17. Silent Rage
CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
Silent Rage
The car window cracked from Keith’s back violently slamming against it. He put his hands up in defense as Jax fisted his shirt and yanked him off the car before slamming him again.
“Where the fuck were you?!” Jax growled so angrily that he sounded inhuman.
Keith shook his head, disappointed in himself. “I got the wrong address-”
“What the fuck do you mean you got the wrong address?!” Jax snapped. “I sent it to you!”
“I was already on the way when… I got a text. I didn’t see who the sender was. I just-... assumed it was you. Stupidly...” Keith muttered. Jax tilted his head, confused, waiting for Keith to finish. “I was halfway to the wrong address– the first address I received– by the time I got your text...”
Ian’s jaw tensed. “Jamie...”
Keith shrugged, annoyed. “Who fucking knows. It was from an unknown number. Probably… That bitch always fucked around with us..."
Jax sneered with irritation. “She could’ve been killed, Keith-”
“Don’t you think I fucking know that, Jax?!” Keith snapped angrily. “I’d sooner off myself than let anything happen to her!”
Sitting on the curb, Ari hyperventilated and trembled against Shawna, who tried to comfort her while Diamond mumbled. Deja anxiously stared at her friends. Her hands shook as she crouched in front of them, trying to keep her own emotions at bay.
“Guys,” she said, pulling at her fingers as her friends looked at her with a mixture of fear, apprehension, and confusion. “I… I’m s-so, so sorry for… for all of this,” Deja stammered, trying to find the right words. “This… It's all my fault. I put you guys in d-danger-”
“How is it your fault?” Shawna asked. “You didn’t do anything wrong, Deja.”
“Joseph’s bitch-ass is the one who went fucking Ted Bundy on us,” Diamond muttered.
“Yeah, Deja. I mean, if it weren’t for you, he would’ve… I would’ve...” Ari struggled to speak before bursting into tears as Shawna hugged her.
Though their reassurance tried to absolve her of the guilt she felt, Deja couldn’t escape the oppressive weight of knowing she could have lost all her friends that night.
None of it made sense. Was Joseph a Reaper? Why did he kill Kristin? Why did he target their friends? How could she have saved them? Hundreds of questions consumed her, but nothing was more overbearing than wondering if this all happened… because of her.
“It’s my fault...” was all Deja was able to say. Struggling to breathe and choking on guilt, misery, and confusion.
Several officers suddenly approached Ari. “Were you the one who used the knife?”
“Huh? What- No! I mean- I don’t know-” Ari started.
“We’ll need to bring you in for questioning,” they said, grabbing Ari.
“Are you kidding me?! She’s the victim here!” Shawna snapped.
“Ma’am, sit down,” the officer demanded.
“It was self-defense, you asshat!” Diamond shouted as they handcuffed Ari.
“Wait! Please! I didn’t do anything!” Ari cried frantically.
“It was me!” Deja snapped angrily. “I did it! She didn’t do anything! Let her go, you fucking assholes!” she said, shoving the cop. The officers didn’t waste time handcuffing Deja.
Holding a sleeping Chloe to his chest, Caleb rushed towards Deja when the officers pushed him back. “Sir, this is a crime scene investigation,” the officer protested. Snarling angrily, Caleb ran toward his cousins, interrupting their argument.
“Those motherfuckers arrested Deja,” Caleb shouted. Ian looked at Caleb, startled as Keith’s face flushed red.
“What?!” Jax growled.
“How long did you know the assailant?”
Deja stared blankly. Emotionlessly. No words escaping her lips.
“What about the victim? Kristin?”
Still… she said nothing. Deja felt too numb to speak.
Both overwhelmed and empty. Multiple voices crowded her thoughts, all speaking at once and growing louder.
Angrier. More intense. And less forgiving.
Her breathing was irregular, and her vision was blurred.
However, she couldn’t tell if it was from tears… or rage.
“Are you gonna fucking say something?” the cop snapped, interrupting her chaotic thoughts.
Her gaze slid towards the cop sitting across the table from her. “...where are my friends?” she asked.
“They’re safe...” the second cop said. “Unlike Kristin.”
Deja’s nostrils quivered as she stared down at her bloodstained fingers clutching the edge of the table so tightly they lost feeling.
The guilt was unlike any pain she had ever felt.
It was unbearably heavy. Her sanity was cracking beneath the pressure of being part of a world where she could carry no normalcy from her past life.
No one was safe around her.
“Your background check says you’re some kind of scientist,” the cop said, reading the papers on the table. “Planting flowers and shit.”
Deja’s eyes narrowed. “Environmental sustainability...”
He snorted. “Whatever the fuck that means.”
“It means the kind of science I practice is the reason you morons can breathe,” she said simply.
“Finally! We’ve got some life out of her!” the second cop said. “Just had to mock her plants.”
The first cop snorted. “Now, I remember you. You were in the tabloids for fucking some rich tycoon.”
“I remember that!” the second cop laughed. “You were accused of killing him, weren’t you?”
Deja bit down on her bottom lip until she tasted blood. Her nails dug into her palms until she bled. “...am I under arrest?” she asked tensely.
“You’re being detained,” the first cop said. “Until you answer our questions.”
“I don’t know what you want me to say,” she said bitterly.
“You were the last person to call Kristin before she was found dead,” the second cop said.
“Are you accusing me of killing my best friend?” she snapped angrily.
He snorted. “Wasn’t Joseph also your best friend? You didn’t hesitate to kill him.”
“It was self-defense!” she blurted.
“So your immediate reaction is to kill instead of calling the police?” he asked.
“Oh, I’m sorry. Because you’re all so reliable,” she said mockingly.
“You’re right. I should have sat on my hands and waited for you to come…
when all my friends are dead. Because the police are so helpful.
So trustworthy. You always believe victims of violence.
You’re rational, intelligent, thoughtful people who think before you shoot. ”
“Of course, another fucking radical hippie,” the cop snorted when they heard a loud commotion from outside the interrogation room.
“Where is she?!” Jax growled, storming the crowded precinct like a wild bear bent on destruction as multiple guns trained on him.
“Hands up! Or we’ll shoot!” The cops panicked.
“I don’t give a flying fuck!” Jax snarled as he ripped the revolver from the grip of the closest officer.
“He will quite literally eat those bullets- Please, please put your weapons down. I assure you, that’s not necessary,” Ian said, trying to mediate.
Turning to his brother, Ian roughly pushed Jax back before he could terrorize another officer.
“I understand that your brain stops functioning like a rational human when it comes to Deja, but instead of turning into a raging lunatic and risking her safety with a shootout, why don’t you let me take care of this, hmm? ”
“I’ll rip every single one of them apart-” Jax snarled.
“Of course, you will, you terrifying spawn of Satan. But we have enough enemies, dear brother. We can’t afford more. I’m fucking exhausted, Jax! I beg of you, let me handle this. The investigation room is right there,” he pointed. “Try not to kill anyone. Deja and I are not bulletproof.”
Glaring at the door, Jax pushed past Ian, shoving several officers out of his way. “Bloody Roselyn,” Ian muttered. Ian quickly approached the dazed officers. “Gentlemen, you remember me. A moment of your time. This is all a complete misunderstanding.”
The door to the investigation room nearly flew off the hinges from how ferociously Jax knocked it down.
“The fuck! You’re not allowed in here!” the cop snapped, jumping to his feet.
Jax scanned the room before his eyes landed on Deja. “That’s fine. I’m not staying,” he said, approaching her. Pulling out her chair, Jax took her hand and helped her to her feet. “Are you alright?” he asked. Deja nodded as he pulled her close.
“We’re in the middle of a fucking investigation!” the cop snapped. Jax’s softened gaze hardened as he glared at the officers. The color drained from their faces as their hands froze on their holsters.
“Your investigation is over,” Jax said calmly. Petrifying fear stole their voices as the officers remained silent, watching Jax carefully inspect Deja’s hands.
“It’s not my blood,” she said before Jax could get upset.
“Did they hurt you?” Jax demanded.
“No...”
Jax barely acknowledged the officers as he escorted Deja out of the room.
Deja held her sleeping baby girl in her arms until she could feel her tiny heart beating against her chest. Chloe looked so innocent and peaceful. Ignorant of the violently chaotic world around her. Deja was losing faith in her ability to protect her daughter.
She felt the urge to cry. But she couldn’t. As if she had cried all her tears.
As Jax’s muscular arms wrapped her up in his embrace, Deja felt his lips tenderly kiss her bloodstained forehead. “...I’m not clean, Jax...”
“I don’t care...” he said, kissing her again and tightening his embrace.
The door to the precinct opened before Ian stepped outside.
“All sorted,” he said, fixing his jacket.
“We can go,” Ian advised. As Jax fastened Chloe to the car seat, Ian looked Deja over, tenderly holding her shoulders.
“Are you alright, sweetheart?” Ian asked, his blue eyes glazed over with concern.
Deja wanted to speak, but all she could do was shrug helplessly. With a sigh, Ian leaned down to kiss her, but Deja pulled back. “I have blood on my face, Ian,” she warned him.