tabby

of walls, I came to my first door. I grabbed the doorknob and twisted, but it was locked. I let go and began to walk down the corridor to the next door but stopped. What if she was in there, tied up or, even worse, unconscious? Shouldn’t I check inside every room? Counting the doors—eight in all that I could see—I wondered if I had time to break into everyone of them, searching for her. But if I didn’t, if I missed her in my need to go fast, I’d never forgive myself.
With that, I spun around and returned to the first door. I pounded on it, calling her name. And when she didn’t answer, I lifted my foot and kicked at the door until I broke the jamb, freeing the lock.
I stepped into a beautiful bedroom. Silk paper clad the walls in a midnight blue, and the large bed in the centre of the room was made from an exotic hardwood. When I didn’t see her, I crossed the floor to the closed doors, opening the first one to reveal an empty closet and the second and equally empty bathroom.
One room down, seven to go.
I repeated the same procedure with rooms two, three, and four. But room five turned out to be different. When I pounded on the door and called her name, I heard a sound I will never forget for as long as I live.
“Arin.”
“Blueberry. I’m so glad I found you. Stand back, sweetie, and I’ll kick in the door.” The door took five kicks before the jamb broke, freeing the lock, but the moment it did, I pushed through into the room. And the next second later I was holding her in my arms.
My hands stroked the side of her face as my gaze roamed over her, looking for any injuries, any signs that she’d been hurt. Finding none, I had to double-check. “Are you hurt? Did the person do anything to you?”
She laughed and smiled through tear-stained eyes. “I’m perfectly fine. They didn’t do anything to me other than somehow get me here in a car without me remembering any of the trip.” She swiveled her head, and her pert little nose wrinkled, making me want to kiss it. “Um, where are we by the way?”
“Right where we need to be.” I kissed her swiftly on the lips, savouring the taste that I’d been missing.
The walkie squawked, reminding me I needed to let Bae and Kasim know I had her. “Come on, blueberry. Let’s get you out of here. There are two more who want to see you.” And as I pulled her out of the room, I told the other two that I’d found her and that we’d meet at the rendezvous point.
As we jogged down the hall, I asked her about her kidnapping and what she knew.
“Mike is a mutant. He handed me over to some guy called Mr. X.” From the extra tightness in his muscles, I knew he worried about any possible harm I experienced. And even though he examined me quickly before we exited the room, I knew he wanted to hear with his own ears that I was fine. “He didn’t hurt me.”
“Good.” He held up a hand to stop us as we came to an open area at the end of the hall.
When we didn’t hear the noise of someone approaching, I placed my hand on his forearm, revealing in the feel of his strength and warmth. “He was a gentleman. He brought me here in a limo, but I don’t remember the ride or how I got from the car to the room. The doors and windows were locked and the view from the windows were obscured so I don’t even know where I am. Later, after Mr. X said I could roam around the house so long as a staff person came with me, I received a tour from an elderly butler. I never saw anyone and couldn’t see out any of the windows. But...” She grinned a self-satisfied smirk, and I wondered about the cause.
Before she could say more, we heard, “Tabby.”
“Pussy.”
And then she was engulfed by Bae and Kasim while I still held her hand.
“I’m so relieved to see you. Are you hurt?” Bae kissed her, not giving her a chance to answer. And the moment he pulled back, she was turned to face Kasim, who held her face between the palms of his hands. The contrast between their skin colour reminded me of when the sun pierced the night sky. A sight I never grew tired of watching.
Kasim never said a word, just stared, and she did the same, but the emotion between them spoke volumes.
It was my blueberry that made the first move. She lifted up on her tiptoes, and then Bae hoisted her higher until she could place her lips on Kasim’s. “Thank you for coming. I knew you would.” A single tear rolled over Kasim’s cheek, and if she wasn’t the woman that I was willing to share with him, I would have turned away to give him privacy, but this moment was as much mine and Bae’s as it was theirs.
When she pulled back, she turned her face until she could see all of us. “And that goes for all of you. I never once thought that you wouldn’t come for me. No matter how long it took, I knew you would.”
“Of course we would, tabby. For you, we would have destroyed the country looking for you.”
She chuckled, but her cheeks turned red at the sincerity of his words. A sincerity that was reflected in the way that Kasim and I looked at her. “Good thing you didn’t have to go that far.”
“Yup. Everyone is alive and intact.” I winked. “So, how about we blow this Popsicle stand? There’ll be time to talk about what happened back at the hotel.”
Kasim stripped off the combat fatigues we’d brought for him. Unlike the first time Bae and I removed our shirts