Page 41 of Lost in Her
I look around slowly at the parking lot.The smoke from the fire is starting to spread, burning my eyes.I see Oliver running over to me with fear in his eyes as he kneels down beside me.He puts his hands underneath my arms and pulls me up on my feet.My legs are shaky, and my fucking head is killing me.He leans down and grabs my gun, handing it to me with shaky hands.As I lower my hands, I look down at the blood on them.
Fuck me, man.
My heart is racing as I grab the gun from Oliver.He doesn’t need to say anything—I know he’s afraid, that he is freaking out along with the rest of us.
My heart sinks as I think of Jenn.The last time I saw her she was with Emory and now Emory is here with Shawn and me, so where the fuck is Jenn?“Jenn.Where the fuck is Jenn?”I scream.
“She’s in her apartment,” Emory screams back at me as I look down at her.She’s helping Shawn to his feet, wrapping her arms around his waist.He turns and looks at me, his head and arm bleeding from the fall.
Emory’s words repeat over and over inside my head.I take a deep breath and look at Oliver.“Oliver, I need you to go get Jenn and take her to Shawn and Emory’s house.”I’m still trying to catch my breath, the ringing in my ears is finally starting to decrease.There is only one place on this earth I know she will be safe and that is Shawn’s house.He has made sure to make that place safe for Emory and his children.
Oliver looks at me for what feels like forever before he responds.“What?I’m not leaving you guys,” he states, shaking his head.
I tighten my hold on the gun.“Oliver, please, I need you to get her out of here,” I tell him as calmly as I can.Tristan wants her, so I will make sure he has to work for it.If he wants to fuck with my family, I will make it impossible for him to get to her.
He slowly nods.I see the worry and sadness in his eyes as he steps back then turns around and takes off running toward the apartments.
I walk over to Emory and Shawn.All three of us look at the burning cars.“How the fuck did this happen?”Shawn asks in a fearful voice.I can hear the confusion and rage in his voice, too.So many emotions mixed into one.
“I don’t know,” I whisper, lowering my gun to my side.I can feel my hands starting to shake.
We all stand still as the smoke gets higher and the flames get hotter.“It has to be someone who knows the codes,” Emory murmurs.
We must figure out who has been feeding Tristan information.I know that one of our people is the rat.I just need to figure out who the fuck it is.First Tristan knew she was here and now someone opened the gate for him.
She is afraid—we are all afraid.We have been waiting for Tristan to make a move.Well, I guess he finally made it.
We all hear another explosion.We quickly look in the direction of the sound and see the park bathrooms go up in flames.
I see all the clients and children running in different directions.One thing I notice is that none of the explosions are by the apartments, they are on the other side of the property.Tristan knows exactly what he is doing.He is trying to create chaos.
“He is making his move,” I state calmly, feeling my heart continue to race.I knew something was fucking going to happen, but I didn’t see this.
“Yeah, a really fucking big move,” Shawn says, lifting his hand to his head.
“What the fuck do we do?”Emory looks up at Shawn.
“Let’s move everyone to our house.”
Emory and I nod.It is the best idea.Jenn and the others will all be in one place which will make it easier to make sure that we can keep everyone safe.
I take a deep breath and continue to look at the growing flames.I loved that car.Emory and Shawn start making their way across the parking lot toward the center.I can tell that he is hurt, we both are.But now is not the time to figure out just how bad.That can wait.
The only thing that matters is that Jenn and the others are safe.
This move was calculated, making sure that no one was really in the line of fire.He didn’t want to kill anyone, he just wanted to scare everyone.And even though we all know that Shawn’s house is the safest, I have a feeling Tristan already knows that is where we would take everyone.
But he would be stupid to try anything at Shawn’s house.That place has more security and cameras than the fucking police station.No one is getting in that house unless they are invited in.
Once we get everyone to safety we can come up with a new plan, a plan of what we are going to do next.This is like a deadly game of chess and now it is my turn to fucking make a move.
