Chapter 65
Seth
“This is what happens when you watch too many of those murder shows,” I say to Layla.
“It’s bad energy for the child,” Dorothy says from the kitchen while she pours coffee for herself. Layla looks at me and rolls her eyes. “No mother should watch that nonsense.”
“I just have this feeling,” Layla says. She looks around as if she’s going to see something.
“Well, I had a dream about a clown chasing me through an amusement park, thanks to you, but I don’t believe it’s going to happen.”
“Have you heard from Brandi?” she asks, and I shake my head.
“Not since last week.” We talked after her mother’s posts. After a call from an attorney, Barbara took the video down. According to Brandi, her dad was taking her to church to talk to their minister. I don’t know what the fuck that’s supposed to do, but as long as she stays away from my family, I don’t care. “But you have the driver and the bodyguard.”
“And I got a mean right hook,” Dorothy says. She puts her mug down and motions a punch. “Nobody’s gonna lay a hand on my pumpkin.” She smiles at Jasmine, who waves a Barbie at her.
“I have practice, but let’s ride together. I’ll take you to work first.” That’s something Coach would do. He’d make sure his wife was safe before going to his own job.
After kissing Jasmine goodbye and being reassured by Dorothy that she won’t let anything happen to her, we leave. We hold hands in the back seat, and when we arrive at her building, I escort her to her cubicle.
“I might meet June Bug for lunch today,” she says. “Don’t worry, I won’t go alone.” I kiss her goodbye, but I feel good about her going to lunch with her cousin. I know there’s no way he would ever let anything happen to her.
Practice goes off with no issues, and afterward, I workout with some of the guys and get a massage. I don’t check my phone until hours later, and that’s when I see the text from Layla saying that she’s going to work from home the rest of the day because Dorothy had to leave due to a family emergency. She also says something still doesn’t feel right so she’d rather be at home.
I call her, but the phone goes directly to voicemail. I call Dorothy to make sure everything’s okay with her and her family, and her phone goes directly to voicemail too.
“Chastain, have you heard from Vickie? Do you know if she’s at my place with Johnny for a playdate?” I ask. That same uneasy feeling Layla has had all week hits me but intensified.
“Nah. They’re not home. Evan’s at school, and Johnny has a physical scheduled for right about now,” he says while checking his watch. That makes the hairs on the back of my neck stand up even more. Instead of showering, I call my driver to take me home.
On the way, I still can’t get in touch with my wife. I text Jeannie and she confirms that Layla’s driver picked her up. I call three more times on the way home, and I can’t get in touch with anyone in the house, so I call her bodyguard, and he finally answers.
“Where’s my wife?” I ask, forgoing any pleasantries.
“I walked her to the apartment, and she said she was going to order lunch for her and Jasmine. She asked me to take Dorothy to the hospital to meet her husband, and I told Layla I’d pick up their food on the way back. I’m headed to the apartment now. About five minutes away with this traffic.” I feel a little relieved, but not completely. Layla always has her phone on her. She always answers. Even when we weren’t together, she took my calls. I hang up on the bodyguard and make one more call.
“Brandi,” I say when she picks up. “Where is your mother?” I ask, getting to the point.
There’s lots of noise and talk in the background, but Brandi goes deathly quiet.
“I don’t know,” she says after a long uncomfortable pause.
“What the fuck do you mean you don’t know?” I scream into the phone.
“Don’t yell at me,” she shouts back. “I don’t know where she is. I can’t reach her. She left her phone here.”
“And your father has no idea where she is?” When she remains quiet, I say, “Put him on the phone.”
“Seth—”
“Put him on the fucking phone.” I don’t yell this time, but I’m firm. I hear her voice in the background, but I can’t hear what she says. A few moments later, I hear a male voice. “Where is your wife?”
“The Lord hasn’t revealed that to me yet,” he says, sounding way too calm for the situation.
“The Lord?” I ask, aghast. “You can’t be serious.” He doesn’t answer, so I continue. “If she goes near my daughter, it’s on your head. I’m going to fuck her up, and then I’m coming after you, you fucking family of psychos.” I end the call because I know I won’t get any more information from him, and I believe Brandi doesn’t know anything.
“Hurry up,” I say to my driver. I can feel the blood pounding in my veins, and my heart starts to beat uncontrollably. If anything happens to my daughter, I’m going to prison because I’m going to choke the life out of that woman with my bare hands, and I will feel no regret about it. If she touches my wife, she’ll be met with the same fate.
My driver pulls to the front of my building, and I jump out of the car before it comes to a complete stop. He follows me to the elevator, and I curse how slow it is today. After what seems like an eternity, the doors open, and I sprint down the hall.
I punch in the code to the door, but it gives me an error message. Seconds later, I get a text from the security company, and I respond that they send the police. I use my key, but someone put the chain on the door, and I can’t open it.
“Bruce, you better take this fucking door off the hinges,” I say to my driver right before I kick it. I hear crying on the other side, and I feel both relief and trepidation. I don’t hear Layla though. There’s no way she would let Jasmine cry. I go to kick the door again, but Bruce pushes me out of the way and rams his shoulder into it. Nothing happens.
I call the front desk and demand someone come up here immediately with bolt cutters. Someone shows up less than five minutes later, and when they manage to get the door open, I run inside. Jasmine’s screams get louder, but my heart stops when I see Layla sprawled on the floor unconscious. I drop to my knees and put two fingers to her neck to check her pulse. I exhale when I find it. I pick her up and lay her on the couch.
“Layla,” I say as I pat her cheek. “Wake up. Let me see your eyes, baby. Come on.” I pat her cheek again, but Jasmine’s crying gets louder.
“Boss!” Bruce says from the back of the house. Layla starts to moan, but Bruce yells my name again. “Get in here. Now!”
“Dada!” Jasmine screams, and my heart drops.
Layla starts to stir, and her eyes fly open. I see the relief in them when she realizes it’s me, but then they turn fearful again.
“Jasmine,” she moans. She touches the back of her head and winces. “Go. She’s here.” I know who she means when she says ‘she.’ I nod and reluctantly leave Layla. Archie, her bodyguard, finally walks through the door with a brown paper bag. He quickly reads the room, drops the bag, and pulls out his gun.
“Let me—” he begins, but I ignore him and run down the hall.
I come up short when I get to Jasmine’s room. My daughter is in the arms of that psychotic bitch, screaming louder than I’ve ever heard. She’s stripped down to a diaper, and there’s a dress on the bed that’s not hers. I look at Jasmine and notice that her hair is shorter and is pulled into a ponytail so tight, it’s got to be painful. This bitch cut my daughter’s hair, and I make a note that I’m going to shave her head before she leaves here today.
“The fuck?” I say. Jasmine sees me and her crying stops for a moment. Long enough for her to take a breath and extend her arms to me.
“Dada!” she says. “Come. Come.” She pushes against the woman’s chest and says, “No.” Her little voice cracks, but she pushes against her chest again. Jasmine even grabs a handful of the woman”s hair and pulls. Barbara pulls away and grabs Jasmine’s shoulders.
“You have the devil in you, child. Stop that.” She shakes her shoulders, and I see red.
I take a step closer and she says, “I wouldn’t do that if I were you.” She points to the nightstand and I notice a gun on it. “Your wife tried to fight me, and it didn’t work out too good for her. She’s going to have a killer headache when she wakes up. It was only by His grace that I didn’t end her. Amen.” She says the last word while she looks up at the ceiling.
Uncaring about her words, I dive across the room and land on the bed. Bruce goes to the other side and grabs the gun. Barbara stands, and I snatch Jasmine out of her arms. I do it so fast, she stumbles back but catches her balance. That’s when I shove her with my free hand, and she falls on her ass.
I run to the door with Jasmine in my arms, and say, “Go to Mama.” I put her down, and she takes off. I can still hear her screams when I turn to the lunatic in the room. I slam the door shut and slowly approach her. She backs away until her back hits the wall.
“Boss,” Archie says, holding his gun in her direction.
“I’ve got this,” is all I say.
I don’t say another word when I reach her. She’s crying silently as she looks around the room. I wrap my hand around her scrawny neck and press her against the wall. She makes a gasping noise, and I add pressure. More of her tears fall, and some land on my hand, but I don’t care. In my rage, I lift her off her feet and let them dangle.
“Don’t,” she moans, but I squeeze her neck so tight, that her eyes bulge out.
“You break into my house, assault my wife, and torture my kid; I have every right to defend my family. I can take Archie’s gun and shoot you, and I’d be within my rights, you bitch.”
She starts to scratch my hand. She also tries to pull my fingers from around her neck but can’t. I loosen my grip just enough to allow her to breathe. She inhales a big gulp of air.
“The devil’s taken everything from me. First my daughter and now my granddaughter,” she says through more tears.
“Wrong thing to say.” I add more pressure again. She starts to kick, but I don’t let her go.
“Boss,” Bruce says. “Let her go. The cops just got here. Can you hear them?” I hear heavy footsteps and voices, but I still don’t let go.
“Drop your hand,” Archie says this time. “Your wife and daughter need you.”
“My family needs this bitch out of the way.” She starts to open her mouth like a fish, but I know no air is getting through.
“Seth!” Layla yells. “Let her go. Right now.” I turn my head, and she’s at the door holding a calm Jasmine. I drop my hand, and Barbara falls to my feet. She coughs and gasps for air. When I step away from her, Jasmine sees her and starts to scream. Layla walks away with our daughter. I follow after them and when I reach my girls, Jasmine is still crying but not as loudly as before. I take her and sit next to Layla.
“Are you okay?” She nods but rubs the back of her head. I touch it, and she winces. There’s a noticeable bump there, and I curse under my breath. I pull her into my arms and she rests her head on my chest. “What happened?”
“I don’t know how she got in the building, but she knocked on the door when Archie left for lunch. I opened it, and she pushed me before I could react. She must have hit me over the head with something. When I came to, it was when you were here.”