We Didn't See It Coming Part 25

"Before she died, my mother said that I could have a pool party. What she says goes, even if she's not here anymore."

Kenley moved forward to go into the house. Aniyah swung the door to close it, but Kenley pushed against it with the left side of her body.

"Please move out of my way. Some of these bags are heavy."

"I'm not!" Aniyah yelled. "Take your stuff and get the h.e.l.l out of here."

"This is my house, too," Kenley said. "You're such a b.i.t.c.h."

"Watch your mouth," Aniyah said as she pushed Kenley out of the entranceway and slammed the door in her face.

The bags fell to the ground as Kenley stumbled. As the driver came to her rescue, he asked, "Miss Houston, are you okay?" He put the bags he carried on the ground and helped her up.

"I'm fine. Just gather up my things and put them back in the limo." Kenley brushed off her clothes.

The driver did as he was told. Kenley jumped into the backseat of the limo.

"Where would you like for me to drive you?"

"Straight down there," she said, pointing toward the walkway that led to the secret pa.s.sage.

Kenley got out of the limo, and with the help of the driver, she grabbed all of her bags. They placed them on the ground.

"You can go. I'm going to stick around here for a while. Please keep your cell phone on. I'll call you when I'm ready to leave."

"Yes, Miss Houston. You sure you're going to be all right?"

"No one bosses me around and gets away with it. I'll be fine."

The driver tilted his hat and drove off.

Her eyes traveled around the area to make sure no one noticed her. The coast was clear and she opened the secret entrance.

Kenley tossed the bags of unbreakable things down the steps of the wine cellar. She carried the rest of them, storing them all in a closet.

Nearby where bottles of wine were stored, she opened a refrigerator filled with sodas. She took several swallows out of a Sprite soda to cool off. Once finished, she angrily squeezed the can and crushed it, thinking of Aniyah's head as she did it.

Kenley tossed the can into a trashcan before she climbed back up the steps and peeked outside. Again, the coast was clear. She eased out of the cellar. She went to walk toward the front of the house, but the servants were going home from a day's work. Her slender body disappeared behind a huge tree. As she waited, Aniyah came out of the house and got into a limo that had arrived to pick her up.

Yippee, the wh.o.r.e is leaving, Kenley thought, even though she didn't care where Aniyah was going. She watched as the limo disappeared down the path leading out of the estate.

Kenley ran back down into the cellar, leaving the bags in the closet. She hurried up to the main floor of the house. Since everything was quiet there, she went into the kitchen, grabbed an apple out of a crystal bowl filled with fruit, and she bit into it.

On the second level of the house, Kenley heard a radio playing in the east wing of the house, but she went to the west wing to check out her bedroom. She wanted to see if Aniyah kept her promise and changed her room, but the bedroom was the same way that her mother had the designer decorate it.

She peeked out of the wood blinds to the front of the house to make sure that Aniyah had not decided to return because she had forgotten something.

Kenley went down the hall to the guest bedroom where she knew Aniyah slept. As she got closer, the music became louder. She went into the room and searched around.

Aniyah had left a few dresses scattered on the bed. The closet had shoes thrown all over the floor. An empty gla.s.s and a bottle of rum were on the nightstand.

Kenley came out of the bedroom. She cautiously looked out of the window to be sure that Aniyah had not circled back. She was ready to use the basic skills she learned in martial arts on Aniyah.

Kenley decided to go into her father's old study. She saw the sign on the door. It declared "DO NOT GO INTO THIS ROOM." I go where I please, Kenley thought as she started to pull the sign down but then decided not to. She didn't want Aniyah to have a clue that anyone had been in the house. Instead, she just opened the door and went in. She looked at her father's empty desk-there weren't any photos of his family. His computer was in her possession.

Tessa was sound asleep but woke up when she heard Kenley in the room. She stayed quiet. Aniyah insisted that she would not get fed, but if she cooperated, maybe she would give her breakfast the next morning. She had to be sure of who was in the room.

Kenley went over to a drawer that held office supplies. She took out a letter opener with her father's name engraved on it. It was one of the things they had left behind while packing his things.

Tessa let out a sneeze. The sound frightened Kenley. She held the letter opener up for protection.

Pointing the letter opener toward the closet, the youngest Houston tiptoed over to the closet and opened the door fast. She screamed and Tessa made a mumbling sound.

Kenley saw that she was fragile, sweaty, and had a tear-stained face.

Tessa began to cry as her eyes pleaded for help. She was tied up and her mouth was bound with tape.

"I'll be right back," Kenley said frantically. She ran to search the drawers for scissors but couldn't find any. She ran down the hallway to the guest bedroom and found a pair of scissors in the nightstand.

"Who did this to you?" Kenley asked as she returned. She gently removed the cloth and tape from around Tessa's mouth.

"G.o.d bless you. You're my angel," Tessa cried. "Aniyah, as you know her name, did this to me."

"Who are you?" Kenley asked; she didn't recognize Tessa from the funeral.

"I'm Tessa Sanchez," she said as she gasped for breath.

"Aniyah's mother?" Kenley said, baffled.

"She's my niece. I'm not her mother."

"Really! And she did this to you?"

"Yes, my own family did this to me."

"She's going to jail."

Kenley finished freeing her. Tessa tried to stand up but fell back down; her body was stiff from sitting in the closet.

Kenley felt sorry for her. "Let me help you up. Hold on to me so we can hurry and get out of here before Aniyah comes back. Your niece is sick in the head."

"Not yet. We must leave things as they were. We don't want Rosie to notice I'm gone right away."

Kenley stopped for a second. "Her name is a lie, too?"

"Kind of, her middle name is Aniyah."

"She's a fraud."

"Let's hurry. I don't want anything to happen to you."

"I'm not scared. But I'll handle putting everything back in place. Hold on to the desk until I finish."

Kenley worked really fast, tossing the rope and tape into the closet. She closed all of the doors when she finished.

They hurried to the ground floor.

"We can't go out the front door. She may come back. Or someone may see us," Kenley said.

Tessa gained strength and was able to walk and follow Kenley. "Where are we going?"

"Down to the wine cellar," Kenley said as they made their way to the cellar.

"I don't want to stay in the cellar. No telling what Rosie would do to us if she found us."

"Trust me. We're not staying down there. There's a way to get to the outside from the cellar. My driver is waiting on me to call for him to pick me up."

Closing the cellar door behind them, they hurried down the stairs, where Kenley called for the driver. She ordered that he pick her up as fast as he could in the same place where he dropped her off earlier. They were in luck. The driver was still on the property.

They came out of the secret pa.s.sage and walked down the brick paved walkway. The driver drove up just a few seconds later. They quickly got into the limo.

"Get us out of here," Kenley ordered.

"Where do you want to be dropped off?" the driver asked.

"Just get us off the grounds of the estate," Kenley said.

"I have to make a call," Tessa said as she called Baron.

Baron answered the phone and was glad to hear from Tessa. "Where the h.e.l.l are you? I've been worried sick about you."

Tessa said, "Rosie tied and taped me up in a closet."

The driver heard what she said. He looked through his rearview mirror at her.

Kenley saw he was listening to the call. "Keep your mouth shut before you're to blame for someone getting seriously hurt."

"No problem, Miss Houston," the driver said.

Tessa told Baron about the whole event.

"Put Kenley on the phone," he said.

"Here, Mr. Chavis would like to speak to you." Tessa handed the phone to Kenley.

"Yes, Mr. Chavis."

"Do me a favor and take Tessa with you to the Houston Villa. I'll meet you there. Thanks, you saved a life. No telling what her niece might have done to her."

"You know Aniyah is a fake?" Kenley asked, startled.

"Yes, I found out a day ago. Tessa got in touch with me. I was in the midst of getting things worked out for your family."

"Hold on a second, Mr. Chavis." Kenley called to the driver, "Take us to the Houston Villa, please." She went back to her conversation with Baron. "I'm so happy she's not my sister. I can't believe she lied to take over our lives."

Tessa listened as Kenley rejoiced. She laid her head on the window.

Kenley said goodbye and hung up with Baron.

Tessa said, "I tried to talk to Rosie about how wrong she was to take your family fortune. She wouldn't listen to me. She became angry and threw me in the closet."

Kenley was concerned for the woman her mother had called a wh.o.r.e. "I'm sorry you were tortured trying to help me and my sisters. Did she feed you?"

"She got mad at me and told me I would starve."

"I know she's your niece, but the girl is schizophrenic."

Chapter 25.

The Houston Villa was silent as Kenley entered with Tessa at her side. No noises coming from her sister's rooms a.s.sured Kenley that they weren't at home.

"Let's get you something to eat."

"I would love to take a bath, if that's okay, Miss Houston," Tessa said as she lifted up her right arm and sniffed her underarms. She turned her nose up. Her deodorant had worn off.

Kenley showed her to the bathroom. Inside a Jacuzzi tub, she turned the bra.s.s faucet on and ran Tessa's bath.

Tessa reached for one of many fresh 100 percent pima cotton plush towels that were stacked neatly on a nearby shelf.

"Watch the water," Kenley said. She left and returned with one of her white linen bathrobes and a brand new pair of panties. She handed the underwear to Tessa. "We keep extras around here."

"My angel, you are," Tessa said as she patted Kenley on the cheek.

"I'm glad to help." Kenley smiled and closed the door, leaving Tessa to her bath.

Tessa turned the faucet off. She undressed and eased her foot down in the water. "Just right," she mumbled as she sat down in the tub. She rested her head back, closed her eyes, and let the warm water soothe her body.

Downstairs, a servant was cooking dinner when Kenley entered the kitchen.

"Smells delicious in here. How long before the food will be done?"