Chapter 72
CHAPTER SEVENTY-TWO
NICOLE
Wailing sirens jolted me from my sleep. I shot up in the unfamiliar bed with panic surging through my veins. Akio lay beside me, also stirring from his sleep and opening his eyes as the sirens intensified around us.
“What’s happening?” I whispered.
Akio rubbed his eyes and glanced at me, equally confused. “I don’t know.”
“It doesn’t sound good,” I said, swinging my legs over the side of the bed and tiptoeing to the bedroom door.
Jamal had slept with Marquis last night, graciously giving us his bed. I had never been good friends with him, but he seemed like a thoughtful guy.
The sirens grew louder, and I noticed that they were a mix of ambulances and firetrucks, but mostly just police cars. After peeking out the door to make sure that there weren’t any officers here, I stepped into the hallway and then descended the stairs.
At the bottom of the staircase, Ms. Simmons sat at the kitchen table with tears streaming down her cheeks as she stared at her phone. With trembling hands, she gripped it tightly and shook her head, mumbling about how terrible this was.
My stomach turned. “What’s going on?” I whispered, my voice quivering.
She looked up at me, her eyes filled with sorrow and guilt. “Nicole,” she whispered, her voice quivering. She stood, reached out for me, and pulled me into a tight embrace—the first time a motherly figure had done that in years. “I’m so sorry. I didn’t know this was happening to you.”
“You saw the video,” I said, mouth dry, “didn’t you?”
“If I had known somethin’ like this was happenin’, I would’ve done somethin’.”
Gently, I hugged her back and stared out the front window at the police driving by with their lights blazing. My heart raced as I watched them pass, and I really hoped that they wouldn’t find me here. I wanted to ask Ms. Simmons why there were sirens, but the words caught in my throat. I knew why the police were going crazy.
They were trying to find me.
Tears blurred my vision. I clung to Ms. Simmons harder, the knowledge that the police were closing in on us sinking in so deeply. My dream life had been so close, just in reach. If they found me now, then they’d kill me.
But what would happen if we stayed here? Would they hurt Jamal and his family too?
“How’s Redwood reacting?” I asked her when she pulled away.
After wiping her tears, she shook her head. “Everyone’s angry.” She glanced out the front window, then drew the curtains so nobody could see into the house. “I hope the rest of you kids are staying safe.”
My phone buzzed in my hand, startling me, as Akio walked down the stairs.
Allie: It’s insane out here.
Allie: Everyone is rioting over the video.
Allie: The police department is on fire. We just drove past.
Allie: We saw your father. He’s acting crazy. He was aggressive toward Jace.
Allie: And Jace shot him.
The words on the screen sent shock waves through my body. The messages were coming in so quickly. I dropped the phone. Everything inside me was so empty. I didn’t know how to feel. Was he dead? People actually cared about me ? The station was on fire?
Akio picked up the phone from the ground and read the texts. His eyes widened in shock, but his body didn’t falter like mine had. He was stronger than I was, especially when I needed him the most.
He grabbed my hand. “If your father is hurt, if he’s weak , then we need to find him.”
My heart pounded in my chest as he pulled me toward the door.
“This is our chance,” Akio said. “To end this all for good.”
“You can’t go out there now!” Jamal’s mother called.
“We’ll be back,” I said over my shoulder. “I promise that we’ll come back.”
“Alive,” she said. “You’d better come back alive!”
“We will!”
I didn’t know where all my confidence had come from, but Akio was right. If Jace had shot my dad, he was lying in a puddle of his blood somewhere in Redwood and bleeding out, probably at the hospital or back at home.
And I would bet that he had gone home.
Nobody in the hospital would treat him if everyone was reacting as Allie and Jamal’s mother had made it seem like they were.
Sirens still blared around us, but Akio tightened his grip on my hand, and we headed toward Jo?o’s house on foot, which was where we had parked Akio’s car last night. We were going to find a way to escape this town and start a new life.
My father’s reign of terror was over. Today, I’d make sure of it.