Chapter 24
Chapter
Twenty-Four
E than was exhausted by the time he came out of the OR. His back was stiff from standing for several hours but thankfully the surgery was a success. After delivering the status of the patient to their family, he headed to the locker room to shower and dress.
After getting out of the shower, he checked his phone and saw that he had two missed calls. One from Amina and one from Glen.
It appeared that Amina had called him a half hour ago. Since it was around dinner time, he figured that was what it was about. He was surprised to hear from Glen. It had been a couple months since his friend had checked in with regards to the case he was working on for Ethan.
Ethan listened to Amina’s voice message first and immediately he was alarmed. Her mother was contacting her after all this time. And why of all places was she at the Blue Flower Inn? Ethan used to volunteer at a clinic in that area when he was doing his residency. It wasn’t in the best part of town, and it was well known that people went to the Blue Flower to solicit and do drugs. Several people had OD’d and died there.
He didn’t bother listening to Glen’s message. He would call his friend later. He needed to make sure Amina was okay. What was she thinking to go there by herself?
Ethan hurried to get dressed and rushed out of the locker room. One of his colleagues attempted to talk to him but he frantically shook his head. “Sorry, I have an emergency. We’ll talk later.”
He couldn’t get to his car fast enough. Maybe he was overreacting and Amina was perfectly fine but he wasn’t going to risk it.
“Hold on, baby, I’m coming.”
Amina slowly wobbled to her feet, feeling like a complete idiot for falling for Mark and Candace’s ploy. She should have known better than to trust her cousin who didn’t do anything nice for anyone unless there was something in it for her. Amina didn’t know when Candace and Mark had teamed, but it didn’t matter because she didn’t intend to stick around.
“There’s a reason why I blocked you from all my contact information, Mark. I’m leaving.”
She turned to go but Candace was blocking the door with a maniacal grin. Her eyes gleamed viciously and for the first time, she didn’t look very attractive. In fact she was downright ugly to match her insides.
Her cousin had done some awful things to her over the years but this was quite possibly the lowest.
“Bitch, did you think you could humiliate me like that and get away with it?” Mark demanded, clearly perturbed at being ignored. His fists were balled at his sides and he appeared ready to attack.
Old memories flashed before and Amina’s breath caught in her throat. Was this it for her?
Blood pounded in Amina’s head and fear threatened to take over. She was outnumbered. She didn’t know if her cousin could fight, because Candace always sent one of her minions to handle things for her when they were growing up.
Then she remembered what Ethan had told her during training.
You don’t always win a fight with the most power but with a calm, cool and collected mind.
Amina took a deep shaky breath. She wasn’t sure if she could talk her way out of this but she would try.
“Mark, the only embarrassment was the way your parents carried on. Your father groomed a young girl and abandoned her when she got pregnant and then played the victim when he was confronted with the truth. And I can almost guarantee your mother knew what was going on. How many young girls has your father seduced while your mother turned a blind eye because she likes to live off the funds your father is stealing from the church?”
“So it was you who called the IRS on our church? Do you know my father may go to prison for tax fraud?”
This was news to Amina. After the engagement party, she’d wanted nothing to do with Mark or his rotten family. But it was funny to her that someone must have contacted the IRS. It was probably one of the church members that had been at the party. They were clearly sick of Pastor Caldwell’s shit.
A loud belly laugh burst forth. Amina couldn’t help herself. “It wasn’t me but maybe your father isn’t as well loved as he thinks he is. Look, Mark, any misfortune your family is suffering now is their own doing. And if you just brought me here to blame me, then consider me blamed. You need to move on with your life as I have.”
She turned around to see Candace still blocking the door. Amina had had enough of this bitch and glared. “And you, what are you getting out of this, Candace?”
Candace rolled her neck and sneered. “Bitch, what do you think? You think you’re better than us, the way you walked into that party and talking about me and my momma like we didn’t take your ass in when no one wanted you. Not even your own mother wanted you. That’s why she disappeared from your life because you suck.” Candace began cackle.
Amina was too angry to be hurt. Her cousin had said way worse things to her before. Her words no longer held power over her.
“You know what your problem is Candace? You’ve been told how pretty you are all your life and you are. Very pretty.”
Candace rolled her eyes. “Duh. Bitch. I know that.”
“And that’s all you’ve got is your looks. You’re not particularly smart. You’re a mean-spirited witch. Your personality sucks. You’re lazy. You have no special skills beyond sucking the dick of the next guy who will buy you what you want. And deep down you know it. You’re scared of the day when your looks fade away and people will see for the worthless piece of trash you are.”
Candace’s face turned deep red. Her nostrils flared and her face transformed into something monstrous as she charged at Amina. Remembering the skills that Ethan had taught her, she caught her cousin’s wrists as her hands came windmilling toward her and kneed her in the stomach.
Candace folded like a chair and fell on the floor clutching her midsection. For good measure, Amina kicked her in the knee cap so hard something popped.
Candace wailed in agony.
Well at least she wouldn’t be getting up anytime soon. Amina stepped over her and made her way to the door. But just as she placed her hand on the knob. Mark grabbed her by the hair and yanked her back with so much force, she fell to the ground.
He was on top of her in an instant. Straddling her, Mark’s backhand collided with Amina’s cheek. She tried to push him off of her but he was too strong.
The next thing she knew his hands were around her throat and she clawed at them, but he held on. His eyes were red with rage and she had flashbacks of her previous life. Did she change the trajectory of her life only to die all over again?
The more she struggled the harder he squeezed.
“Die, you fucking bitch!”
Stars danced before her eyes and slowly everything went dark.
Ethan peeled into the parking lot of the rundown hotel. He barely closed his door as he got out. He’d been trying to contact Amina since he left the hospital but she wasn’t answering her phone.
Running into the hotel, he raced to the front desk. The reception area was behind a wall of Plexiglas and there was no one there. He frantically rang the bell.
When no one came responded, he called out. “Hey! Is anyone back there?”
Finally a young African-American male with shoulder-length dreads, who couldn’t be that long out of his teens came out of the back room, holding a hand-held game system. If he wasn’t wearing a crinkled shirt with the hotel’s insignia, Ethan would have thought he was just some random guy. “Hey man, you don’t have to be ringing the bell like that. I heard it the first time.”
“Yet you didn’t come out until I called you and I’m not your man.”
The young man kissed his teeth. “You’re the one who needs my help. What do you want?”
Ethan groaned in frustration. Amina’s safety was more important than going back and forth with someone who clearly didn’t want to be at their job. “Look, I need to find someone.” He racked his brain for the name of Amina’s mother. He was sure she’d mentioned it before.
“Man, I ain’t got all day, if you?—”
“Tracy Fletcher! That’s her name. Could you please tell me what room she’s in?”
The desk clerk shrugged. “The computer is down. Can’t do it.”
Ethan pulled out his wallet and removed the largest bill in it which happened to be a 50. He waved it in front of the young man. “Are you sure about that?”
“I mean, I can check to see if it’s back up.” He slowly sauntered in front of the computer as if he had all the time in the world.
This little creep.
After a few minutes, he shook his head. “I don’t see anyone in the system by that name.”
Ethan pulled out his phone and showed the young man his screen saver which happened to be a picture of Amina.
The clerk rubbed his chin. “Hmm, maybe my memory can be jogged with a bit more incentive.”
Ethan would have slammed this kid’s head against the wall if there wasn’t a barrier between them. “Fuck it, I’m just going to call the police and wait for them to get here.”
The other man chuckled. “Good luck with that. They rarely come around here and if they do it won’t be for hours.”
“Look you little shit, there’s a woman in danger. I know you don’t give a damn but think about it if someone close to you was in a bad predicament. I’m sure you’d want someone to help them. So take this damn 50 and tell me what you know.”
The clerk held his hands up. “Damn man you ain’t gotta be so serious. I was just fucking with you. I saw shorty a little while ago go up with this baddie with a fat ass. They’re on the fourth floor. Room 401 I think.”
That had to be Amina’s cousin, Candace.
“Are you sure?” Ethan demanded.
“I never forget an ass that fat.”
Ethan tossed the bill on the counter and dashed to the elevator that had a huge out of order sign.
“Fuck this hotel!” he roared before spotting the door to the stairs.
With his heart pounding a tattoo against his chest he took three stairs at a time hoping he’d reach Amina before it was too late.