Red spent two long hours in the car as he sped toward the Berrien County jail. Even though he’d tried, Kent had been unsuccessful at keeping Red’s mind off of his troubles. He was worried, both about Cali and his daughter. It seemed as though he’d searched everywhere for Corrine, questioned every member of Nia’s family, every ex-boyfriend she’d told him about. No luck. Now, he could very well be meeting his daughter within the next day. He should be happy, ecstatic even. But it was bittersweet. He was on the verge of getting everything he’d worked for and Cali was preparing for a huge loss.
“Morgan just sent me a text. He’s leaving the hospital, heading home to check on Syd. But he’ll go back up there in a few.”
“Okay.”
Red had met Morgan in high school when they were both starting for the basketball team. The two soon became tight as thieves, more like brothers than friends. They had similar goals in life and worked hard to achieve them. They played even harder, but that was a story for another day. With Morgan came Kent, and unfortunately, Caden—the asshole who’d hurt Syd time and time again. He couldn’t stand Caden, but he appreciated Kent in his life. They’d become good friends, family. Bottom line, Red was fortunate to have people in his life that would be there, no matter what. Since he couldn’t be there with Cali, he knew Morgan would step in.
“Thanks for riding with me, man,” Red said after a few minutes of silence.
“Man, you know I’m not doing shit anyway.”
Red gripped the steering wheel when he spotted the exit number ahead. “Well, you could not be doing shit at home, but you came with me. I appreciate it.”
“Someone needed to make sure your ass doesn’t blow a gasket and end up in Berrien County yourself, with your license in jeopardy.”
“Shut the hell up, man. I’m cool. I know what I have to lose. My main goal is to find out where Corrine is and see to it that Nia goes down for all the trouble she’s caused.”
“I’m down for that myself. I still never did get over that stabbing incident all those years ago. She could have killed Roc.”
Kent had been furious when Nia stabbed Morgan all those years ago. He’d threatened to choke the life out of her and not even think twice about it. It had thrown them all for a loop because Kent was generally not a violent person. Snarky, sarcastic, and a bit of an ass, but definitely not violent—especially not toward women. Of course, he’d gotten into a few scrapes back in the day, but those had always been because his back was against the wall.
“Yeah, but Syd handled that. Talk about the date from hell.”
“Tell me about it.”
They pulled up at the police station. Approaching the desk, Red asked to speak with the officer in charge of Nia’s case. He’d spoken to the man over the phone on the way there. Nia had been arrested for assault with a deadly weapon and possession with intent to distribute. For someone who’d grown up in an upper middle class suburb of Columbus, Ohio, Red figured she’d sure turned out to be a menace. During his investigation, he’d found out that her parents refused to deal with her and no longer provided monetary support to her. They hadn’t spoken to her in at least three years.
“Mr. Williams?” A portly man with a bald head and a huge bottle of water in his hands appeared in a nearby doorway.
“Yes.” Red greeted him with a handshake.
“I’m Detective Powell.”
“Good to meet you. This is my friend and business partner, Kent Smith.”
Kent gave him a curt nod. Powell led them through the doors to his desk in the back. He explained that Nia was being held on a $50,000 bond. So far, she hadn’t been able to come up with the bail money. They’d interrogated her but she had refused to tell them where Corrine was and who she was with. Fortunately, however, Nia wasn’t as smart as she thought she was. She’d used the phone and her call had been recorded. The police had traced the number and a car was being sent to the source of the call’s location as they spoke.
Normally, Red wouldn’t be able to see Nia, but an old college buddy of his was a prosecuting attorney in Berrien County and had called in a favor for him. It definitely paid to have friends in high places.
Red waited, literally twiddling his thumbs. Kent had decided to grab a cup of coffee while Red talked to Nia. His friend also offered to check in on Cali and Syd for him. He took a look around the room, which had one metal table and two chairs. The door opened and an officer led Nia in toward the table. Years of hard living had obviously taken their toll on Nia: her hair was lifeless and her dark skin blotchy. She looked like she’d been in the fight of her life, judging from the scratches on her face. Her steps faltered when she noticed him.
“What are you doing here?” she asked.
He peered up at her. “Sit down.”
She plopped down into the chair. “Are you here to bail me out?”
“Where is my daughter, Nia?”
She slumped back in her seat and shrugged. “She’s my daughter, and you will never find her.”
“Want to bet on that? I’m also willing to bet your stay in here is going to be longer than you think. Assault with a deadly weapon—again? Possession with intent to distribute?”
He’d been a lawyer long enough to know that a judge wouldn’t have much sympathy for a woman who refused to cooperate with authorities trying to locate her young daughter. Gaining custody at this point would be easy for him.
“Just so that we’re clear…” He narrowed his eyes on her. “Corrine better be safe and sound when I do find her, or you can add child abuse to those charges. After I’m done with you, there won’t be a single judge in the state who will give you custody of Corrine ever again. That’s if you get out of jail before she’s eighteen.”
He stood up slowly. “Remember what I said. Watch your back in here. You never know who I know.”
She screamed at him as he walked out of the room. Of course, he didn’t know any damn body in that jail, but he couldn’t resist scaring the shit out of her. He checked his cell phone as he headed back toward the front, where Kent was waiting for him.
His steps slowed when he noticed a crowd near the front reception area. He couldn’t tell what was going on at first, but then he noticed a female officer bending down and smiling at a… child? He picked up his pace, passing the officer who was escorting him out of the holding area.
Red searched for Kent in the crowd, and saw him standing in front of the small girl with a smile on his face. An armed guard stopped Red to check him before he walked out into the public area, but once he’d passed through the security check, he raced toward the little girl. He stopped when she turned and looked at him. Her hair was piled into a ponytail on her little head, her light skin matched his and her eyes… she had bright hazel eyes—like his.
He swallowed at the emotion that rushed through his body. Was this…?
Kent motioned for him to come closer and the female officer stood to her full height. He glanced at Kent who gave him a slight nod, letting him know the girl was in fact Corrine. Red approached his daughter slowly. She looked up at him and retreated behind the officer’s leg.
He bent down to her level and tilted his head. “Hi, my name is Jared.”
“Hi,” she said, her tiny chin quivering. “My mommy said… my daddy’s name is Jared.”
He fought the urge to pull her into his arms and never let her go. Before he could say anything else, Powell appeared to his left.
“We found her in the house we raided this evening. The owner of the house had agreed to watch her for a few days. Had no idea what was going on.”
“Thanks,” Red told Powell. “I appreciate it.”
“As part of procedure, we had to contact Children’s Protective Services,” Powell explained.
“I understand.” Red turned his attention back to his daughter. “What’s your name?”
Overwhelmed, Red ran a shaky hand over his face. He looked over at Kent, who was watching silently. Then the strangest thing happened: nothing. He was at a loss for words so he just stood there, staring at her.
“Um, Corrine?” the female officer said after a few moments passed. “How about I take you to get something to eat in the back?”
Corrine wiped her eyes. “I want my mommy.”
“Aw, honey,” the kind woman said, rubbing Corrine’s back. “Let’s go eat and we can talk about it some more.”
That seemed to appease her, because she gripped the woman’s hand and went toward the back, leaving Red kneeling in the small hallway.
Kent shoved him and he almost fell over. “What the hell are you doing? That’s your daughter and you didn’t say anything.”
“Kent, what do I look like, just telling her I’m her daddy?” Red exclaimed. “She doesn’t know me. You heard her; she wants her mother.”
“She can’t have her mother,” Kent said. “But she has her father. You came all this way to get her.”
Red shook his head, still unable to believe he’d actually found her. “She’s so beautiful.”
“Yeah, she’s a beauty,” Kent agreed. “Looking like Syd.”
“I know.” Red couldn’t wait for the two to meet. Syd would definitely dote on her niece and he was sure Corrine would take to his sister.
“So snap out of it,” Kent commanded. “Go in there and talk to her.”
He knew his friend was right, but he didn’t want to scare her. “This seems so awkward,” he told Kent. “I want to know her, but… what if she’s afraid of me?”
“Obviously, Nia told her about you. Tell her who you are.”
Red glared at Kent and headed toward the small eating area where Corrine was seated with the officer, munching on some crackers. He took a seat across from her and asked the officer, “Do you mind giving me a minute?”
The officer seemed skeptical, but complied.
Once they were alone, he asked, “Do you like crackers?”
“Yes. I like Cheez-Its,” she told him. “But they didn’t have any.”
“Well, I can buy you some Cheez-Its, if you want?” he said.
Her eyes widened. “Do you know where to buy Cheez-Its?”
“I sure do. I’ll buy you some tonight.” He tapped a finger on the table.
“Can we bring some to my mommy?” she asked.
He blinked, unsure how to respond to that. “What grade are you in, Corrine?”
“I’m in the first grade,” she replied.
“Wow, the first grade?” he exclaimed. “You must be pretty smart.”
She gave him a small smile. “I know how to read and I can count. Really high.”
He chuckled. A daughter after his own heart. Smart and she knew it. “Good. Listen, remember when you told me your daddy’s name was Jared, like mine?”
She nodded and bit into a cracker.
“Well, what would you say if I told you I was your daddy?”
Gasping, she dropped her cracker onto the table. Frowning, she said, “My mommy told me my daddy was never coming.”
Red gritted his teeth together. If she was a little older, he would’ve told her about her stupid ass mother. Calm down, Red. He took a deep breath. “Your mommy got into some trouble and she needed me to come and take care of you,” he lied. “Is that okay with you?”
Tilting her head, she peered at him, her matching eyes boring into his. “You’re going to babysit me?” she asked finally.
“Sure,” he told her. “But you have to come with me to my house.”
After a few uncomfortable seconds, she asked skeptically, “And you’re going to buy me Cheez-Its?”
“Yes.” If a box of crackers would make her happy, he’d buy up the entire grocery store. “You can have as many as you want.”
“Is my mommy going to pick me up from you?” she asked.
He grinned at his intelligent daughter. She was like him in the fact that she definitely stayed on the topic at hand. “I wish I could tell you that your mommy was coming to pick you up, but I can’t promise you that, honey. Your mother has done something that got her into trouble and she has to take care of that before you can see her. Do you understand what I’m saying?”
Kidspeak obviously wasn’t a bullet point on his résumé.
“I can promise that I’ll take good care of you,” he assured her. “I won’t let anyone ever hurt you.”
Tears gathered in her eyes. “I just want to be with my mom,” she whimpered.
“I know.” His eyes watered, too. “I’m sorry.”
“You look like me,” she said, changing the subject.
He chuckled. “I do, huh?”
“You have eyes like me.”
“Yes, I do,” he said, nodding. “You’re going to meet my sister. She has eyes like you, too. You look just like her.”
“I do?” She gave him a half-smile and his heart melted.
“Yes, she’s very pretty, like you.”
“Does she have Cheez-Its?” Corrine asked.
“If she doesn’t, I’ll make sure she gets some,” he promised. His daughter certainly could badger a witness. He swelled with pride.
“Do you have a car?” When he nodded, she asked, “Can I sit in the front seat?”
Red chuckled. “I don’t think you’re big enough for that yet. Maybe soon. Why don’t you finish eating your crackers and I’ll go talk to these nice people and we can leave.”
She stuffed one cracker into her mouth and nodded.
Powell and Kent were talking when Red rounded the corner. He explained his conversation with Corrine. Powell told him the next steps he had to take to retrieve his daughter. Red was quite aware of the differences between counties. Each county had its own procedures in place and he wanted to be sure he followed the law to the letter. Unfortunately, he discovered Corrine wouldn’t be able to leave with him until the children’s agency was able to interview her, since his name wasn’t on her birth certificate. They also put a rush on an additional paternity test.
Corrine would have to go home with the female officer, who’d graciously agreed to “babysit” her for the night. But he made sure he let his child know that he was staying close at a nearby hotel. Only a few more steps, and he’d be able to take his daughter home.
Later on, Red lay scrawled across the hotel bed. As tired as he was and ready to put the long ass day behind him, he was wound up. He’d tried calling Cali but got no answer. He did reach Morgan, who told him that Uncle Cal had been sleeping off and on and Cali had been posted in his hospital room. Syd had tried to get her to leave and come stay with them, but she turned the offer down.
“Hello?” he said, picking up his buzzing phone.
“Red?” Cali’s voice sounded raspy, as if she’d been crying.
He leaned against the headboard. “Baby, what’s going on?”
“Everything is pretty much the same. I saw that you called me. I left my phone in the room when I went out to get some soup from the cafeteria. Uncle Cal is sleeping.”
“Are you spending the night at the hospital?” he asked.
“I haven’t decided. I just thought about something, I don’t have my car. I rode in the ambulance.”
Red had been talking to Syd and Morgan throughout the evening, getting updates on Uncle Cal’s condition. “Call Morgan if you need a break. He said he’d come and get you.”
“I’m okay. How are you? Did you talk to Nia?”
“I did. And I talked to Corrine,” he told her.
“Really?” she exclaimed. “That’s so good.”
“She’s beautiful,” he told her before describing his daughter’s plump cheeks and curly hair.
“Wow, she sounds gorgeous.”
“She looks like Syd,” he added.
“She’ll be glad to hear it.” Cali giggled then and Red smiled in response. “I know you’re so happy the search is over.”
“I am. But I’m worried about you,” he confessed. “I wish I could be there.”
“When will you be back?” she asked.
“I’m going to try for tomorrow. There are some loose ends to tie up before I can leave.”
“Hopefully, sooner than later.”
“I know. Did you get a chance to talk to Uncle Cal?”
He hated to ask, but with Uncle Cal’s health taking a turn for the worse, he was nervous about how his secret would affect her. He wanted to be there and support her through everything.
“I talked to him for a little bit.” She sighed. “But he’s so tired. The doctors said it’s normal. I wish they could do something for him. I hate seeing him like this.”
“It’s hard to see someone you love going through something you can’t do anything about,” he said.
“Yeah, it is.” She sniffed. “So tell me more about Corrine.”
“She loves Cheez-Its,” he told her. “Just like someone else I know.”
Cali was addicted to those nasty crackers. “Well, she has good taste.”
“You sound so tired,” he said, switching the phone to his other ear.
“I am.” He heard her yawn through the receiver. “I’m going to curl up in this chair. It lets out into a little bed-type thingy. The nurse left another warm blanket. Hopefully, I’ll be able to sleep.”
“If you don’t, when I get home, I’m putting you to bed,” he promised.
“I’m looking forward to it. Oh, Red… I have to go. The nurse is here.”
“Okay. I’ll call you tomorrow.”
“You better,” she said. “Love you.”
“Love you, too.”