by Carl Weber
At this point, she didn’t trust Patrice anymore, especially not after she’d seen her throwing herself at Kasen in his office. Voncile hadn’t been able to get that scene out of her mind. As far as she was concerned, Patrice was a traitorous bitch trying to steal her man. Once Voncile had gotten what she needed out of her, she would make her pay for her disloyalty.
Thinking angrily about the mess she was in, Voncile swerved in and out of traffic. She was on her way to Patrice’s house, driving recklessly. She hammered the horn when a female driver cut in front of her to get into the left turn lane. Voncile caught up with the woman at the red light and honked the horn to get the ghetto fabulous woman’s attention.
She lowered the driver’s side window. The woman lowered her window as well.
“You do know that you almost made me tear up my car back there, don’t you?”
“Should’ve, would’ve, could’ve. I didn’t, so what’s the big damn deal?” the woman spat back.
“The big deal is, you weave-wearing bitch, you need to slow down and watch where the hell your ghetto ass going.”
The woman laughed and shook her head. “Heifer, you don’t know me. I will jump out of this car and beat yo’ crazy-looking ass!”
Crazy, Voncile thought. Did she just call me crazy?
The light turned green and the woman sped away. Voncile decided that if someone wanted to call her crazy, then she would show her just how crazy she could be. She cut off another car and sped up until she was practically on the ghetto chick’s bumper. After a short distance, the other driver looked in her mirror and saw that Voncile was tailing her. She stepped on her brakes, almost causing Voncile to hit her car.
“Shit!” Voncile yelled out. “This bitch ain’t no joke!” She let her foot off the gas a little to fall back so she wasn’t so close to the other car.
When she saw that they were approaching another red light, Voncile realized she had a decision to make. She could either jump out of her car and beat this woman’s ass—and risk being arrested for it—or she could carry herself over to Patrice’s and take care of the drama over there. Deciding that her relationship with Kasen was the most important thing, she knew she had to go check on Patrice and Raine.
At the traffic light, she pulled up next to the other car, held up her middle finger, and screamed, “It’s your lucky day, bitch! But if I ever see you again, trust that I will whip your ass!” With that, she stepped on the gas and ran through the red light, continuing on her way to Patrice’s house.
As she drove, Voncile snatched her cell phone from the seat, trying to keep her eyes on the road as she called Patrice. She was frustrated when her voice mail came on. Putting as much sugar in her voice as her foul mood would allow, Voncile left a message.
“Girl, where are you? I hope you’re not still mad at me, are you? I’m on my way there to give you your money, okay? Don’t be mad. Love ya.”
Voncile was willing to say and do anything to keep Patrice on board with her plans. She’d thought about how much damage Patrice could do, and the truth was that Patrice could ruin everything. Voncile needed Raine and that baby to stay healthy, and she needed Patrice to help her with that. She didn’t trust herself to keep Raine at her own house anymore. She hated that bitch so much that she knew she was capable of snapping and killing Raine before she even delivered the baby. Now that Kasen thought she was pregnant, Voncile needed that baby like she needed air to breathe.
Minutes later, Voncile drove though the wide gates at Patrice’s house, drove down the long driveway, and parked her car. She had managed to calm her rattled nerves, a little, but when Patrice didn’t open the door, Voncile caught an attitude. She pounded the door with her fist, rattling the glass panes.
“It’s me, Patrice. Come open the godda—” She paused, remembering that she had to play nice so they could soon reconcile their differences. “Open the door, please. We need to talk.”
Patrice didn’t come to the door, but when Voncile reached for the knob, she discovered that it was unlocked. She would have to talk to Patrice later about being so damn careless. She walked inside and called out to Patrice but got no answer.
“Yo, where are you? I got your message, and I’m sorry about what happened between us.” Voncile stepped through the living room and then checked the kitchen, but Patrice wasn’t in either place. The house was still quiet.
Voncile was starting to feel slightly uneasy as she headed up the stairs. “Look. I was just mad, okay? You know I’m gonna give you all of your money. I may even throw in an extra grand because you’ve done everything I asked of you.”
It wasn’t until Voncile reached the top stair, when she looked to her right and saw the door to Raine’s room wide open, that she really began to panic. Her heart raced as she rushed toward the door. Inside the room, she saw Patrice holding her head, struggling to get off the floor. A stream of dried blood covered the side of her head where there was a nasty gash. She was down on one knee, squinting to look at Voncile through blurred vision.
Voncile let out a scream when she looked over and realized that Raine’s bed was empty. “Where did she goooooo? Is she gone?”
Patrice could only moan in response.
Voncile felt the rage bubbling up within her like a volcano about to erupt. The baby Voncile had planned to pass of as hers was gone; that meant someone had to pay. She charged forward, gripping her hands around Patrice’s throat.
“How the fuck did you let her get away?”
The gurgling sound Patrice made was an indication that she couldn’t speak clearly. Voncile released her tight grip, shoving Patrice back on the floor.
“I can’t believe this,” Voncile shouted at the top of her lungs. “After all my time and effort, you let her get away!” She stood in the middle of the floor with her fists squeezed so tight that her nails pinched her skin. Her face was bright red, and her eyes flared with the fire that was consuming her soul. Her whole body vibrated as she hollered about the loss of her baby.
“Why did you let him get away from me? You let that bitch take him from me, and I will never get to see him again!”
Patrice was on her hands and knees as she witnessed Voncile become completely unhinged. “I’m sorry,” she uttered weakly.
“Sorry?” Voncile said, jerking her head to the side. “A child should always be with his mother, no matter what! You let her get away with my child, so take that sorry and shove it up your ass!” Voncile reached to her left, picking up a heavy ceramic lamp. With gritted teeth, she raised it up high then smashed it in the center of Patrice’s forehead.
Blood splattered in every direction as Patrice collapsed to the floor again. Patrice’s body lay motionless, but that wasn’t enough to satisfy Voncile.
“Take that and go straight to hell, you bitch!” she screamed as she raised the lamp again and bashed it into Patrice’s skull repeatedly. Within a few minutes, Patrice’s face wasn’t even recognizable.
Voncile tossed the lamp aside then wiped her hands on her pants. “How about that?” she said, spitting on Patrice. “You’re good now, aren’t you?” She rolled her head around on her neck, feeling a little better now that she had released some of her frustration.
“Now let me go find my baby,” she said as she darted out the door.
Chapter 25
Kasen was so uneasy about what he’d seen at Voncile’s place that he decided to drive to the police station to talk to someone about his concerns. He had tried to tell himself that Voncile was the same person he’d always thought she was when he hired her—a good person—but he couldn’t ignore the fact that his friend’s phone was in her basement. How did it get there? Then there was the word HELP scrawled in that room, the cut-up photographs of him, the general sense of creepiness he got from being in her basement.... The list went on and on, until he knew he had no choice but to report it to the police.
Kasen walked into the police station with one hand in his pocket, the other swinging by his side. The hefty w
hite officer behind the counter glanced at the well-dressed black man with jealousy in his eyes. When Kasen approached the counter, the officer held up one finger.
“I’ll be with you in a sec.” He pointed to several chairs against the wall, where three other people sat waiting. “Have a seat over there.”
Kasen cleared his achy throat. “I don’t want to be rude, but this is urgent. Is there someone else on duty I can speak to about a missing person?”
The officer stared at Kasen for a few seconds, irritated by the uppity man. “No one gets special treatment around here. Go sit, be a good boy, and I’ll call you in a minute.”
Kasen wanted to fire back, but he’d been taught for as long as he could remember not to say or do anything to provoke a police officer. Today was no exception, especially since he was in dire need of help, so he obeyed the officer and took a seat in one of the chairs. He watched as the officer did basically nothing, opening and closing drawers until he found a pack of gum, then fumbling around with a stack of papers in front of him that he was obviously pretending to read. Minutes later, he picked up a pen and started tapping it on the counter. Not once did he look Kasen’s way.
Finally, Kasen had seen enough. He cleared his throat loudly to get the officer’s attention. When the officer raised his head, Kasen pointed to his watch, implying that the clock was ticking. With a smirk on his face, the officer smacked his gum then hollered for another officer to come up front.
“Someone here needs to speak to you,” he said. “He says it’s important.”
The officer who was called upon stepped forward, but when Kasen got up from his chair, he was quickly informed that it was not his turn.
“Not you,” the unprofessional officer said. “The one next to you. He’s been waiting longer than you.”
The young black man next to Kasen stood and whispered, “It’s about time.” He walked by Kasen, leaving him stunned and aggravated.
“This is ridiculous. I have a real emergency, yet I’m being asked to sit my black ass over there and wait? Either you get somebody out here to talk to me right now, or else I’m going to contact my lawyer and start causing a bigger fucking scene!”
All eyes were on Kasen, who represented well for the out-of-control, angry black man. His loud voice garnered attention from the other officers who had been milling around, pretending as if they were preoccupied too.
“What’s going on here?” another officer asked, tugging at his too tight pants. His big belly was on overload, and his hand was inches away from his holster.
Kasen’s eyes shifted to the gun, and he knew it would be wise for him to change his tone. He went back to the counter, ignoring the first officer he’d approached, and spoke to fatso in a much more respectful way.
“I apologize for getting loud, but it’s imperative that I speak to someone now. My girlfriend is missing. She’s just disappeared. I have no idea where she’s at.”
Kasen’s conciliatory tone hadn’t moved the officer who had been giving him trouble, but fatso was willing to listen.
“Step around the counter and follow me back to my office. I can create a missing person’s report for you.”
“Thank you, sir,” Kasen said, feeling relieved. He followed the officer into a messy office that smelled like onions and pickles.
“Sorry about the smell. Just had a double cheeseburger, loaded with the works.”
“No problem. I’m just glad you’re taking the time to do this.”
Kasen took a seat in front of the officer’s desk. The officer moved several papers and folders aside, then placed one piece of paper in front of him. Then he adjusted himself in the chair that was too small for him, reaching out to shake Kasen’s hand.
“My name is Officer Stan Goodson. You are?”
“Dr. Kasen Phillips. Thanks for your time. I really appreciate it.”
Officer Goodson nodded then picked up a pen. “So, tell me about this girlfriend. How long has she been missing?”
Kasen was almost embarrassed to say. He knew that the answer to that question was going to disturb the officer.
“She’s been gone for several days,” he lied.
“Several days? As in three days, a week, two weeks . . . what?”
“Well, see, she left about a month ago because we broke up. Well, technically she broke up with me. She wrote me a letter that said it was over. I haven’t seen her since then, but I know something is wrong.”
Officer Goodson frowned. “Sounds to me that she doesn’t want to be found, especially if she left you a letter calling off the relationship.”
“I know that’s how it sounds, but she would never just up and disappear like that. She hasn’t been answering her phone, and no one at her workplace has seen her.”
Officer Goodson wrote something on the paper. “What’s her name? And give me a description of her. Is she black, white . . . what? Also, about the letter. Did it imply that another man was involved?”
Strike two, Kasen thought. He really didn’t want to mention Raine’s race, nor did he want to reveal what was actually in the note. He did, however, know that it was important for him to be truthful.
“Another man was mentioned, but even though the letter said she was leaving me for him, I’m starting to think that wasn’t possible. We—”
Officer Goodson put up his hand to interrupt Kasen. He had other things to do; this was a waste of his time. “I know it’s hard to let go sometimes, but if a woman doesn’t want to be with you, she doesn’t want to be with you. Move on, and don’t do anything stupid that will put you behind bars for good.”
This was not going well at all. Kasen wiped a hand across his sweaty forehead then cleared his throat. “I assure you that that will never happen. I would never do anything to hurt Raine, and I’m only here because I believe she’s in danger.”
“Do you have proof of that?”
“No, but I have a patient who came in wearing Raine’s bracelet. I gave Raine the bracelet as a special gift. I know for a fact that she wouldn’t give it to anyone.”
“So, your patient had the bracelet? Do you know where she could have gotten it from? Maybe your girlfriend sold it. If she ran away, she could have pawned it.”
Kasen took his own advice that he’d often given to his patients: Count to ten, think of something positive, and calm down.
“Sir, I’m telling you that she didn’t run away. My best friend is also missing, and I found his cell phone in the basement of my secretary’s house. I think there’s some kind of connection.”
Officer Goodson chuckled. “Hell yeah, there is. Your girlfriend took off with your best friend. I can’t say how your secretary fits into all of this, but did she say why she may have had his phone?”
“I haven’t told her yet that I have it. We’re not exactly on the best terms right now,” Kasen answered.
Goodson put down the pen and looked directly into Kasen’s eyes. “You’re not on good terms with her, yet you were in her basement where you found your friend’s phone?” He leaned across the desk toward Kasen and eyed him suspiciously. “Would you mind telling me why you were in her house? I don’t think you’re telling me the whole story here, Dr. Phillips.”
Kasen wouldn’t be able to maintain his composure much longer. The pitch of his voice went up a notch as he tried to defend himself from the officer’s accusation. “Sir, you just don’t understand, or maybe you’re trying not to comprehend what I’m saying to you. I don’t have all of the missing pieces to the puzzle, but I’m sure of one thing: Raine is somewhere in trouble. I need help finding her. Now. Before it’s too late.”
Officer Goodson stood then tugged on his pants again. “Look, people come in here all the time claiming that their loved ones are missing. Nine times out of ten, that is not the case. Now, your girlfriend may be gone, but from the way it sounds, I think you’re getting all worked up for nothing. Nonetheless, I’ll pass this information on to one of our detectives. I’ll ask him to look into it, a
nd then we can go from there.
He slid a slip of paper across the desk and held a pen out to Kasen. “Write your name, address, and phone number down, and a detective will be in touch with you soon, Dr. Phoenix.”
Kasen stood up, refusing to take the pen. “I don’t know who the hell Dr. Phoenix is, but maybe you should go see him so he can help you control your cholesterol intake. As for the detective, forget it. You motherfuckers around here aren’t interested in helping me, and if something tragic happens to Raine, I’m going to come back in here and drill my foot in all of y’all asses.”
Officer Goodson’s bushy brows moved inward. “Was that a threat? If so, we don’t take those lightly around here. Refrain from using such language or you, sir, will be arrested.”
“Good. Maybe my arrest will cause you assholes to utilize those papers y’all been shuffling around. Have a nice day, sir. It is my hope that I won’t have to see you again.”
Kasen shoved the chair away from him and stormed out the door. The gum-smacking officer was still behind the counter, and now there were more individuals sitting impatiently in the chairs.
“What a damn shame,” Kasen said as he walked by the officer on his way out the door.
“What you say, boy? Speak louder. I can’t hear you.”
It took an enormous amount of Kasen’s strength—and good sense—for him to keep it moving. He didn’t reply, nor did he bother to turn around. Being in jail would prevent him from continuing to search for Raine. That was his only mission, and there was no way in hell he was going to give up.
Chapter 26
Kasen returned home, still fuming over his visit to the police station. He couldn’t believe those assholes. Not only was he pissed that they hadn’t taken his report seriously, but they had also treated him with such disrespect that they caused him to step outside his usual calm demeanor. The worst part of it all was that he still needed to speak to a detective somehow, and he had doubts that those cops would even pass the information on. Not sure how to proceed, he put in a call to his attorney.