by Aman Gupta
Kate was surprised, even apologetic.
Eric asked Joey to look after the precinct and he drove away towards the Morrow Hospital.
Emma went to her car. Kate asked her to take her too.
“Get lost, Jenna,” said Emma, before driving away.
Emma drove to Antonio’s house to look for Vik’s body. She found a pool of blood where she left him, but the body wasn’t there anymore. His car was still parked nearby. She ran around the house to search for any signs, but couldn’t find any. She went to Vik’s home but it was locked. The same way as before.
She went to the hospital where Eric was already there. Kate had showed up as well.
Emma asked, “How’s he?”
“He’s out of danger, but the condition is still critical. They managed to remove the bullet,” said Eric.
Emma saw that Antonio’s wife was crying, so was her child. She turned her face away when she saw the kid.
She ran to the reception and inquired if any other gunshot victim had been brought in recently. The nurse denied it.
She sat in the hospital lobby. With her hands trembling, she dialed Vik’s phone but it was unreachable. She figured it must be still buried near Atlantis.
After a few minutes, Kate came over and sat next to her.
“You were right. I betrayed his trust. The next I see him, I’ll ask for forgiveness,” said Kate.
She smiled nervously, “I think I lost count. Apologizing to that family.”
Eric had come over to them.
“You won’t get a chance to apologize,” said Emma, lost in her world.
“Why not?” asked Kate.
Emma got up and ran out of the hospital.
She drove to her home and laid on her bed, crying.
She woke up the next morning on hearing her doorbell. She opened the door and saw Joey standing there.
She hugged Joey and started crying. Joey took her inside and sat her down on her couch.
“What happened?” asked Joey.
“I shot him. I killed him,” cried Emma, as she hugged Joey.
“Who? Antonio? He’s fine,” said Joey.
“Yeah, I shot him too,” said Emma.
“Too?”
“I didn’t know anything about your plan. So I confronted Vik. He told me about Antonio, but I didn’t believe him. I thought you died, because of him. I thought he wouldn’t stop even if thousands more died because of his hunger for revenge. So, I shot him. I shot them both,” sobbed Emma.
“Hey, hey, hey. Don’t cry. Where’s he? I mean, where’s his body?” asked Joey albeit a little shocked.
“I don’t know. I went to Antonio’s house, but it wasn’t there,” said Emma, as she stopped hugging.
“Maybe he’s alive,” said Joey.
“No, I felt his pulse. He was dead,” said Emma.
“You ask the sheriff, he’ll say that Sarah always complained that the guy doesn’t have a heart. How could he have a pulse without a heart,” said Joey, as he endeavored to stop Emma from crying another river.
“What do we do?” asked Emma.
“Let’s tell the sheriff everything,” said Joey.
“Yeah, what’s the worst thing that could happen? I mean the guy’s already dead,” cried Emma.
“We don’t know that. Let’s go,” said Joey, as he helped her get up.
They left for the precinct. When they arrived, Kate told them that Eric had left urgently. They told Kate the entire thing. She was stunned.
Eric came after a couple of hours. Emma, Kate and Joey approached him in his office. Before they could say anything, Eric told Emma that Antonio had described his assailant.
“Why did you shoot him?” asked Eric.
“I made a mistake,” said Emma.
Eric got up, frustrated.
“You shot a man in front of his family, with his little boy waiting at the door. And all you have to say is you made a mistake,” said Eric.
“I’m sorry,” said Emma.
“Get out. Leave your gun and badge. Hopefully, Vik would be able to do a ballistics match,” said Eric.
“Have you heard from him?” asked Emma.
“Not since yesterday. Hope he’s not gone back to Atlantis,” said Eric.
“Go back?” asked Kate.
“He had mentioned it wasn’t over yet,” said Eric.
Emma put her gun and badge on the table and left Eric’s office. Joey and Kate followed her out. She walked into an empty cell inside the precinct, and told Kate to lock the door.
CHAPTER 15: OMEN
Antonio’s wife, Florence, came out running when she heard a gunshot and her child crying. Her husband was lying on the ground, barely breathing but still awake. Another man was lying a few feet away from her husband. She ran back to her house and dialed the number for an ambulance. She was told it was ten minutes away. She ran back outside to check on her husband.
“Check if he’s alive,” said Antonio, in pain.
Florence ran over to Vik, and felt his pulse. She couldn’t find one for a few seconds, until she did.
“He is barely breathing,” said Florence. “Hang on. The ambulance is on the way.”
Antonio’s phone started ringing. Florence picked up when it showed Emily’s name. She told her the entire thing.
Emily told Florence that she was nearby and arriving within a minute. Emily came after two minutes, and saw Vik lying in a pool of blood.
Antonio told Emily to take Vik immediately as he couldn’t wait for a treatment much longer. Florence and Emily put Vik in Emily’s car.
Emily raced away to her restaurant. Her sister had come to visit. She helped her take Vik inside and they laid him down.
“He has lost a lot of blood. We need to patch him up,” said Claire.
“What about the bullet?” asked Emily.
“There’s an exit wound,” said Claire. “Do you know his blood type?”
“Yeah. O+,” said Emily. “Same as ours.”
Claire asked Emily to go to the hospital and get a field blood transfusion kit. She told her that she needed to sew his wounds, and he might not survive the trip.
Emily rushed to the hospital. She saw that Antonio had already been brought. She told Florence to call the sheriff. She ran to an empty Operating Room, and found a blood transfusion kit in the storage.
She grabbed it and ran out of the hospital, pushing a few nurses along the way. She drove as fast as she could. Almost getting in an accident herself, she returned to Claire, who told her that she had cleaned and patched the wounds, but Vik needed a blood transfusion straight away. Emily volunteered and Claire set up the blood transfusion kit. Vik’s pulse rate came close to normal shortly after.
“Whoever shot him missed the vital organs,” said Claire.
She saw Emily was really worried, sitting beside Vik.
“Don’t worry, he’ll be fine,” said Claire. “He’s tough. You should’ve seen the beating he gave the officer at Stanton.”
Emily smiled.
“Should we inform the sheriff?” asked Claire.
“No, I don’t trust them,” said Emily. “We wait till he’s awake.”
“Should we take him to the hospital?” asked Emily, few seconds later.
“No, he’s fine here. I’ll get some supplies and medicines,” said Claire.
After close to 12 hours, Vik woke up.
“You’re still weak,” said Claire.
“Am I in prison again?” said Vik.
Claire smiled.
“Yeah,” she said.
“How do you feel about euthanasia?” joked Vik.
“I could make an exception for you,” said Claire.
Emily came over. He saw she looked messy.
“Where am I?” asked Vik.
“At the restaurant. In Emily’s office,” said Claire.
“Why is there a bed in your office? What, are you lazy or something?” said Vik.
Emily laughed. Vik smiled as well, trying to
get up but couldn’t. Claire laid him down again carefully.
“What’s the last thing you remember?” asked Emily.
“You lying on top of me. I think we were in a car’s backseat,” said Vik.
“Yeah, I slipped,” said Emily.
“Broke my ribs, I think,” said Vik.
“I said sorry by giving you my blood.”
“Great, now I am HIV+,” laughed Vik.
Emily and Claire laughed as well.
“Should we tell your friends that you’re here?” asked Claire.
Vik stopped smiling and said, after a minute of pause, “No, it’s better this way.”
“They must be thinking you’re dead,” said Emily.
“So the announcement came a week early. What’s the harm in that?” said Vik.
“Can I get you anything?” asked Emily.
“A new laptop would be nice,” said Vik.
“What are you planning to do?” asked Emily.
“Tie-up a few loose ends,” said Vik.
“I can’t let you do that. I have seen all this before, you know,” said Emily.
Her eyes were teary. She was trying to muster all the strength she could all these years.
“You know why I told you about my husband? I could see the same mask on your face as mine,” said Emily.
“I know. We can’t bring back the ones we loved. But we can avenge them. I helped you avenge yours. Please don’t stop me from avenging mine,” said Vik.
“Okay,” said Emily. “I’ll get you a laptop.”
“Thank you,” said Vik.
Emily and Claire turned around to leave.
“You were wrong,” said Vik. “Your sister’s definitely better looking than you.”
“Which one of us are you talking to?” smiled Claire.
“Relax, he’s just trying to play us,” laughed Emily.
“Or,” said Vik.
“You think you’re hotter than me,” said Claire to Emily.
“It’s not thinking if it’s true,” said Emily.
“Maybe that’s why all the boys used to hang out with me in high school while you fumed with jealousy,” said Claire.
They walked out, arguing against each other.
“Yeah, I’m definitely going to hell,” said Vik, trying to get up.
He spent the entire day in recovery. Emily got him a new laptop. He accessed the new contents of his private cloud, which had all the data that was only accessible to Olivia, courtesy his program installed in her laptop. He sent an email to Sam, thanking her on keeping her part of the deal. He needed her to destroy the communication and network lines, so that his program could send the massive data steadily without triggering any alarms. A single network line helped with the camouflage.
Sam replied that she needed to see him. He told her to come to Morrow Town the next day.
While he was sleeping after spending all day searching the cloud for clues, Emily checked his laptop. She saw that he had written to the Warden of Clarence Road State Penitentiary, requesting a prisoner transfer from Morrow to their prison, using Eric’s contact information.
Emily thought it was for the person who shot him. Worried about him, Emily decided to visit Eric late evening to apprise him of the situation.
Emily walked into the precinct. Kate and Joey were sitting at their desks. She told that she needed to speak to the sheriff immediately. They asked her the reason for her visit. She told them that she would only tell it to the sheriff.
They took her to the holding area, where Eric was talking to Emma inside her cell.
“Sir, she needs to have a word,” said Kate.
Eric stood up and walked out of the cell. Emma was still sitting on the floor, with her back against the wall.
“What is it?” asked Eric.
“I’m worried about Vik. He’s..,” said Emily.
Emma looked to her right and saw Emily.
“Emily, there’s something you need to know,” interrupted Eric.
“Know what?” asked Emily.
“Vik’s dead. Emma shot him, by mistake,” said Eric.
“Oh. You’d be surprised how often that happens in my restaurant. First they have their date. Months later, one of them is dead,” said Emily. “I think I should go.”
“You were saying something about Vik, just now,” said Emma, as she got up and came forward pressing her skull against the steel bars.
“No, that was it. I hadn’t heard anything from him, so I was worried,” said Emily. “Sorry, I have to go.”
Emily rushed outside.
“Am I the only one who noticed that?” said Joey.
“She took the news surprisingly well, without any cursing and threats,” said Kate.
Emily returned to her restaurant, and confronted Vik about Emma.
“What can I say? The girl’s an emotional nut job,” said Vik.
“Why did she shoot you?” asked Emily.
“She thought I killed her friend,” said Vik.
A minute later, he said, “Thank you. For not asking if I did.”
Emily laughed. “Believe me, you won’t hear a word from me if cops are dying.”
Vik smiled. “Got anything to eat?”
“Yeah, we just closed for the day. Come on out. The whole restaurant’s yours,” said Emily.
Vik got out of her office and sat in his favorite corner booth in the restaurant, by the kitchen door.
Emily prepared some food. Sandy stayed back to help.
“Where’s Claire?” Vik asked.
“Went back to Stanton,” replied Emily.
“How come you didn’t become a doctor like her?” said Vik.
“I liked burning stuff. She liked patching things up,” replied Emily.
Vik smiled.
Sandy brought out a massive pizza. Vik gulped looking at its size.
“I hope you’re helping me eat that,” said Vik.
“Okay,” said Sandy.
Emily came and sat in the booth as well, next to Sandy.
After a few minutes, there was a knock on the door.
“We’re closed,” yelled Emily, with pizza in her mouth.
The person knocked again.
Emily asked Sandy to check. A minute later, Sandy came in with Eric, Kate, Joey and Emma.
“Mind if we join?” said Eric, to Vik.
“No guns,” said Emily.
Eric, Kate and Joey put their weapons on another table.
They stood next to the booth. Joey sat, next to Vik.
“Give us a minute, Emily,” said Vik.
Emily stared at Emma, in disgust. She asked Sandy to go home, and went inside her office.
Emma sat in front of Vik and Kate sat next to her.
“You’re alive,” said Emma.
“No thanks to you,” said Vik.
“You could’ve told us about your plan,” said Emma.
“So it’s my fault?” asked Vik, angrily.
“What she means is,” said Eric.
“If she can kill me herself, surely she can speak for herself,” said Vik.
Joey was eating pizza, loudly. Emily came outside and took away the pizza.
“Sorry, forgot something,” said Emily.
“Hey, I was eating that,” said Joey.
“I didn’t make it for you,” shouted Emily, from her office, and slammed the door.
“I’m sorry,” said Emma.
“I don’t care,” said Vik. “Not anymore.”
“What do you mean?” asked Emma.
She tried holding Vik’s hand but he pulled it away.
“Earlier, I used to push you away to protect you. Now, I’m pulling myself away to protect myself. You made me weak. People like me, where I am.. I can’t appear to be weak,” said Vik.
“We understand why you’re angry,” said Kate.
“Do you? I..I..I..” said Vik.
“What?” asked Eric.
“Honestly, I’m just tired. This past decade of my life
has been so emotionally and mentally strenuous. I just want it to end,” said Vik. “I can’t wait for it to end. But before that, I have to right some of the wrongs that happened to others due to me. I just can’t see past it. It’s like a huge wall in front of me. I just want to get over it, even if it means I have to jump from its top.”
“We want to help,” said Eric.
“I needed you for the battle. The battle is over. I don’t need you for the war,” said Vik.
“What are we supposed to do?” asked Emma.
“Move on. I don’t want another death on my conscience or heart,” said Vik.
He told them to leave.
“Antonio is not pressing charges,” said Eric.
“I’m not surprised,” said Vik.
They all left. He sat in that booth all night.
The next day, Sam showed up at the precinct looking for Vik. She was told to wait by Eric, who called Emily to send Vik to the precinct. After waiting for an hour, she got up to leave, but then couple of bounty hunters showed up at Eric’s office. They told him that they were sent by Clarence Penitentiary, as per Eric’s communication. Eric denied making such a request. Emma volunteered to go with them, thinking that Vik was behind it. They told her that she didn’t fit the description and the picture provided to them.
One of them saw Sam, and pointed it to the other guy. After a brief chase, they cuffed Sam and told her that she was being arrested for her crimes in the last five years, ranging from financial fraud to identity theft. They mentioned sufficient proof had been provided to Fedric County sheriff, where the penitentiary was located.
Sam was livid, realizing that Vik had set her up. To get back at Vik and spoil his future plans, she called Emma and gave her a piece of paper inside her bag, with all the access codes to Vik’s private server and cloud.
“What do I do with it?” asked Emma, taking Sam’s bag.
“Whatever you want,” said Sam.
The bounty hunters took her away.
Eric went over to Emily’s to talk to Vik. Vik told him that Sam wasn’t completely honest about her involvement in West Gate kidnappings. When Eric probed further, Vik didn’t give him much information, rather asked him to leave.
Eric returned to the precinct where Emma, Kate and Joey were going through the Atlantis files on Vik’s server. He decided to join them.
Late evening, Vik left after saying goodbye to Emily. He returned to his home, filled his bag with some random objects and drove out to the precinct in his car.