Notes: Another chapter fresh off the presses. Obviously all for you beautiful people. Y'all are awesome. Your faces? The best. Feel free to throw ya usually friendly neighborhood writer a like and or comment. It is food for the writer's soul after all. Well, that and cookies. Big shout out and an even bigger thank you to CShields for being a beta reader for this chapter. You have been so helpful and an absolute pleasure to work with.
Chapter 3
The prolonged silence permeating from the exterior intercom station box made Nadine question if she'd ever get an answer. Not something she needed with how exhausted she was on top of her fierce desire to not return still lingering in the back of her mind. The trip was always too long to begin with, but the company had been particularly nerve-grating the past few trips. Leaving her ready to claw her way to freedom. Only for her freedom to land her stuck out in the cold and dark. If Nadine didn't need help from those whose trust and loyalty were unquestionable, she would have let her feet carry her right back out the way she'd come. But it was for Chloe; who had been missing for far too long and was never far from her thoughts. After a few much-needed deep breaths later, Nadine pressed the call box button again.
The response was almost immediate.
"Ja, hello?" The voice on the other end was groggy and blatantly irritated.
It was also a voice Nadine was always happy to hear and allowed her stiff shoulders to relax a bit. Far better to have her sister-in-law answer as opposed to the number one person Nadine was keen to avoid.
"Listen. It is far too late, and I am not in the mood for any funny business. So, I know that had better not be a certain childish asshole. It's been how many years since John won the house off you? No cheating, unlike yourself, and you have that nice new house across the street. Do us all a favor and try not to piss it all away. Either way, I'd advise you to go crawl back into bed with that shriveled-up husk you call a wife. Before I call my husband, and he finally lets me make sure that you do not keep harassing us. And I dare you to call that pitiful excuse of an attorney of yours and claim that I'm threatening you again. Go on, I dare you." The following laughter was closer to a cackle and accompanied by some loud clapping. "Dismantling that pathetic excuse of an attorney of yours and having you pay all my fees was fun. Go on, I can make time, send me on another vacation."
Exhaustion aside, Nadine couldn't help chuckling as she pressed the button to allow her to speak. "Sorry, Mrs. Radebe, I am afraid it is not the childish asshole from across the street. No vacation to Cape Town."
"Cape Town is not a vacation, but forget that nonsense. I must still be asleep. Ja, I'm still sleeping. Because if I didn't know any better, I'd swear that I heard a voice that lately I only seem to catch in my dreams." It was silent for only a small prolonged moment. "Nadine Thandi Ross, is that you?"
"Ja," Nadine's small smile was accompanied by a short chuckle. "It's me."
"Ah!"
The subsequent yelling and loud joyous clapping put a bigger smile on Nadine's weary face, along with requiring her to take a step away from the speaker.
"Sneaky Johnathan. He didn't say anything about you coming home. You see, this is why I say it all the time. Naughty, all three of you. Where have you been? Why have you not called or answered your brother's calls? No, no, better, my calls? No, wait, hold on," More yelling. "Get your too pretty for your own good ass in this house so that I can fuss at you in person."
Slowly the heavy front gate crept open, granting access to the winding driveway leading up to Nadine's brother and sister-in-law's expansive estate. After she secured the bags, Nadine began the trip up the long, twisting driveway. As soon as she'd ascended the steep pavement enough to be flush to the house, she spotted her sister-in-law.
The porch lights placed a spotlight on Hannah's leggy frame positioned in front of the door, clad in bright pajamas and headscarf. A big, sleepy grin stretched across her long pretty face when she spotted Nadine.
"Eish." Hannah's smile slowly disappeared the closer Nadine got. "Here I was thinking maybe you'd come home to cheer up Mama Ruth. Now I'm not so sure."
"What," Mention of her grandmother thickened the accent that Nadine was typically very conscious of. "Has happened?"
"Nothing, nothing." Hannah made a pouty face and massaged Nadine's wrinkled forehead with her middle and index fingers. "Nothing that bad, depending on who you ask, anyway. Come on," She nudged the door open with the tip of her barefoot and led the way inside.
Nadine trailed after her, shutting the door behind them and making sure it was locked before following past the entryway into the living room.
The overhead lights were dim, allowing moonlight from the backyard to shine in through the large window walls opposite the tv and couch. Across from the large circular couch that pulled the room together, the massive tv that spanned the entirety of one of the few walls to not have windows was, for once, turned off. Various Xhosa and Zulu art still adorned the walls, with artwork created by Nadine's niece taking prominence. Despite the time away, the atmosphere remained a calming place that still radiated a welcoming warmth.
Nadine peered down the hallway that led to the majority of the bedrooms. "Joy and John asleep?" She made a point not to bring up her mother.
"John should be on the way back with your mother and Mama Ruth." Hannah's warm smile melted into a thin, tight line. "Joy is in Cape Town."
"Cape Town? Why?"
Hannah's slow inhale and even slower exhale told Nadine a lot before words even came out. "Let's stick to one mess at a time."
"What's all this foolishness about Mama Ruth then?"
"The fuss that woman made when John and your mother insisted that she come and live with us. Told them and anyone who would listen that they'd have to drag her out and lock her in if they wanted her to stay. Now," Hannah's head tilted, showing off her sharp jawline and blunted chin as her dark brown down-turned eyes scanned over Nadine. "While I'd love to tell you more, I'm a bit more concerned at the moment with why your face looks the way it does."
Nadine blamed John for Hannah's astute ability to read and gauge her mood.
"I have to ask because it has been so long since we have last spoken to one another." The blatant sarcasm was hard to avoid. "Let's see. It's been how long since any of us heard from you? Oh, that's right," Hannah's perfectly manicured brows came together to help form a displeased glare. "Months."
"Things have been hectic." Was the only defense Nadine could come up with.
"Aren't they always?" Hannah's gaze softened once more. "What's been going on?"
Nadine's sigh lasted longer than she would have preferred. "I don't even know where to start."
"It's fine, I do." Hannah pulled Chloe's bag from Nadine's strained grip and tossed it over her shoulder. "We put these in your guest house, then you can get me updated on everything that's been going on. After that, maybe, just maybe." Her sigh lasted almost as long as Nadine's. "You can help me drag Henry out of his and Robert's room. Sorry." She rolled her eyes. "Henry's room."
"Henry's here?" Nadine's exhaustion was momentarily forgotten as Hannah unknowingly helped move her closer to the main reason for Nadine coming back to South Africa. Tracking down Nadine's brother-in-law, who also happened to be not only Hannah's younger brother, but John's best friend.
Henry Radebe was a man of many talents and in possession of a plethora of skills. Some time back, Nadine had requested his help while she'd been working with Rafe Adler, dealing with the Drake brothers. In less than half an hour, Henry not only located both brothers, but even gained unfettered access to their associate Victor Sullivan's phone.
The destruction of Nadine's primary phone in India had resulted in her being unable to contact him or anyone in her family when she first considered asking for his help. No phone and no recollection of anyone else's phone number meant she had to make the trip back to Johannesburg. The assumption being that she would be able to hunt down Henry at the home he shared with Nadine's eldest brother. It wasn't unusual for Henry to be at John and Hannah's house messing around with his best friend, pestering his older sister, doting on his niece, or a combination of all three. It was not usual, however, for him to spend the night.
"He's here late." There was a troublesome expression on Hannah's face that twisted Nadine's stomach even more in knots. "What's happened?"
"Ja. He's been here for a little while, actually." Hannah rubbed her temples, the exhaustion worn into her face hard to miss. "Ever since he left Robert. Mind you, that was after John and Robert stopped working together."
"What?" It had been some time since Nadine had seen her family and while she figured that there would be plenty to catch up on, she did not think her family would be in the middle of imploding upon her return. "Robert and John stopped-. No, wait, start with Henry-"
"Lindiwe, did I hear the door?" The man himself came wandering from the bedroom area down the long hallway adjacent to the living room. Long disheveled robe trailing behind him as he rubbed his eyes. "Are they back with Mama Ruth?"
Hannah smiled and stepped aside so that she wasn't blocking Nadine's shorter frame. "They are not."
Henry's drowsy, dark brown, red-rimmed eyes sprung open before he bolted in his younger sister-in-law's direction. "Thandi!"
Nadine was on the shorter side of her family, whereas Henry leaned closer to the opposing side. Though not quite as tall as his husband or older sister, he still practically towered over everyone else. His long frame got him over to Nadine in a few strides so his compacted muscles could engulf her in a big hug.
"When did you get home?" Henry gave her one last tight squeeze before setting her back on her feet. "And where have you been? We haven't heard from you in I'm not even sure how long."
"Too long." Hannah tacked on.
"Which, you know, is not okay." Henry continued.
"I'm sorry." Nadine took a page out of Robert's book and held her hands up in defeat rather than tangle with Henry. "But I'm home now. I hear I've missed quite a few things." The prior happiness in her voice disappeared. "Like you and Robert-"
Henry's face suddenly soured before he whipped around and walked off.
"Lwazi," Hannah called after her younger brother. "Where are you going?"
"Away." Henry waved them both off and kept going. "I do not want to talk about that man."
Nadine turned to Hannah, not sure what to say. On the one hand, she needed her brother-in-law's help, but on the other, her family was doing their best to raise her blood pressure.
"I don't know why I thought he might listen to you." Hannah sighed and shook her head. "I've tried talking to him. John's tried talking to him. Even your mother has tried talking to him and you know how the woman feels about getting involved in other people's business."
"What happened?"
"What happened?" Henry came storming back in, robe flapping, dark brown eyes blazing. "Is that your eternally stubborn, biggest pain in my ass brother decided that talking to his family is optional."
Hannah offered a little more context. "Robert got pissed off when John told him and Michael that he was going to stop working with Allegiance. We hadn't heard from him almost as long as hearing from you."
"Wait," Nadine tried to interject, get some clarification.
Henry steamrolled on. "Robert's got no excuses. I'd been telling him for months that I was considering trying to get into the personal security business with John. Did he think John was going to be able to work with me and Allegiance at the same time? And what does he do when I tell him I want him to be a part of it? Does he say, of course, handsome? I would love to work with you. Oh no, no, no." He splayed a hand over his chest, wedding band catching some of the dim light. "Working a less dangerous and far better paying job is simply something that he is not interested in. He would prefer to add to his vast collection of gunshot and stab wounds. Aggravate that no good shoulder of his that you so much as look at the wrong manner and it will dislocate."
"Uh," Nadine didn't know what to say. Clearly, Henry's pent-up frustration had him on a roll and there was no stopping him once he got like that. His thick-framed rectangular glasses were even threatening to fog.
"I can handle him wanting to be a big baby and be mad at John. But not calling your husband?" Henry's face was contorted into an enraged amalgamation of narrowed eyes and flashy white pointed teeth all paired with a righteous finger cutting rapidly through the air. "I only knew the man was alive because I finally broke down and tracked his phone."
"So he's okay?" Nadine asked.
"He's alive." Henry snapped. "Not that he called to tell me that. Oh no. Why does he decide to call his mother after fucking months?"
"Called about you." Hannah mumbled under her breath to Nadine.
"He refuses to call. Then when he does, is it to check up on his husband? No. Because he doesn't care." Henry's foot stamp would have been a little funnier if he didn't look on the edge of crying. "At this point, there's no choice but to leave him. He obviously wants me to." With that, he whirled around, robe flapping around his muscular calves, and stormed off the way he'd come. "Who is laughing now?"
"No one." Nadine looked at Hannah. "I don't think anyone is laughing."
Hannah's lips folded into her mouth, eyes following her younger brother.
Nadine kept her voice low. "Is he going to file for a divorce?"
"I don't know. But you are home now, and Mama Ruth should be too soon. Maybe between the two of you, Robert will finally listen. Because ," Hannah sighed. "I can't tell Henry not to leave Robert when the man won't even call him. That is not something anyone in this family should be doing." She shook her head. "Not with the type of work this family tends to be involved in."
Nadine wasn't sure if there was much she could do. Robert listened to their grandmother when he wanted to. He'd give or do anything for Nadine, but he rarely listened to any advice she offered. The person he listened to the most was also the person he'd angered the most. There was so much going on, and Nadine didn't have nearly enough time or mental capacity to address it all. Especially when Chloe was still in danger.
Nadine sighed. "I need to talk to Henry."
"I figured I'd at least let you put your bags down first."
"It's not about Robert. Where is he, by the way? Still with Michael and Allegiance?" Robert had been a part of the mercenary organization Allegiance for as long as Nadine could remember. Since young adulthood, he'd worked side by side with an old friend of their father's that they had even lived with at one point out in the Great Karoo.
"Probably. Last week, he wasn't exactly the most forthcoming with information about his whereabouts. Before that, he wasn't picking up anyone's calls. He hasn't taken one since either."
"Why?"
"Good question. Because he's Robert? Because you Ross-Radebe babies are some of the most stubborn people I have ever met in my life."
"And yet you still married John."
"Henry has gotten it far worse. Robert's easily more stubborn than John." Hannah's sullen face momentarily lit up. "Speaking of my husband. Where is he? They should have been back with Mama Ruth by now. One second, I need to get my phone. I didn't realize it needed to be charged until your pretty ass came around harassing my call box." Hannah disappeared down the hallway leading to her and John's bedroom and came back with her phone pressed to her ear. "By the way, I am not telling him you're here. We'll let him be surprised. I will see if he'll bring some food home, though." A long stern finger passed through the air, starting from Nadine's head all the way down to her toes, then back again. "You've gotten smaller, so I already know he'll make a fuss and go back out. Might as well save some time."
Nadine wasn't sure if she'd be around when John got home.
Not if Henry could be of any assistance. Obviously, he was going through a difficult time, and while she hated bothering him, she needed to find Chloe. Ensure that the fools that took her understood it was not only one of the worst mistakes, but going to be their last. In order to do that, she needed to find them first. That pressing need drug Nadine's feet towards the hall leading to the bedrooms. Thoughts converged on how she was going to explain to Henry, and likely the rest of her family, things that she hadn't planned on sharing.
For a while.
If ever.
If it wasn't for Chloe, Nadine would never have come home, never had to possibly face her mother. Not have to worry about trying to come up with explanations. Starting with her newest pressing concern that she spotted through a window located a few steps before the hallway leading to the bedrooms.
A collection of armored trucks smashing through the front gates and tearing through her brother and sister-in-law's lush front yard.
"Shit." In general, armored vehicles charging in was not good, but messing up her brother's yard in the process was unnecessary. "John's going to be pissed."
In the long scheme of things, Chloe was almost grateful that Robert had decided to toss her back in a chair. The restraints she could have done without, but it still left her able to get some much-needed processing accomplished. Starting with acknowledging the fact that she and Nadine clearly hadn't talked about everything that there was to talk about. Or perhaps Chloe had simply missed the mention of a twin. At least as close as you could get to being a twin without actually being one.
Because while the handsome specimen glaring through the doorway was clearly no Nadine, he was a startlingly close match. Easily taller than Nadine, yet he was still significantly shorter than Robert. With his long curls pulled into a ponytail, and faded on the sides, he was almost unjustly gorgeous, the same as his brother and sister. Chloe had stared enough at Nadine that she could tell the cute nose and small ears were almost an exact match. His eyes were the same lovely shade of brown, but the shape was a little bigger and his lips didn't spread as wide as his two siblings. The disgruntled scowl, however, was a near perfect match.
A look that was reflected right back at him, compliments of his brother.
"What are you doing here, John?" Robert's narrowed gaze swept over his brother.
"Thought I saw your truck, but went to look and didn't find you. Some things don't change, though. Can't find you? Follow the ruckus."
"I meant at this facility, dickhead."
"Picked up Mama Ruth after Shabbat services so that I could bring her to the house. I needed to stop by here and saw your truck. What are you doing here? You didn't say anything about coming home during that ridiculous excuse of a phone call last week, dickhead. Not to mention who is this?" John pointed at Chloe, who was having a hard time keeping her amusement at bay. "And what have you done to her?"
"She pretty much looked like that when I found her. Or I suppose she found me. She would look a little better if she hadn't decided to hit me with a chair." Robert glanced at Chloe, then back at John, and shrugged. "But honestly, I barely put any effort into tossing her and those fucking asshole Drake brothers around. Who," He laughed, large hands clapping together. "If you want to see not fine, then you should go and take a look at the two of them." Robert's satisfied broad grin was aimed at the door where Sam and Nate were trapped. Still banging on the heavy metal from the other side, shouting at the top of their lungs. "Mind you, I am nowhere close to finished with them. By the time I am, they will be begging me to kill them."
"I don't understand." Despite his well-put-together demeanor in his perfectly tailored dark three-piece suit, John was looking more and more disheveled. "You are not making any kind of sense, Robert. Please, make fucking sense. And for fucksake, what is that noise I keep hearing?"
There was a faint hard to identify creaking noise coming from an unknown source.
"I don't know. Same as I don't know why you dragged your nosey sour face," Robert's posture straightened, making his tall form tower even further over his brother. "In here to harass me with all of these questions."
"Harass?" John was over a head shorter than his brother, not nearly as wide, but just as irritated when he got up close in Robert's personal space. "You-"
"You said you needed to stop by and saw my truck. What did you stop by for?"
"I came to look for papa's tallit. I haven't been able to reach Naddy to ask her where exactly it is. I checked the guest house she uses but couldn't find it. I figured she wouldn't mind if I came and-"
"Shame on you, Bandile." Robert clicked his tongue, bald head shaking. "Coming to steal from your own baby sister."
"I wasn't going to steal." John had the most indignant expression plastered across his face. "I was going to borrow. She's obviously not using it. Besides, I'm not the one at Naddy's office making messes and assaulting random people. Instead of, oh, I don't know, calling your fucking husband."
The side of Robert's eye and upper lip twitched. "Henry's perfectly safe at your house. And these aren't random people, well outside of her." He glanced at Chloe. "I have no idea who she is."
"Then why have you been fighting her?"
"John," Robert's tone was close to that of a parent preparing to explain the same concept to a child for the millionth time. "You need to get your ears checked. Did you not hear when I said she hit me with a chair?"
Chloe couldn't help it, she started laughing.
Getting kidnapped attempting to save her partner from the same fate was bad enough. Getting tossed around because of Sam was easily insult on top of injury. Added on top of being tied up by her partner's brother, while another looked on. Both with matching confused stares. All while their sister was nowhere to be found. Apart from banging her head on a wall, laughing felt like the only appropriate response.
"Christ." Chloe wished she could wipe away the tears streaming down her face. "You Ross's really are something else."
Both brothers stared at Chloe, then back at one another.
"Eish, Robert." John said. "How hard did you hit her?"
"How hard did Robert hit who?"
Chloe's laughter was cut short as the pair of brothers shared a terrified look. Slowly, the trio turned their attention to the figure looming in the doorway.
Easily the shortest person in the room, the imposing aura of the small-framed woman brought everything to a tense still. If John looked enough like Nadine to pass as a twin, then the woman in the doorway must have been a copy. Or perhaps Nadine was the duplicate, because the stunning woman in the doorway was obviously older, even if it was hard to tell by exactly how much. Dressed simply in a bright floral shirt and dark dress pants, her black hair highlighted with uninterrupted lines of gray was pulled back into a tight bun. With a gorgeous complexion that was several shades darker than her children's; if the jawline wasn't as wide, her facial shape would have been almost an exact match to Nadine's. The calculating narrowed dark brown eyes surveying the room were a very strong match, and clearly the source of the intense gaze all three siblings possessed.
"What," That gaze swept over Robert, before scanning Chloe, and finally settling on John. "Is this foolishness? Johnathan, you said five minutes. Yet I come to use the toilet and find you with your brother." Her eyes snapped back to Robert. "And Lubanzi. I didn't expect to see you here. How nice of you to let us know you were finally coming home."
"Mama," Robert stepped closer to the doorway, but his mother's intensified glare stopped him dead in his tracks. "Okay. I know how this looks..." He glanced around the trashed room. "Bad. But I can explain…"
Flecks of debris trickled down, delicately landing on a dead guards smashed in face.
"It's not as bad as it looks." The grin Robert tried to produce did not stay in place long.
"Go on," Nadine's mother had an accent that was much thicker than her daughter's and getting more prominent with every passing word. "Explain to me why you are once again where you have no business."
"This is too my business." Robert's voice raised.
"Oh, is it?" A slow tilt of the head, a twitch of the lips, made both brothers flinch. "Because the last time I checked, Shoreline," Nadine's mother took a step forward and her sons took two back. "Is your sister's problem. Not yours."
"This is not about Shoreline!"
Catherine's narrowed eyes managed to get a little smaller. "Who do you think you are raising your voice at?"
"I'm sorry." Robert's hulking form deflated, tone much lower when he spoke again. "I think that something has happened to Naddy"
"What?" John's hand, which had been massaging his temples, dropped.
Their mother looked irritated. "Robert, I'm sure that your sister is fine. She is always fine."
"No," Robert shook his head. "I think...I think there's a chance that she's been killed."
"What is wrong with you?" John immediately got in his brother's face and shoved him.
Robert barely budged.
"Why would you say something like that? All these months away and you have the audacity to come home speaking such nonsense."
Robert brushed past his brother to get closer to their mother. "After John deserted me-"
John looked even more pissed off. "I-"
"-I ended up," Robert seemed to think about it for a moment. "I ended up at this bar. Pretty popular with mercenaries looking for work. Lot of people were talking about Shoreline. About how its leader was presumably dead. Killed by this pair of brothers called Nathan and Samuel Drake."
John shook his head. "I've never even heard of these guys, but you think they managed to kill our sister?" He laughed. "Didn't you tell me you were playing around with them earlier? Playing. But they killed our Naddy?"
Robert whirled around on John. "What reason would I ever have to lie about something like this?"
John had no response.
"That's the reason I called you," Robert faced his mother again. "And you. To see if anyone had heard from her. When no one said they had and I heard Shoreline was back home, I decided to come to her new compound and investigate. Saw no sign of Naddy and when I tried to get in, some idiots tried to attack me. After I took care of them, I overheard some other traitors talking about how both asshole Drake brothers were supposed to be getting brought over. So I took a chance and let," He gestured at the dead bodies on the floor. "Some of this pathetic lot drag me in. But it paid off because they both showed up and as far as I can tell, the last people to see Nadine are those two assholes."
"Actually love," Chloe cleared her throat, becoming the target of three very intense and disgruntled stares. "Think that would be me."
Nadine's mother moved in closer, both sons flanking behind her. "And you are?"
"Chloe Frazer." Chloe put forth her most charming grin. "Lovely to meet you."
"Catherine Radebe." Catherine didn't appear to fully share the sentiment.
"Sorry, I'd offer my hand, but your eldest decided to tie me up."
"Sorry. I'd show more concern, except I am far more concerned about what you just said. Would you care to elaborate?"
Judging from the intense stares coming her way, Chloe didn't think she had any other reasonable option except to elaborate. "You were talking about someone."
"Mmm." Catherine's rigid gaze did not falter.
"Nadine." Chloe waited for a reaction, but there was none. "Nadine Ross. I know her. We've been working together."
"You're a mercenary?" John asked.
Robert chuckled. "That would explain a few things."
Catherine motioned for both of her sons to quiet down. "You claim you've seen Nadine recently?"
"I have."
"Eish. Come on," Robert took a step forward but was quickly pinned back in place by his mother's glare. "Mama, we don't even know her. She's probably lying to try and save her ass. What proof does she even have?"
"My phone." Chloe hoped it still had some power left. "I took some photos recently."
"Alright," Catherine seemed willing to bite. "May I see for myself?"
"Help yourself, love. Back right pocket." Chloe shifted to allow Nadine's mother to pull out her phone.
Catherine slipped on a pair of gold-framed glasses. "Oh," Her eyes squinted as she held the phone away from her face. "This phone isn't like mine." She looked down at Chloe over her frames. "How do I find the pictures?"
"Not a problem," Chloe grinned, a bit tickled even if she probably should have been fearing for her life a little more. "You're looking for an app right below the camera icon."
"This one?" Catherine showed Chloe the phone for confirmation.
"That's the one. Last photo should come right up."
Catherine's face scrunched as she brought the phone closer to look at the last photo Chloe had taken. Her eyes shifted from the phone to Chloe, then back to the phone, face unreadable. "May I ask when exactly this was taken?"
"Afraid I'm a bit foggy on my dates at the moment. Maybe yesterday or the day before? You could always check the photo information."
"No." Catherine's eyes closed briefly as she chuckled, then looked back at Chloe. "No, I do not think that particular headache will be necessary." She pointed back at Robert and John. "May I show this to them?"
"Help yourself."
"Over here Lubanzi. You too, Bandile. Come." Catherine waved over her sons and held out the phone. "Come and see who it seems you have had the misfortune of deciding to rough and tie up."
Robert took the phone as John stepped closer to get a better look.
It was John who spoke first. "Oh."
Catherine nodded slowly, a dangerous small smile slowly spreading. "Oh."
Robert handed the phone back, head hung. "Eish."
"Eish?" Catherine laughed, but she didn't seem all that amused. "Is that all you have to say, Robert? What about your proof? You asked for it," She gestured at Chloe. "This young lady has provided hers. What about you? What have you got?"
"Mama, I swear," Robert's hands slowly crept into the air as if begging to be allowed to surrender. "I heard from multiple people. All of it was along the same lines, they heard-"
John groaned.
"They heard?" Catherine's thumb massaged the scrunched flesh gathering between her brows.
Robert winced. "A good bit of it sounded credible."
"Eish Robert." John ran a hand over his head, pulling his curls loose as he moved further from his brother.
"Listen," Robert said. "It was nearly the same story every time. Naddy went on some fucking island and didn't come back off. The Shoreline men I managed to get my hands on all said the same thing."
"Robert, why didn't you just call Naddy?" John asked.
"You think I didn't?" Robert snapped. "I called her more times than I can count. Nothing."
Catherine rubbed her temples. "I talked to your sister not even four weeks ago."
Robert's sullen face disintegrated even further. "But you said you hadn't."
"Because your sister, like you, is stubborn. Insisted after we talked that I not tell anyone I'd heard from her."
"Now, mama," Robert's hulking form looked prime to make a run for it. "I know you might be a little upset-"
"You wish I was simply upset with you, Lubanzi. No, I am furious. And no," Catherine took a step closer to her eldest child. "It is not because you couldn't pick up a phone and let your family know you were okay. Nor is it…" Her tone lowered further. "Because you had the audacity to hang up in my face when I tried to ask where you were."
"Mama, I-"
"No. It is the fact that you legitimately believed that something had happened to your baby sister and yet you said nothing. To anyone. Not one damn word."
"I didn't want to believe it." Robert's head sunk until his chin almost hit his wide chest. "I thought I could find Naddy and everything would be okay. Then I could say something."
"Well, everything is certainly not okay." Catherine walked back over and placed Chloe's phone in her lap. "Do you know where Nadine is now?"
"I don't." But Chloe wished more than anything that she did. "I'm still not even completely sure how I ended up here. Last time I saw her was right before I got tossed into a van. I thought she'd been tossed in prior."
"Where were you and Nadine before?"
"We were in India. And by now, I'm almost certain that is no longer the case."
"You would be correct. Welcome to Johannesburg." Catherine folded her arms in front of her, eyes on her sons. "Right now, the most important thing is verifying that Thandi is in one piece. Given who it is, I have every confidence that she is fine. In which case, good luck to the both of you." She smirked, the amusement in her dark eyes blatant. "Trying to explain this mess to your baby sister."
Robert and John shared a terrified look, but it was Robert who spoke first.
"Ja, mama. Maybe you could talk to her."
"I will do no such thing. But maybe if you hurry and let your sister's girlfriend loose, she can put in a good word for you."
"Girlfriend?" Chloe's voice was so light and airy that no one seemed to hear her.
Robert's head fell back as he groaned. Then he slapped John on the back hard enough that Chloe's own back twinged in sympathy. "You heard your mother. Go let the girl loose."
"I'm not the one who tied her up-" Part of John's chest lit up as his phone rang. "One moment." He opened his suit jacket, pulled out his phone, and smiled a little as he pressed it to his ear. "Ja. Hello, beautiful. I know I should be home by now. I had to stop and," His eyes drifted in Robert's direction. "Check on something. But I'll be home soon. Do you need any-Hannah!"
"What is wrong, Johnathan?" Catherine eyed her younger son.
John's arm dropped, eyes wide and enraged. "Hannah hung up. Said someone was attacking the house."
"What?" Robert snapped. "Who would be stupid enough to attack your house?"
The only audible answer was the sound of the ceiling caving in.
Notes:
I'd love to hear what people think is coming up next. Also, want to let everyone know that beta reading is still open for chapter 4. So we are all on the same page. My beta readers are given early access to designated chapters in order to give me their thoughts on the content. My beta chapters are usually the same content-wise as the version that is published. Thus, my lovely beta readers essentially read chapters earlier than anyone else. While I get feedback, that helps get chapters out faster.
Please note beta chapters ARE NOT ready to be published. Meaning they are not polished and may have some noticeable issues. You DO NOT have to correct those issues. If you would like to point out any issues that you come across, then that's fine. The main thing that I'm looking for is reader feedback. If you might be interested, then please hit up my bio. Either way, I appreciate your time. And of course, I sincerely hope that you have the day you very much deserve.
