Chapter 271 Who's Missing
Dakota's P.O.V.
I feel like I'm running through quicksand as Ari and I go into the house and search every room. Everyone is accounted for. We go to the office, and Kylie and Noah are there.
"Was there anyone here today that's not usually here? Nikolas said he shot someone before he shot Shannon." They look at each other and shake their heads.
"Not that I can think of, but we've mostly been in here today,” Noah says.
"He must have been playing us,” I say. We go back to the negotiation room, and Nikolas smirks.
"What did you find, boss?" he asks sarcastically.
"Nothing. Did you think lying would buy you a few more minutes to live?" I lift the golf club and hit him between the legs as hard as I can. His face turns red, and he tries to bend over, but Xavier grabs his hair to keep him upright.
"Oh, I'm sorry. Did I make you think I killed someone here? I haven't been here all day. I made a stop or two on my way." No, he couldn't have.
"You're lying. I would have heard if you killed someone in my family." I raise the club but freeze when he starts laughing.
"I didn't say I only killed one person." He begins laughing harder, and I feel sick. Is it possible? Did he get to my family before he came here? I pull out my phone and look at the others.
"Call everyone so we can prove this asshole is lying and be done with him once and for all," I called my mom's phone first.
"Hello?" Relief washes over me when I hear her voice.
"Hi, Mom. We have a situation here, and I'm trying to contact everyone to make sure they're okay. Who is with you?" I ask.
"Your dad, Khloe, Ashton, Devon, Yurkov, and Corrine. What's going on, sweetheart?" I know I need to tell her, or she'll keep me on the phone until I do.
"Raul is Galdino's half-brother. He stabbed Arkadi and left him for dead before kidnapping Enzo and Addy. Noah tracked his phone; long story short, Raul is now dead. Before he died, he told me he wasn't working alone. I realized he'd been working with Nikolas all along. When we came home, Nikolas was here, and he shot Shannon. She's alive and at the hospital. We have Nikolas in the negotiation room, and he said he shot someone else in our family, so now we're calling everyone to make sure they're okay." I take a deep breath and wait for my mom to say something, but all I hear is her sigh.
"So what you're telling me is it's all in a day's work. A typical day for you. Who have you checked on?" Leave it to my mom to get straight to the point. I look at the others.
"Who have you called?" I ask them as I put my phone on speaker so my mom can hear.
"My mom, dad, Dina, and Gavin are all okay," Sarah says.
"Uncle Vicki and his family are safe. So are Uncle Zakky, Amanda, and their kids," Tyler says.
"Dakota? I've tried Kozar and Gillian, but neither of them is answering," Xavier says.
"Try again. Sarah call Felix and Lydia," I say desperately. My heart is pounding so hard in my chest that I can barely hear anything else.
"None of them are answering," Sarah says. I drop the golf club again, and everyone follows me outside except Rain and Luka.
"We need to go to Uncle Kozy's house now," I say as we run to the driveway. I jump into an SUV, and everyone else piles inside. Xavier peels out of our driveway and heads towards Kozar's house. He used to live next door to my parents, but after he got married, they moved not far from the compound.
"Are you still there, Dakota?" I hear my mom on the phone, but I'm unable to answer her.
"She's here, Anushka. She just can't talk right now. Do you want to stay on the phone?" I hear Ari and my mom talking, but I can't focus on them right now. Please let Kozar and his family be safe.
We pull up to Kozar's house, and I jump out before the SUV has even come to a complete stop. I run to the door and see it's slightly ajar. As I open it, I feel like I'm going to vomit. If my Uncle Kozy and his family are dead, it's my fault because I let too many strangers near our family.