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She smiled. “Okay, if you’re sure!”
But as he would soon discover, his confidence was too premature.
Jay was suspiciously cooperative when Tazeem went to wake him. Usually, he would whine and fuss until his mother popped her head into his bedroom and gave him a look. But on this day, he jumped out of bed the moment Tazeem shook him awake.
Chess left the house just as the two of them sat down for breakfast with a warning to Jay not to mess around. Usually, that warning would’ve had little effect once she was gone, but on this particular day, breakfast went smoothly.
Too smoothly.
There was no demanding an alternative to what was on the table, no pouting because Tazeem wouldn’t let him have more sugar, and no whining because Tazeem wouldn’t let him eat while watching TV. Jay gobbled up his breakfast without a fuss and even washed his bowl afterward.
Tazeem gave himself a mental pat on the back as he helped Jay put on his backpack. This fatherhood thing wasn’t as hard as everyone made it seem. And he was killing it. Maybe he should start a podcast for new fathers or something.
Just as they were about to leave the house, Jay announced, “I have to go do something?”
Tazeem asked, “Go do what?”
“Just something.” The child sped away before his father could prod further.
Tazeem could only assume that Jay wanted to go to the toilet but was too embarrassed to say it. That assumption would later come back to bite Tazeem in the ass.
Jay showed up several minutes later, and the father-son team headed out the door. The planned destination was Jay’s school, but they never made it there.
They were just getting off the highway and into the road that led to Jay’s school when Tazeem heard sirens wailing behind him. At first, he paid no attention because he wasn’t over-speeding or breaking any traffic rules. But then the sirens got louder.
A quick glance through his side mirror revealed the presence of about four police cars behind him. All of them had their sirens blaring and flashing as they tailed him.
Seeing those cop cars trailing him was startling enough but when he heard his name called, he damn near had a stroke.
“Tazeem Khan, this is Atlanta PD,” someone announced via loudspeaker. “Pull over. NOW!!”
Tazeem had never been one to mess around with the law. He brought the car to a stop on the side of the road. Even before he was out of the car, several uniformed officers were spilling out of their vehicles with their weapons drawn and pointed at him.
“Put your hands up!” “Get out of the car!” “Don’t do anything stupid!” “Keep those hands where we can see them!”
Orders poured in from every direction, leaving Tazeem so confused that he didn’t know what to do. Before he knew it, impatient hands were yanking him out of the car.
“There’s a child in the car!” Tazeem cried out as they forced him to his knees. Not giving a damn that his very expensive suit was getting bang around by the officers’ rough handling of him, he repeated, “There’s a child-”
“We know there’s a child in there, you fucking pedophile!” Someone angrily called out behind him before ordering, “Hands on your head.”
Pedophile? The accusation worsened Tazeem’s panic and shock. What the hell was going on here?
But before he could get any answers someone kicked him in the back. The kick was so powerful that Tazeem ended up on the ground on his stomach. More pain soon followed after as someone yanked his arms behind him then cuffed him.
“Check the kid.” Another officer called out. “Make sure he’s good.”
Seconds later, someone else yelled out, “He’s good.”
The mention of Jay was enough to send any pain that Tazeem felt to the back of his subconscious and worry for his son’s wellbeing took over.
“Where’s my son?” Tazeem turned his head just in time to see an officer carrying Jay to one of the police cars. “Where are you taking my son?”
“Your son?” The cop who was standing above him sneered. “Is that what you call the kids you’ve kidnapped?”
MEANWHILE, CHESS WAS STARRING IN her own drama at work.
“Are you crazy?” Derrick furiously glared at Felicity. “I can’t believe you would do this to our team.”
