27. Twenty-Seven
Twenty-Seven
9-3-2024
The devil was never a man.
-Jasmine
An odd feeling wraps around my chest as I struggle to hear my team over Sam’s grunts. I try to walk calmly through the crowd, unsure where he is. I thought I’d panic in this situation, but instead, all I feel is pure rage boiling over. Sam's heavy breaths better be the result of him finally letting out all that anger because if it’s not, then I'm about to prove him right.
The devil was never a man.
“Jas’ get out. They have Sam.”
That single statement stops me in the middle of the ballroom. People are dancing and laughing as if it’s just another ordinary day– as if my husband’s disappearance isn’t even a minor inconvenience. As a man walks by, I slip my hand under his shirt and pull the pistol from his waist; he continues without noticing the movement.
They have Sam.
Those words echo in my mind, repeating until they feel like a bad song stuck on replay, so I start to hum them like a melody while glancing around. These people love to send warnings; it's their motto. Why don't I give one of my own?
Raising the pistol to my side, I shoot at the bar, hitting every large, expensive bottle of liquor as I walk, causing people to gasp and drop to the floor like I'd actually shoot them right now. I laugh. They can pay for their distorted view of normality later. I understand their mindset–I was raised that way, too–instilling fear to gain power. The only difference is I don’t want to be on top; I just want them to understand one thing: don’t touch what’s mine.
“Damn it, Jasmine. What the bloody hell are you doing?” Tide yells, and I roll my eyes at the high-pitched whine it creates as I empty the clip and leave the room.
“Can you find his location?” I say without trying to conceal my words while staring at the men by the door.
“Pulling it up now.” Moe huffs, and the tightening in my chest loosen slightly.
I raise my hands and drop my gun in mock surrender, and the men point their rifles in my direction. Don't they realize that I have somewhere to be?
“On the floor!” One barks.
“No thanks. It’s filthy.” I reply, scoffing.
He raises his hand and slides back the slider, allowing me to pull the knife from my leg and throw it at his chest. As he falls, the other man tries to rush me, but I drop to the floor and quickly scramble toward the door.
“I want all personnel. Whoever took him comes to me. Moe, where is that fuckin location.” Tide booms in my ear so loud I have to press my hand to my head as I stand.
“No. They come to me,” I bite out, and the big bald man turns.
His fist raises but pauses as someone yells, “Let her by!”
I don't even glance at the man with a deep voice as I push past the security guard.
“This isn’t about you–”
“Tide.” Moe cuts him off with a voice I have yet to hear him use, but I'm thankful for it anyway.
A pair of headlights rush toward me, but the car swerves and cuts me off. I don’t take the time to check my surroundings as the door swings open, so I jump inside. When I look up, I'm caught off guard. It's not the familiar deep brown eyes I had hoped to see; instead, I stare into bright sky blue, piercing eyes.
“Have you lost your mind?!”
“Jas’?”
I grasp the handle, ready to jump out as voices scramble, but the car is already speeding off.
“We’ve pinpointed his location.”
“You could’ve killed someone! Or gotten yourself killed!” It feels like someone is softly punching my back as if they're not even trying to hurt me.
“Stop yelling! She has every right to be angry.”
“Don’t interfere; this is probably your fault anyway!”
I can’t think. I can’t move. There’s too much going on, too many voices getting louder and louder, but none are the one I want to hear. I’d rather walk over burning coals than continue feeling my head throb like this.
Okay, what would Sam do? Kill everyone . Probably not the best choice right now… think .
“Melione!”
My head snaps up at the sound of my name, and I finally look at the person beside me. Her long blonde hair is pinned back messily, and her makeup is darker than I'm used to, but those light brown eyes give everything away.
“Dove?” I say.
“What’s going on, Jasmine?” Moe comes through, and I'm grounded back to the moment, focusing on the earpiece instead of taking in all the changes in my little sister.
Another grunt follows a crackling sound, so I clasp my hands over my ears, trying to listen better. I don’t want this adrenaline to fade away just yet; I know I can do this if I can hear him. If I can't, I'm afraid my world might crumble under the weight of endless possibilities of what it might mean.
Dove tugs at my arm, trying to get my attention, but I swat her hand away like I used to when we were kids, and she would try to take my last pancake. The car suddenly jerks to the side. Keeping a finger to my ear, I pull off my heel and throw it at the driver. Dove's laughter overpowers the noise in my ear, blending with the muffled crunch of the tires spinning against the concrete.
“Where… is she…?”
My heart skips a beat. There he is. He’s okay, and judging by the breaking of his voice in screams and the huffs of his breath, I’d say he’s still fighting.
“I’m here, I’m—” I pause, slowly narrowing my eyes as I focus on my little sister, then shift my gaze to the front seat to recognize Rurik.
“Where is he!?” I snap, lunging forward, but Dove pulls me back by my arm.
“Hey Jas’ if you’re done throwing your fucking temper tantrum, then I need you to get to the equipment. Jonathan and Delilah are already en route to the location. We’re loading up to get there, too.” Sharkie crackles through, and I nearly yell because it overpowers Sam’s side of the line. Granted, there’s not much happening on his end besides heavy breathing and occasional curses, but it's still something that I'm desperate to hold onto.
“Your vehicle is moving on our monitor, so I will assume you’re in it. Uploading coordinates to the GPS.”
As soon as Moe speaks, Rurik tilts his head toward the screen, which adjusts on its own. I scramble to the front seat to reach him. This is his fault. My house, my life, my husband—he's ruined all of it. I don’t care if I’m compromised or what my team will do to me.
“What the—” Rurik starts speaking, but I cut him off.
“I swear I’ll kill you!”
The car swerves as I wrap my arm around his neck from behind. Dove pushes against my body, sprawled across her lap.
“Is Jasmine compromised, too?”
“I don’t know, but her vehicle is following the same route, so I guess we’ll find out.”
As Sharkie and Tide start to bicker, I understand why Sam gets so tense with these earpieces, but I refuse to take mine out.
“Damnit Mel! Just stop. I don’t think he did this!” I continue to strain my bicep against his neck despite Dove's constant yelling. He just holds his breath, occasionally flicking his gaze back to the road from the dashboard with a wheel jerk.
“He’s why I knew you were there, and I’m here now!” I want to call her a traitor for being with this man in the first place. After all, everything I did was to ensure her safety. That thought makes my hold tighten hard enough that it feels like I'm the one being deprived of air.
The car skids to a halt, and I glance around. A large metal gate stands in front of an open, barren expanse of dead-looking land, with a few rundown buildings oddly situated alongside the road. Frames of structures are being built, and very few street lamps give the impression of a city in the making.
We weren't driving for that long, were we?
A gunshot rings through my earpiece, and I freeze. My breathing becomes ragged, and my grip falters for a moment.
“Bloody bastards.”
“Sam!” I yell, and he laughs, but then the scrambling starts again.
“Can you…” Rurik rasps as he pries his fingers under my bicep, easing my grip despite my desperate struggle to maintain it. “Let go?”
I glance at the GPS again. He’s in one of these buildings. Sam is so close; I’m sure I could reach him in minutes if I run. If I can just get to my equipment and change…
Dove grips the back of my dress and starts tugging. “You know I hate not knowing what’s happening, and you're about to kill the one person who tells me the shitty truth.”
“Thanks,” Rurik mutters as they both successfully manage to pry me off.
“Shut up. I still hate you.” Dove grumbles.
Rolling my eyes, I quickly exit the car and rush to the trunk, sifting through the empty space to find where Sam put our belongings. Dove steps beside the trunk, and I can already tell from the shadow her frame casts that she has grown into herself. She’s taller than I am now, and her body has more curves and contours than I remember. As much as I’d love to have some heartwarming moments with the one person I’ve spent years wishing I could see and talk to like I used to, I have more important matters to attend to.
“Update, Jas.”
I need to come clean. This is the moment because if my superiors arrive soon, there’s no way I’ll be able to keep my double life a secret. I unclasp a hook with shaky hands, revealing our hidden belongings beneath a thick compartment. As much as I appreciate Sam's protection, there are some things I need to handle on my own. I pull out a pistol first, followed by a set of handcuffs.
“I messed up, Sharkie,” I mutter, feeling my heart clench. As soon as Rurik opens the driver’s door, I aim my weapon at him and hold up the cuffs. He better cooperate. With an annoyed huff, he rubs his fingers over his brow.
“You do realize this isn’t my doing, right? Why would I bring you here if it was? I could’ve killed you at the ball.” His voice is casual, as if the thought doesn't bother him. I laugh. Probably because it doesn't.
“Dove, link him to the steering wheel for me. I don’t have time for this.” I grumble. She responds eagerly, kicking his shin as he tries to get out. While he's distracted, she cuffs him to the steering wheel.
“What the fuck—” Tide is cut off with a deep breath and Sharkie butting in.
“Don’t start. I’ve made mistakes too.” she hisses, but I don’t think it’s directed at me. Her tone softens as she sighs, adding, “Just tell me what you did.”
I begin from the start, summarizing the main points similarly to how I did with Sam while I fight into some black cargo pants, stripping off my dress to put on my top.
“I stopped months ago. Before the plane. I just…” I pause and glance at Dove, realizing she has been listening the whole time. “I wanted to protect the ones I love, but when I realized I was hurting those who loved me back, I couldn’t continue…”
“Is that it?” Sharkie laughs, and I feel a wave of relief wash over me. “We can fix that.”
Tide is quiet, and I know he’s probably angrier than ever right now, but my mind feels lighter. Now, I can focus on what’s truly important.
“Mom made you do that? They told me you ran away...” Dove mutters. I check the bag Sam filled with weapons and equipment. Once I note everything I need, I throw it over my shoulder. It’s not surprising that they kept it hidden, especially my father; after all, she’s the only daughter he has been able to protect, so I’m sure he figured it would be easier.
“Anytime I wrote to him, I wrote to you. Even when I stopped, I kept doing it…”
Dove smiles and squints her eyes as she brushes her hands down her dress. Meanwhile, I take off my mask and gently place it in the trunk.
“I’ll have to find them, then. I need to know everything you’ve been getting into over time. You included details of your wedding, right?” She laughs, and I try to laugh in response, but I'm too stressed to manage a proper one. I put in a new earpiece.
“I didn’t have a wedding, but that’s still my husband in there.” Then it hits me, and I stop midway as I pass her. “How did you know it was me?”
Rurik and she were waiting, so I’m assuming Casey was yelling. Logically, I can understand that if Rurik had nothing to do with this problem, he would want to clear up what happened at the ball. However, he brought her with him, and she mentioned my name long before I said anything.
Dove shrugs and glances at the car.
“Rurik mentioned that he saw you at his restaurant, but I assumed it was just another one of his stupid ‘payback’ tactics. Then tonight, he found me hiding in the library and said you were in trouble.” She pauses, fidgeting with the necklace around her neck. “I thought he was trying to kidnap me again, so it turned into a fight. But then you came running out, and I would recognize that blonde hair anywhere.”
I open my mouth to inform her about his drugging tactics, the cameras, or even to yell that I was compromised the whole time, but a vehicle spins its tires as it stops a short distance in front of ours. The driver and passenger doors fly open, and Delilah and Jonathan jump out with large smiles, so I take off toward them. Delilah’s smile fades when Jonathan says something to her, but I don’t dwell on it. I have the backup I need for now, and that’s all that matters.
A flicker of light emanates from a dilapidated megastructure. It comes from the third or fourth floor, with more light filtering as we look up the building. There's no way the two of us can clear the entire structure on our own, and given how quiet Sam has been, I’m worried I won’t reach him before he kills everyone and passes out from exhaustion. Without saying another word, Jonathan follows closely behind me while Delilah stays at her vehicle, pulling out a sniper rifle and occasionally glaring at how Dove seems to be mocking Rurik.
“Moe. Can you get into anything?” I lower my voice as I lean against the cold concrete wall while Jonathan helps me pull the bag and retrieve a few knives and guns from under the respirators.
“Easy access cameras, and it looks like they have walkies. Dumb asses are on an open channel too.” Moe's voice is clear but strained, sounding like he's being tossed around in a vehicle. I toss aside mundane items like rope and tape, then pull out a walkie similar to what we use at base. Attaching it to my hip, I signal Jonathan to carry the bag as we raise our pistols and head for the front entrance.
“Give me the channel,” I command, clenching my teeth. Tides starts to speak, but Sharkie interrupts.
“Channel three. Give them hell, Jas’. We’ll be there soon.”
Drawing a deep breath, I turn the nob, and Jonathan shines a light over my shoulder.
Hold on, Sam.