Chapter 10
Chapter Ten
Before
Amirah
I watch Gage from across the dinner table as he takes one, then two bites of his pasta. The corner of his mouth lifts.
“This is good, Amirah. When you insisted on helping the chef, I thought you’d ruin it, but you’ve surprised me,” he says with a laugh.
Jerk. A simple thanks would have been nice.
I ignore him, rolling the pasta around with my fork, and stare off into space. Jewel is all I’ve been able to think about since Lily came over this morning.
I’ve called around to a few of our neighbors to see if any of them have young girls working for them as maids, but they don’t.
I went downtown, showing people her photo, and even went down to the tracks, but it led to no answers.
I searched the internet for any information about her and the letters from the photo, but again, nothing came up.
Is she okay? Where is she? It doesn’t matter that I haven’t heard from or seen her in years. I’d hate it if something happened to her.
“Spit it out,” Gage says from across the kitchen table.
“That obvious something’s up, hey?”
“Sis, you have zero poker face.” He grins, and I sigh.
“You remember Jewel?”
“How could I forget? You were joined at the hip with her.”
“Lily came over yesterday and said Jewel is missing.”
Gage takes a sip of his drink, then places it back down on the table. “Yeah, and?”
I drop the fork, and it clinks against the bowl. “Are you fucking serious?”
“What do you want, Amirah? Use your fucking words,” Gage snaps, and I bite into my bottom lip, anger swirling up inside of me.
“God, you’re such a fucking asshole. I don’t know how Freya puts up with you.”
Gage snorts, but I ignore him.
“Lily thinks there’s something more to it. How could I find her? Can you help me, or can someone from The Brotherhood?”
He sighs. “We’ve got enough shit going on, Amirah. A war is brewing, and if we don’t figure it out, people won’t just go missing. They’ll be dead. That’s my priority. I can’t help you with this.” Gage pushes back his chair and moves around the table.
I grab his arm, and he stops. “But where should I start?” I ask, pleading with him to give me something, anything. I’ve never done anything like this before, and I want to help. I want to bring Jewel home—for Lily.
“You need to look at the last communication she had with her mother.” Gage pulls out of my grip and sighs again. “But, Amirah, fair warning—she probably just ran off, and you’re wasting your time.”
“I’ve got nothing better to do,” I say, pushing away my pasta before standing and then heading toward the door.
“There have been rumors of a few women going missing. Could be something going on. Not here but in the Hood.”
I pull out my phone, bringing up the last photo Lily received of Jewel, and flashing it in front of Gage. “Does this look familiar to you?”
He brushes past me. “I don’t have time to play detective. Just drop it, Amirah. I don’t want you caught up in this or going anywhere near the Hood with the state of things between them and us.” Gage leaves and I curse.
There’s no way in hell I’m dropping this.
Lily came to me because she trusts me. She needs me, and I’m done with being locked in my bedroom by my brother, who clearly just expects me to play house.
Freya is grieving her brother and forging a new life with her men.
All my other friends are waiting around to be wives.
I want a purpose, and finding Jewel is it.