by A. L Long
I knew that the doctor was only doing his job, but I hated what he said. My mom was lying there and being kept alive by a damn machine. I only had one question for him. “What are the chances that she will be able to breathe on her own once you remove the ventilator?”
“Slim to none, I’m afraid. With the type of seizure she experienced, and the amount of time that it lasted, the damage done to her brain is irreversible. It would be a miracle if she was able to survive,” the doctor advised.
I felt like I was living a nightmare. My mom was the only person I had left in my life. Even though she hadn’t been with me for a long time, she was still my mom. Watching the doctor walk away, I slowly made it back inside my mom’s room. Lou was right beside me. As soon as her condition hit me and the tears began to fall. Lou pulled me into his arm. Living on the streets and having that feeling of hopelessness was a day at the park compared to how I felt at that very moment.
CHAPTER FIFTEEN
Gainer
There were so many things that I wished I could do for Emma. Even though I had so many unanswered questions about her, it could never compare to what she had gone through the past couple of days. Since her mom was the only family she knew, Emma thought that it would be practical to have her cremated. I will never forget the look in Emma’s eyes yesterday, when she told the doctor that she was ready for her mom to go in peace. It was a matter of minutes before her mom’s body finally shut down after the ventilator was removed.
Today, we were on our way back to Manhattan. Me, Emma, and what was left of her mom. Emma said that her mom loved Central Park and that was where she felt her mom should be. She said that at least now when she walked through the park on the way to work, she could always visit her mom at the Balcony Bridge.
Driving home, even though just as quiet as the trip out, was not rushed. I was at a loss for words and wasn’t sure if Emma was in a talking mood anyway. There was so much that I needed to tell her, but dealing with the death of her mom was all that she would be able to handle. Sharing what Peter had told me just wasn’t an option at this point. It would crush Emma knowing that while we were in Chicago, another friend of hers was killed. There were only four girls plus Emma that went to Surge the night the first girl died. With only her and Courtney left, our time was running out to find the killer.
The only lead we had this time was that the killer left a note, ‘PLATES OR ANOTHER ONE DIES.’ Even that wasn’t enough since whomever left the note was smart enough to leave no prints. Currently, our only lead was Walsh McGowan. He had to be the answer to this, only we didn’t know how.
Turning down Fifth Avenue, I found a parking spot across the street from Central Park. I suggested that we get some rest and come by in the morning to pour Emma’s mom’s ashes in the water below Balcony Bridge, but she insisted it had to be done right way.
This time of night was not the best time to be walking through Central Park. Too many bad things happen in the park at night. It seemed like all the misfits came out, causing havoc in the park. Holding tightly to Emma with one hand while holding onto her mom’s ashes with the other, I kept my eyes open for any trouble. When we finally made it to the Balcony Bridge, I handed Emma the small box where her mother’s ashes were kept. Removing the plastic, I watched as Emma pulled the container holding the ashes from the box. I knew that this was very hard for her. I regretfully moved away from her to give her some privacy. I could only hear bits and pieces of what she was saying as she poured the ashes into the water. It took everything I had not to go to her and pull her close to me.
When she turned to face me, her eyes were red with despair and she just looked at the empty box like her whole had been taken away from her. Unable to stand it anymore, I walked over to her and took her into my arms. In a small whimper she cried, “I am really going to miss her.”
Kissing the top of her head, I pulled her even closer. “It will get better with time, baby,” I assured her.
I couldn’t have been more at ease when Emma decided it was best for us to head back to the truck. Even though the path we took was lit pretty well, the area around us was very dark. Holding her as close as I could to my body, I increased my pace, wanting more than anything to get to the safety of my truck. Seeing the exit of the park, I thought for sure we were safe, at least until I felt something being stuck in my back.
“Give me what I want and you live,” a gruff voice said behind me.
“I have no idea what it is that you think I have, but my wallet is in my back pocket,” I replied as calmly as possible. The only thing I could imagine he wanted was money.
“I don’t want your fucking money, asshole. I want the fucking plates.”
Everything was beginning to make sense. This guy, whoever he was, may have been the reason those innocent girls died. Stepping back with my left leg, I pushed Emma away from me and bent my body over just enough to throw this guy off balance. Twisting my body around, I was able to get behind him and force the gun out of his hand. Bringing him to the ground, I held him there with my knee in his back and demanded, “Who are you working for?”
“I’m never going to tell you. Do you think I’m stupid?” he answered between gritted teeth.
“Well, maybe you need a little incentive,” I seethed, pulling my phone from my back pocket.
Looking over to Emma to make sure she was okay, I waited for Peter to answer the phone. When he finally picked up, I grunted, trying to hold the guy in place, “Gonna need your help, bro. I think we may have found our first lead to the deaths of those girls. He may need a little convincing. Can you get a hold of Ash and let him know to meet us at the shop?”
“Ash is still with Juliette in Hawaii. He won’t be back until tomorrow. I’ll get in touch with Chavez. He’ll be able to do a little convincing,” Peter suggested.
“Okay, we should be there in fifteen minutes,” I declared.
“We?”
“Yeah, Emma is with me. See you in fifteen.”
Ending the call, I looked at Emma and asked, “Emma, I need you to grab his gun. It fell in the grass.”
Holding the scumbag to the ground, I waited for Emma to bring me the gun. When she handed it over, I grabbed the guy by the collar and brought him to his feet. I was glad that we weren’t far from the truck. The last thing I needed was for this lowlife to pull a quick one.
As we got closer to the truck, I dug in my pocket and gave Emma the keys. “There is rope in the back, behind the back seat, I need you to get it for me. Can you do that, baby?” I asked.
“Yeah,” she replied, walking ahead of me to the truck.
As Emma handed me the rope that she had pulled from behind the seat, I gave the gun to her while I began tying his hands behind his back. Placing him in the back seat, I finished tying him up by binding his feet together. Taking the gun from Emma, I said to her, “You will need to drive. I will let you know where to go.”
Looking at me with anxiety, Emma confessed in a small voice. “Lou, I don’t know how to drive.”
This was something I didn’t figure on. Of course, she wouldn’t know how to drive. Handing the gun back to her, I advised, “Emma, you need to sit in the back with this scumbag. Don’t take your eyes off him. Most importantly, if he tries anything, shoot him in the leg. We need to keep him alive.”
Taking a few minutes to show Emma how to use the gun, I climbed in behind the wheel and pulled away from the curb. It was a good fifteen minutes to the shop, and that was assuming that traffic would be light. I hated having Emma watch this guy, but I had no other choice. Looking in the review mirror, I could tell that Emma was nervous about holding a gun to this guy by the way her hand was shaking. Getting her attention, I asked softly, “Baby, are you doing okay?”
“I’m okay, Lou. Just hurry. This guy is giving me the weebie jeebies,” she replied, placing the gun in her other hand as she rubbed her hand against her jeans.
“Ten more minutes, baby.”
When I pulled up to the shop,
I had my door open before I turned off the engine. I needed to get this guy away from Emma as quick as possible. Opening the door, I grabbed the guy by the collar and dragged him out of the truck. Emma held the gun on him until I could untie the rope that I placed around his ankles. The guy almost got the best of me. Thankfully, Emma must have seen what the guy was about to do. She placed the gun to the guy’s head and warned, “Don’t try it, dickwad.”
Smiling up at her, I took the gun from her and moved out of the way so that she could exit the truck. Before we got to the shop door, Peter opened it and held it open for us. Just as we passed him, he informed us, “The back room is all ready for our guest. Chavez should be here shortly.”
The guy tried getting away, but was unsuccessful. Sitting him down on the metal chair, I secured his hands to the back of the chair and his ankles to the legs. There was no way this guy was going anywhere. Emma was still standing in the doorway like she was afraid to enter the room. She probably wanted to stay as far away from this guy as possible.
Just when I was about to tell her to wait in the lounge area, she walked away and Chavez walked through the door. I was never so glad to see a person as I was then. Holding my hand out to him, he began doing his signature handshake. Bumping shoulders, I said, “Nice to see ya, bro.”
“Likewise, Gainer,” he replied, looking over my shoulder. “So, this guy needs a little persuading.”
“I think you’re going to have your hands full with this asshole. Let me know if you need anything,” I offered.
“Not so fast, bro. You’re going to help me.” Chavez declared.
Normally he would have wanted this guy all to himself, but when he told me to assist, there was no way I was going to refuse. Nodding my head, I said, “Be right back. Let me get Emma settled first.”
Feeling like Emma would be okay in the lounge area, I headed back to the back room to assist Chavez in his interrogation. Opening the door, Chavez was already doing his thing, so I just stepped back and crossed my arms at my chest and let him take the lead.
I had to admit, he knew exactly what he was doing. The minute he took the guy by the hair and cocked his head back, I knew he wasn’t going to mess around with this guy. His mouth was inches from his ear when he said, “Now, unless you want to lose that ear, you are going to tell me who you work for.”
This guy was pretty loyal to whomever he was protecting. He didn’t even budge when Chavez threatened him. His only response was to spit in Chavez’s face when he looked him in the face for his answer. It didn’t seem to faze him though. Chavez just wiped it away and gave a loud chuckle before he planted his fist across the guy’s face. I guess that was one way to get the guy’s attention. Amazed by the failure of his technique, Chavez looked over to me and said, “Looks like he is going to need a little more encouragement.”
“What do you have in mind, bro?” I asked anxiously.
“See that bucket over there? Fill it full of cold water. I have a feeling he is going to tell us everything we need to know by the time I get done with him.” Chavez grinned.
Grabbing the bucket that he was talking about, I headed out of the room to fill it full of water. It would also give me a chance to check in on Emma. She had been through a lot the last couple of days. It amazed me how strong she was. Making a detour, I headed to the front of the shop where she and Sly were playing a game of pool. Setting the bucket down. I walked over to where she was standing and asked, concerned, “How you doing, baby?”
She must have thought I was asking her about the game when she said, “Getting my ass kicked.”
“Had I known Sly was going to talk you into playing pool, I would have warned you.” I confessed as I looked over to Sly. “What are you doing here, anyway? Don’t you have a gorgeous woman waiting for you at home?”
“Nah, girl’s night out. Nikki isn’t going to be home for at least another hour,” he stated as he took a shot at the eight ball and ended up missing it completely.
“Well, don’t beat her too bad. I have to get back to our guest.”
I was glad that Sly was around to keep Emma company. Playing pool with her was one way to keep her mind off of everything that happened. Heading to the kitchen, I placed the bucket in the sink and began filling it with cold water. I had a pretty good idea what Chavez had in mind for this loser. Maybe when he began fighting for air, he would spill his guts.
CHAPTER SIXTEEN
Emma
I had never been so scared in my life. The minute Lou asked me to take the gun and aim it at the guy, I thought I was going to lose my lunch. It wasn’t like I had never seen one before, but to actually hold one and aim it at a person was way out of my comfort zone. It was only after we reached Jagged Edge Security that I was finally able to breathe.
Not for long; the man standing at the door to the shop was just as gorgeous as Lou. Holding the guy by the collar, Lou introduced me to the hot guy. “Emma, this is Peter. He’s the founder of Jagged Edge and the guy that is going to help us find out what happened to your three friends.”
At first I thought that maybe Lou may have been confused, but Peter stepped in and replied, “We are going to find out who killed them, I promise you that.”
Rubbing my head, I looked over to Lou and asked with confusion. “Another girl died?”
“I wanted to tell you, Emma, but with everything that was going on with your mom, I thought it would be better to wait,” Lou admitted.
“Who was it, Lou?” I asked hesitantly.
“Her name was Heather Ingram,” he said.
“Oh, my God,” I cried, grabbing onto the door frame to balance myself.
Peter, reached out to steady me while Lou held on to the scumbag. I had never felt as helpless as I did that very moment. Everything around me was beginning to fall apart and I had no idea why. Looking over to Lou, I cried out, “Why? Why would anyone do this?”
“I don’t know, babe, but we are going to find out. One way or another,” he promised as he pulled on the guy’s collar.
I followed the guys into the shop, which looked more like a mancave than a place of business. Off to the left side of the room was a lounge area with a couple of couches and a big-screen TV. That seemed pretty normal, but of all things, a pool table was centered in the middle of the room. The further we got inside, the better I was able to see. There was a large room that looked to be a conference room and another room that was clearly someone’s office. Down the hallway there were several other rooms, one being a kitchen. The other I wasn’t sure about, since the door was closed. Heading towards the back of the shop, there were several other doors which were closed. Lou opened the last door and dragged the guy inside. The room was empty except for an old metal chair, which was sitting in the middle of the room. This was clearly an interrogation room of some sort, based on the lack of furniture.
Waiting by the door, I watched as Lou placed the guy on the chair and began securing his hands and feet to it. Satisfied that he wasn’t going anywhere, Lou walked over to me. Just as we were ready to leave, another hot guy walked through the door. “OMG. Is being hot and gorgeous one of the requirements to work here?” I thought to myself.
“Emma, this is Mike Chavez. He is one of the brothers that works here,” Lou said as he introduced us.
“Nice to meet you,” I replied.
“Likewise, doll,” Mike responded, with an added wink.
I knew I didn’t want to stay in that room and watch what Mike was going to do to that guy, even though it crossed my mind, but only because I would be in the company of two hot guys. As Lou held my hand, I followed him to the front of the shop, where he suggested I make myself comfortable. He wasn’t sure how long it would take for them to get the information they needed from this guy. Sitting on one of the leather couches, I grabbed a magazine from the coffee table and watched as Lou headed back to the room where the guy was being held. Almost wishing that I was at Lou’s sleeping in a warm comfortable bed, I dropped the magazine on the tab
le and stretched out on the couch. As soon as my head hit the small pillow, my eyes closed and I was out.
Crack! Plop! I was up in a full sitting position, startled by the noise coming from behind me. Looking over the back of the couch, there was yet another hot guy playing a game of pool by himself. I knew that as long as he was playing there was no way that I was going to be able to sleep. As I pushed from the couch, a look of surprise crossed his face when he saw me. Holding the pool cue in confusion, he asked. “Where did you come from?”
“I was trying to sleep on the couch when you woke me up,” I admitted, crossing my arms over my chest.
“I had no idea there was anyone else here. I’m Sly, by the way,” he said, wiping his hand on his jeans before holding it out to me.
