Chapter Eleven

"Okay, so what's the plan?" I ask the task force. Nobody chimes in and I roll my eyes. They are all pondering the possibilities and what outcomes could unfold.

Jamal has a smile on his face. "I have a feeling he needs you back, he just got out of jail. He harassed Ava and did a whole lot of shit out of jealousy. That man is falling apart, his daddy got him out of trouble of course. He has friends on the inside of the system. Once I find out who the hell those people are I am getting their asses fired." 

"Okay, but how does that help my situation? I can't go back to them. I won't," I say, he doesn't know where I am currently living. I always take different ways here and it's a gated community.

"Just go see what he has to say, maybe he will say more to stir the pot you have been brewing." The director of this mission, Garrett Tompson says. He's an older man, in his late 50s. He was against me joining the team in the beginning. But now, once he sees what I am capable of he has grown to like me. 

"Okay, but I am bringing my gun. I'll shoot the man before I ever join him. " Jamal starts laughing and his boss gives him a look that makes him stop immediately.

"You get him, girl." I roll my eyes because they know I can't shoot very well, but the gun was a gift from Julia. We are the only girls on the team. Julia is a forensic scientist, she studies all the bodies from them.

"I am going to log off and get ready." I hit the end call button on my laptop. 

When I get dressed up, I put on a mesh top over my black bra. Then I grab a skirt and some fishnet stockings. I put on a pair of open-toed boots that are nice, but you can run in them if needed. I curl my hair and put it up into a neat ponytail. Throwing on some hoops and my nose stud, I am ready to go.

I don't drive my car, I have borrowed a sports car from Thema. Her dad owns a lot of them. She comes from a rather wealthy family. But she doesn't like handouts. She likes to work for every little thing she has. That is why I joined her family. It's honestly not a gang, it's just a group of people doing what the law won't prevent. We try to protect people, currently trying to get them out of town. I don't know why he isn't in LA anymore. I drive to the club blasting music trying to distract myself. I hate that he is in this town. I hate how he found me.

I walk into the club jumping through the long line because Thema grabs me by the arm.

"Girl you got this," she says, and that is when I notice her brothers are here. They are cops and way older than us. She is the baby in the family tree. They are in regular clothes and are probably going to be here to keep an eye on me.

As soon as I enter the club I notice him, he is sitting alone. Short sleeve shirt to where you can see all his arm tattoos on display. 

I walk over and sit down at the booth. My hands are a little sweaty because this meeting will feel like an eternity. This is the first time I have been in his presence willingly in awhile.

"You showed up," he says with a wicked grin. His voice sounds like nails on a chalkboard to me. It's not deep like Blade. I didn't think I would ever have to hear it again. It's a deep voice but I believe he is forcing it a little too much.

"Of course, I did what the hell else would I do when you come on my turf? I am done with you, computers keep getting newer and I can't hack like I used to." I explain, that if I were Pinocchio my nose would be a foot long.

"You are lying, I know you. You are a prodigy. Don't play dumb that's my brother's job." He says slamming his arms on the table and spilling his beverage.

Ah, I thought he was going to say his job.

"Well, I don't do it anymore. I have a life. I have a job that I love," I explain, just as the girl from Blade's house walks in. 

"Erika Cromwell," I say as she approaches us.

"Hey, baby." I know for a fact I am not a "baby" so I look over at Sam. He smiles and now I know he is with another blonde. He has a type for sure.

"Oh, you live next door to my brother, sugar girl." She explains with a cute smile and a flick of her long golden locks.

"Your brother?" I question, so the sister of my neighbor is the girlfriend of my ex-gang leader. 

"Yeah, we lived in LA. But I wanted to be closer to my little brother." She smiles and sits down with us and he looks at her like she is imposing on our conversation.

"You do know this fucker is in a gang and beats the shit out of every girl he has ever been with? I could call his ex-wife and prove it to you. He visited her a few months ago and was arrested," I confess this and she doesn't look bothered.

"I know. I am working on fixing him." I want to laugh when she says this. Fix, this man is a puzzle with more than a few missing pieces. 

"Well, what am I here for? I had a long day at the clinic." I roll my eyes and they want to go home fills my mind.

"Join us again. I need you to do something for me." He smiles while taking a drink of what is left of her beer.

"No, thank you. I do not owe you anything." Erika gets up to go get them some more drinks.

"Join us, or girls from your work will start disappearing." He looks tense as if I don't join him, something is about to go down. Something bad, I think he is in trouble.

"You do anything to them, I will personally shoot you myself.  Whatever is going down, is all your fault. I will not stop. Your gang will crumble, as your father watches his only eligible heir get carried away with a bullet in his head." As I explain this a smile creeps up on his face.

"Oh, you got bold now. You don't threaten a leader without expecting a punishment." He looks over at a large man, who is standing next to the bar area playing with a lighter. He breaks a bunch of bottles of liquor, throws the lighter, and then vanishes in the crowd.

The bar area is now on fire and people are rushing out, smoke fills the room and I begin to start heading out. His current girlfriend Erika is sitting on the ground screaming because glass is all stuck in her arm and leg. I go over to help her and Sam leaves.

"You can have her," he says as he walks out not giving a fuck about what he just did.

The bar is heating up and the fire is spreading. Thema's brothers rush over to help me. "Help me lift her." They lift her like she is nothing.

The sprayers turn on and everything is soaked. The fire is put out, as we carry her to safety. Thema is on the phone with the fire department. "Yes, 222. You will be here in five minutes." She is freaking out. She is not involved with her dad's business. That is why she works here. It's all because of stuff like this, she wants a normal life without gang shit. 

We get everyone across the street in front of the office building that is across the street. Thankfully the bar has those sprayers. It put the fire out so no one is hurt. 

"That bastard," Erika cries out in pain. Her body is covered in little cuts from the glass. Blood is running down the right side of her body each drop racing another one. 

"You will be okay," I say as they set her down. The ground is a flat surface so she can lay there on her other side and not have the glass pressing into her further.

"Does anyone have a first aid kit?" I yell and people look at me like I am crazy.

"I do." One of Thema's brothers says. His name is Thomas. He steps up like normal, that man is always prepared. Honestly, what undercover cop isn't? 

"Go get it," I say to him, and he sprints to his car which is not too far away. When he gets back I notice there are a lot of cleaning supplies for wounds.

"I am going to clean and help you out a bit. We are going to do what I can." She cries, and her ankle looks sprained from people stepping all over her.  I find a wrap and wrap it up to as best of my mastery of Thema spraining her ankle all the damn time in her heels.

"Why do I always go after those types of men?" Tears run down her face as she looks at me, silently crying. Me too girl, me too. My ex is a lot worse than that guy. 

"You ignored all the red flags and thought you could fix him, now calm down while we wait for the ambulance to get here." I look back at the building and the building explodes and I am knocked back by its force of it. Covering her body from the explosion. 

My head slams on the ground and I go to stand up and there is a ringing in my ears. A lot of people are on the ground, some not responding due to parts of the building stuck inside them. Thomas, oh no!

I rush over to him, a metal rod is in his chest. Thema notices and comes over. Currently, my ears are ringing and I can't hear what she is saying. But I put pressure on the wound as the lights come rushing into the lot. I did this, I could have said yes and this wouldn't be happening. Snap out of it, I tell myself.

 It is not my fault. I do not control other actions. My head starts spinning and I am out cold. I lay on the ground surrounded by the blood Thomas was unable to move. I look back at the bar building. Its fire I see, though the hot tear-drop dances yellow and orange in the August breeze, The flames that consumed demanded everything become ashes. The building isn't a building anymore, it is fattened in the distance. The fire roars and I am taken aback by the sight.

Sharp pain is noticeable in my arm immediately. That is when I turn to see it. A chair leg on my shoulder. Is this how I am going to die?  I can't yank it out, it isn't all the way through. I have seen what happens when people rush to get things out. Not going to risk it, I need this arm. I keep pressure on his wound for as long as I can. Lights dance in the distance and Thema takes over. Falling back onto the hot cement I lay not able to get up.

I lay soaked from the sprayers, the sky is orange and there is smoke all over the place. No sounds, I can not speak. Just lying there waiting for someone to pick up and save me. What seems like a few minutes pass and then someone, I can't see their face, my vision is blurry. They pick me up and carry me onto what feels like a board. A loud ringing fills my ears and my hearing rushes back. 

"Her heart rate is elevated, check her blood pressure." A man says as something is wrapped around my good arm and starts squeezing.

"Yes, let's get her to the hospital quickly." They stick a mask on my face and fresh oxygen fills my nostrils making me close my eyes to focus on my breathing. I take calming breaths as I can somewhat feel the ambulance in motion. My arm feels like hell, wishing the pain away doesn't work. They are trying their best to keep me awake and responsive but honestly, it is taking everything I have got to do so. My head is throbbing and my arm is covered in blood. I can feel it dripping down my arm. It's not a pleasant feeling. Drifting off into the white abyss is all I can do.

Fog covers the green grass that leads to the big White House. It looks like an old beaten-up barn. Around the house lay bones, bones of a human skeleton. There have to be at least twenty skulls that all vanish into ash as I walk up to the house. In the house stands a man at the end of the bed and a woman is tied up to the bed naked and gagged. They are both blurred, the man takes his clothes off and pulls out a knife I have seen before. The leather handle rests in his hands and there I see his face now. Marcell, my ex, is the one we have been trying to track. He takes her necklaces off. One is a necklace he gave me as a gift. An amethyst pendant lays now on the bed next to them. He stands up with a devilish smirk on his face.

"You sold my guy out to the feds, I don't like it when people take away my employees." She begins to try and break free from the restraints as he shouts at her in his Brooklyn accent.

"Relax, girl I am just here to have some fun," he says, unfastening his pants and pulling out a knife. He walks up to her, a thought playing behind his eyes. She is laying there spread out in a way we used to fuck. He climbs on top of her like a lion, and her voice is muffled by the gag.  When he climbs on top of the big-breasted blond and holds the knife up to her throat. I start to gag, I don't want to be here. Is this hell?

She sheds a tear and starts shaking realizing what is about to happen. The girl attempts to call for someone who's not there as he holds the knife up to her throat. 

"Fucking stop it!" I scream, but they can't hear me so I try and push him over but end up falling through him. Laying on the bed I can see the joy in his eyes as he goes in for the kill.  

 Her breathing begins to slow as he drags the knife across her soft flesh. Her eyes search around the room as if she is wishing for help. But I can't help her. Her head tilts down and she looks down at her cross necklace. The fear of God not helping her scares her, as more tears fall her face. I look at her and it is as if this close to death she can see me. She smiles now that I can see her face. He cuts her arms free and flips her around now having her pinned to the bed face shoved into the old comforter. The first time he drives the knife straight into the area of the spine that will paralyze her. He then flips her over and steps away from her and he watches as blood drips on the white sheets, lingering in the darkness. I just watch and absorb every moment of life draining from her body. She can't move, all she does is lay there completely naked begging for his mercy with no words. Her eyes say it all to me.  

While she is laying there begging with tears in her eyes he starts to carve initials into her side. After that is done, he then pulls out an old portable polaroid and snaps a picture, with a huge grin on his face. He shows it to her and her eyes glaze over and she dies, her chest no longer heaving. 

Then I am back on the beach, the day we met. The woman that was tied to the bed now stands before me in a mesh top. She says, "he dumped me here." She then disappears and he walks up to dump an urn full of ashes into the water on the shore of the beach.

I walked up to him to comfort him and even said good things about the dog I had never met. This time, I did not walk up to him. I don't care about that miserable sack of shit. He even lied to me the day we met. Turning I go back to the beach where all of my friends should be. The beach darkens as if it is nighttime, the moon glowing red as my heart beats rapidly.

A beast that looks like half-man, half-monster begins to chase me and I attempt to escape him by going into the water.  The water doesn't stop the beast, it looks completely evil. When I glanced at it I thought it was a monster when I glanced at it again. It looks chewed up and almost like a zombie dog.