Chapter 7 #3
Slowly, her hands lifted, weakly gripping his shirt before breaking in his embrace.
It wasn’t loud or dramatic, just quiet shaking and soft whimpers as she clung to him.
Kong only held her tighter. Behind him, Moose didn’t move or speak.
This wasn’t what they came for, but he was glad they’d found her.
After a moment, she pulled back slightly.
Breathing unevenly, eyes clearer now, she searched Kong’s concerned face.
“My baby,” she whispered.
Desperation lingered in her eyes mixed with panic as her hand rested on his shoulder.
“Where is he?”
“He?” Kong queried, the question and statement both landing like a bullet to his chest.
He had another son. Jaw tightening, he didn’t know how to answer. He’d dreamed of finding Ayla, but it never occurred to him that he would have to answer these questions. Somehow, he felt like he had let her down. How could he tell her he had no idea where their son was?
“We’re going to find him,” he assured her.
Shaking her head, she unraveled before his very eyes. Her face balled up in agony, and her lip quivered. Tears spilled down her face.
“They took him. They… he was here. I heard him cry. Then he wasn’t.” Her breathing spiked.
“Hey, look at me.” Kong grabbed her face gently.
Blinking back more tears, she focused on his handsome face.
“We’re going to get him back,” he vowed.
He wasn’t sure how or when, but he had to hold himself to that promise just like Ayla did.
Moments later, outside the building, the night air felt different.
Heavier than Kong or Moose remembered when they entered.
Ayla sat in the back of one of the SUVs they’d rolled up in, and Mozzi joined them at the open back door.
Wrapped in a blanket, quiet and watching everything like it might disappear again, she remained silent.
Kong hovered closest. Not too close, but not far. Like her, he didn’t know what to say. For the first time, he had no control. He’d been here before. When Twyla died, he would have given anything for it to be some big conspiracy against him.
“She’s alive,” he finally managed to say, hands in his pockets, but eyes never leaving her.
Moose grinned and swatted his shoulder playfully.
“Take advantage. We both know this type of shit don’t happen every day.”
Kong sniffled, but his gaze never wavered from Ayla as she rested her head against the back of the seat and closed her eyes.
He studied her weak movements. She wasn’t the same.
The vibrance was gone. She had been robbed of it, and motherfuckers were going to pay for that.
Starting with having the Feds raid this entire operation.
“My son is alive.” Kong finally looked at his brothers.
“Then we doing everything we can to find my nephew,” Mozzi insisted. “She needs you right now, though. So, let’s get her home.”
Moose leaned against the car, looking in on her. Detached. Isolated. He wondered if she’d been locked in that cage the entire time and what else she’d gone through. She looked tired.
“She survived all that,” he said, shaking his head.
“And we not losing nothing else,” Kong declared.
“Come on.” Moose nodded to the car, and he and his brothers loaded up.
“Wait.” Kong stared ahead with a serious squint.
Something caught his eye near the water.
A shadow moved, and he heard the click of the small boat engine like someone was trying to start it.
Gripping the pistol in his waistband, Kong hopped out with it in his hand and jogged toward the docks.
Something told him Mira was closer than he thought.
She liked being in control. There was no way she was leaving a facility like this without proper security.
She had to secure her investment since Kong and his crew were slowly dismantling her operation in Ree Heights.
“Shit!” Moose hissed, hopping behind the steering wheel.
He wanted to be in position just in case.
Mozzi trailed Kong, gun propped in his hand, aimed at the shadows in case something jumped out on them.
Mira’s boat engine suddenly came to life when their boots stampeded over the wooden floorboards of the dock.
Draped in St. Laurent from head to toe and covered in diamonds, there was nothing remorseful about her evil ass.
Her crimson tinted lips curled into a smug grin when she dropped to steer the boat away from the docks.
“Tell Inari she should keep a tighter circle. Ask her what your daddy knows about what happened to her parents,” Mira taunted.
She barely had enough time to grip the wheel before Kong pressed the trigger and sent a hollow tip through her skull.
Her body fell against the gear shift, and the boat lurched forward onto the water.
Moments later, the crushing sound of metal against the bridge erupted right before an explosion that split what remained of the boat in pieces.
As if God had cracked the sky open himself, rain poured down around them.
“Gahdamn! Talk about muhfucking karma.” Mozzi raised a hand to Kong’s shoulder. “You see that shit?”
“Nigga, I’m right here.” Kong aimed his gun at the ground.
“Yeah, well we need not to be. Moose put in the call. Let’s go, bro.”
Mozzi took shotgun, and Kong slid into the back of the car with Ayla.
She glanced his way when she felt the seat shift.
She couldn’t believe he was really sitting next to her.
Slowly, the fog was beginning to lift around her.
Eyes drifting to his hand, she noticed that his wedding band was gone and silently wondered about it.
He reached up, his hand brushing across her cheek like he couldn’t believe she was there.
Mozzi and Moose settled in their seats, and Moose steered the car ahead.
Draping his arm over her shoulders, Kong pulled her into his chest, and Ayla finally settled into his warmth.
She didn’t think she would ever feel that security again, so she held him tight the whole drive, hoping he didn’t evaporate into thin air like the many dreams she’d had over the last few months.
While he was grateful, Kong couldn’t help but wonder exactly what Mira meant by her last words.