Chapter 39

“Now that that’s out of the way, I’d like to seize the opportunity to ask for delicacies. I’m starving to death and if I don’t eat this instance, I’ll collapse.” Kay massaged her rumbling tummy, she was always hungry.

“You eat like a man. I wonder where the food goes,” Luke’s fingers were on his chin as he teased his sister, sending us into snickers.

“Says the biggest fuckboy in town,” Kayleigh remarked with an eye-roll.

“Owww!” The boys and I exclaimed as we doubled over in laughter.

“You guys are too much. Let’s go eat now, shall we?” Shannon said, giggling at Luke’s sheepish expression. Kayleigh clapped her hands at that, dragging Shannon to the kitchen.

“Dude, you need to stop fucking around, you’re getting old.” I punched Luke’s shoulder as we sat at the dining table, Calvin and Andrew nodding in agreement. “If your future wife were to find out about your body count, she would cringe and probably puke her guts out.”

“You two are just being silly right now, life is too short to be this serious. Besides, I’m not even married, so kindly let me enjoy my freedom before I get locked away for life. And who even tells their real body count?” He waved his hands between us as he spoke.

“Not me,” Calvin and Andrew said in unison.

“Nor me.” I had to agree that it was a disastrous topic to have with your woman. I was faithful alright, but I wasn’t a saint. I’d done it all and yes, I regretted some of it.

“You’re crazy if you think we’d fall for three or something in the lines of that for a body count.” Shannon’s declaration as she lowered a dish of rice before me startled us, her eyes never leaving mine. The boys whistled before cracking up. But I was too dumbfounded to word out anything.

“And to think that you were my favorite relative. Ewww!” Kay scrunched her nose at me as she placed plates before us.

“Wait, but I’m supposed to be your favorite relative,” Luke whined. They fought over ridiculous stuff but their love for each other was apparent.

Kay smirked. “You’re actually the worst.”

Luke positioned his hand at his chest. “Ouch! Worse than cold-hearted Aunt Lucy?”

“You’re way worse,” Kayleigh said, running off before Luke could afford a comeback.

* * *

Once we were in my home office, Calvin took the opportunity to question me. “Dude, did you tell Shannon about Joanna?”

The shake of my head had him raising his eyebrows. “What about the gun in that drawer?” Andrew pointed at the hidden compartment, earning a sigh from me, my silence giving them enough of an answer.

He shook his head. “Dude, you’re practically screwed. What are you waiting for?”

I shrugged. “She just found out about Leslie and I don’t think it’s the right time to tell her about this.”

“That was the right moment, you should have told her everything. It would have been less complicated than telling her some other day,” Calvin insisted.

“I beg to differ, she would have run for her life,” Luke said.

“Why?” I couldn’t help but ask.

“Well, isn’t it obvious? She likes you because you’re a good and caring guy in her eyes. I don’t want to stick around when she finds out that you’re the perfect example of the life she’s running from.” Luke gesticulated his displeasure.

“I hate to agree but he’s absolutely right,” Andrew said.

My head was beginning to throb. I shot up, pouring a scotch of whiskey into four shot glasses before taking my seat and gulping mine in one go.

“What should I do now?” I was lost, I didn’t want to fail Shannon. I was yet to admit my deep affection for her. I loved her more than I ever thought I would love again.

“Just tell her the truth, she’ll understand,” Calvin advised.

“She won’t understand. Unless you’re willing to tell her everything, disperse the group and stop the search for Joanne,” Luke declared.

“It’s easier said than done,” I muttered.

Three years ago, Joanna popped into my life and we fell in love within a few months. I proposed and we were set to get married in six months when tragedy struck. I was miserable for a long while before finally coming to accept that I had to quit moping and do something about it.

I abandoned my glass and downed the scotch from the bottle. Shutting my eyes tight, I let myself drown in the pain as I traveled down memory lane . . .

“Claire will be landing in about thirty minutes from now, so I have to get going.” I glanced from my watch to Joanna. She was busy unpacking ready-made food she had ordered from The Martins. She couldn’t cook to save her life.

“Alright, I’ll just do some final touches here then take a shower. I hope she’ll like me.”

“I’m sure she will, stop fretting.” I pulled her into a hug, our lips mingling in a light kiss.

“Will she notice that I ordered instead of cooking?”

“She’s a teenager, she wouldn’t mind as long as the food is delicious which I know it is,” I assured her.

“Alright, I’ll try to calm my nerves.” Her lips curled into a smile.

“Okay, I have got to go now. Talk to you later.” I kissed her cheek and sauntered off.

“I love you,” she said as I shut the door behind me. The weather had only gotten worse, the rain making a tap tap sound on my raincoat as I made my way to my car.

With a newly acquired raincoat in hand, I sat in the airport lobby, patiently waiting for her flight to be announced. My face lit up when I saw Claire strolling towards me, relief of her landing safely amid the terrible weather washing over me.

“Hey, pumpkin.” I pecked her forehead, hoisting her in the air and spinning her around. Her infectious laughter mingled with the numerous voices of the distinct families who were as delighted as I was to see their loved ones.

“I missed you, Daddy.” She said once I lowered her to the floor.

“I missed you much more, pumpkin.” I pinched her nose before helping her into the raincoat.

“How’s school,” I asked as we pulled to a stop in the slow-moving traffic. The roads were flooded because of the heavy rainfall, causing traffic.

“Same old, same old,” she chanted her usual reply with a scrunched nose. She was a bright girl but wasn’t a big fan of studying practically every day with only little vacation days.

As we drove into the compound, my instincts kicked in, something was wrong. The door was wide open, instantly keeping on alert. “Don’t come down no matter what and don’t open the door for anybody but me. If I don’t come back in three minutes, call 911,” I instructed Claire. She bobbed her head up and down, a worried look on her face.

I left the engine running, hopped off the car, and sprinted to the house. My heart dropped to my feet when I took in the mess that was supposed to be my living room. Everything was turned upside down like we’d just been mugged.

“Joanna?” I cried out, scampering to the kitchen only to find it empty. The food she was prepping earlier was scattered all over the floor and so was almost everything else.

I searched room after room, calling out her name in desperation but there was no response. My breath caught in my throat when I got to our bedroom, terror freezing me on the spot at the sight before me. I’d never seen so much blood and it made me sick to my stomach.

“Joanna?” My voice was barely above a whisper, my entire body trembling with fear, my knees threatening to give out. Numerous questions ran through my mind, all of them going without an answer.

My eyes caught Joanna’s ring, my knees buckling and sending me to the floor. Scooting as far away as I could from the blood, I took a hold of the engagement ring, tears springing to my eyes. What happened? That’s when it clicked, someone was after me or my family and my daughter was outside. I lunged to my feet, bolting out of the room like lightning.