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“I hope you don’t regret that promise, honey.”I gave her a more detailed rundown of all the things Nishia had been able to tell me.Where she lived, her full name, and what school she went to, along with the bad things that Ben already knew about.
“Fuck,” she muttered before blowing out a heavy sigh.“Okay.I’ll start digging as soon as we get off the phone.How do you want me to relay any information I get?Does it matter who else knows, or is this between us?”
“Just you and me for now, Nova.The fewer people who know, the better at the moment.I don’t know what is going on, but something feels off.Track down the mother first.Find out everything you can about her and who she allowed to take her daughter.”
“Some people don’t like to talk, Jack.You feel me?”
“Ah, NoNo.You speak as if I’m some novice.Get the information I need by any means necessary.That woman allowed her daughter to be taken.Nishia thinks it was to pay off her drug dealer.From the way she speaks of her mom, it doesn’t seem like the world would miss that piece of shit.Her mom’s ability to walk afterward isn’t high on my priority list.What I want to know is who took Nishia, why, and what the fuck the game plan was, dropping her at Sanctuary.”
“Expect my call,” Nova said after a brief pause.“Love you, Jack!”
“Mmm,” I grunted again, letting her know that I loved her too.
Her laugh was the last thing I heard before the phone went silent, and I returned to my chair beside Nishia’s bed.
The moment I picked up her hand and stroked my fingers over her palm, she settled down and let out a relieved breath before falling into a deeper, more restful sleep.
“That’s right, little fairy.I’m here.You’re safe.”Bending forward, I pressed our hands to my forehead and closed my eyes.
I couldn’t remember the last time I’d slept, but I wouldn’t rest until I knew the threat to Nishia—and possibly to Sanctuary, as well—was dealt with.
CHAPTERSIX
nova
It tooka little digging to find Nishia Cohen’s address.I had a few IT skills, and once I knew what I was looking for, it was fairly easy to figure out where I needed to search.The site for low-income housing wasn’t exactly the same as hacking the CIA.I was able to get all the information I needed within an hour of clicking around.
“Why do I have this odd feeling you’re going somewhere that could make my son cranky?”Anya asked when I dropped the kids off to spend a little time with their paternal grandparents.
Wrenley and Gabriel loved having time with Anya and Cristiano.Ryan’s dad spoiled both kids like crazy, and since they had skipped away through the mansion without so much as hugging me goodbye, I figured they’d gone in search of their grandfather, in hopes of conning him into letting them have some ice cream or freshly baked cookies.
I really wanted a cookie too, but instead, I cocked a brow at my mother-in-law.“Ryan is in Chicago on business with Zayne.There is no reason for him to get cranky.I’m simply looking into something for one of my cousins.”
Her face was skeptical, but her eyes held amusement.“Let me know if you need help getting rid of a body.”
With a snort, I opened the front door.“My mentor taught me well.I know how to hide a body.Or make it look like an accident.”With a wink, I turned and jogged down the steps to my car.
Ryan really would get cranky if he knew I was leaving the compound without my security team, but my guards would draw too much attention if I showed up in Nishia’s neighborhood with them.They would either think I was a new drug dealer, or alert whatever gang ran that part of the city that I was trying to step onto their turf.The fact that the Vituccis ran this city wouldn’t save me any aggravation.If I dropped my name, it would easily get me what I wanted.But that also would be the equivalent of setting off an alarm system to let my husband know I wasn’t where he expected me to be.
And while he now knew good and well that I could take care of myself just fine, he still hadn’t fully recovered from when he’d thought I was dead.Even after all these years, he was a nervous wreck about leaving me at home alone.I supposed my little excursion with Anya to “save” Ciana from who we’d thought was a tyrant husband hadn’t helped my case.But I had heard something in Jack’s voice that told me this was important to him.
Jack didn’t ask for help with anything.Ever.He took care of shit himself.My cousin was a bit of an enigma to me.I was usually good at reading people, especially my family members, but not Jack.He kept everything closed off, so it was even difficult to decipher if he was angry or happy, mad or sad.A few times, I’d wondered if he was a sociopath, but he was too protective of the residents at Sanctuary.
His lack of ability to show emotion to the rest of the family had endeared him to me more than the majority of my other cousins.The only exceptions were probably Lexa and Max, but we’d grown up under the same roof, the two of them more like my siblings than my own brother at times.
I parked my car about twenty blocks from Nishia’s apartment building and then took a cab, not wanting to draw unwanted attention to my arrival.Plus, the whole GPS thing Ryan had in my vehicle would have definitely alerted him that I was potentially up to no good.
Fuck, I didn’t even know if I was going to be up to no good or not.Jack didn’t have much to go on about what I would be walking into, other than it was most likely not going to be pretty.Nishia had a drug-addict mother, so my reception would depend on if she was high or desperate for her next fix.Neither scenario was appealing, but I’d deal with whatever version of the bitch I was met with when the time came.
Pulling my hood up over my hair, I walked up the stairs to the fourth floor.The elevator was out of order, and as small as I was, I looked more like a kid than a grown woman, especially with my face shadowed by the hood.I didn’t want a nosy neighbor remembering my hair color, not that I suspected anyone would be brave enough to peep out their windows or willingly open their doors for me in this neighborhood.
It wasn’t exactly an area of the city that suggested sunshine and flowers would be waiting for me behind any apartment door.No one was going to invite me in for coffee and cake.The more desperate residents might have dared to approach me for a few bucks that would go up their nose or into their veins, but as I walked down the barely lit corridor to Nishia’s apartment, everything was eerily quiet.
Stopping in front of the right door, I knocked softly twice and then strained to listen.I heard no sound of footsteps, not even a television set playing on the other side of the door—or any other door close by.I knocked again, a little harder, a little louder.
“Miss Cohen?”I called when that didn’t get me a response.“Faye Cohen?”
Still nothing.
