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 white 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, and 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.
“I don’t care how late it is, just call me back. There’s so much that I need to tell you, and I really need your help,” was the message he left when he got the attorney’s voice mail.
Kasen ended the call, wondering who else he could reach out to. Patrice definitely knew more than she had been willing to admit. Her behavior in his office had been crazy, but she was his only hope at this point, so he decided to call her to see if she would tell him anything else. He went to his home office and checked his online patient files to get her phone number. There were two numbers listed, but after trying to call each one, he discovered that they were both non-working numbers. This just deepened the mystery for him. Who the hell was Patrice really?
Since Voncile handled all patient files, he wondered if she would know why Patrice had provided fake numbers. It didn’t really matter, though, because it wasn’t like he could call Voncile and ask her. After being in her creepy-ass house, he knew he wouldn’t be able to have a normal conversation with her. He wouldn’t be able to hold back from asking about Omar’s phone, and the way she’d been acting lately, she just might call the cops on him for breaking into her house. The last thing Kasen needed was to be arrested on some bullshit charge while Raine was still missing and probably in need of help.
Kasen couldn’t believe the brick walls he’d been running into. He paced the floor, racking his brain for an idea on how to proceed now that everywhere he’d turned wound up being a dead end.
When the doorbell rang, he felt a moment of relief, thinking maybe the fat cop had sent a detective over after all. Then again, what if they were sending someone over to charge him with breaking and entering? He headed to the door nervous, with his stomach in knots. What he saw when he opened the door nearly caused him to collapse from shock.
Raine was standing in front of him with tears rolling down her face, snot dripping from her nose. Her hair was wild and matted, her face appeared swollen, and her clothes were completely disheveled. Her bare feet were so ashy it looked like she had been dancing in flour. She could barely get her dry lips to open, but Kasen didn’t care what she looked like or what she had to say. He snatched her into his arms and held her tightly.
“Oh my God. Baby, where have you been?”
Her body trembled as she sobbed against his chest, unable to speak. Kasen softly rubbed her back, comforting her and also feeling comforted himself by her presence. Until now, he had worried that he would never see her again.
He was so caught up in the moment that he hadn’t noticed the white man parked in a truck in front of his house, watching the whole scene. Now as Kasen looked at him, the man hurried to brush away a tear. Kasen narrowed his eyes at the man as he lifted Raine away from his chest.
“Who is that man?” he asked, angrily recalling her letter that said she was leaving him for another man. Kasen felt totally confused. He loved Raine with all his heart, but he also hated her for leaving him the way she had.
Raine finally found her voice. “That man saved me. He found me on the side of the road outside the house where I was being held. A woman named Patrice—”
“Patrice?” Kasen shouted.
Raine nodded her head, looking at Kasen through wide, frightened eyes.
His anger scared her, but as Kasen started to put the pieces together, his anger wasn’t directed at her. Somewhere in the back of his mind, he was starting to put the pieces together, and his subconscious mind told him that Raine had never left him for another man.
“Tell me how you know Patrice,” he said.
“Your secretary Voncile brought me to her house,” Raine explained. “Voncile kidnapped me.”
Kasen’s whole body felt weak, and he had to sit down on the front steps to keep from falling over. He reached out for Raine’s hand, and she sat down next to him. With his chest heaving, his heart pounding, and tears in his eyes, he said, “Tell me everything.”
As Raine launched into her tragic story about the day she had answered the door at their house to find Kasen’s secretary standing there, the white man in the truck drove away. Now it was just Kasen and Raine alone, trying to make sense of the nightmare that had unfolded to disrupt their lives.
“Kidnapped,” Kasen said incredulously when Raine finished telling him about how she had let Voncile in, was hit over the head, and later woke up to find herself in Voncile’s house. Now he knew for sure who had scratched the word
HELP
into the wall. “I am so sorry this happened to you, baby. I had no idea Voncile was this kind of person.”
Now it was Raine’s turn to be angry. She looked at him with fire in her eyes. “Yeah, I guess you were too busy fucking her to notice what kind of a person she was.”
Kasen opened his mouth to speak, but she shut him down before he even got started.
“Don’t you dare try to deny it, Kasen. She set up a TV in the room where I was being held. I had to watch you having sex with her.” Once the words left her mouth, she was sobbing again because the memory brought back the pain of the betrayal.
Kasen wiped away a tear as it rolled down his cheek. “You’re right. I did it, and I am so sorry for that. I know I made the wrong choice, but I thought you were gone with another man, and I was hurting. I was devastated to think that you left me on the same day that I proposed to you.”
“Why would you think that?” she asked.
“The letter that I found at the house,” he answered. “You said there was another man.”
She shook her head wildly. “There was no other man, and I didn’t write any letter. I just told you what happened that day. Voncile was here.”
As she said the words, everything suddenly made sense to him. “Oh my God. It’s all my fault. She knew I was going to propose to you that day—I told her I was going to buy a ring—and that’s why she kidnapped you. Now it’s so obvious that Voncile wrote that letter. Why didn’t I see all of the signs sooner?” he said, berating himself.
He reached out to hold Raine, feeling relieved when she didn’t push him away. They had been through the worst possible nightmare, and he had betrayed her by sleeping with Voncile, but she wasn’t rejecting him. Kasen had faith that their relationship could be healed.
“Come on,” he said. “Let’s get you inside and clean you up, and then you can tell me the rest of the story. We will have to decide what to do about Voncile, but first I want to make sure you’re okay physically.”
Raine leaned on Kasen as he helped her into the house and filled the bath with soothing jasmine-scented oils for her. As she sat in the tub and he washed her back, Raine started crying again.
“I thought you were never going to come for us, Kasen. I was so scared.”
“Us? Who else was with you?” he asked, then deciding he knew what she meant, he added, “Was Omar there with you? I found his phone in Voncile’s basement.”
This caused Raine to sob loudly. Kasen didn’t know what he’d said that upset her so much, until she finally calmed down enough to say, “Omar is dead. She killed him and threw his body down the basement stairs.”
Kasen felt like someone had just punched him in the gut. His body started shaking as he came to the realization that if Voncile was capable of killing Omar, then she most likely would have killed Raine, too, if she hadn’t escaped.
“Baby, we have to call the police,” he said, certain that they would have to listen to him now.
She nodded sadly, still crying profusely.
“Come on. Let me help you out of the bath,” he said.
As Raine stood up, she put a protective hand over her belly, and that was the first time Kasen noticed that her body had changed. Her once perfectly flat stomach now had a small bump growing.
He looked into Raine’s eyes. “Baby, are you—”
His question was interrupted by the sound of someone pounding at the door.