All I've Ever Wanted - Adrianne Byrd [55]
He smiled. “You’re the toughest person I’ve ever met. But that doesn’t mean you don’t need help every once in a while.”
His sincerity touched her heart. She covered his hand with her own. “Thanks. I’ll remember that.” She squeezed his hand, and then turned and got out of the car.
Bennie rolled down the car window. “I’ll be right out here waiting for you,” he called out.
She nodded, and then dashed inside her building. With her mind set on grabbing only a few things, she almost didn’t see Wanda as the woman hobbled down the stairs. “There you are,” Wanda exclaimed, jabbing her hand against her hip. “I was beginning to think you’d dropped off the face of the Earth. Where have you been?”
Kennedy shook her head as she continued up the steps. “You wouldn’t believe me if I told you.”
“Try me,” Wanda said, tailing her.
The last thing Kennedy wanted to do was get her friend involved in this crazy situation. “Not right now, girl. Maybe one day, when I can look back and laugh, I’ll tell you.” Which didn’t seem likely, she realized.
“That bad, huh?”
“Worse.”
“In that case, I’ll forgive you for not being here last night to meet Dr. Ward.”
Incredulous, Kennedy faced her. “You brought him here?”
“Of course. I told you I wanted you to meet him.”
“You’re too much,” Kennedy said, sliding her key into the lock. She frowned when she twisted the knob and the door wouldn’t move. Had she just locked it? She shook her head, because that would mean the door had been unlocked.
“What’s wrong?”
Kennedy turned the key again and then pushed open the door. Her eyes widened at the level of destruction.
“Hot damn,” Wanda exclaimed.
Kennedy crossed the threshold, but Wanda quickly reached out to restrain her. “Don’t you think that maybe we should call the police first?”
Dread penetrated her bones at the thought of Max responding to the call. “That won’t be necessary.”
“What?” Wanda stared at her in disbelief.
Unable to offer an explanation, she simply said, “Trust me.” She turned and cautiously moved farther into the apartment.
Furniture had been smashed, the TV screen had been reduced to shards of glass and the words You’re Mine had been spray-painted in red across the living-room walls.
Wanda shrank from the door. “I don’t like the looks of this.”
“Ditto,” Kennedy whispered as she moved toward the hallway.
“Where are you going?” Wanda nearly shouted. “Someone may still be here.”
Kennedy froze. She hadn’t thought about that. “Well, wait right here.”
“You’ve got to be kidding.”
“Please?” she asked, with her patience nearing its end.
“All right, but I’m warning you, if you scream, or if I hear gunshots, I’m going to sprint a new Olympic record out of here.”
“Just make sure you call for help when you get to where you’re going.”
“Deal.”
Kennedy took a deep breath and returned her attention to the hallway. As she evaluated the odds of someone waiting in some darkened corner, she had second thoughts about going through with her plan.
“Will you hurry up? This waiting is killing me,” Wanda said.
“I’m going. I’m going.” She took another deep breath and proceeded. As she walked, broken picture frames crunched beneath her feet and the air seemed thicker.
When she opened the door to her bedroom, she feared her pounding heart would crack a rib at any moment. Tears burned at the back of her eyes as a renewed sense of violation washed over her. Everything was destroyed.
“Are you all right back there?” Wanda called out in a quivering voice.
Kennedy failed to swallow the lump that had formed in her throat, so her answer sounded like a strangled sob. “Y-yes. I’m fine. I’ll be up there in a sec.” She pushed past the room’s clutter, deciding that it was best to focus on what was happening to her and her family.
She went to the overturned nightstand and placed the phone back on the hook. The red message light flashed and she pushed Play.
“Hello, Kennedy.” Reverend Warner’s familiar voice came out of the machine. “I’m calling you from just outside Memphis. We dropped Tommy off safely at your