I owe him my life

"We have been waiting for you for so long," William stretched his neck and looked at Journee who was entering the Movie room. It was clear that he had been waiting for her eagerly.

"Oh, so dramatic," taunted Journee. "I was just gone for minutes." She was carrying an ice bucket that had a few bottles of beer and cans of coke.

"Well, come on then, let's not waste any more minutes," shouted Kay.

"Sorry that my professional life is disturbing your movie time, jeez," pouted Journee and placed the bucket on the table before them.

William and Kay were already seated before the large screen. They left a chair between themselves for Journee. She folded one of her legs and sat with a thud on the reclining chair. The chair automatic moved forward. She was lying on the chair in an uncomfortable position. She again had to stand up and sit properly.

"Are you done? Can we start the movie?" scolded Kay. Even William kept staring at her with his one eyebrow raised.

"Sorry!" she showed her teeth and sunk in her seat.

Kay picked up the remote and started the movie. The hall echoed with the music of the 20th-century fox. Journee facepalmed, hard.

"Die Hard, again?" she complained.

Kay turned towards her and stared into her soul. "Do you have any problem?"

"Come on, Kay. I know it's a classic, it's your favourite, but we have seen it hundreds of times," protested Journee.

With a swagger, Kay replied, "I can watch John McClane thousands of times."

Journee exhaled and threw her arms in the air, "well, Bruce Willis is not bad to look at." Both the men instantly looked at her with disgust. They were too stunned to speak. Journee looked at their weird expression and said, "What, it's true. He is ruggedly handsome."

"He is my age, my age," shouted William.

"You are handsome too, Dad," grinned Journee. He shook his head and turned his head towards the screen.

The two hours filled with superb action and drama were enjoyed equally by all three. The men kept sipping their chilled beer and Journee had to drink Coke. Finally, the credits started rolling and Kay shut off the screen.

"Nice movie!" all three said at the same time.

"Oh, how I want a mind-blowing catchphrase like him," commented Journee.

"Me too!" both Kay and William nodded.

"So, are you guys staying this time?" abruptly, William asked.

"Nope, we are leaving," said Journee.

"Jo! This is your house, you can stay, you know," said William, seriously.

Journee took his hands in hers and replied, "I know, Dad, next time, I promise. I will bring an overnight bag, Kay too, right, Kay?"

"Absolutely. I lived in this house for ages. You grew up in this house. Why won't I want to stay here again?" Kay was all in for staying.

"See, we will stay here next time," she pulled him closer and kissed his cheeks.

"Okay," he said, disappointed.

"Bye, Dad," she hugged him, tightly.

"Goodnight, Sir," Kay too shook his hands.

"Goodnight to both of you."

He came to the door to drop them off and goodbye. After hugging, kissing, and shaking hands, William went inside his home and Journee and Kay started moving towards the Jeep. She turned around to see if William was still looking.

She chucked her key towards Kay and shouted, "Here, take this. Meet me at the corner."

"Jo!" he caught the key and was confused. Then a bulb lit over his head. "What? What did you do?"

"I will explain later, just do what I say," she said with urgency. She knew that if William won't hear the sound of the engine soon, he would come out to inquire what was the delay.

"This girl!" he muttered. "You will be the death of me one day," he waved his fingers towards her.

"Yeah, yeah, go, go," she was getting impatient. She started waving her hands frantically.

Kay shook his head in disbelief, sat in the driver's seat and started the engine. Journee made her path back towards the house by constantly hiding in the bushes. She was crouched down and was walking on her feet with bend knees. The people who do yoga would say that she was crow walking.

Finally, she reached the bush that had a file sitting on it. A few pages fell out of it. She quickly gathered all and stood up. For a second she peeped inside the window, but the room was dark. She started tracing her footsteps back and ran to the street.

She kept running and running till she turned around the corner where Kay was waiting for her. He was standing leaning at the door, juggling the keys.

"Do you mind telling me what you are doing?" shouted Kay.

"This," she shoved the file in his face. "Read it." She gave him the file and took the keys from him. He started opening the file when she interrupted. "Not now, get in. We have to get away from the scene of the crime."

"You know that you stole this file from your father, the commissioner," he emphasized on the word commissioner.

"Kay, can't we get in the Jeep and talk? People can see us. They will tell him tomorrow that we were standing on the street and talking, and then he will ask us. What will you tell him then?" she snapped.

"Oh, you are right." He immediately jumped into the Jeep and closed the door. Journee followed his suit. She turned the key into the ignition and raced the Jeep to her house. Kay tried reading the file in the Jeep, but it was too dark. Occasional streetlights kept lighting the pages but that was not enough to read.

Both kept thinking about how they committed a crime and were running away from the commissioner of the NYPD. They were so afraid that they both started screaming after the machine gun mounted on their gate pointed at them.

"Shit! Why did we choose this security measure?" shouted Kay.

"I don't know. Journee Davis," enunciated Journee.

"Caden Spaulding," said Kay.

The gate flung open, and they entered in. With the file in his hands, he opened the door and they both entered in. He kept scanning the file on his way in. He started walking into his room when Journee stopped him.

"Not there," said Journee. Kay understood where she was taking him.

They both entered the room that Journee had turned into a library. They both stood before a bookcase. Journee took out the book "The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes" and a keypad appeared. She punched in a number and a sliding door opened next to the bookcase.

The whole room was dark when the moment they stepped in the room the lights came on. They were motion activated. The room had an expensive set up of computers and large boards displayed all over the room. The boards were filled with photos and articles she gathered about Zachary and Zion. The computers had all the soft copies of the evidence she ever gathered.

She backed up the files that IT send her and connected the active surveillance to her home system.

"Okay, Kay, we need another board for this file. I have activated the surveillance system and I need you to start working on both cases."

"Are you sure this is the right thing to do?" He waved the file in front of her.

She exhaled loudly and replied, "he would have done the same for me. If my family would be alive, he would move heaven and earth to find them. Don't you think I should do the same for him?"

"But Jo, what if he is right? What if Amber is dead? You need to focus on Zachary. You cannot divide your attention," Kay tried to make her understand.

"You are so loyal to him," Journee shook her head.

"He saved my life. He gave me dignity, a place in society. I owe him my life," replied Kay with gratitude and respect.

"Me too. He brought me up, he gave him his name, he made sure that my past never bothers me," shouted Journee.

"But it bothers you," snapped Kay.

"It's been months since I had a nightmare, Kay," lied Journee.

"Really!" But Kay knew the truth.

"Fine, it's been days," she hung her head low.

"You need to tell your father that your nightmares are back," suggested Kay.

"Kay, look at me, I am fine. I am doing meditation and yoga and I am in a good place. No need to tell him anything, okay," she begged.

"Fine, this time I am not telling him anything, but the next time you get a nightmare, I am telling him. You can deal with him on your own," warned Kay.

"Fine, you are the boss. Whatever you say. Now, will you help me?" pleaded Journee.

"If he finds out that you took his file, he will kill you," said Kay.

"I know."

"Fine, I will help you but if he asks, I will deny everything," taunted Kay.

"That's more like it," she jumped with happiness and hugged him.

"What do you want me to look at?" asked Kay.

She broke the embrace and replied, "first, you have to listen to this audio every night. Beware, there will be some weird noises."

"Weird noises?" asked Kay, confused.

"Nothing to worry about. And then read every word of this file. If anything, anything is out of place, tell me. Any detail about her last whereabouts, tiny details about her dress, her hair, her kidnapper, anything. Tomorrow I will try to visit his old house. But first, you need to get yourself familiar with everything," informed Journee.

"So, I will not sleep," groaned Kay.

"Sleep is overrated," she commented and started walking away.

"And where are you going?"

"To sleep, goodnight," she chuckled and left.

"Oh, I hate her," he shouted.

"You love me," Journee shouted back.

"Shut up!"