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IMANI
“What do we need from here?” I asked, shaking some snow off my coat and walking into the Home Depot. I pulled up the Notes app on my iPhone and added a shopping list. “I’m making a list, so we don’t forget anything.”
As Kai started listing things off to buy in order to make Landon’s house livable for two more people, I added them to the list and followed Landon down a couple aisles with a cart. The wheels on the damn thing squealed loudly, drawing attention to us, but I refused to give a fuck. So much had happened these past few hours.
Landon and Kai threw in blinds, lights, security cameras, sensors, and more as we walked through the store. I aimlessly pushed the cart and thought about how hurt João must be right now. My mind felt so numb from thinking about him.
I wished that I could take away his pain.
All of it.
I wanted to help him in some other way, but I didn’t know how. He was so broken and shattered that I almost didn’t think anyone would be able to fix him. Maybe he could talk to Landon’s therapist or something—but that would be huge for him to even consider something like that.
When we reached the section for front door locks, I left the cart where it was and told the guys that I wanted to pick up some cleaning supplies before we left. I never cleaned. Mom had always hired someone to do it for us. But I’d noticed how dirty Landon’s parents’ bedroom floor was. And that basement—God, that basement reeked of weed.
Staring up at the aisle of cleaning supplies, I grabbed some air fresheners, a mop, and some other supplies that I hoped would help fix up the place. I wanted Ana and João to feel as comfortable as they did at their own house.
“Imani,” someone called from behind me.
I glanced over my shoulder to see Akio’s father pushing a cart down the aisle. My mouth dried, my chest tightening. Something didn’t feel right about this. In fact, after I had gathered that information from Kai earlier that Akio’s family wanted to hurt mine, something felt terribly wrong.
“What are you doing here?” he asked, stopping right in front of me.
While I hated his wife more than I hated him, he ran the Redwood mob right alongside her. He probably did as much dirty work as he could, especially with him working as a doctor with Mom at the hospital. I didn’t put it past him to take people off life support or inject some kind of medication into their bodies to kill them, if his wife wanted them dead.
“Shopping,” I said to keep the conversation short.
“I needed to pick up some supplies,” he said with a long pause, looking down into his cart once, which was enough for me to look too.
Duct tape, a tarp, rope, and a saw lay within the large cart—stuff that he could’ve retrieved in a smaller basket.
But it seemed as if he wanted me to see it, as if he wanted it to stand out.
“You should pick up some Band-Aids too,” I said, refusing to let him see me nervous. My gun might’ve been in the car, but Kai was somewhere in the store, picking out a couple new locks. He and Landon would protect me, if needed.
“Oh, and why’s that?” he said, amused.
“So it’s not obvious the next time you beat up your son.”
And with that, I twirled around and hurried down the aisle. I didn’t know if I had fucked up or if I had maybe knocked some sense into him not to beat up Akio. It was probably not the latter, but I couldn’t stop myself.
My legs moved quickly. I wanted to put as much distance between us as possible.
Just as I turned the corner, I bumped into Kai. He grabbed my elbow to steady me before I stumbled back, and he looked at my bewildered expression.
“What’s going on?”
“I just wanted to find some cleaning supplies for Landon’s place, and I …” I glanced over my shoulder to see that Akio’s father was gone. He had disappeared so quickly that I thought I’d imagined him altogether, but I knew that I hadn’t. “Akio’s father was here.”
Kai tensed. “Akio’s father?”
“Yes,” I whispered. “He had some supplies in his cart and very obviously wanted me to see them.”
After grabbing my hand tightly, Kai pulled me through the next aisle to Landon, who stared at the locks, trying to decide which ones were best for his home. When we reached him, Kai released my hand and reached behind him into his waistband.
“Watch Imani,” he said to Landon.
Landon pulled me closer and grasped my hand, squeezing tightly. My heart pounded inside my chest as I watched Kai disappear out of the aisle. Then, I turned to the locks Landon had been looking at and could only think the worst.
