She held back tears that she stubbornly refused to shed.
Yesterday she tried calling his house to give him some moral support, only to find that he wasn’t at home. He was with Kendra. Of course. She tried not to be jealous because she knew they needed each other right now, but she couldn’t help herself. She wanted him to need her.
As she rubbed the palm of a hand across her flat stomach, her heart churned. She was jealous of Kendra and Jay’s son.
Dean was nowhere to be found.
Unable to sit still, Jay returned to work the next morning, anxious to dig into the investigation. The police had warned him to back off, but there was no way he could sit still and do nothing. Sitting behind his desk, he went over his notes.
According to the nursery, J.J. was taken to Kendra’s room an hour before he was discovered missing. Kendra claimed that Nurse Jewel showed her how to properly hold the baby and feed him his bottle, then she had left Kendra to burp him. The idea of Kendra willingly burpinga baby was far-fetched, but he decided to give her the benefit of the doubt. Kendra then reported putting him back in his crib, where he had fallen asleep. She was in the bathroom when she heard a nurse arrive, saying she had to take J.J. for some blood work. When Kendra reenteredthe room, they were gone.
Jay lowered his head to his hands. By the time he had arrived twenty minutes later, J.J. had already disappeared.His chest cringed at the possibilities. The policehad interviewed the entire staff, monitored all the exits, and confiscated the security tapes. But no one had seen or heard anything. The first twenty-four hours were the most critical. The longer it took to find J.J., the more likely they never would. It had now been forty-eighthours.
Jay rose from his chair and moved toward the window,shaking away the ridiculous thought. He would find his son. No matter how long it took.
As soon as Honey got home that evening, she decidedto call Jay. She had promised him that when she returned, they would talk. Even though he had brushed her off the other night, she needed to let him know that she was there for him.
She dialed his number, and the phone picked up after the first ring.
“Hello?”
Honey hesitated at the sound of the female voice. “Sorry, I have the wrong number.” She hung up and dialedthe number again. However, the same voice came over the line.
“Is this Honey?” the woman asked.
She frowned. “Yes ... who is this?”
“The same lady who told you to stay the fuck away from her man.”
Kendra. What the hell was she doing at Jay’s condo? “I’m sorry about your son,” she said, trying to be nice.
“If you were really sorry, you would leave us to grieve alone.”
Who does she think she’s talking to? “Look, I know there’s nothing going on between you and Jay.”
“Hmmph! If that’s what you want to think.”
“That’s what I know. Jay and I love one another. Now put him on the phone,” she ordered. Baby’s mama or not, Kendra was trippin’.
“Jay isn’t available to talk to you. We’re trying to ... console one another.”
“Excuse me?” Honey sputtered.
“You heard me, bitch,” Kendra said. “Jay and I have discovered we still love each other, and are trying to work through our differences so J.J. can come home to a family. It’s over, so I would appreciate it if you would leave us alone.” She snorted. “The only woman who’s gonna be ridin’ his dick is me.”
Honey’s ear was then met by the dial tone.
His son had been missing almost seventy-two hours. With the help of a friend in hospital security, Jay was granted access to the maternity ward the following afternoon.He intended to try to reconstruct the events of that night.
Using a stopwatch, he monitored the amount of time it took from Kendra’s room to the nursery. Without any stops, the short trip took forty-two seconds. He then walked down the hall again and observed all of the doors along both walls. There was an exit door near the nurses’ station and a supply closet.
As he moved down the hall, a door swung open. He quickly jumped out of the way.
“Oh, I’m sorry.” A tall woman stood behind a cart piled high with fruit juice.
“No problem.” Smiling down at her, Jay found somethingoddly familiar about her gentle amber eyes. But he couldn’t quite understand why.
She noticed the pad of paper in his hand. “Y’all still investigatin’ the missin’ baby?”
Jay nodded. “Were you working that night?”
She looked around her to make sure no one was watching.The staff had been instructed not to discuss the case with anyone. “Not on this floor. That day I was workin’ up in the OR.” She extended a slender hand that had rings on every finger and a diamond tennis bracelet dangling from the wrist. “Ledora Hayes.”
“Pleased to meet you. I’m Jay.”
She signaled for him to follow her into the supply room, where she put juices in the refrigerator while she talked. “I’m an on-call nurse. Normally I’m assigned to this unit, but there were quite a few C-sections that morning. They were pretty short-staffed, so I was sent up to the OR.” She looked up at him, eyes narrowed. “I did, however, get the pleasure of meeting that hateful bitch the afternoon before. She had buzzed the nurses’ station wanting a cup of tea, and even had the nerve to ask for lemon and honey. When I went down to her room, she was still pretty upset from the couple who had visited her earlier.”
“What couple?”
Ledora ran a hand across her honey-blond weave as she tried to remember. “A fancy-looking couple dressed in furs and diamonds came in carrying a car seat. They asked me which child was the Johnson baby, and I pointed to him through the window. They were so excited.”
What car seat? He didn’t remember seeing any car seat. “Then what happened?”
“Well, later I was passing out supplies, and I heard loud voices coming from her room. I poked my head in, and the lady in the fur was crying. The gentleman ... I guess he was the lady’s husband ... had his arm around her and mumbled something about money. Then they left.”
Jay continued to stare down at her, eyelids blinking. “Thank you, you’ve been a big help.”
“No problem. Just don’t tell anybody I spoke to you.”
He nodded, then watched her push the cart down the hall and around the corner.
Wondering who the couple might be, Jay strolled to the end of the ward and pushed the button for the elevator,suddenly anxious to talk to the only person who would know the answer.
Twenty-one
Jay arrived at Kendra’s just as she pulled into the driveway in her Range Rover. She got out and moved up the sidewalk, carrying several bags with designer labels.
“Looks like you’re feelin’ better,” he mumbled with intentional sarcasm.
“No. Not really,” she said, pouting. “But what else is there to do besides wait?”
Jay took several bags from her and followed her up to her apartment. Kendra walked into the living room, removed her coat, and fell back against the couch.
“If I just sit around this place another day thinking about where my baby is, I am gonna fall apart.” Her eyes became misty, and she moved to the bathroom to find a tissue.
After shrugging out of his jacket, Jay took a seat in the nearest chair. “I know exactly how you feel.”
Kendra returned carrying a box of tissues and set it on the coffee table. She sat back on the couch and removedher shoes. “I went and saw a lawyer today.”
“For what?”
She looked shocked by his question. “To sue ChristianHospital, of course. Our son was in their care, so they’re responsible. Mr. Holmes says we have a strong case. The hospital will likely settle out of court.”
“Kendra, I’m not interested in suing, I just want my son back.”
“It doesn’t look like that’s gonna happen.” She winced at her own words. “I spoke with the police, and they still have no leads. What about you? Any possibi
lities?”
He shook his head. He’d found out from the police that Dean had been arrested the morning of the abductionfor violation of the restraining order. “No, no leads at all. However, I would like to know who the couple was that visited you in the hospital.”
Kendra wrinkled her petite nose with confusion. “What couple?”
“The couple that brought along a car seat.”
Kendra rose and moved toward the kitchen. “I have no idea what you’re talking about.”
He lunged after her, caught her by the arm, and spun her around before she made it into the kitchen. “Don’t play with me, Kendra,” he said, glaring down at her. “I know all about the conversation you had with them. The heated conversation.”
Kendra nibbled on her bottom lip, then said, “Oh, that couple.” She wiggled free of his grip and took a seat at the kitchen table.
Jay moved in and stood before her with arms crossed, waiting.
“That was my mother,” she said after a moment.
“Your mother? I thought you hadn’t spoken to her in years.”
Kendra rested her chin in the palm of her hand. “I lied. I contact my mother all the time. Christmas, birthdays, you name it. Only she never makes any efforts of her own.” Rolling her eyes, she continued. “The only reason she came to visit me was that she found out that J.J. was the great-grandson of the legendary Richard Andrews.”
“How did she know that?”
“I told her.”
Jay raked a hand through his hair and moved away. “What did she want?”
Kendra raised her shoulders matter-of-factly. “Money, of course. She assumed that since I was having your baby you were taking care of me.” She laughed bitterly. “She couldn’t believe that I could take care of myself. Unlike her, I learned to be independent. She brought her newest beau with her, and the two of them walked into my room dressed like they were on their way to the annual BET Awards,” she spat bitterly. “She asked me for a loan so her car wouldn’t be repossessed, and I refused.”
Jay returned to the living room and took his seat as he weighed the possibilities. He was so quiet that, after a while, Kendra came into the room and gave him a quizzical look.
“What’s runnin’ through your mind?”
He looked her squarely in the eye with his next question. “Do you think your mother could have taken J.J.?”
Kendra gasped, and it took her several seconds to speak. “I ... I doubt it. She doesn’t even like kids.” But as she said one thing, her face was saying another.
“Money makes us all do crazy things.”
She shook her head. “I don’t know what to say.”
“Think about it. You said yourself the only reason she came to see J.J. was that she found out he was an Andrews. What more reason do you need?”
“I don’t know,” she mumbled.
“I’m gonna call Officer Holman. It’s more than they have so far.” Ten minutes later he returned to find Kendra still sitting in the same spot, her head hung low.
“Are you okay?”
She looked up at him with red-rimmed eyes. “I can’t believe my mother would do something like this.” She sniffled into a tissue. “She never wanted me, yet for money, she was willing to take my son.” She threw herselfinto his arms.
After they tried unsuccessfully to reach her mother, Jay convinced Kendra to take a nap and didn’t object when she asked him to hold her. When she was sound asleep, he called Chad and had him run her mother’s name through the computer. If Martha Johnson had his son, she would have a helluva lot of explaining to do.
Honey didn’t want to believe what Kendra had insinuated,but she hadn’t heard from Jay since she returned.What else was there to think other than Jay and his baby’s mama had gotten back together?
He had obviously accepted her decision to end their relationship, and while she was gone, he and Kendra had reconciled. What the hell did she expect? Jay had too much pride to keep running after her. Just like he’d told her, he wasn’t going to beg. He had finally decided to move on and had left her high-yellow ass in the dust.
Her stomach churned at the thought. It was too late. Her boo was gone. She had sent him into the arms of another woman, and it was no one’s fault but her own.
Honey tried not to be jealous. He was doing the right thing, and she didn’t want to be responsible for taking him away from his child. She knew how it felt to grow up without a father, and the bitterness she’d harboredever since.
Her life was fine and uncomplicated before he stepped into it. Damn him for curing her sexual fears, awaking her desires, and making her feel like the most beautiful woman in the world! Had he made Kendra feel that way also?
With renewed determination, she tried to put him from her mind and bury herself in her work, brushing aside the impulse to cry.
Her phone rang and she quickly reached for it, glad for the distraction.
“Honey, this is Sasha. When are you coming over to see your goddaughter?”
“I’m sorry. I’ve been so busy trying to get ready for the grand opening.”
Sasha wasn’t buying it. “You’ve also been ignoring my calls. Ciarra will be walking by the time you come by.”
Honey couldn’t resist a grin. “I’ll be by this week.” Sasha heard the pain in her voice and said, “Terraine will be out tonight, and I could really use some company.”
Honey only hesitated a moment. “All right. I’ll drop by this evening.”
“Oh, good! I’m dying to show you Ciarra’s pictures.”
“See you then.”
“Nothing, man. I drove to East St. Louis myself, and there was no one there.”
Jay slumped down in the chair. The search wasn’t going anywhere. After he was unable to reach Kendra’s mother by phone, he’d sent Chad to drive by her house with instructionsto call him immediately if she was home. He would have gone himself, but he didn’t trust leaving Kendra alone. As soon as he had turned his back, he found her trying to down a bottle of sleeping pills.
“I’ll have Tony do surveillance on her apartment tonight. It’s a dump. Not even fit for a dog to live in.”
“Tell him the minute he sees anything to call me.”
“I’ll do that.”
After visiting with her goddaughter for almost two hours, Honey could no longer resist asking, “Have they found out anything yet about little J.J.?”
Sasha met her friend’s gray eyes. She had wondered how long it was going to take before Honey asked about Jay. Shaking her head, she replied, “No, and Jay is so torn up about it. He’s practically put his business on hold while he tries to find out where his baby is. It’s so sad.”
Honey didn’t comment, just rocked Ciarra in her arms.
“I’ve never known him to shatter emotionally. Jay’s always been so calm and in control. If they don’t find out something soon, he’s gonna fall apart. He really loves that little boy.” Sasha looked to make sure Honey was paying attention. She was. “And he loves you too.”
“I miss him,” Honey confessed. “But he should’ve told me.”
“He didn’t know himself until the last minute.”
Her head snapped up. “What do you mean, he didn’t know?”
Sasha quickly filled her in on how Kendra showed up on his doorstep, and on her ultimatum. “He spent the last several weeks trying to decide if he wanted to keep the baby or find him a loving home. It wasn’t until right before he was born that Jay finally made the decisionto be a father to his child.” Sasha gave Honey a disgusted look. “That wench doesn’t want any part of that baby. I’m not buying any of those Oscar performancesshe’s been displaying on television. Terraine and I dropped by her apartment yesterday to give our support, and she kept throwin’ herself in Jay’s arms the entire time we were there. Jay is just trying to do what is right.”
Sasha waited for Honey’s reply, but when she saw her friend’s distant look, she knew it would be a while.
Have I been too qui
ck to judge? Honey wondered. If so, then maybe it wasn’t too late to salvage their relationship.
But was she ready to take the risk of Jay rejecting her? She took a deep breath and nodded. Deep down, she believed her love for Jay ... and his feelings for her were real enough to help them get through anything.Sasha was right. She was being stupid. She had everything she could possibly want in a man, and she was willing to give it all up because she was afraid that Jay’s love wasn’t going to be strong enough, that he wasn’t going to love her anymore when he found out she couldn’t give him a child of his own.
But he now had a child. Yes, he did. Jay had a little bundle of joy, something she could never give him ... but someone they could hopefully share.
“I’ve been so stupid,” she whispered.
Sasha smiled and said, “It’s okay, girl. Just get it right, and go get your man before that bitch sinks her claws in him. He really needs you right now.”
Staring down at Ciarra, Honey said, “Let me rock my godbaby to sleep, then I’m out of here.” She prayed there was still time to make things right.
The waiting was getting to both of them. Please let my son be okay. Jay prayed to God and hoped that whoeverwas taking care of him heard, too.
While Kendra took a bath, Jay looked through her refrigerator for something to eat.
“Jay?” he heard her call from the bathroom.
He moved to the bathroom door. “Yes?”
“I forgot to bring a towel in.”
He pursed his lips and moved to the linen closet for a bath towel, then knocked on the door. “Here you go.”
“Just bring it in. It’s not like you haven’t seen me naked before.”
He hesitated a moment, then opened the door. The room was steaming and smelled of her favorite Victoria’sSecret bubble bath. Kendra was lying back in the tub with a washcloth covering her breasts. Her hair was wrapped in a towel. He moved to the sink, laid the towel down, and turned to leave.
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