Heaven On Fire

C H A P T E R T W E N T Y - S E V E N

Losin Control ~ Russ

~M O R N I N G R U N~
"Tonight."

"TYRA! AHANU!" Echo yells as she bangs on the door of her boss' office.

Blaise winces. "Won't she get mad if you interrupt them?"

Echo scoffs. "One; I'm not scared of her and Two; this is an emergency."

Blaise chews the dead skin on her lip, her nerves getting the best of her. What if Ahanu really can help her find Saint? She would be indebted to him for the rest of her life, that's for sure. She doesn't really care what he might ask of her, she'll do anything to keep her boyfriend safe.

"Who the fuck is slammin' on my goddamn door?!" Tyra yells from inside her office.

After discretely sniffing the air, Echo decides then that she can open the door. She motions for Blaise to follow her into the office where Ahanu is standing by Tyra's chair behind her desk, massaging her shoulders. When he sees the two familiar faces, he smiles brightly.

"Well, hello there girls. What can we help you with?" He tilts his large head to the side, his ponytail moving with him.

How can someone so large and scary-looking be so adorable? Blaise wonders.

"Ahanu, you went on your usual morning run today, right?" Echo asks.

He nods, although confused. "Yeah, of course."

Blaise doesn't notice how everyone's eyes shift to her, as if wary of her presence all of a sudden.

"Did you pick up on anything suspicious? Perhaps a car? Or a group of shady men?" Echo wonders.

"What's this about, Echo?" Tyra questions.

Echo sighs. "Blaise's boyfriend was kidnapped, and the last place anyone saw the car that took him was a street near Wolf Forest."

The couple's eyes widen and they immediately start to say their apologies.

Blaise holds up a hand. "It's fine, guys. I'm gonna find him. In fact, that's why we're here. Echo told me that Ahanu might know where he is."

Ahanu's face turns blank, which stops Blaise from seeing what he's thinking. After a moment of silence, he nods his head.

"During my run, I saw a silver sedan driving recklessly near the forest. They headed into the forest on a dirt road. I followed them and saw them pull up on an old, abandoned wearhouse."

Blaise gasps. "Do you think you can show me where that wearhouse is?"

Ahanu shrugs. "Anything I can do to help, sure."

Blaise cheers and runs up to Ahanu, squeezing the life out of him in a grateful hug. "Thank you so much, Ahanu! If you ever need help with anything, just call me and I'll do the best I can!" She promises.

Ahanu chuckles softly as he pats the small girl on her head. "Sure, Blaise. I'll be sure to remember that."

~••~

BLAISE RUNS up MC's driveway, Ahanu, Spencer, and Ingrid trailing after her. She frantically knocks on the door and bounces on her heels, too energized to stay still. After a moment, MC opens the door with a confused look on her face.

"Blaise?" She questions. "Why are you here? I thought we agreed that you would go to work like normal until we found Saint?"

Blaise pushes past her, too antsy to wait for her to let her in. "We found Saint. Now we need to get him. And we need to do it before Sunday night."

MC raises a confused eyebrow. "Huh? Why before Sunday night? That's like thirty-something hours from now."

At that moment, Ingrid, Spencer, and Ahanu make it to the doorstep. Ingrid bows her head respectfully before reaching into her pocket and pulling out a fancy, black envelope that's already been opened.

"One of Malik's men came by while I was working at the bar today. They gave me this."

Blaise turns back at the sound of Ingrid's voice. "Oh right. This is Ingrid, and Ahanu— you already know Spencer," she informs.

Ahanu waves with a bright smile. "Hello there, Miss Cedar."

MC squeals and runs up to squeeze Ahanu in a hug. "My two-name buddy!"

Ahanu chuckles and ruffles her purple and pink hair. "Good to see you too, cutie."

Blaise tilts her head to the side, confused. "How do you guys know each other?"

"Chetan taught me everything there is to know about self-defense!" MC explains. "I've known him since I was little."

Ahanu motions towards Ingrid. "I also taught Miss Ingrid here."

Ingrid nods her head. When MC notices that her guests are still outside, she quickly ushers them into her house. After everyone has taken off their shoes, they all head to the living room to converse.

MC points to the envelope in Ingrid's hand. "What's that about?"

She pulls out the thick, black paper. There's a note on it that's written in silver ink. Ingrid hands it over to MC, who looks at the jumbled mess of words.

"What...? It's in code," she realizes. "What does it say?"

"'Meet me alone at 9 PM on Sunday night or else Saint will get me back on Sunny Joe's good list.'" Blaise translates. She already memorized the note. Something that serious was instantly burned into her memory.

MC pouts, confused. "But... what does that mean?"

Blaise shakes her head. "Doesn't matter. All that matters is that we now know where Saint is and that they won't be expecting us until 9 PM tomorrow night."

MC nods her head. "Okay. So when do you wanna go?"

"Tonight."

MC bites her lip, thinking. After a moment, she stands up. "Lemme get Will and the team in here. I have a plan."