by Mia Ford
His arms wrap around me and he embraces me tightly. I fall against him, inhaling deeply to breathe in his wonderfully familiar masculine scent. He smells good, I love the scent of him, it reminds me of home. He feels like home to me. All I want to do is cling to him and never let him go. The tension defuses, all the bad feeling between us disappears and for a wonderful moment it’s just me and him, happy and together. When he’s holding me like this, it’s as if nothing can touch me. It’s just a shame that the rest of the world exists.
“I have something for you,” I pant out as I pull back. “It’s all about you. It’s from him.”
“The threat.” His mouth turns down into a frown. “I’m sorry this came to you, it never should have happened.”
“Yeah. That’s fine, it isn’t your fault.” I furrow my eyebrows. “I was just worried about you because you didn’t come back. I didn’t know where you were or if you were safe.”
Will sucks in a stressed out breath as he sees the picture of him with the blonde woman. The younger cop behind him leans across to defend his work mate. “Will was here most of the night, working.” Then he extends out his hand for me to shake it. “I’m Hank, by the way. Hank Jones.”
“Nothing happened with this woman,” Will growls. “She just talked to me, that’s all.”
“I’m not really concerned about that! It hardly crossed my mind. I’m much more concerned with the threat to our lives.” I point to the hand written note. “Don’t you think that’s a bit more troubling?”
Will leans in closer to read it. To anyone else it might look like he’s struggling to see the letters because he’s too proud to get glasses, but I know better. He isn’t just reading the words, he’s looking at the lettering, the type of pen used, the paper… anything else that might give him a clue. He doesn’t just look at the obvious, he wants to see what’s underneath too. He knows that it isn’t ever simple and straightforward.
“Hmm, yeah okay, we need to run this through the examination room. Check it for finger prints.”
“I’ll do that.” Hank takes it from him, seemingly very keen. “You stay here and… talk.”
It feels a little awkward once it’s just me and Will, and that’s probably because of all the eager eyes starting at us. Will must be able to feel it too because he indicates for me to follow him then he starts walking.
“Let’s go into my office,” he says quietly enough for only me to hear. “We can have a proper talk there. This place is a little… well, it’s crazy at the moment, which I’m sure you can imagine.”
“Yeah, sure whatever you need. I’m just glad that you’re okay.” I let out a little laugh. “I was far too worried.”
Thank God everyone is safe. That’s a wonderful start to what I hope turns out to be a good day.
Chapter Twenty Six – Will
“Oh, sorry,” I apologize to Cici as we enter my office. “My phone has been ringing off the hook all day. I better take it because I have a lot of things going on. It might be important. I won’t be long, I promise.”
“No, it’s okay.” She sits herself down to wait for me. “You go right ahead. Do what you need to do.”
“Hello?” I don’t know what it is, but as soon as that word is out of my mouth, I feel odd. There’s something off. It’s almost like a tension coming from the other end of the line. I don’t like it one bit. “Hello?”
Then I’m greeted with the dial tone. Whoever it was has hung up on me, which is odd. Not many people know my direct line number, I prefer to keep it that way so I don’t have to field external calls all day long. Whoever this is must be someone to actually have my phone number. Someone I know. What the hell?
“Hmm, that was weird.” I try to play my fear down a little in front of Cici. “Let me work out who it was.”
I call the number to see who just called me, and to my surprise there’s a number there. It can’t be Kingpin, or anyone to worry about, or they wouldn’t have left a way to track them. Kingpin is smart. This must just be my paranoia playing up. That and lack of sleep is making me crazy. I need to stop it before I do something dumb.
I scribble the number down and then type it into the Internet to find it. Weirdly, it seems to be attached to the laundry mat. I suppose that could be because we’ve been investigating it, but I have that feeling again…
“Your cell phone is ringing,” Cici says quietly to me. “It’s a number I don’t recognize.”
My heart stops dead in my chest. It’s the same number, the laundry mat. This isn’t a mistake, this is Kingpin warning me that he knows all sorts about me. Pretty much everything. This man is the worst.
“He… hello?” I answer it cautiously. I half expect them to hang up again, but this time, they don’t.
“We have your baby,” a metallic, robotic voice informs me. “And the girl watching her. You need to back off. We will not stop taking more and more people if you don’t give up this investigation right now.”
“My… my baby? Are you serious?” The room is spinning, I feel like I might collapse again. “Don’t hurt my baby. You can’t do anything to him. You aren’t that sick… are you?” Is he? He could be, I don’t know!
“You need to back off.” He ignores my question and warns me once more. “I need your word.”
All of a sudden, I hear a bellowing scream that makes me feel sick. It’s almost blood curdling. It shocks me so much that it takes me a couple of moments to realize that it’s coming from Cici. She might not be able to hear the whole conversation but she’d got enough to know exactly what’s going on. Our child is in danger.
“Give me my son back,” I shoot back firmly, refusing to cave to him. “And then you can have my word.”
He laughs, it sounds weird through the voice changer device. Almost sinister, out of this world. “I think we both know that you don’t work that way, don’t we? I need your word first. Then the rest can happen.”
I half wonder if he’s lying, but I can’t take the chance. He knows enough about my life to pull this lie off, but I don’t want to rest on my laurels in case. “Whatever this is, an innocent child doesn’t need to be brought in.”
“Oh, I know that, but since you won’t give me your word what other choice do I have? I can’t have you nipping at my heels forever. I want to be free to conduct my business and you are getting in the way.”
This is a fucking joke, it has to be. There’s no way in hell this man can think that this is a legitimate business and that I intend to simply let him get on with it. the drugs that he’s manufacturing and selling are ruining lives. He’s getting people addicted and creating problems that we don’t need in this town or the surrounding ones.
“Where are you?” I growl, despite the fact that I know. “I need you to give my son back now.”
“You come for me without giving me your word, then you will go the same way as your partner. I don’t think either of us want you to end up dead, do we? This isn’t personal, Yoker, it’s not that I don’t like you.”
A red mist descends in front of my eyes and I punch my desk so hard that it scrapes my knuckles. “Like me? You don’t even know me. And all you’ve done is make my life hell and I include taking my son in that.”
“Oh, Will, you really don’t know, do you?” Throughout the robotic element I can hear some sympathy there. “That’s crazy, I don’t understand how you can still not know. But so be it, you want to be blind…”
“Blind? What do you mean? What the fuck are you on about, asshole? Don’t toy with me any more…”
Then, he’s gone, leaving me with far more questions than answers. What did any of that mean? What don’t I know? Could early suspicions have been right? Maybe this is someone that I know! Then again, that hardly matters by this point. I just need to get to the laundry mat to put an end to it. I presume that he’s there, I don’t think he’s re routed the number or anything. I don’t have time to work it out anyway. I have to go now.
“What’s going on?” Cici d
emands in a shaky, panicking tone. “Where is Jordan? Is Michelle with him?”
“I don’t have time for this.” I try to push past her but she refuses to let me past. “I have to get him…”
“Stop shutting me out!” she screams, clearly hysterical. “You keep doing stuff that puts us in danger then you keep me out of it. It isn’t fair. Who has Jordan? Where is he? My friend might be in danger too…”
“You shouldn’t have left them then!” I explode like a rocket ship. The word fly out of my mouth like accusatory bullets, spraying spite and blood all over the walls. “Why did you do that? It was so dumb!”
“I thought you were dead!” A flame flickers behind her eyes. I half wonder if she’s going to lunge for me. “I had to come here because you were too fucking selfish to take my calls. But then, you never take my calls, do you? Because I’m at the bottom of your priority list! You never ignore a call from work because that’s all you care about. Well, congratulations. Look what your work has brought us. Because you refused to listen to warnings from Kingpin, because you wouldn’t even consider it when I begged you to leave, Jordan… my little baby boy who is everything to me, is now gone. In danger.” She clutches onto her stomach as if this gives her actual physical pain. “And it’s all because of you. This is all your fault and I hate you for it. I will never forgive you!”
I take a step back, almost staggering under the sheer violence of her words. She really does mean that. Right now, she truly does despise me and I can’t blame her. I feel like that myself. I don’t agree with everything that she’s said, but I have let pride get in the way. Maybe once I realized that Kingpin had his sights on my son, I should have taken a step back. I have other priorities now and it’s selfish to forget that. I can’t continue to act like a single man who only has his work on offer. I mean, if something happens to Jordan now, I’ll hardly have ever known him. That’s wrong. I love him, I’m his father, he deserves so much better from me.
I can’t do anything now though, all I can do is rescue him.
“I’m sorry.” I rest my hands on Cici’s shoulders. “I know that you must hate me and I can’t blame you, but arguing with you won’t solve anything. I have to get out there, I have to get Jordan back, it’s the only way I can make up for the hundreds of mistakes that I’ve made since our son was born. Can I at least do that?”
“I can’t trust you to do anything,” Cici spits back. “I should be the one to save him. You haven’t proven anything to me. Only that you’re useless and incapable. Leave this to me. I actually care about Jordan.”
I can not take those words in right now. She’s saying them to hurt me because I’ve hurt her. Much as I could quite easily react I refuse to. It isn’t right and it definitely isn’t fair. “Cici, stay here, I’m going.”
She grabs onto me, pinching my skin painfully as she does, and she glares right at me with pure venom in her eyes. My heart sinks as I realize there truly might not be any coming back from this. Depending on how this goes now, I might end up with literally nothing. That stings my heart and hurts me everywhere.
“Cici, please,” I say softly. We both know that I absolutely need to go. “For Jordan.”
She grips me tighter, making me wince, but then I feel her fingers loosen and she frees me from her prison. She lets me go, trusting me with the boy who connects us, the person who was supposed to bring us closer. For a moment I almost say something else. I nearly remind her that I love her, but then I turn away to take off.
As I run down the stairs, listening to the pounding of my steps as I go, I feel sicker than I’ve ever done before. It isn’t right, I shouldn’t be going through this, none of us should. This sick fuck, someone who weirdly seems to know mw, has my child and is now using him against me. Screw arresting this asshole, I’m going to kill him. After all the years of working to catch him and having my life torn to shreds, I’m gonna blow his brain out.
“Jones!” I yell out as soon as I get to the reception area. “Where is Jones? I need him.”
He didn’t see the person who shot him in the leg before, but he knows more about this douche bag than me. Plus, I’ve learned from what happened to Andre that it isn’t a good idea to go alone. But as everyone shrugs and gives me blank stares, I roll my eyes in dismay. That bastard isn’t anywhere to be found and I don’t have more time to wait. It isn’t wise but it seems that I’m tackling this alone anyway.
“Okay, fuck it, don’t worry. Just let him know that I’m gone, okay?”
I’m sure someone calls after me, asking me where I’m going but I don’t bother to answer. My eyes are on the prize now, I’m off to find Kingpin. It pisses me off that it’s on his terms, I’m only getting to see him because he’s allowing me to, but I won’t get too hung up on that right now. I can’t. I’m finally getting to face him, we’re about to have our final showdown and it’s going to be one hell of a meeting.
Anticipation courses through my veins, I feel myself growing ready. This is what it’s all been leading up to.
Chapter Twenty Seven – Cici
I’m shell shocked, absolutely stunned. I stand in the middle of Will’s office in catatonic shock, just staring at the white wash wall as if I’m waiting for something to happen. Considering everything that’s going on, my mind is wearily blank. It’s as if my brain is as plain as the wall I’m looking at. Shock means nothing is getting in.
“Fuck,” I mutter, loud enough to shake myself from this moment. “Fucking hell. Fuck.”
All of a sudden, the slow motion bubble that I was just in the middle of speeds right back up again and everything whooshes around me. I can barely keep up with it. all I’m certain of is that Will has gone to find my son and I cannot let him do it alone. I can’t lose Jordan, I can’t let Will die, and I don’t want anything to happen to Michelle either. I should have warned her, maybe this is because she wasn’t on her guard. Or perhaps this would’ve happened anyway. It seems that Kingpin always has a plan. And this part might be a trap.
As I tear down the stairs after Will, I try calling Michelle. There’s still a small part of me that thinks she might answer her phone and all this will turn out to be a hoax. But as I get her voice mail and I recall the curt text she sent me, I understand this is the truth. Michelle is in love with her phone, she always has it turned on.
“Shit, Michelle, I’m sorry,” I sob pointlessly to the voice mail lady. “I didn’t want any of this to happen. I hope you’re okay. I really don’t want anything to happen to you. I love you, and I’m sorry.”
I push past people in the reception area and I get into the carpark just to see Will tearing out of it with the lights flashing on the top of his car. He knows where he’s going and he means business. Just as I slide into my car, I hear his alarms blaring out which mean he’s on the way. It’s time for us to tackle this. I bring the care to life and I slam my foot on the gas much harder than I would normally. If Will means business, then so do I.
The radio blares, almost drowning out the sound of the tires screeching along the ground. People on the sidewalk turn to stare at me but I don’t give a shit. Let them look, they’d be the same if this was their son in danger. I cannot believe that my child is in the hands of a criminal. I don’t even want to think what my mother would remark when it comes to my parenting skills now. She’d go berserk if she knew any of this.
It’s funny, now that I have a real reason to cry, my eyes are dry. I don’t have any tears for this, just a sheer determination to get this done. I’m kind of numb, I do feel empty, but deep, deep down I’m ready to face this. There’s some inner strength, a will power that I didn’t even know I had, rising to the surface.
Fuck this guy, I say to myself in a voice that sounds suspiciously like Will’s. I’m stronger than him.
Not physically, probably, but mentally. For Jordan, I feel like I can be strong enough to take anything on.
“Get out of the way!” I yell loudly while slamming my hand on the horn. “Come on, asshole!�
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Cars keep cutting me up, almost as if they want to keep me away from the cop car that’s racing ahead. Or maybe I’m just driving too fast, like an idiot and I’m the one in the wrong. But right now, it’s easier to blame others. I’m finding it a little bit cathartic to yell and shout at drivers, letting my frustration out.
I don’t know where Will is going, it’s out of the main town, but I suppose this criminal won’t be operating somewhere obvious. It’ll have to be hidden to keep his empire a secret. And he’s done a good job of it too. So far, no one has discovered his place of operation, so I wonder why today he’s letting it known now.
This is a trap, it has to be a trap. Kingpin knew what Jordan would bring Will out into the open and that gives him the perfect chance to kill him. There’s no way this scenario is going to end well. I slam my foot down on the gas even harder. I don’t know what I can do, but I can’t do nothing. I can’t let anyone die. Not today.
Finally, I hear the screeching of tires up ahead with the sirens following, which means it’s time to turn off. Will’s going towards an old business park, one that used to be thriving but died out with the recession. I read in the local newspaper once that someone had purchased the whole thing and they were bringing businesses back in, but it isn’t something that I’ve ever shown any interest in. But now my son might well be here.