Chapter 21

October 7

Sam came to, and she moaned when she felt her leg throb. She didn't know how long she'd been here, but she hadn't even looked around. When she did she saw it wasn't anything special, a table next to the bed with a chair, and a mirror against the wall on the other side of the room. The bed was also simple, but she didn't mind. All she wanted was to get out of here, and she hoped Jason would find her soon.

''You've been busy bleeding all over my bed,'' Jesse said when he came in, and she looked up and felt her head throb again. She didn't know what he had done to her to make her have this headache, but she knew it wouldn't go away soon. ''I sent Jason a message and he will meet us somewhere at midnight – if you are still alive,'' he added, and Sam shivered when she heard the tone he used. She knew she was bleeding badly – she could feel it in her whole body. She felt dizzy and lightheaded, and she knew he wouldn't do much to stop the bleeding.

''The bullet is still in my leg,'' she whispered, feeling too tired to talk louder. That also wasn't a good sign.

''I know – I shot your thigh and I don't think it's nice,'' he said looking at her leg, and she nodded. ''But on the other hand, I brought you someone who can take a look at it and tell you what to do,'' he added, and she sighed in relief, but gasped when she saw Elizabeth walk in.

''Hello, Sam – I hear you need some help with a shot wound,'' she said tauntingly, and Sam closed her eyes. She didn't expect Elizabeth to sit down next to her and press against the wound, making her almost black out from the pain. But when she opened her eyes and the black spots were gone, she saw Elizabeth had wrapped something around her leg – making the bleeding stop a little and she was grateful. She didn't want to bleed to death. ''You need to clean this and if or when you get out if here I think you need to have it removed – I mean the bullet,'' she added and laughed at her own joke. Jesse smiled and moved closer, took Elizabeth by her hand and took her out of the room. He left the door open, and Sam could hear what they were saying loud and clear.

''Elizabeth, I know you want her to die but we can't – I told Jason I would have her with me when we go to the pier,'' Jesse said, and she heard Elizabeth sigh and then she heard a slap.

''Why would you do that, you idiot – now we have to give her back. You know what, it doesn't matter, because we'll just kill her when he has her,'' she said, and Jesse sighed.

''Sure, we – you mean me, Elizabeth. You didn't do anything yet, and you expect me to do everything you want me to do – but you're wrong. I won't kill her because I love her,'' he snapped, and Elizabeth sighed and she heard her walk away. But Jesse did something to make her stop, and she heard him say, ''damn it woman, listen to me. I'll hire someone to off her sometime soon, but we will give her back to Jason. We will make sure she doesn't tell him anything and we keep sending the messages so he thinks we didn't do it, ok?''

''Do you think he'll buy it?'' she heard Elizabeth ask, and he must have nodded, because she heard Elizabeth laugh. ''He must be stupid – as are you. Send her a message now, and he'll get it,'' she snapped, and this time when she walked away he let her.

Sam closed her eyes quickly when she heard him walk towards the room and when she heard the door close, she acted like she woke up from a little catnap. He frowned at her but didn't say anything, and he looked around and closed the door behind him when he walked out. She closed her eyes again and started thinking – hoping Jason would come and get her soon – how she could make it that they could get out of here.

#####

The door opened with a bang and Sam shot up, forgetting she was tied up. When she was pulled back and she felt her shoulders ache, she remembered again and she closed her eyes. Jesse stood in the doorway with an angry look on his face and a bag in his hands. ''I brought you some food,'' he snapped, and she heard her stomach grumble and she nodded. She needed some food – she was really hungry – and she looked at him.

''Do you have some water?'' she asked him softly, and he slammed the door closed and nodded. She sighed of relief and looked at him again, ''I'm sorry but can you untie me so I can eat,'' she said, and he laughed as he widened his eyes. She stared at him, but didn't say anything and tried to control her reactions. She wanted to ask him what was so funny, but she knew he wouldn't want her to eat by herself.

''I'm going to feed you because I don't want to take the chance you'd run,'' he snapped, and she nodded. He took the food out of the bag and she saw it was a sandwich. ''I thought you would like this – it's simple with cheese and ham or something,'' he told her, gentler this time, and she nodded, not wanting to make him angry because she didn't like the sandwich. The thing was she didn't care – as long as she had something in her stomach everything would be fine and she wouldn't complain about something she didn't like. He held the sandwich in front of her and she took a bite, chewed and swallowed. He repeated the gesture and she repeated the eating, and soon the sandwich was gone and he helped her drink some water.

''Thank you, Jesse,'' she whispered, and she closed her eyes feeling exhausted by just eating a sandwich. He chuckled, and she opened her eyes and blinked when he was blurry. She'd lost a lot of blood and she knew she needed to see a doctor soon or she would black out and never wake up. She shook her head and he smiled at her again.

''Just sleep – it'll be a couple of hours before we have to go down to the docks,'' he said, and then he widened his eyes and shook his head. ''Just forget what I said – rest,'' he said, and she closed her eyes again and felt herself fall asleep before she knew it.

##########

Jason watched as Sonny paced around with his phone against his ear, talking and listening to the person on the other side. He didn't know and he didn't care who it was, he just wanted to know if Sam was ok. He wanted to hold her in his arms again, and tell her everything was going to be ok. He knew now Jesse was behind it – he saw it in Sonny's eyes when he had picked up the phone. Suddenly he heard his name being called and he looked up to Sonny, who was standing in front of him with a frown on his face.

''Jason, we found Jesse and Elizabeth talking together and we found out where he is keeping Sam. He's keeping her at her own apartment in one of the small rooms,'' he said, the confusion in his eyes. ''I thought we'd checked there, but apparently there was a small room in the back behind one of the closets, and he used that – I want to know what you want to do,'' he added, and Jason nodded.

''We go there and take her home,'' he snapped, and Sonny nodded. Even though he had snapped, he knew Sonny understood. ''We need to get her back and we need to make Jesse pay for what he did to her, not only this time but all the other times he'd hit her,'' Jason added, and Sonny turned around and started calling again.

''Max, Milo, come here and help me,'' he yelled when he had hung up his phone, and two big guys came in and frowned at their boss. Jason had to suppress a smile when he saw the men – they were definitely brothers – and he got up from the couch. ''We're going to go and get someone – we need some men to help us and Max, I want you to pick out the best men we have,'' Sonny ordered, and Max nodded and walked away, getting the men together. ''Milo, I need you to make sure there is a car ready for us and I need you to help your brother when you're done with that,'' he said, ''and then come back here,'' he added, and Milo nodded and walked away, following orders.

''Sonny,'' Jason said, and he was surprised when he heard his voice break. Sonny turned around and looked at him expectantly, waiting for Jason to say what was on his mind, and Jason took a deep breath, ''thank you, for being here and helping me find Sam and figure this all out – I really appreciate it,'' he whispered, and Sonny nodded with a smile.

''No problem, man – you know I'd always help you no matter what,'' he replied, and Jason nodded. ''Now, when Max and Milo come back, we need to get going and we're going to get there – Jason, it's going to be ugly, and you need to have this,'' Sonny said as he walked to a cabinet and grabbed a gun, ''with you, because we don't know what's going to happen,'' he added, and Jason nodded. As Sonny put the clip in the gun he got up from the couch again and took a deep breath. Tonight he was going to get Sam back.

''It seems like Sam's been gone for days, instead of just one day,'' he said to Sonny, who nodded and handed him the gun. ''So we need to get in tonight, get Sam – maybe kill Jesse?''

''Yeah, that's the plan – we just need to get Sam back,'' Sonny replied, and Jason took a deep breath again. Just then Max and Milo walked in the room and told Sonny everything was ready. Sonny looked at Jason and nodded, and then he walked out of the room. Jason followed Sonny to one of the cars, seeing the other cars were occupied with guards Max had gotten to go with them. Jason greeted them all with a nod and stepped in the car Sonny was already in. He looked over and saw Milo sit in the front seat and Max in the driver's seat, and he smiled. He didn't know any of them, but he did like them already. He was surprised they were willing to put their life on the line for Sonny when they didn't even know the person they needed to save.

''What are we going to do there?'' Jason suddenly asked, and Sonny looked at him.

''We're going to get you inside her apartment with some help of Max and Milo, and then Max will show you the room where Sam is held – if everything goes according to plan it has to be easy. Now, when we find Jesse there, there is sure going to be a standoff – we already know what he wants with Sam, I guess – he was her ex after all – and you have to be the one to talk to him – you know what I mean?'' Sonny rambled, and Jason nodded. ''Well, then when everything works out the way it's suppose to then you will have Sam back tonight,'' Sonny added. Jason looked out the window and took another deep breath. He needed to stay calm. He'd never killed someone – not intentionally – but he couldn't wait to get his hands on Jesse.

''I'm sure it'll work – I mean I'm ready to kill the bastard for all he did to Sam – I already was when she showed up on my doorstep broken and full of bruises from his beating,'' Jason said through clenched teeth, and he could see Sonny nod in the corner of his eyes. He stayed silent, and the cars drove away, all another direction so that no one would suspect anything. If Sonny stepped in a car everybody thought something was going to happen – and tonight there was – but he didn't want anyone to think about what, so he did it on purpose. Jason could see some of the cars turn to make a shortcut, but Max drove calmly over to Sam's apartment building, and Jason wanted him to take the shortcut and race there, but he knew Max couldn't.

''Here it is, boss,'' Max finally said, and Sonny nodded and pointed Max to park somewhere around the back. Jason looked around and saw some of the other cars with the guards were already there, and some came just around the corner.

''Let's get this going, Jason,'' Sonny said softly, and Jason nodded. Let's get this going.

##########

Sam tried to open her eyes when she woke up, but she couldn't. She was too tired to even think about it. She knew it was from the blood loss and she knew she had to stay awake, but she could hardly do that. She heard the door open, and even though she wanted to look to see who it was, she couldn't.

''Wow – I left you alone an hour ago, but you weren't this pale before,'' she heard Jesse's voice, and Sam tried to shake her head. ''No, huh? I didn't think so. What are we going to do now – we can't speed up time, or anything, but we have to meet Jason in two hours – you think you can hold on that long?'' she heard him, and she felt her heart sink. She wasn't going to hold on for two hours, because he didn't even look at her leg, and she could feel the life slipping away. She didn't want to die, but it was probably what was going to happen.

''Jesse,'' she whispered, and she heard him walk towards her and sit down on the bed. She felt the stinging in her leg from the movement, but she couldn't do anything. ''Please… please take… care of… my leg,'' she said, and she had to catch her breath only saying something. She heard and felt him get up and she sighed in relief when he returned.

''I have a blanket, it's not much but I can wrap it around your leg right?'' he said, and she nodded, or at least tried to. He seemed to catch on and he took the shirt around her leg off, and started tying the blanket around her leg. She could feel the darkness take over, but she couldn't let it.

''Tighter,'' she whispered, and he pulled, making her moan in pain, but she nodded her head. ''That's good,'' she managed, and he laughed softly.

''See, I did it,'' he said, and she even managed a little smile. God she was tired. She wanted to sleep, and when Jesse saw her head slump, he added, ''sleep, I'll be back in an hour,'' he told her, and she felt the darkness finally take over.

##########

Jason watched as Max picked the lock, and when he had opened the door Max turned around and stepped aside. Jason took a deep breath before he walked in, and he didn't see anything. The lights were off, and he blinked a couple of times and waited for his eyes to get used to the dark. When he finally could see a little in the dark he almost jumped when the lights went on, and Jesse was sitting on the couch with a smile on his face.

''I told you I'd meet you at the piers,'' he said softly, and Jason just stared at him. ''I mean, I told you, and you didn't listen,'' Jesse added, and he pulled out his gun slowly. Jason's hand went to the back of his jeans and he grabbed his gun, but Jesse got up and smiled at him. He trained his gun on him and sighed.

''You know I only want Sam back, and I'll let you go,'' Jason improvised, and he could see Jesse falter a little. He was surprised how easy Jesse was, and he nodded as he walked towards him step by step. ''I just want her back, and I'll leave you to it,'' he added, and Jesse nodded.

''You think I believe you?'' he asked, and Jason felt his heart sink at his words. It wasn't going to be easy after all.

''I'm not after you – I mean I don't care what you do if you just give Sam back I'll be happy,'' Jason said, and Jesse nodded. Suddenly everything went in slow motion as Jesse lifted his gun and pulled the trigger. Jason felt the bullet hit in his shoulder, stumbled back a little and looked at Jesse with his eyes wide. He lifted his gun and was glad Jesse just shot, not aimed, and he pulled the trigger of his own gun. Before he could react Jesse pulled the trigger again, and Jason felt the bullet enter his body.

''You'll never get her on time now,'' Jesse said, as he held his chest and sank to his knees. ''You think I would keep her here,'' he mumbled, and Jason sank down to the ground. He still hadn't found Sam, and now he wouldn't know where she was because Jesse fell forward, the life seeping out of him.

''Where is she?'' he screamed, and Jesse looked up one last time before breathing his last breath. ''Damn it!''