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Nothing moved in the stillness except us. There were no dogs barking, no cricket chirping, no engines humming.
It was almost as if the world had stopped turning, waiting for the outcome of what we were about to do.
One final time, I held onto Kokou’s hand and squeezed. It did my heart good when she returned my gesture right before Reaper pulled the trigger on our mission.
Getting on the property was easy enough. Kokou and I knew the front door had already been breached and through the window would drop us right on top of Anna.
Instead, we went through the front door.
The moment we were in, Reaper vanished to the right in the darkness. My logical brain wanted to ask why he’d leave Kokou on her own but then remembered, my girl wasn’t alone.
And I wouldn’t let her down.
We followed a dimly lit hall to Joshua. I watched in horror as Kokou slid into the space with him, caught him around the throat and held on tightly.
Joshua woke up and struggled to get free.
But it didn’t last very long.
Kokou choked him until he slumped backward against her and even then, she held him a little longer. Maybe to ensure he was either dead or unconscious.
“Joshua?” Anna called from where she was in the living room.
I frowned and stepped backward into the darkness of a nearby bathroom as her footsteps moved from the living room and grew closer. Holding my breath, I waited.
I wondered if I should take her out before she went by me, or just let her go. I wasn’t sure what to do. But the decision was made for me as I couldn’t remember a place for Kokou to hide in the room. It was four walls and darkness.
Taking a deep, silent breath, I counted to five after she walked by me then stepped into the hall. Slowly, cautiously, I backed up to put some space between us, then whistled.
I thought she’d attack.
Instead, she turned and bolted across the hall into a room I hadn’t noticed. Her footsteps thundered across the floor followed by Kokou rushing from the room with Joshua.
“Do I need to watch him?” I asked.
“No.” She took off after Anna. “He’s dead.”
Before I could react, there was the smash of glass.
“Kokou!” I screamed.
When I stepped into the room, both Anna and Kokou were gone. Rushing forward, I looked outside to see it hadn’t been a far drop. Neither Kokou nor Anna were lying at the bottom in a mangled heap.
So, there was that.
Relieved that Kokou hadn’t been hurt, I tore through the house in the direction Reaper had gone. I couldn’t find him and that worried me. Still, I took a deep breath, pulled my gun and began going through the extra rooms one by one. When I did find Reaper, Roger had a gun trained on him.
“Roger, is it?” I asked.
The man swung around, gun raised.
I fired.
The force of the bullet took him off his feet, sending him backward before he toppled over and hit the ground.
Reaper rushed over and began pressing against the wound in the side of Roger’s chest. The gun was still kind of vibrating in my hand, but I couldn’t find anything in me to feel too sorry for him.
This man was working together with others to steal my child.
