This Game Called Life (Kingdom Book 4) (8 page)

BOOK: This Game Called Life (Kingdom Book 4)
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With his back to
the door, Jason concealed his frustration towards the whole situation. He would
ask his questions although he felt fairly sure answers were not going to be
forthcoming. Jason knew if Saunders and his sidekick refused to answer his
questions, he would find another way to get whatever information they held. The
direct approach was just the most expedient, not the only route.

“What’s going on
here?” For a split second, Jason wanted to pull back the abrupt question and
start over. Then he realized, he didn’t care how he sounded. They could reveal
what they knew or not, but by the end of the day he would know exactly what had
gone down.

It had taken these
men hours to notify him about Aviva’s accident, and he wasn’t about to cut them
any slack. His soft approach in the room had been for Aviva’s benefit. A closed
door now stood between them, and he had every intention of keeping it real.

“Sir, this is a
police matter. All you need to know is that we
will
be speaking to your
wife again. ”

Jason had done his
best to ignore Saunders, but there was something about his demeanor that
rankled.

“Why?” By now
Jason was only holding on to his temper by a thread.

“Why, what?!”
Saunders snapped.

Taking the time to
look Saunders up and down, Jason realized the man had a problem with him. As he
knew they had never met, the reason for his attitude eluded him. The
detective’s animosity could be the fallout from their earlier conversation, but
Jason sensed there was something else at play.

“You obviously
have a problem, maybe it’s mental,” Jason said with a disdainful shake of his
head. “I don’t know, nor do I care. The only thing I know, and you need to
understand is; when it comes to that woman lying in that bed, the same woman it
took someone over two hours to notify me had been involved in an accident; I am
in complete control. Therefore, I’m telling you now; that conversation was the
last time you will ever speak to my wife!” Throughout his tirade, Jason’s voice
had turned to ice, and by all appearances the detective’s anger was on a par
with his own.

“Let’s get this
straight; you Kingdoms do not run New York City!” Saunders came back at him,
giving a small insight into the reason for his hostility.

“You’re right, the
Kingdoms don’t run New York City, but we could if that were our mind-set.”
Jason’s words were deliberately spoken to anger the man even further, and it
worked. Not waiting for a response to their non-productive conversation, he
turned his back and re-entered the room, dismissing the detectives.

 

Chapter 12

Standing by the
side of Aviva’s bed, Jason looked down at his wife, who was giving a poor
performance of feigning sleep.

Taking his time,
he looked her over, and his heart began to pound. There was nothing about this
woman that he didn’t love. That she had been involved in an accident that was
serious enough to land her in the hospital made his blood run cold.

Perching on the
side of the bed, Jason took one of her hands, opened her palm and placed a
lingering kiss against the faint scar that remained from her ordeal of months
ago.

If she wanted to
pretend she was asleep, that was fine with him. He just wondered how long it
would take to elicit a response from her. Bending over, he first placed soft
kisses against her closed eyelids. For his trouble, he only received a slight
flutter of her lashes. Holding back a grin, he continued. Next he kissed the
bump on her forehead before moving on to her cheeks, first one side and then
the next. Still nothing apart from a very slight increase in her breathing.

Jason found that
he was enjoying his little wife’s attempts at ignoring him. Her response left
him no choice other than to go in for the kill. Ensuring his lips never broke
contact her skin, Jason ran them up her jaw-line, giving her every indication
as to where he was heading. Still nothing. He had to admit it; she was good,
but he was better.

When he reached
his final destination, her neck, for one brief moment he swirled his tongue
against her skin, then sucked gently. Within seconds, he moved on, heading for the
small indentation just below her earlobe. A whirl of his tongue followed by a
small nip had his wife squirming on the bed.

“You are so easy!”
Jason said with a bark of laughter, looking into the eyes of a wide awake
Aviva.

“Whatever, Jason!”

Aviva’s petulant
response and the roll of her eyes produced even more laughter from Jason. In an
instant, all traces of his amusement were gone. Holding Aviva’s stare, thoughts
of the accident that had landed her in the hospital assailed him. The whole
incident could have been so much worse.

“You know how much
I love you, right?”

“I know, I love
you too.”

“How do you feel?”

“I feel fine,
please don’t worry about me,” Aviva said, brushing the back of her fingers
against his face.

Closing his eyes,
Jason allowed her touch to seep into him. Unable to stop himself, his head
abruptly descended and his lips took possession of hers. There was no lead up
to the kiss. From the first touch, it was filled with a demand that she
responded to. He needed to prove to himself that her words of assurance were
the truth. That apart from the bump on her head she was going to be fine.

As their tongues
stroked against each other’s, Jason wanted nothing more than to enfold her in
his arms, but even as his blind emotions threatened to overtake him, his mind
acknowledged that he needed to be careful with her. She might not want to voice
it, probably for his benefit, but she had been through an ordeal.

Pulling back,
Jason kept his eyes closed as he brought his cheek to rest against Aviva’s, and
whispered into her ear. “You are my world, and I’m sorry this happened to you.
That you were hurt breaks my heart, my angel.”

Reiterating that
she was fine, Aviva took Jason’s head between her hands and smiled. He knew her
actions were her way of giving weight to her assurance that she would be fine.
In the back of his mind, he knew there was more to the story than she had told
the police. The time had come for her to stop the pretense and fill him in on
all the details. He just hoped that when she was finished telling him the
truth, his past wouldn’t inadvertently be the cause of her accident.

“Are you ready to
tell me what really happened?” Jason saw that his question didn’t come as a
surprise to her, she appeared to have been waiting for it. Her feigned sleep
had been her attempt at delaying the inevitable.

“Just remember this
has nothing to do with you,” Aviva warned.

Her reluctance to
begin spoke volumes to Jason. That she was attempting to lighten a blow alerted
him to the fact that he wasn’t going to like whatever she had to say.

“Tell me.”

For a little while
longer, Aviva held eye contact with him before she looked down at her hands
that had subconsciously begun to pluck at the bedding.

“I was driving
along and I noticed there was an SUV behind me. At first I thought nothing of
it. It was your birthday, and I was looking forward to dinner. When the car
repeatedly started to speed up and fall back, I became worried.

The next thing I
knew the headlights were turned on at full beam, and the SUV was coming at me,
fast. I didn’t have much time to react before it hit me really hard from
behind.”

From the moment
she mentioned the SUV, Jason’s heart rate increased. He reached out and turned
her face towards him, his gaze intense. Casting him a surreptitious glance
Jason knew she was aware that he was furious. Letting go of her face, his hands
fisted in an attempt to hold in his anger.

“Go on, Angel.”

“When I felt the
first contact, I sped up. It was funny, but there was nobody else on the road.
That’s when I realized what was going on. The SUV had fallen back every time
another vehicle came into view. They were just waiting for the right moment, I
guess.

Then the car came
alongside me and rammed me so hard I lost control. Before I could get my
thoughts together, I was heading for some trees. My next conscious awareness
was when I woke up in this bed.”

At the cessation
of her summary of the accident, Jason rose from beside her and strolled over to
the window. He had no interest in what was going on outside; turning his back to
Aviva was his attempt at hiding the rage that emanated from every muscle in his
body. It was as he had feared. The accident had something to do with him and
his past life. What that something was, he didn’t yet know, but he would find
out. In the meantime he again wondered, when people were going to learn that
they should not fuck with his wife!

 

Chapter 13

Noon had come and gone.
By the time 4:00 pm rolled around, MacKenzie was losing her mind. She had begun
calling Carlos at 1:30, and he had yet to answer either his home or mobile
phones.

Taking matters
into her own hands, she left her home at around 4:30 and walked to the nearest
A.T.M. There she withdrew three hundred dollars. Then she hailed a cab and sat
through a hellish drive to Carlos’ house. When she arrived at his home, she
rang the intercom at the gate for a full fifteen minutes to no avail. Frantic
with worry, MacKenzie thought about climbing over the wall, but the seven foot
structure that surrounded his property was beyond her.

With tears streaming
down her face, she got back into the cab and did her best to ignore the
sympathetic glances she received from the driver as they drove away. When the
taxi came to a stop, MacKenzie pulled out her cell, dialed a number and waited.

“Hey, Kenzie.”

“He took my baby,
Vee!”

“What?! Who took
your baby?”

“Carlos. He took
her, and now he’s not taking my calls.”

“I’m coming,
Kenzie, hang on, I’m on my way.” MacKenzie could hear the deep rumble of
Jason’s voice in the background as Aviva scrambled around. “I’ll be there in a
little while, hold on.”

There was a short
pause. “MacKenzie, where are you?” The sound of Jason’s voice on the other end
of the line startled her. MacKenzie was still getting used to Jason, and for a
moment she forgot to respond.

“MacKenzie, where
are you!” Jason asked again a little more sharply.

“I’m outside your
house.”

“Are you on foot?”

“No, I’m in a
cab.”

“Stay on the line.
I’m going to open the gates. Hang on honey, we’ll sort this out.”

The fact that
Jason tagged an endearment onto his assurance caused fresh tears to run down
her face. She hadn’t even known that he liked her.

By the time the
cab delivered her to the house, Jason was outside waiting. Opening the door
almost before it came to a stop, he reached in and pulled her out and into his
arms.

“It’s going to be
okay, MacKenzie. Everything is going to be okay,” he said as he gently rubbed
her back.

As Jason led her
inside, MacKenzie gave no thought to paying the cab and failed to notice that
Jason had taken care of the fare. All she could think about was her baby.

Just then her eyes
alighted on Aviva, who stood at the bottom of the stairs with a surgical
dressing on her forehead. Blinking a few times, MacKenzie looked between Jason
and Aviva as though attempting to figure out what she was seeing.

“I thought I told
you to stay in bed?” Jason said pointing at his wife.

Ignoring him,
Aviva came to MacKenzie and hugged her as she whispered, “It’s a long story,
but I’m fine.” In response to her friend’s silent enquiry.

As though by magic,
MacKenzie found herself standing in the Kingdom family room surrounded by the
Kingdom men.

Numb, she could
only watch as Jake gently moved Aviva out of the way and took her face between
his hands. With tender care, he brushed away her tears even as more fell to
take their place.

“What’s happened,
Lovely? Tell me what’s wrong.”

The gentleness of
his tone was her undoing. Up until that point her tears had been silent. Now
they gushed forwards with such heart-wrenching sobs that Jake immediately
pulled her into a tight embrace.

**********

As he held her,
Jake did his best to absorb the tremors that came from deep within her body.
Looking over at Jason, he couldn’t help but be a little perturbed that his
investigation of the sounds coming from the hallway had found MacKenzie taking
solace from his twin. He knew he was being irrational, and in all likeliness
she had reached out to Aviva rather than Jason in her distress. That she hadn’t
thought to call him first, hurt Jake more than he was willing to admit.

“I... I can’t find
my baby. I can’t find Carlos, and I can’t find my baby, Jake,” MacKenzie
sobbed, her face buried against his chest.

“It’s okay,
lovely. Everything is going to be okay.” A slight motion of his head received a
nod from Josh as he exited the room. Jake knew his younger brother would
understand what he had silently asked him to do. They needed to check with the
hospitals to make sure Carlos hadn’t been involved in an accident.

As Jake held her,
he became aware that the front of his shirt was soaked, but needing answers, he
eased MacKenzie away from him and looked down at her. His arms still around
her, his silent contemplation finally caught MacKenzie’s attention.

“Oh God, look what
I’ve done to you!” MacKenzie said as she attempted to brush away the wet patch
she had created, her agitation growing by the second. “Oh, God, look at your
shirt. I’ve ruined it. I’m so sorry, look what I’ve done. I didn’t mean to do
it.”

“It’s only a shirt
MacKenzie, don’t worry about it.” Even as he tried to assure her, Jake knew she
wasn’t really troubled by the inconsequential stains her tears had caused to
his shirt.

“It doesn’t
matter, MacKenzie. The shirt doesn’t matter,” Jake repeated, but she didn’t
seem to hear him.

Somehow Aviva was
beside them. “It’s okay Kenzie, don’t worry. Come with me.” Pulling her away
from Jake, Aviva led an un-protesting MacKenzie from the room.

Once the women
were out of the room, Jake pulled off the shirt MacKenzie had soaked, and threw
it onto a nearby chair. Giving no thought to his naked chest, he looked between
his father and twin; the questions reflected in his eyes quickly read by them
both.

Jackson was the
first to speak. “We’re not even going to put the possibility into the ether.
Until Josh gets back, our assumption will be that this Carlos person is playing
some form of monumentally sick game!”

Neither of his
sons questioned his dictates. Carlos deliberately keeping Noelle away from her
mother was something he could deal with. The possibility of Carlos and the baby
being in an accident were something he wasn’t ready to contemplate.

As luck would have
it, Josh re-entered the room before MacKenzie and Aviva made a reappearance.

“I checked all the
hospitals within a fifty mile radius. Nothing, no report of an accident
involving a six-month-old baby.”

“Thank God for
that!” Jackson said. “That leaves us with this Carlos character either
overstepping the mark or being so wrapped up in his daughter that he’s lost
track of time.” The sarcasm dripping from his voice elicited varying sounds of
scorn from his sons.

“How do you want
to play this, Jake?” Jason asked, an undeniable look of anger on his face.

“Let’s try not to
jump to too many conclusions. Let’s just wait for MacKenzie, maybe she’ll
remember something that will shed light on Carlos’ behavior,” was Jake’s reply.

They didn’t have
long to wait before the women re-entered the room. Her distress still apparent,
MacKenzie refused to look in any direction other than the floor. Jake knew she
was probably embarrassed at her emotional outburst, and refused to allow her to
dwell on that thought. Making his way to her, he gave no thought to the fact
that he had removed his shirt and that his bare chest only served as a reminder
to her discomfort.

“Put this on,
Jake,” Aviva said, tossing him one of Jason’s endless supply of t-shirts.

Catching it in
mid-air, Jake eyes only lost contact with MacKenzie’s face for the brief moment
it took him to pull the shirt over his head.

“MacKenzie, this
is an overused statement, but try not to worry. I know you probably don’t want
to admit that you’ve been thinking about the possibility of an accident, but we
have, and...”

“Don’t you dare
say that, Jacob Kingdom, don’t you even think it!” MacKenzie cried.

“I have thought
about it and I’m going to tell you what I know–”

“Jake!” Aviva
intervened on her friend’s behalf.

“It’s okay, Angel.
Let him finish,” Jason assured his wife.

Giving Jason a
speculative look, Aviva withheld further comment and gave Jake the benefit of
the doubt.

“We checked all
the hospitals within a fifty mile radius. Noelle has not been admitted, so put
that thought out of your mind.”

Jake saw MacKenzie
deflate as the full impact of his words hit her. He knew she had been worrying
about this possibility but had refused to give voice to it.

“Are you sure?”
Came the almost inaudible question.

“We checked,
MacKenzie, she’s not there.” Jake again assured her.

Within seconds, a
change came over MacKenzie and Jake knew she was going to withdraw from them.
She knew something, and whatever it was, she was unwilling to share it with his
family.

“I’m so sorry that
I came running over here. Mr. Kingdom, I apologize for disrupting your
household this late at night.” Spinning around as though confused at who to
look at first, MacKenzie took in each member of the Kingdom clan, color rising
in her face. “I should go. Thank you all again.”

Heading her off as
she made her way to the door, Jake blocked her path. “I’ll wait with you while
Josh calls you a cab. The others were just leaving.”

None of his family
questioned him. It was as though they all instinctively knew he wouldn’t allow
her to leave the house. As his brothers and father passed her by, they each
stopped to show some form of support and comfort. From Jackson and Josh there
was a squeeze of her hand. Jason bent over and gave her a light kiss on the
cheek. From Aviva, there was an embrace and whispered words meant only for
MacKenzie.

When only the two
of them remained, Jake didn’t give her time to withdraw further. “See no
disruption, only concern for you and the baby.”

“I don’t
understand why he’s doing this,” MacKenzie said, fresh tears gathering in her
eyes.

“I don’t either,
MacKenzie, but I will get to the bottom of this, I promise. In the meantime, I
need you to tell me if anything unusual happened yesterday.”

Taking her limp,
cold hand, Jake pulled an unresisting MacKenzie towards the sofa and helped her
to take a seat. Deciding to give her time to compose herself, he made his way
to the bar and filled a glass with water. Her face stilled held a distracted
look; so Jake took her hand and wrapped it around the glass.

“Drink this and
then tell me everything. It doesn’t matter how inconsequential you think it,
don’t leave anything out.”

Raising the glass
to her lips, Mackenzie drank until it was empty.

“Another?” Jake questioned
with a nod in the direction of the glass.

“Yes please,”
MacKenzie said, holding it out to him.

With a second
glass filled and deposited, Jake sat down beside her. “Talk to me, tell me what’s
going on, and I’ll do whatever’s needed to help.”

The sincerity of
his words had the desired effect. Within minutes, MacKenzie had relayed the
somewhat peculiar conversation she and Carlos had shared before his departure.

Jake knew pieces
of the puzzle were missing. However, he was almost certain she wasn’t the one
who could put all the pieces into their rightful place. Carlos was playing a
game. That he was prepared to use their child as a means of gaining the upper
hand was distasteful to Jake.

 “Is it usual for
him to take the baby for overnight visits?”

“No, this is the
first time she’s spent the night with him.”

“Did you ask him
to take her, or did he volunteer?”

“He volunteered
when I told him I was going to ask my sister to babysit.”

“Did he know where
you were going and who you were having dinner with?”

“He knew that I
was having dinner with you guys, but I didn’t tell him where we were going.
What are you getting at?”

“I’m not getting
at anything,” Jake said ensuring his face showed nothing of his thoughts as he
recalled the feeling of being watched the night before. “I’m just trying to
understand what could be going on with Carlos.”

“He can’t keep
her!”

“No, he can’t,”
Jake agreed, recognizing a cry for help when he heard one.

“I know he’s her
father, and I want them to have a relationship, so I’m going to give him the
benefit of the doubt,” MacKenzie said with a sharp nod; as though attempting to
convince herself of her words.

“That’s a good
idea. We know Noelle is okay, so as soon as we locate Carlos, we’ll go and get
her.” Jake hoped his tone was reassuring and hid his deep rooted fury. He found
it impossible to fathom why Carlos would do something he knew would obviously
distress his child’s mother.

“Thank you for all
that you’ve done but this isn’t your concern. If you call me that cab now; I’ll
get out of here and allow you to get on with your evening.”

The smile
MacKenzie offered cut through Jake and lodged in his heart. The foolish woman
actually thought that he would allow her to leave and go through her vigil
alone. The idea was of course, out of the question. His only dilemma was how to
ensure she remain exactly where she was.

BOOK: This Game Called Life (Kingdom Book 4)
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