by B. B. Reid
The problem was he actually believed I wouldn’t shoot.
“That was a bitch move. You’re better than that. I taught you better than that.”
“All you managed to teach me was how to get through life by fucking people over and using their weaknesses against them. Yeah, you taught me so much.”
“We were never good people, Keenan. What did you expect? We were doomed from the moment we were born. I may have been a killer, but at least I’m not a fucking coward.”
“So not wanting to turn out more like you makes me a coward?”
“No.” He stalked closer as he spoke, maybe hoping to intimidate me, but I didn’t back down as expected. After all, it was he who had taught me how to make people fear me rather than me to fear anyone. “Running away from your responsibilities makes you a coward. You left them behind and didn’t look back.”
“Them?”
I was sure confusion was written all over my expression, but the loud vibration of his phone distracted him.
Deep, angry lines formed along his forehand as he stared down at his phone. He was so engrossed in his phone that he completely forgot about the gun pointed at his head.
When the infamous vein appeared on his forehead, I finally lowered my arm. He angrily punched at the screen before bringing the phone to his ear.
“Keiran!” I could hear what sounded like Lake scream over the phone.
“What’s going on?” All that could be heard over the line was the sound of Lake crying. She was saying something, but I could barely understand her and when Keiran cursed into the phone, I knew his patience had run out.
“Fuck, baby. Stop crying and tell me who hurt you.”
“Not me,” I heard her groan. “It’s Sheldon.”
My heart rate tripled and then quadrupled its pace when I heard Sheldon’s name. She was hurt?
I didn’t realize my fist was balled and my nails were digging deep into my skin until I felt the first drop of blood.
I didn’t hear the rest of the conversation, and by the time I cleared the murderous rage clogging my senses, Keiran had ended the call.
“What’s wrong with Sheldon?”
“Keenan…”
“Fucking tell me or I really will kill you.”
The gun shook in my hand as I watched him take a deep breath and scrub his hand down his face in a clear sign of agitation. “She’s been shot. She—”
My fist connected with his face before I even realized I had moved.
CHAPTER SIX
SHELDON
“YOU DIDN’T HAVE to call him.”
My voice trembled with the many emotions I was currently feeling. The physical pain was nothing compared to the feeling of being completely helpless.
“Are you kidding me? Do you know how much shit he is going to give me for waiting as long as I did? You were shot in the head and unconscious for almost twenty-four hours. He’s going to kill me!”
“You and I both know Keiran is too selfish to deprive himself of you, and I wasn’t shot in the head. It grazed me.”
“Sheldon, Kennedy is missing. We need to tell him. The sooner, the better.”
“She’s right, honey. If anyone knows who was behind her kidnapping, it would be him,” John spoke up. He only just arrived a few hours ago. Lake had to call him when she couldn’t get in touch with Keiran. Fortunately, I regained consciousness in time to stop—no beg—her from calling him before I’d spoken with the police.
We all knew what would happen when Keiran found out Kennedy was gone. He just might kill me along with the bastards who took her.
If she was ever found.
“Oh, God.” Sobs forced their way through me as I thought of the monsters that had stolen Keiran when he was an infant. Lake rushed over and started rubbing my back. I knew she was just as scared as I was though she was better at hiding it.
I and everyone else were deadly sure the kidnapping was related to Keiran’s past somehow. Who else would attempt a random, careless kidnapping in broad daylight unless there was something big to gain?
Mitch.
It had to be him. He’d done it once with his own son. There was no reason to believe he wouldn’t do it to Kennedy. He’d once again managed to escape and stay hidden for four long years.
Keiran never stopped searching even though we all believed he was likely dead after owing so much debt with no way to pay.
Panic ensued as my imagination ran rampant with thoughts of where my baby might be and if she was okay or suffering for reasons that she couldn’t understand.
Every second she was gone I died a little more inside.
And to make matters worse, the father of my child could be returning with Keiran, and he had no idea she even existed. I closed my eyes and said a silent prayer that Keiran hadn’t caught up with him before the phone call. It might have been selfish, but I would do anything to protect my child.
“Are you sure you told the police everything you knew?” Lake asked for the umpteenth time.
“I’m sure. It all happened so fast so there wasn’t much to remember.” But what I could remember, very vividly, was the screams of my daughter as she was being forced away from me.
The bullet, luckily, had only grazed the left side of my head, but it was enough to render me unconscious. The doctor assured me the wound wouldn’t scar, but cosmetics was the last thing I was worried about. I had told him just as much.
Keiran had just taken off yesterday morning for California to bring Keenan home and had been unreachable while everyone scrambled to find Kennedy.
The few witnesses who stepped forward said she had been taken into a black van with missing plates. My only guess would be that they couldn’t have gone far without the risk of being pulled over. It was all I could hope for.
“How long—” I stopped to clear my throat and swallow down panic. “How long until he gets here?”
“Eight or nine hours, maybe?” Her voice trembled while nervousness was sketched all over her face. “Your parents have called Dash, and he’s on his way from Germany as we speak.”
I stifled a curse and managed to keep a straight face. My parent’s reaction was bad, but Dash’s would be one hundred times worse.
My parents had done nothing but blame me for losing Kennedy along with grilling me over my activities. They hated that I moved away with Kennedy although it was only thirty minutes away. They accused me time and again of punishing them by taking her from them.
Never mind that I was in college just as they had always wanted. They believed my need to be completely independent was selfish due to having her so young. I was depriving her of her heritage, my father would say.
From the moment Kennedy took her first breath, she had only been without one thing and that was her father. Even so, she was loved as if she had two parents instead of one.
Lake would always say that maybe they were upset I proved them wrong and I had shown them a teen pregnancy didn’t always have to end in disaster.
* * * * *
No sooner than I had ended my phone call with Dash, Keiran burst through the door with a stormy expression. I could tell by his unkempt hair that he had been running his fingers through it. His jaw was locked and he looked ready to battle any and everything that stood in his way.
It was the last thought I had before my mind drew a complete blank. Following behind Keiran was the only person who ever made my heart race and break simultaneously.
It seemed that God had once again ignored my prayers because here was Keenan Masters, my first love, my first heartbreak, and the father of my missing child, standing before me.
I could tell instantly, without ever speaking a word, he was nothing like the boy I fell in love with. This person who had returned to me four years later was a cold shell of him.
There should have been some profound method of dealing with the day you come face to face with love again. Even one that had been as broken as ours had.
He looked at me with disintere
st from his perch by the door. His Mohawk was gone and replaced by a head full of dark hair that still kept its spiky texture. His jaw had lost its boyish youthfulness and he had grown hard. His lips were still plump and perfectly kissable. His eyelashes were long giving his eyes deceptively playful character. Dressed in his signature dark clothing, I could still see that his body was now covered in tattoos. They peeked from his short shirtsleeves, and I had to admit, even those appeared dangerous.
“How are you feeling?”
The sound of Keiran’s gruff voice broke me from the trance I had currently been entrapped in. Keenan’s stare was more than a little disturbing. With one look, he communicated how much he would like to hurt me, but this time with his bare hands. Even after four years, I could still read him.
“A little sore, but the doctor said I should be discharged in the morning as long as I take it easy.”
I agreed even though I knew taking it easy wasn’t an option. How could anyone think I could ever rest knowing my daughter was out there alone and unprotected? I mentally prepared myself for the battle that would disrupt once Keiran found out Kennedy was missing.
“Please, Keiran, you have to get me out of here now.” I decided once we were somewhere more private, I could tell him. Twenty-four hours had already passed and the police had already warned me the first forty-eight were the most critical.
He didn’t seem to hear me as he looked around the hospital room. “Where’s Kennedy? Who is watching her? Was she hurt?” Keiran fired off questions faster than I could answer them. Lake paled as she backed into the corner furthest away from him.
“I—I have to tell you—”
“Who’s Kennedy?” Keenan asked with disinterest.
Before I could answer, the door burst open as my parents and two men I didn’t recognize filed in. They were dressed casually in dark jeans and collared shirts, but the serious looks on their faces said their appearance would be anything but casual.
“Sheldon, these are the men we hired to find Kennedy,” my father stated.
“Yes, ma’am. I’m Greg and this is Vick,” the longhaired blond introduced his partner and himself. “We will be assisting the police offline to find your daughter.” The disinterest in his tone made me wonder how invested in this case he really was. His unkempt attire and scruffy beard were anything but professional. His partner was even worse. It looked as if he had just finished rolling in the dirt. These weren’t the usual men my father hired whenever he needed something taken care of.
“What the fuck do you mean find?” Keiran bellowed.
“Daughter?” Keenan choked. I could hear the anger and judgment in his voice as if he had the right after coming back into my life uninvited.
If I thought the brothers were intimidating before, it was nothing compared to the sight of them both glaring at me now.
“You haven’t told them yet?” my mother questioned.
“N—no. I was just going to before you guys interrupted.”
“Oh, dear.”
“Someone had better start talking in the next two seconds,” Keiran threatened.
“Two men took Kennedy yesterday morning after her eye doctor appointment. A man had appeared out of nowhere and opened her car door when we were parked at a gas station. I was shot trying to stop them from taking her. I have no idea who they were or why they took her—”
“That’s why we are here, ma’am,” the detective interrupted. We need a complete list of friends, acquaintances, extended family members, neighbors, and anyone down to the mailman who may have come in contact with the child before the abduction.”
“How the fuck could you let this happen?” Keiran began to pace angrily, ignoring the investigators questions.
I never got the chance to respond because Lake had flown out the corner and into Keiran’s face. “She didn’t let anything happen, Keiran.” She stabbed him in his chest with an angry finger, backing him against the wall. “Look at her. Look at where she is. I think it’s obvious she did all she could to save Kennedy. This is her child we’re talking about. She isn’t to blame here, so quit it because you’re not helping.”
“Why didn’t you tell me this shit before?”
“Because I wanted you home safe. You and I both know you would have gone berserk and Kennedy needs you now.” She looked over at Keenan with disgust. “She needs both of you.”
Keenan’s brow lifted, but thankfully, he didn’t question her statement. Either he still had no idea who Kennedy was to him or he was bastard enough not to care. I secretly hoped it was the former.
“Kids, we really need to get started if we want to bring Kennedy home soon,” Mr. Chambers interrupted.
The lead investigator cleared his throat and pulled out a notepad and pen. “Yes. Let’s first start with her age. How old is she?”
“Are you fucking kidding me?” Keiran barked. “Let me put it this way… she’s too fucking young to survive on her own. Would it matter if she was older or younger?”
“Look, kid, I’ve been doing this long enough to know what I’m doing. Your ruckus and bad attitude are what will get this little girl killed.”
Oh, shit.
Keiran was on him before he could finish. Before anyone could know what would happen, Keiran brought one of the hospital chairs down on the investigator’s head and proceeded to beat him over the head repeatedly until he was a crumpled mess in the corner of the room.
It took every hand to pull him away. Surprisingly, it was Keenan who managed to subdue him well enough to keep Keiran from killing the man.
My attention was diverted by a nurse entering the room to see about all the commotion and quickly dashed back out likely to call for help or the police or both.
“Keiran!” Lake yelled. She was crying hysterically. I hadn’t realized how fast my own heart was beating until the machine I was hooked up to started to sound. My hands clutched the sheets while I willed my trembling to stop.
If Keiran reacted this strongly for Kennedy when she was only his niece, how would Keenan react when he found out she was his daughter?
It took another few moments for me to realize that everyone but my mom had exited the room. Vick had just managed to pick up his unconscious partner and carry him out of the room.
“Where did everyone go?”
“Your father and John took Keiran to cool down. Keenan and Lake followed after them.”
“This is bad. Who are those guys? They don’t work for dad.”
“No, but your dad’s men are tied up with something else, and these were the only investigators we could find on short notice.”
“Something else? That’s it? Dad only uses the best. Are you saying my daughter—your granddaughter—isn’t more important?”
“It’s not like that, Sheldon.” My mother’s lips tightened in anger. Her perfected features seemed distorted and almost ugly as she glared down at me.
“Let me guess… business?” It was always business. Business always came before us unless there was legal trouble they needed to clean up. We couldn’t and shouldn’t ever tarnish the family image.
“How dare you speak to me this way.”
“Whatever, mother. I get it. My daughter may not have her grandparents on her side, but she has me…” I paused when a thought hit me like a Mack truck. “Would you prefer it if she were never found? Would her disappearance salvage the family name and image?”
“Sheldon Chambers, where is this coming from?”
“You and Dad have made no attempts to keep secret that you hate Kennedy for being illegitimate.”
“I don’t hate my grandchild. How dare you!”
“No, but you resent her. You hate me for having her.”
“We always wanted better for you, Sheldon. I never supported you dating that boy, and then you insult us further by having his child. His family members are nothing more than common criminals hiding behind their stolen wealth. If you ask me, they should just let their family line die with those young boy
s.”
“You are a piece of work, Mom. Does Dad feel this way as well?”
“Of course. Your Dad and I have worked hard to give you and Dasher the best life has to offer. Then you spit in our faces by choosing trash.”
“So why bother to help Keiran when he managed to get in trouble?”
“Because if we didn’t, then your brother, as naively loyal as he is, would have done so himself. We couldn’t risk our name being entangled in his mess.”
“You cannot continue to choose our life for us. You have no right.”
“We have every right, Sheldon. As long as you carry our name, you will act accordingly.”
The low, dangerous growl from the door stopped me from really letting her have it. “Well, maybe it’s time she stopped carrying your name.”
I sunk back into the pillows, wishing I could just disappear. I chewed on my lip in anguish, wondering how much he heard.
“And whose should she carry?” my mother scoffed. “Yours?”
“It would serve her right,” Keenan replied with a smirk.
What the hell did he mean by that?
“I don’t think so.” My mother watched him as if he were little more than a bug she would like to crush under her expensive pumps.
“It’s funny that you look at me as if I’m trash, but your daughter is the one to have a kid out of wedlock.”
Pain shot through my chest while my stomach twisted in knots at the demeaning way he spoke of me. I knew his comment was meant as much for me as it was for my mother.
“I’m almost sorry I missed your desperate attempt to salvage your royal ass of a name.”
My mom and Keenan had always been polite with each other in the past. I had even believed for a long time that they approved of him despite our rocky relationship. It wasn’t until I’d gotten pregnant and Keenan took off that they had been open about their dislike.
I needed to diffuse this situation and fast. “Keenan, stop. Mom—”
“You seem to be severely misinformed if you think you can look down on my daughter when it was you who got her in trouble.”
