“But that’s not what I want, because I’m completely in love with you. But I won’t be able to handle any surprises down the road, and that’s why I’m giving you an opportunity to end this if you’re not sure about us.”
“But I am sure. I love you more than I’ve ever loved any woman, and I would never string you along if I didn’t mean what I’m saying.”
“Then I’ll never bring it up again,” she said, walking over to him. She hugged him from behind and rested her head against his back.
Curtis felt like a prisoner sentenced to solitary confinement. She was placing far too much pressure on him and now he knew he had to come up with something to buy time. He had to make her believe that he was in fact going to leave Mariah the way he’d promised. He could tell that Adrienne was deeply in love with him again, but for the first time he knew she wasn’t going to accept being lied to.
And then there was Charlotte, whom he couldn’t stop seeing even if he wanted to because he needed to meet his son. He needed to start being the boy’s father. But Charlotte had placed pressure on him, too, right after they made love. She’d told him that the only way she could allow him to see his son on a regular basis was if he left his wife and promised to marry her. She told him their agreement would be a verbal contract, and that if he didn’t keep it, he would never see Matthew again. Curtis hadn’t believed the ultimatum she was giving, and hated that she’d taken those law courses so seriously. She’d even gone on to tell him that it was the only way her parents would accept the situation and the only way she could continue sleeping with him. So Curtis hadn’t seen any other choice except agreeing to her terms. He’d told her that she was going to be his next wife. That was why she’d been hugging him so tightly in that hotel parking lot—the night Mariah had caught them.
So now he was trapped among three women, the same as he’d been five years ago. The only difference was he had a son who was part of the scenario. Which meant he might have to divorce Mariah after all. It also meant he would have to marry Charlotte like she wanted. Which actually wouldn’t be so bad, because he’d have a beautiful young wife who could satisfy all his sexual needs. A beloved little boy who could carry on his name. He wasn’t in love with Charlotte, but he was sure he could learn to love her in time. And as far as Mariah was concerned, he’d tell her to leave and that would be the end of it.
So the only issue was Adrienne. There was no way he could marry her, but he didn’t want to give her up either. For the longest time he’d been thinking his attraction to her was only sex, but now he realized that maybe he was tied to her emotionally. He wouldn’t necessarily call it love, but it was definitely something. If he could only get her to see how dull their relationship would be if they were married, maybe she’d back down. Maybe she’d realize that all the sneaking around they were doing was the reason they never tired of each other. Maybe she’d see that the sneaking was what kept all the fire alive in their relationship.
Curtis turned and faced Adrienne and pulled her into his arms. He held her close and thought about his dilemma. He wished he could be honest with her and let her go. But he just couldn’t. She understood him, and they had too much history to simply end what they had together.
He wondered why his life was becoming so complicated. It wasn’t quite as bad as when he was married to Tanya, but it was complicated nonetheless. He wondered if he would still have all these problems if he hadn’t decided to return to the ministry. But the truth was, he was a pastor again and couldn’t imagine being anything different. He had a lot to offer his congregation, and they proved all the time that they loved him. They needed him and respected him, and he knew they would support his decision to end his marriage to Mariah. They would understand him wanting to marry the mother of his son. He would also become a better father to Alicia in the process.
He would call Alicia as soon as he and Adrienne left Tyler’s condo. He hoped she would be happy to hear from him.
Curtis headed east on the Dan Ryan and dialed into his voice mail system. He had two messages and the first was from Deacon Taylor.
“Hey, Pastor. Hit me back when you get a chance, because I just found out some information for you. I was told by a very reliable source that Deacon Winslow wasn’t always on the upand-up a few years ago. And I also learned something about Deacon Thurgood that will make your head spin. Anyway, call me when you get a minute.”
Curtis smiled and deleted the message. He couldn’t wait to hear what Taylor had to tell him about his two favorite deacons. But first he listened to the next message. He listened to every word that Mariah said and then played her message again to make sure he’d heard her correctly. Unfortunately, he had. His daughter was missing.
He dialed Tanya’s phone number and floored the accelerator.
“Hello?” Tanya answered on the first ring.
“Hey, it’s me.”
“Curtis, where are you? Mariah called you over an hour ago.”
“I know, but is Alicia home yet?”
“No.”
“Have you called the police?”
“Yes, but they can’t do anything because she hasn’t been gone long enough.”
“Hasn’t been gone long enough?”
“No. They said children her age run away or come home late all the time.”
“That’s just ridiculous. And you wait until I call them.”
“What you need to do is get over here and help us figure out what to do about this. Especially since this is all your fault.”
“My fault? How is it my fault?”
“Because you’re nothing but a little whore, Curtis,” Tanya yelled.
“What? What are you talking about?” Curtis said, frowning.
“You know exactly what I’m talking about. If you hadn’t been out messing around on Mariah, you could have taken your daughter to that dance on time.”
“Tanya, please. I don’t even want to hear that. Our daughter is missing and that’s all I want to discuss with you.”
“Then we don’t have anything else to talk about,” she said, and hung up.
Curtis threw his cell phone on the floor of his car. Tanya still knew how to bring out the worst in him, and he couldn’t believe she was trying to blame all of this on some dance. She’d probably been filling Alicia’s head with that same insanity, and if he found out, he would never forgive Tanya. Maybe he didn’t spend enough time with Alicia, but he wasn’t a terrible father. He paid way more child support than the court had ordered him, so he didn’t know what Tanya was complaining about. He took care of his daughter, and Tanya wasn’t about to make him feel guilty about anything.
He pressed on the accelerator with even more force and said, “Lord, please let my baby girl be okay. Lord, please take care of her, and bring her home safely.”
Chapter 19
Hey, man, how’s it going,” Curtis said to James, and walked into the house. Curtis couldn’t stand him and was only being cordial because of the current situation.
Tanya rolled her eyes at Curtis when he walked into the family room, so he went over and hugged Mariah. “Hi, baby. I’m sorry I didn’t get your message right away.”
“I’m just glad you’re here now,” Mariah said.
“So, still no news yet?” Curtis asked.
“No,” Tanya snapped. “But it’s not like you care, anyway.”
“Look, Tanya. I know you’re upset, but let’s not do this.”
“Let’s not do what? Tell the truth? Because the truth is the reason we don’t know where Alicia is. The truth is that you are a poor, pathetic excuse for a father.”
“Whatever you say, Tanya,” Curtis dismissed her.
“You’re right, and if you don’t like it, you can just get out.”
“Now, baby, come on,” James said to Tanya. “He’s right. Let’s just all try to be civil so we can concentrate on getting Alicia back home.”
Curtis looked at James and said, “I hope when you say ‘we,’ you’re including
me, because that’s my daughter. I know she lives here with you, but don’t you ever start thinking you’re her father.”
“Man, I know who Alicia’s father is. And I would never try to take your place.”
“I’m just making sure you realize that her well-being is nothing you need to be concerned with.”
“Well, the thing is, Curtis, her well-being has been my concern since the day I married Tanya. I’m the one who’s here when she’s sick, when she has a bad day, and when she needs a parent to take her places.”
“Are you also the one who’s been trying to brainwash her into thinking she doesn’t need me anymore?”
“That’s just ludicrous,” James said, folding his arms.
“No, I don’t think so, because just last night she was bragging to me about wanting to use your last name.”
Tanya looked surprised.
Mariah was equally shocked.
Curtis wanted to hurt James—physically.
“Well, if she told you that, I didn’t have anything to do with it,” James said.
“Yeah, right,” Curtis said.
“I love Alicia as if she was my own child, but like I said, I know who her father is.”
“Well, a few years ago you also knew who Tanya’s husband was, but that didn’t stop you from sleeping with her,” Curtis shot back.
“This is going too far,” Tanya interrupted. “Alicia is who we need to be worrying about.”
“I agree,” Mariah said. Curtis looked at her disapprovingly and hoped she realized she was in the same boat as James and didn’t have any rights or opinions when it came to Alicia.
They sat tensely for another forty-five minutes, mostly in silence. Everyone was worried sick, but there was nothing they could do. At one point Curtis told them to bow their heads in prayer. After that, he suggested going to look for her, but everyone wanted to know where he was going to begin his search. But he didn’t care where because anywhere would be better than all this waiting they were doing.
Tanya walked into the kitchen, poured a cup of coffee, and heard the phone ringing.
“Hello?” she quickly answered.
“Hi, Mrs. Howard,” Danielle said. “Did Alicia come home yet?”
Tanya closed her eyes. “No, sweetie, she hasn’t.”
“Oh. Well, yesterday . . .” Danielle said, and paused.
“Yesterday what?” Tanya said, sitting down at the table.
“Yesterday she told me that she’d been chatting on-line with this guy and that he wanted to meet her in person.”
“What was his name?”
“I think it was Julian.”
“Did she say she was going to go see him?”
There was a pause again.
“Danielle, sweetie, please. You have to tell me what she was planning to do.”
“But she’s going to be so mad at me.” Danielle started to cry.
“Maybe she won’t. Not when I tell her we were so worried about her that you had to tell us.”
“She said she was going to meet him this week, but she didn’t say what day.”
“Did she say how old he was?”
“He’s nineteen.”
Curtis watched tears fall from Tanya’s face.
“Is there anything else? Did she say where he lived or what kind of car he drove?”
“No.”
“Did she tell you what they talked about?”
“He said some nasty stuff, but she said she wasn’t going to do anything like that.”
“Is there anything else you can think of? Anything at all?”
“No, that’s it. That’s all she told me.”
“Well, if you think of anything, please call me back, okay?”
“I will, and, Mrs. Howard, I’m sorry I didn’t tell you what I knew when you first called.”
“That’s okay, honey, and we’ll let you know when we hear something.”
Tanya pressed the off button, held the phone close to her chest, and walked back into the family room. She explained to everyone what Danielle had told her. Curtis, Mariah, and James were in shock. They all wondered how this could possibly have happened.
“You mean to tell me you don’t monitor who your own daughter is on-line with?” Curtis accused Tanya.
“No. Not really. Do you monitor her when she’s on-line at your house?”
“She would never chat with a grown man at my house,” Curtis boasted. “She would know better than to even try it.”
“I don’t know how you can say that, because she doesn’t even respect you. And if she was chatting with him here, you can believe she was doing the same thing when she was with you.”
“Well, we need to call the police and tell them what we know,” Curtis suggested.
“But they’ve already said she has to be gone twenty-four hours,” Tanya said.
“I don’t care what they said, I need them to get out there and look for my baby girl,” Curtis said, standing up. He paced back and forth in the hallway and thought about the day Alicia was born. He’d been so proud and so happy. She’d been the cutest baby he’d ever seen in his life, and he would never forgive himself if something happened to her. He would never admit it to Tanya or anyone else for that matter, but he couldn’t help wondering if his lack of time with her was in fact the cause of her disappearance.
“Maybe we should try to go sign on to her computer to see if there are any old messages from this Julian,” James said.
“That’s a good idea,” Tanya said. “I’m sure her password is saved on her computer, so it should be easy enough to sign on and check her messages.”
But just as she started up the stairs, the phone rang again.
This time James answered it.
“Hello?”
“Hi, is this the Black residence?”
“No,” James said. “I mean, yes, Alicia Black is my stepdaughter.”
“Well, this is Linda Baldwin calling from South Suburban Hospital in Hazel Crest.”
“Yes,” James said, beckoning for Tanya to come to the phone. “Hold for one minute and I’ll let you speak to my wife.”
“Hello?” Tanya said in an anxious tone.
“Mrs. Black?”
“I’m Mrs. Howard, but Alicia is my daughter. Is she okay?”
“Well, a very nice couple found her walking along the street and noticed her clothes were torn. But when they couldn’t get her to come with them, they called the police and they brought her here to the emergency room.”
“Oh my God, is she all right?”
“She’s going to be fine, but she won’t let us come near her. And the only time she spoke to us was when she asked us to call you.”
“We’ll be right there,” Tanya said, and hung up the phone. “Oh no, I forgot to ask which hospital.”
“It’s South Suburban in Hazel Crest,” James said.
“That’s only a few miles from here,” Curtis said.
“It’s also one of the hospitals I called earlier,” Tanya said.
They all hurried out to their cars; James and Tanya drove in theirs and Mariah and Curtis traveled in his. Curtis thanked God that his baby girl was alive and safe.
As soon as they arrived at the hospital, they rushed through the emergency room entrance.
“We’re here for Alicia Black,” Tanya told the receptionist.
“Straight through there,” she said, pointing toward the examination area.
A nurse led them to Alicia’s room. Tanya broke down when she saw how swollen the side of her daughter’s face was. Alicia’s hair was tangled all over her head and black makeup streaked down her cheeks.
“Oh, baby,” Tanya said, leaning over to hug her.
“Mom, I’m so sorry,” Alicia said.
They held each other, mixing their tears together.
Mariah shook her head and looked at Curtis. James held the sides of his face with both hands. There wasn’t a dry eye in the room.
“Alicia, sweetheart,” Curtis s
aid, walking around to the opposite side of the bed.
Tanya stepped back.
“Daddy,” she said. “I’m so sorry.”
“That’s okay, baby girl, Daddy is just happy we found you.”
When Curtis moved back from the bed, James leaned over and kissed Alicia on the cheek.
“I didn’t mean to upset everybody,” Alicia explained, and then looked over at Mariah.
“I’m glad you’re safe, Alicia,” Mariah said, smiling.
“Thanks.”
“Who did this to you?” Curtis asked.
Alicia didn’t say anything.
“Did you hear me?” Curtis raised his voice. “Because we want to get the police on this right away.”
“I don’t know,” she finally said.
“Did someone force you into their car?”
“No.”
“Then what happened?” Curtis was losing his patience.
Alicia burst into tears.
“Was it that Julian?” Curtis continued.
Alicia looked as if she’d just seen a ghost.
“Well, was it?” Curtis wasn’t letting up.
“Alicia, your father is right,” Tanya said. “We need to know who did this to you so the police can start their investigation.”
“I don’t know who it was. It was just some guy.”
“Well, what did he look like?” Tanya asked.
“I don’t know,” Alicia said evasively.
“So you didn’t even see his face?” Curtis asked.
“No.”
“Of course you did, and I want you to stop lying to us right now,” Curtis said, raising his voice higher than before. “We need to know who this clown is, and I don’t want to have to ask you again.”
Alicia was becoming hysterical.
“Curtis, please,” Tanya said. “Why don’t you step out and let me talk to Alicia alone.”
“No, I want to know who did this to her,” Curtis demanded.
“Curtis, can’t you see how terrified Alicia is, and we’re not going to get anywhere with all this yelling you’re doing.”
Too Much of a Good Thing Page 18
