Chapter 4
Cassius
“Daddy,” Rosie says, running into my room with Mr. Bacon in her arms and Daisy waddling behind her.
“What’s up sweetie?” I ask as I make the bed. I’m tired, no, exhausted. I’ve not slept since Harlow was taken, and I’m barely hanging on by a thread.
“I think the animals are sad. They're missing Uncle Neo. Mr. Bacon won’t even eat his strawberries anymore, and they’re his favorite.”
“I know, but Uncle Neo will be back soon.”
“Why did Mama and Uncle Neo have to both go on vacation at the same time? I miss them,” she pouts.
“I miss them too, baby girl.” I squat down, and kiss her forehead. “But until they get back, we gotta do our best to keep the animals happy. I think you're doing an amazing job with Sam on keeping them fed and clean.”
“It is a lot of fun when Sam helps me.” She smiles.
“How about you put Mr. Bacon outside in Bob's pen, and I’ll make you some pancakes.”
“Okay,” she says. “Come on, Daisy, I’ll sneak you some of Mr. Bacon's strawberries.” Daisy quacks before Rosie runs out of the room and down the hall, the duck following after her like always.
Standing up, I sigh, running a hand down my face.
It’s been almost two weeks. Two weeks of feeling like my world is falling apart. Evie has done everything she can to try and find Harlow. Whoever took her put thought into it though, because conveniently none of the cameras around the restaurant were working. The closest ones that were working were all in busy areas so there's no real way to pinpoint what vehicle had taken Harlow.
My heart is in pieces. My soul is aching for my girl, and I have to slap a smile on my face for everyone because who else is going to keep this family from imploding on itself.
All I really want to do is rip the world apart until Harlow is back in my arms. I’ve lost her once, I can’t lose her again. Rosie can’t lose her.
“Hey,” I say, walking into the kitchen. It’s silent, a tense energy filling the air. Sam sits next to Evie at the island, poking at his food while Axel stares at him with frustrated eyes. I don’t know what happened with those two, but they’ve been distant and weird around each other. Sam can’t seem to look Axel in the eye, and Axel looks like he just wants to shake him. Something tells me it's not just the fact that Harlow is missing.
“Hi,” Evie says in a small voice, forcing a smile on her lips that doesn't reach her eyes. We had to hide the computers from her. It was getting to the point that she was up all the time, mindlessly searching for her. Harlow would kill us if we let anything happen to her, so Sam has been sticking by her side, making sure she eats and sleeps. Poor thing has been waking up screaming every night.
She’s not the only one. I’ve been waking up in cold sweats because of the same nightmare. We find her, we're just about to save her, when her throat gets slit. No matter how much I try to change the outcome of the dream, shealwaysdies.
“So this is what we're gonna do?” Axel snaps. “We’re just gonna sit around the table and act like everything is a oh-fucking-kay!” Sam jumps, and Evie whimpers in response.
Rosie looks up at her uncle with a scared look at his sudden outburst. “Rosie, love, why don’t you go play in your room, and I’ll bring you your pancakes when they’re ready. Here take this for now,” I say, handing her a muffin from the basket on the counter.
“You’re mean!” Rosie yells at Axel, grabbing the muffin and running out of the room.
Axel’s face drops as he stares in the direction Rosie took off in.
“What the fuck was that for?” I sneer at my brother. “How fucking dare you talk like that in front of my daughter.”
“I’m sorry, okay?!” he shouts back, standing up. “But what do you want me to do, put a smile on my face and act like everything is fine? Because it's not.”
“Don’t you think we know that!” Dean snaps back. “Don’t you think we’re all going out of our fucking minds wondering where she is, what’s happening to her? She’s the love of our fucking lives, she’s Queenie for fuck’s sake. But being a dick to everyone isn’t going to fix anything.”
“Stop.” Evie’s broken voice sounds over our fighting. We all look over to see Sam hunched over, leaning into her. “You're scaring him.”
“Shit,” Axel curses in a softer tone. He looks at Sam with wild, concerned eyes. He looks like he wants to go over to him and comfort him, but not like a friend. No, he's looking at him pretty damn similar to how Harlow looks at Evie. I’m not sure if I like that. Not the fact that he has a thing for a guy, but that Harlow isn’t his whole world like she is the rest of ours.
Only it’s not just one of us that holds her heart, it's split into pieces to accommodate everyone.Would Harlow be okay with this? Or would what they have end before it even really started?
I can’t think about that right now though, we have bigger problems to focus on.
“Sam,” I say, my voice going soft like I would when confronting a scared child, because in a way that's how he is. He's younger than us, and he’s suffered so much that it’s left him a shell of himself. He’s a pretty damn strong person, but in a room full of killers yelling at each other, I can see how that might be triggering to him. “We’re sorry. We didn’t mean to startle you.”