’s eyes widened before she pushed through the crowd.
Crumbling up her tissue, Kristin reached for more toilet paper only to feel the cardboard roll. “Did I really cry through this entire roll…” she muttered. “That’s pathetic, Kristin. Get it together…”
She opened the stall door into the empty bathroom and approached the sink, frowning at her red, puffy face. “How could you let a guy make you look like this…” she choked out.
While reapplying her makeup, the bathroom lights flickered. “Whoever’s doing that, can you stop?” she shouted. Shaking her head, annoyed, she continued to apply her makeup when the lights flickered again. “The fuck!” she snapped.
Slamming her concealer down, she approached the exit door and pushed it open as the music got louder.
She could see people dancing, but no one was by the light switch.
Walking back into the restroom, she grabbed her concealer when the lights started to flicker again.
Growling in frustration, she threw her makeup into her purse and stormed out of the bathroom.
“Fucking asshole!” she snapped. She nearly gave up searching the empty corridor until she spotted the subtle shadow of a man. “Hey!” she shouted. “Was that you? Flickering the lights like a jerk?!”
Kristin squinted her eyes, unable to make him out in the dark. “Whatever,” she said, turning around. Returning to the bar, she searched her purse for her phone. “Where the hell is it…?”
The piercing sound of her phone ringing echoed from the hallway she had just turned away from. Kristin looked over her shoulder, confused. The shadow she had seen prior… was gone. “Hello?” she shouted down the hallway.
Kristin looked toward the dancing crowd before she looked back down the empty hallway.
“Kristin!” Deja shouted, barging into the restroom. “Kristin, where are you? Answer me, dammit!” Pulling out her phone, Deja redialed Kristin. But as it did the last few times, it went straight to voicemail. “Why the fuck isn’t she picking up?”
While sending a group text to her Reapers, Deja got another text.
Unknown Number
Time is running out…
Deja was fed up. She immediately called the unknown number, waiting for it to stop ringing. “Hello?!” she nearly shouted, slamming the bathroom stalls open. “Answer me, you cowardly motherfucker!”
But Deja received silence. She seethed angrily into the phone. “I swear if you hurt her, I’ll-”
“You’ll what…”
Deja suddenly lost her breath. Though she demanded a response… she wasn’t expecting it. A deep, raspy chuckle echoed through the earpiece. “I thought so… Baby Reaper…”
Looking around the restroom, Deja’s jaw tensed. “Is this Jamie?”
“...Deachdaire?* let you leave his sight… interesting…”
Deja shook her head. “Look…Jamie. I’m assuming this is you. I don’t have any ill will toward you, okay? Just… leave my friends alone.”
An amused chuckle left his throat. Deja rushed out of the restroom to search the crowd. “What the fuck do you want?!” she growled.
“Wait, hold on!”
Kristin’s heels clacked against the floor as she followed the stranger who apparently had her phone. She pushed through the back-exit double doors that swung shut behind her as she stepped into the parking lot.
“Hello! Where the fuck are you going with my phone?!” she snapped angrily. Stopping to catch her breath, she kept her eyes on the stranger standing by a car. “Are you deaf or something? What is wrong with you?!”
Storming up to the stranger, she roughly grabbed their shoulder. “Hey! I’m talking to you!” she said, yanking them backward. The stranger turned around wearing a faceless mask.
Kristin stepped back, alarmed. “The fuck are you supposed to be- Know what… Don’t bother. I am not into this kinky shit. Give me back my phone, and maybe I won’t call the cops on your ass!”
But the masked stranger just looked at her.