Josh’s Pov
I walked out of the room with my head held high, how dare he talk about forgiveness when he could not even say a simple thank you after I saved his pathetic a*s. He was indeed a miserable man who was dying a miserable death from the many tubes I noticed h*oked into his body. He was not worth my time. I needed to talk to my father, he was the only man that could tell every mask associated with a strip club.
I grew up in a house where my mother would complain about his strip club addiction. My mother had reached a point where she had to give up after she was tired of finding tickets from strip clubs. My father was a man who moved from one strip club to the other. But I had no idea where to find him, he was definitely outside the country but I had no idea where to start from. Nestor ran after me and blocked my way.
“Please get out of my way,” I ordered him as I tried to get him out of my way.
“Your father is in Morocco,” he announced as I froze and glanced at him. I was not surprised that he knew where my father was. They were probably stalking him and spying on him. “Why do you think Victor’s name is not the first person on the suspect list?” he asked. “The jet is ready and I can take you to him,” he offered.
Before I could reply, Thalia walked downstairs with a handbag, “I’m coming with you too, let’s go, we do not have time to waste time.”
“Wait a minute my father will strangle you, seeing your face will s*ook him off,” I protested.
“Thalia, Josh is right, stay with Brandon, I will take Josh to Morocco and make sure Kendra is a safe home,” Nestor came to my aid but she stared at him for like a minute and led the way, “I will only show my face to Victor when necessary,” she yelled at us to hurry.
It was already nightfall and arguing was the more time we were wasting. I was actually surprised that she finally left the p*ycho’s side and put her daughter first. I had noticed she spent a lot of time in that room when I used to visit amber in the night. The woman had no idea who was with her baby or if the baby was asleep or not. Maybe the baby missing gave her a reality check.
Nestor drove us to the airport and we got on the jet as he headed for Morocco. I had no idea whether I had the nerves to face my father but for my daughter’s sake, I was willing to face the devil himself. Thalia sat in front with Nestor probably strategizing while I sat in the back seat. Thinking about it critically, the p*ycho might have forced her to tag alone or something. The two did not trust me and they probably thought I would run off with the baby if I was the first one to find my daughter.
We landed in Morocco in the early hours of the morning. We were all tired but couldn’t rest. Nestor had contacted the investigators back home but there was no news on the maid or Amber. It was like they disappeared into thin air. The only last option we had was my father, for the first time in a long time, I really wanted him to come through for me. We booked into a hotel and Nestor handed me a number, it was my father’s.
The plan was to call him and ask him to meet up in the hotel while they both listened from the other room. It was not a bad plan especially since there was a chance that I would snap and kill the idiot called my father if he said anything I did not like.
“If you want you can text him” Nestor suggested after he noticed a hint of hesitation in me but I grabbed the phone and quickly dialed it. It was not like I was asking to move into his house. It rang on the first attempt without a response.
I rang it again and on the other side came a familiar voice that I had hoped never to hear again. It hit my eardrums hard and I recalled how the man set me up to a life of failure. He inquired who I was but I kept quiet. I could hear him about to hang up when I introduced myself. He also froze on the other side of the line. I could only guess he never expected my phone call. I explained I was in Morocco much to his surprise and requested him to meet up with me in the hotel room.
He hesitated a bit and asked why. “It’s about life or death and if you once cared about me, you will show up,” I said and hung up the phone. Thalia and Nestor tried not to say anything but their eyes said a lot as they both stared at me worried but I knew my father, staying on the phone with him for a long time would have led to provocation.
“He will be here,” I assured them and took a seat.
“Does he know anything about Kendra?” Thalia asked.
“No I never told him and if he knew he would have been back in the country,” I replied.
“Anyone up for breakfast? Nestor asked but all nodded in refusal. Our daughter was missing and no parent would have an appetite for food. He walked out to get his breakfast, leaving Thalia and me alone in the room.
She sat in one corner facing the other side while I sat in the other peeping through the window for my father. The room was awkwardly silent, it was the first time we were alone in a room after the divorce. I glanced in her direction and noticed her trying to hide the panic with her nails. She was still the old thalia who was only taught to put a hard exterior on. But deep down she was as scared as hell.
“We will find her,” I spoke up first.
She looked up and looked away, I turned and concentrated on the window.
“You know Brandon sensed that there was something wrong with the maid but I thought he was being paranoid,” she spoke up.
I looked in her direction
“He would be following her around the house and watching everything she did. I thought he missed spying on you so he was taking it on the poor maid but I was wrong,” she cried out.
I had no idea whether I was supposed to walk to her and comfort her but that was crossing the line. “He is always right about people, he has this thing where he stares at you like he is reading your head,” she added.
“That machine, you have him h*oked to, I have never seen it before?” seeing an opportunity, I asked.
“I inverted it, he saved my life so it was only fair to save him but it seems not to be working,” she explained while wiping her tears. I stared at her shocked, I was aware she graduated from Harvard but I never thought she could put her head to work.
“He has some form of rare cancer that doctors have no answers to,” she added and looked away. And again I was caught tongue-tied and I had no idea what to say. If I was being honest it was better to keep quiet.
“Thank you for preventing him from choking,” she said but before I could say anything. Nestor walked back in with his breakfast. He stared at us for a few seconds before taking a seat. The room became quiet as he ate his food. I looked at my watch and began doubting whether my father was going to show up.
However, I couldn’t stop thinking about the machine Thalia inverted for the p*ycho. She was brilliant, something that I and my father failed to utilize but chose to ruin her. The p*ycho saw her potential and utilized her. That thought kept beating at the back of my head as I submerged myself in my thoughts.
“Josh, Josh, josh?”
I quickly snapped out of my thoughts
“Are you alright?” Nester inquired.
“Yes I’m fine, I was wondering if my father is coming,” I replied. But then a man got my attention in the corner of my eye on the window. It was my father, he showed up. I quickly alerted them to leave the room, they all rushed into the next room as I prepared myself to face the monster who was my father.
The doorbell rang and I hesitated a bit, I took a breather and walked to the door, opening it. There he was in the fresh, he had a serious face on, obviously not wanting to put his hopes high of the reasons I asked to meet him up. I asked him to get in and quickly searched for the photo containing the strippers. I wanted to get rid of him as fast as I could because it was not a family reunion.
He looked at the picture surprised and chuckled “you came all the way here to show me pictures of stripers,” he asked as he took a deeper look at them. I noticed he was staring at the photos vividly.
“Do you know where I can find those strippers?” I asked.
He threw the pictures on the table and took a seat on the bed sighing in defeat. “I thought you had moved on, son she is not worth your time,” he replied, confusing me. “I beg your pardon? Who are you talking about?”
“Is she not the reason why you are asking about those strippers? That b*tch is not worth your time.”
I stared at him, I had no idea whether he was talking about Thalia, was he aware of Amber?
” Would you just shut up and tell me if you know where I can find them! It’s an emergency!”
“Michigan, underground sleeping willow. Only the chosen are invited,” he replied.
My heart began beating fast, I knew he would know the strip club. “Are you planning on using the striping in your divorce case?” he asked.
I looked at him confused
“I heard you are divorcing Jessica, is that not why you are digging about her stripping past?” he asked.
My heart froze as he began making sense, “Are… you saying that…Jessica knows these strippers?” I stammered as I walked to where he was seated grabbing hold of his collar in terror.
“Yes she used to work for that underground strip club,” he replied. “That was where I first met her. I thought I told you?”
I felt like collapsing as everything began falling into place. It was Jessica after all, she was the only one who hated Thalia and me to that extent.
“Son, what’s going on?”
“She… has my daughter, she kidnapped my daughter. Jessica kidnapped my daughter,” I cried out.
All of a sudden, the door burst open and Thalia ran out crying as Nestor chased after her but he was too late.
My father quickly got up confused as she grabbed him and begged him to give us an address.
“Let go of me you!” He yelled at her. “Son, what the f*ck is going on here? What are you doing with her?”
Nestor quickly separated her from him, I had no energy myself as I was busy trying to play all the horrors that Jessica was doing to my baby. I remembered how I threw her out of my house the last time I met with her. How p*ssed she was at the fact that would stomach Thalia and not her. She was making me pay for all the hurtful words I said to her.
“Can someone please tell me what’s going on here!”
“I have a one-month-old baby, Thalia inseminated herself with my sperm,” I explained and asked him to take a seat as I narrated how the Canada accident was orchestrated by Thalia and her p*ycho of a boyfriend. He froze in shock as he stared in Thalia’s direction. He was in disbelief at the words that were coming out of my mouth.
“She… castrated you, so you are saying… Canada is not my fault?” He broke down and held his face. “So you are saying this b*tch was behind everything!” He yelled and tried to grab her but Nestor quickly got in between them.
“Nestor move, let this coward hit me, hit me you p*ss of s*it!” Thalia yelled at him.
“You little p*ss of s*it, you are going to rot in jail…”
“Would you all shut up!” I yelled on top of my voice. “My daughter is out there probably hungry and cold, this is not the time to settle the s*it we did to each other!”
“But son…?”
“I know, can we first find my little Amber, she is probably having difficulty sleeping, she always… has trouble sleeping and that animal is probably torturing… her,” I said as a tear dropped. My little angel had turned me into a softy but I couldn’t help it.
My father started in Thalia’s direction with so much hurt but I knew he was a man that liked to capitalize on situations. He walked to me and held me for a hug. I could hear Thalia chuckling.
“Do not worry I will help you find her, you should have told me about the little angel,” he said.
“Do you have an idea where she might have taken her?” I asked him.
“No… But I might know who has an idea,” he replied.
A wave of relief washed over me, I knew he could find my baby girl
“Let’s go, we are running out of time,” Nestor suggested.
“Wait a minute I am not going anywhere with that b*tch!” he pointed at Thalia.
“And you think, I want to go anywhere with a s*upid father that f*cked his son’s wife? I bet you could f*ck your own mother for money!” She yelled at him and walked out of the room before he could reply.
“Dad please can we just get my little girl,” I begged him as he tried to run after her.
“Do you have pictures of her?” he asked.
I searched my wallet and gave him a photo of Amber. he stared at it with a smile “she is beautiful, she has your nose,” he said and promised to find her before nightfall. He quickly grabbed his phone and began making phone calls.
“Where are we going?” Nestor asked as soon as he hung up the phone.
“Michigan,” he replied.
