“You will never get away with this. If I recall, Jackson made it clear that he didn’t want you.”
Her eyes twitch and they look as though they’ve changed color with the anger that’s radiating from her body.
“You’re right, I did hear him say that, but here’s the thing bitch. If he won’t be with me, I for damn sure will not allow him to be with you. What part of that didn’t you understand? You don’t get to have him, while I end up with nothing. With you out of the picture, he’ll eventually see that I was right about us being perfect together.”
“You’re crazier than he said you were. He said he wanted to help you, but I clearly see that was a mistake. You’re beyond help and you’re delusional. Do you honestly believe that Jackson will want you if you do anything to me? He already despises you and hates that he ever hooked up with you. Now why don’t you do us all a favor and leave us alone.”
She looks down the hall one way and then the other. The blow to my cheek sends me flying backwards and I crash into the elevator. I see stars and I feel like I’m going to pass out. The drinks and snacks are all over the floor and I do my best to regain some sense of myself. You know how you look someone in the eye, and you can tell that they’ve lost a grip on reality? This is one of those moments. My life flashes before my eyes and I realize I may never see my friends or family again. I feel guilty for not calling my parents, guilty for wasting time being mad at Jackson, and wishing that I had more time because I’m too young to die.
She points the gun at me and says,
“Get the fuck up and start walking!”
I do as she says because I can see that she’s quickly losing patience with me and I can’t stall her any longer. We make it outside and a police officer is approaching the door as we’re leaving. I try to get his attention, but he just nods at us and walks into the ER entrance. I have no clue what to do, but I know I need to stay calm and try to keep her calm. She orders me to walk to my car and tells me to get into the driver’s seat, while she gets into the back. She makes me start driving and I notice that we’re heading toward Jackson’s house. I see my phone in the cup holder and I slowly reach for it. I swipe it to open, while keeping my eyes on the road, open my texts to Chas and type 911. Closing the screen, I leave the phone on the seat next to me so that I don’t make any other movements. I can feel the gun pressed to the back of my head and I know without a doubt that she's not letting me get out of this alive. Jackson told me about her past and what she’s gone through, but you never want to believe that someone is capable of that type of violence. The thought of working so close with her all this time causes a wave of nausea to hit me. I try to swallow the bile rising in my throat, but as soon as we get to Jackson’s house, I throw the car door open and puke everywhere. I haven’t been able to keep anything down, so besides the toast and ginger tea that I had earlier, my stomach is empty. When I finish, I slowly try to stand upright, and Mina is staring at me.
With a look of utter disdain, she says,
“You’re so fucking weak and pathetic! I don’t know what Jackson sees in you, but we’re going to remedy that problem soon enough.”
She reaches in the car, takes my phone, and orders me to walk. I turn to ask her where she’s taking me and she slaps me so hard, it intensifies the nausea. I get dizzy to the point that I double over. She grabs me by my hair and pulls me to the back of the house. Her anger makes me afraid that if I make any moves to fight back, she’ll kill me. I honestly don’t know how this will end, but I pray that Chas looks at her phone and alerts Jackson.
Jackson
Javi looks like he’s sleeping. I replay the events from the sting, and everything was perfect until the driver opened fire. The unexpected can always happen, but you can’t plan for what you don’t know. We knew to be on alert and aware that something could go wrong, but we did not anticipate the driver having a gun and opening fire on us. Over and over, images of Javi falling to the ground, haunt my thoughts. The only difference between this and when Mike was killed is that Jordan’s aim faltered when he was shot. If the bullet were any hire, I would be preparing for another funeral. I try to get my emotions under control and be thankful that Javi’s going to make it. Even though this just happened, it doesn’t do any good to keep thinking of what we could’ve done differently. We were prepared and looking at this from all angles.
A nurse comes in to check his vitals and the monitors. I’m pulled from my thoughts when she says,
“You can talk to him even though he’s in a coma. Hearing your voice will help him rest better and we’ve had patients say that they could hear their loved ones voices when they talked. It made them feel at peace.”
I laugh a little and say.
“I’m not sure about my voice bringing peace, but I’m willing to give it try.”
She just smiles, pats me on the shoulder, and leaves. I turn back to Javi and, feeling awkward, I talk to him about the bust. I tell him that we got the drugs and how we arrested several people who worked for Devon. I tell him that Jordan is dead, but I don’t tell him about Devon getting away. He’s going to be pissed that Devon managed to escape and knowing Javi, he’s going to go after him. The only sound I hear in response is the beeping from the monitors and even though it feels weird, I continue talking to him. I tell him that April is here and how she’s going to be so mad at him for scaring her. My ramblings are interrupted when a nurse comes in and tells me that Chassity needs to see me and it’s an emergency. I immediately head out to the waiting room. April is crying even more and Chassity looks distraught. When she shows me her phone, my heart sinks.
“I got this text from Crystal and I know something’s wrong. She went to get us drinks and snacks, but she hasn’t made it back yet, so I went to look for her. I found food scattered all over the floor near the elevator. A few minutes later, I received this text. I tried calling her phone, but there was no answer.”
I’m not sure how much more I can take tonight. Then my phone buzzes and when I look at the screen, my blood runs cold. I vibrate with anger as I look at a picture of Crystal, lying semi-conscious and bleeding from her face. The text reads,
“I told you not to fuck with me, so whatever happens to her is on you.”
That’s all it says, and it leaves me full of fear, but also angry as hell. I call the station to put a trace on Crystal’s phone to see if we can at least locate the vicinity of where Mina’s keeping her. April looks like she’s on the verge of a breakdown, and I do my best to reassure them that I’ll find Crys and save her. I can’t get out of there fast enough. I’m in my car about to call the station again when my phone rings.
“Barnes!”
“Hey, Barnes. It’s O’Malley. I got a trace on that phone and it looks like the last ping came from the vicinity of Sunset Park.”
“Okay, thanks, O’Malley.”
I hang up without saying anything. Rude, I know, but I don’t have time for pleasantries. I’m so fucking angry that I feel like my veins will pop at any moment. That crazy bitch has my girl at my house and she’s planning to kill her there as a message to me. I break every law as I speed through the city. I get to my street and decide to park a few houses away so I can sneak in and try to take her down. I look in through the living room window and what I see makes me physically sick. Mina has Crys by the throat and she’s making marks in her skin with a knife. I run to the front door and I’m so full of rage that I break it down with one kick. Mina jumps in surprise, but she maintains a solid hold on Crys.