No Pain: Book 1

Chapter 16: Najee

            "We'll find her." John assures me for the hundredth time but it's not just about finding her. It's about finding her before they do something awful to her. It's finding her before the Idios can track her down. It's finding her before he does.

"We're getting close." John tries to keep me positive but he's never been quite successful at that. "The bracelet was a hin-"

"Anklet." I correct him.

"What?" John cocks a brow at me as if he can't believe I know the difference. I guess I wouldn't have had I not bought it for her.

I walk into the small shop, it's not spectacular, nothing overly fancy but also nothing absolutely ridiculous either. It seems like something Star would like. That's perfect considering I'm still trying to find a gift for her graduation. It can't just be money and a card. It has to be personal, she's joining my team after all.

"Can I help you?" A tall sales woman bounds over to me like an overly excited lion to prey.

"Looking for a gift." I offer a smile and glance around "A friend of mine is graduating from a special academy, it needs to be very personal and meaningful for the event."

"Well, why don't you tell me a little about her." The sales women smiles and drops her head making her hair fall over her shoulder. This girl takes pride in her hair, unlike Star.

"She's top of her class, smart, athletic and driven." I can't help but smile a little, Star had started out so broken and now she's going to be our new team leader.

"She sounds like quite the girl." The sales women giggles and guides me over to the jewelry counter.

"Something over here maybe?" The girl suggests "everything here is one of a kind. None of these designs are ever repeated."

"Maybe." I scan the contents of the drawer, there's one silver piece that sticks out to me immediately.

"Let me see that bracelet, please." I point to a bracelet with an intricately patterned star. The girl brightens and lifts the delicate looking thing from the case.

"Here we go." She places it in my hands "but that's not a bracelet, sir." She giggles a little.

"It's not?" I glance at the dangling piece of jewelry in my hands, it looks like a bracelet.

"No, sir. It's an anklet. She'd wear it on her ankle."

"Really?" I turn it over two, three, four times looking at it from every angle and trying to picture Star wearing something like it. It wouldn't draw attention, but it's something she could keep with her, a secret reminder of who she is.

"I'll take this, please." I hand it back to the sale girl, she smiles as if we're sharing a secret.
"gift wrapped?" she asks, "it's free with your purchase."

"Yes, please." I nod at her and cast one more look around. There are things that seem right for Keller, even things for Kader but nothing here is more perfect than that anklet for Star.

"You have a very lucky girlfriend." She giggles

"Oh, she's-"

"That'll be four hundred and thirty-two dollars." She smiles, I hand her my card, Star is worth it.

"Here you go, Sir." She hands me my card and the silver gift bag.

"I never corrected her." The words slip out before I can catch them as I hold the piece of silver in my hands. It seems so much more delicate now.