Page 25 of Chance Happenings
"Nah, I got this." I send Cacey a text to see if she can keep Alexa occupied for a while.
Alex
Throwing my phone on the desk I decide to order lunch in on my own and get through the rest of this busy work I know Chance had Miranda hand off to me. The only reason I'm not making a fuss is because I've been wanting to see some of these accounts anyway. And I still feel bad for jumping to conclusions last night. Chance not only finished my foot massage, but he followed it up with a full body massage in the bedroom, where I promptly fell asleep on him. His hands were amazing and just what I needed after having my ass kicked at the gym.
-Ding-
Getting lost in another report, it's been at least an hour since I've thought about lunch. I pick up my phone to see a text from Cacey. She was texting me but is now calling before I can read and respond to her messages. "Hello?"
"Hey girl, meet me downstairs I'll be there in five," she commands, like I don't have work.
"If you want lunch, go ahead without me. I'll probably order in. Your brother has me inundated with work right now."
"I'm sure that you’ve done double the work of anyone there so far, you’re due for a break. Besides, you lost me when you mentioned my brother. I'm out front now, so get down here. We’ll eat and plan how we’re going to turn you into one of those kick ass females we used to read about."
"Ok, give me a second." I say as I shut down my laptop, pack up, and decide to take it with me. Who knows how long Chance and Dane will be? I might as well have Cacey take me home after and work there the rest of the day. When I get downstairs, I see Dane's shiny black CLS waiting by the door. He and Chance must be going out, I think before the window rolls down and Cacey yells out for me to come on. When I get to the car, I unconsciously cringe when I see Nova's ass in the passenger seat. She looks up at me with a sugary smile as I move to open the back door and get in.
What in the hell is she doing here? She rode me so hard during that class, giving me shit as if I was the only one there. This must be part of Cacey's plan. But honestly the only motivation Nova’s going to give me in becoming a kick ass female is if it’s her ass I'm kicking. I'm so pissed at Cacey right now I don't even ask where we’re going. I just focus on the rearview mirror, waiting for her to make eye contact, so I can give her a questioning look. Classic Cacey though, she doesn't even bother looking. She’s clearly avoiding me. As we get to the restaurant, I see, like last night, I'm the only one that didn't get the memo in time to dress appropriately. Cacey is her usual put-together self, and Nova is now full-on channeling Rhianna with black heeled booties, leather-looking leggings, a tank top, and an open-knit off-the-shoulder sweater. Accessorized to the tee. This only pisses me off more for some reason. I'm the only one dressed like I just got out of court. I take off my blazer and fix my top, trying to do what I can to not look so restricted.
In the restaurant, we order and all is quiet on the western front till Cacey breaks the ice. "So, Alex, Nova was saying this morning that she thinks her kickboxing class would really benefit in getting you where you need to be quicker."
"I'm sure she did. I’m sure she would love nothing more than to use me as her practice dummy on the nights Chance isn't available to volunteer." Did that just come out of my mouth? Yes, I think it did. I don't like the look of jealousy on me at all. It has me acting out of character. So I decide to go for my drink after I hear Cacey damn near choke on her sweet tea. Nova doesn’t seem fazed at all. The only way I know she heard me was because she now has that smile back on her face, looking dead at me instead of her phone.
"I know you don't think much of your ability to defend yourself right now, but stick it out in my class. Join us for some other classes and you will." She says, glossing over the whole Chance dig.
"I'll take that into consideration, but forgive me if it's hard for me to believe that you don't find a little pleasure in taking shots at me after last night. Outside of being Dane’s little sister, you look familiar. Did I do something to you earlier in life?"
"Believe me Alex, it's not you. It's me. I look at you and see myself. Intelligent, smart mouthed yet still so naïve on how the world really works. I look at you and get disgusted at how weak I used to be. Believe it or not, you need me or someone you can relate to... to help you unlock the woman you're supposed to be. You think just because you ran off to New York, went to a fancy school, and got a fancy man who kept you under his thumb that you just maxed out your potential. Do you ever think what could have happened if you had stayed a little longer instead of running away, where you could have been right now? I'm not asking you for your firstborn child, I'm asking you to stay and fight for yourself. Fight for Chance if that's what you want, because there are sure a lot of other women beating down the door to do it."
Again, with the long-winded speech, Nova completely guts me and goes back to looking at her phone unbothered. She just put it all out on the table like it was nothing and I can't believe that Chance or Cacey have been discussing my personal business with this chick. I don't care whose sister she is. What hurts most of all is that she’s right. I look over to Cacey, who doesn't even have the decency to look at me… again.
As the waiter comes to the table with our food, I excuse myself, mentioning the bathroom but ending up walking right past the restroom sign and out the front door. As soon as I'm outside, the tears flow only pissing me off more. She was right, but the bitch just contradicted herself taunting me about how I ran off to New York instead of staying to fight. Last night she was all about the run, when it fit the agenda for her self-defense cardio.
I look around for James, not sure if I'm about to give him the slip or have him take me back to Chance's house to pack my shit. That's when I realize he nor Tim had followed us to the restaurant. Actually, I had not seen Tim for days. Determined, I decide to have an Uber meet me around the corner. Looking down at my phone I go to pull up the Uber app, turn the corner and then stop dead in my tracks when I see Pearce dressed in a dark blue suit blocking my path. I turn around to run but don't make it far because I run directly into a brick wall of a man that is reaching for my face with a rag in his hand. I try to fight him off but once again am met with darkness as everything goes black.
Chance
"Where the fuck is she!!!"I yell, looking at Cacey and Nova, expecting an answer and getting silence in return. I knew I should've had James follow them to the restaurant. But since Nova is just as trained as him, I thought he could be of better use helping Dane and I follow leads. Guess I underestimated the power of female cattiness. "Is someone gonna answer me?"
"Chance, I'm sorry. I'll find her and -"
"Find her and what Nova? Cause her to run off again? How hard is it to keep an eye on someone on a lunch date in broad daylight? I can't believe this." Nova grabs her laptop, setting up a work area across the room and as far away from me as possible. It's been at least two hours and the only thing we’ve got on a lead is Alexa's cell phone smashed on a side street near the restaurant.
"Cacey, as much as I hate to ask, can you call dad and see if him if his informant can find Pearce?"
"I already called an hour ago when you were tearing the office up. He’s working on it and has called in a favor to have a jet on standby just in case." She says, clearly upset. I take a deep breath, willing myself to calm down for the umpteenth time in the past two hours. There’s no way she could have just up and disappeared so quickly.
"Dane, were you able to have someone get into the camera at that intersection?"
“Yes, but the angle was turned to the traffic and not that side street where her phone was found.”
"Have we found any other cameras in the area?" At my question, Nova comes up and drops her laptop in front of me, clearly still pissed. There’s a video of Alexa walking around the corner with tears in her eyes, looking down at her phone. Seconds later, there’s a black Escalade with tinted windows that drives past her and stops. Pearce gets out the back and approaches her. When she sees him, she turns to run but gets grabbed and taken by one of Pearce's guys. The timestamp puts this at about two hours and thirty minutes ago. They could be anywhere by now. Before I have time to freak out and probably destroy Nova's laptop, Dane's phone rings. I don't know who's on the other end, but something about his body language has everyone in the room on edge.
"Cacey, have your dad get that jet ready to fly out to New Jersey as soon as possible," he orders while hanging up the phone. He then turns to me and explains. "We've been running all the flight plans and manifests against Pearce's aliases and dummy companies and got a hit. There’s a flight that landed in Teterboro fifteen minutes ago." Even though we have nothing beyond that bit of information, within twenty minutes everyone is headed to the airport, Cacey and Nova included. I'm still pissed about today's earlier events, but we need all the hands we can get if things go south. While on the way to the airport and now waiting for takeoff, Cacey has secured the transportation and a place for us to work out of while in the city. While Dane, Nova, James, and I continue to dig through any information that will pinpoint where Pearce may be taking Alexa.
When we’re in the air, we make use of the time, changing, napping and making plans so we can hit the ground running. I of course can’t sleep, so I run through Pearce’s files again, looking for clues. Before I can even map out all his properties, the pilot advises that we’re approaching New Jersey, signifying the end of our flight. “Nova, when we land, I want you and Cacey to take one of the cars and pick up supplies and meet us back at the hotel. James, call the office to see if Tim has checked in yet. I haven't heard from him in 2 days.” Dane says, still giving orders as we are preparing for our descent.
Alex
