Chapter Seven
Something about the whole situation immediately felt wrong to Jondy. The moment that Molly first made contact with a man to escort her to Sakir, there seemed to be more than one thing amiss. First of all, the contact was extremely soldier-like in his stance and, if she hadn't known better, Jondy would have guessed him to be X5. Only he was way to old, somewhere in his mid-forties, and the back of hi neck, which was well exposed, contained no barcode. Nevertheless, it didn't seem right.
Jondy followed a ways back, struggling to keep up in the broken down car she'd rented in a hurry from the airport. They'd been driving for nearly an hour now, and she was afraid that the car was going to quit on her very soon by the way the engine continually coughed and made other abnormal sounds.
They drove for a few more miles before the limo Molly was in took a sudden turn onto a side dirt road. Jondy drove past about a half a mile and stopped the pile of junk she was driving. She got out of the car and started running.
She guessed that this guy Sakir must be pretty secretive the way he made someone else pick up his guest and then drive her to the middle of nowhere. More than likely there would be guards waiting at the entrance so Jondy figured she'd have a much easier time getting past on foot rather than in a car that could surely be heard within a two mile radius of where it was. Now if only she got there in time.
Cole however had figured out an easier way to follow Molly. He'd gotten off the plane before either her or Jondy and he'd knocked out and then dressed up as the limo driver, careful to make sure he had sunglasses on since Molly had seen him before.
The big, burly guy had paid no attention to him as they'd let Cole load Molly's luggage and open the doors for them. Now they were driving along a route that was shown on the car's GPS system, luckily for Cole, and neither occupant in the back had been yet to say a single word.
Cole kept himself on high alert as they finally pulled into a long, circular driveway and up to a house that could have been almost an exact duplication of the old White House. Just in the wrong country. He let his two passengers out and started to pick up Molly's bag for her but she insisted on carrying it herself. Cole, careful to keep his face down, complied and watched them go up the stairs into the house.
As soon as the door shut he jumped into action. He ran to the side of the house, shed the tight, uncomfortable suit, and changed back into his regular clothing that consisted of black jeans and a black, long-sleeved shirt, which adhered tautly to the muscular curves of his chest and arms.
Cole glanced around and found what he was looking for. On the side of the mansion there was a small balcony jutting out on the second story. He backed up a few steps before getting a running start and jumping effortlessly upwards onto the terrace.
He ducked down and peered inside, his enhanced eyes already used to the completely black view. It appeared to be a bedroom but the furnishings were entirely different than the exterior of the home would lead people to believe. There was nothing but a small bed covered with a tattered brown blanket, a dresser that was missing three of it's five drawers, and a murky, cracked mirror on the far wall of the room.
Cole stepped inside and silently looked around. The only other aspect of any significance he found amongst the repulsiveness was a corner of the room that seemed permanently stained with blood. Not a large spot that would be easily recognizable for someone merely taking a fleeting look around but, instead, several small, dark blemishes that Cole knew instantly to be blood.
Maybe this was the room they gave to their guests, Cole thought, his dark humor not seeming very funny at the moment.
Cole opened the door slowly, only moving it out enough to be able to hear what was going on down-stairs.
He could hear a man talking with a distinct African accent. He guessed that was Sarik.
"...thought you were coming with some of your own information. I wasn't aware that I led you to believe that I'd just give out information for free. No, my dear, that just wouldn't be right. You see I've worked so very hard for what I know and I can't be letting the whole world in on the secret. You do understand, I hope."
Molly answered, her voice sounding none too happy at the moment.
"You never told me once that you wanted to make an exchange of information, Mr. Sarik. You specifically told me that you knew what Manticore was and that you were flying me here to tell me."
"Hmm," Sarik replied, "Did I?"
"Yes, you did!" Molly was practically shouting now and Cole hoped that Mr. Sarik didn't have a bad temper. Something about his voice told Cole to be weary of him. Suddenly he sensed movement and heard the distinct sounds of one...two...three guns being cocked. He leaned in and listened intently, ready to jump into action.
"Check her for a barcode!" Sarik commanded. The heavy footsteps of the big escort could be heard crossing the room.
"What?" Molly asked in disbelief, "A barcode? You think I'm some kind of assembly line product or something?"
She grunted as she was shoved over and her neck checked.
"She's not one of them," Big Guy reported.
Sarik and Cole cursed at the same time, only one of them was out loud and the other silent. Now Cole knew why Sarik had been so anxious to bring her here. He'd assumed that Manticore was too classified for any run-of-the-mill cop to tap into so he had decided that Molly was an undercover X5, attempting to undo some of Manticore's enemies. The ironic thing was, Cole would have never been led to find out about these guys, whoever they were, if it weren't for Sarik making that mistake. And now Molly was in the middle of it all.
"Okay, I would completely love to know just why the hell you are pointing guns at me, checking me for a barcode of all things, and saying I'm 'not one of them'? I thought I was your guest! Is this how all hospitality is in this country? Because I'd like you to know that it sucks!"
Cole willed Molly to shut up and keep her temper in check. She was only digging herself a deeper hole.
"Put her up in the guest room," Sarik commanded, his tone once again smooth and under control, "We'll discuss this more tomorrow, Miss Diano."
Cole immediately sunk back into the shadows of the room and disappeared over the side of the balcony. He didn't actually go over the side however; instead he let himself hang there until he was sure that no one was coming in the room. He pulled himself back up and walked across the room.
Putting his ear to the door he listened to the footsteps and voices for several minutes until he had figured out how far away and how many people were in the house, minus him and Molly. Five on the first floor and three upstairs. Normally that would be absolutely no problem but he also knew that at least three, probably more were armed and he was also going to be dragging Molly along with him on the way out.
As he mentally prepared himself to go, he suddenly realized he had no idea where Jondy was. Things would go a lot easier if she were here to help him. Then again, she might rather shoot him first and then go along with everything herself. Oh, well.
Cole leapt into action.
He treaded softly out of the room and down the hall in the direction that they'd taken Molly. He came to a room on the other end of the house where he could hear her distinct voice; only now she wasn't saying words, she was grunting as if she was gagged.
"Here goes nothing," Cole whispered.
He kicked open the door and was greeted by an unexpected sight. Molly was indeed gagged but she was also tied to a table where it appeared one of the two men in the room were planning to take off her pants as his hands were grasping the cuffs of her jeans. All three of them looked at him in surprise.
Molly's eyes widened as she recognized Cole. The other two had much more violent reactions to their uninvited guest. The first one came at him with rage in his eyes and Cole was surprised when the punch the guy landed actually caused him to stagger backwards under the blow.
Without delay, Cole sent a flurry of kicks and blows back at him. The man seemed to barely feel them for he continued to advance on Cole using the same fighting techniques that Cole would guess a heavyweight boxer would. He was rather slow but he was incredibly strong.
Even stronger than an X5.
It was time for more desperate measures. Cole grabbed the gun from the guy's pocket, surprised it hadn't already been used on him, and fired two quick shots into his opponent's left thigh. The guy collapsed to the ground from the initial shock the wounds had given him physically but was almost instantly back to his feet. Cole cursed as he saw two more men running up the stairs.
"Let's go gun happy," Cole said to himself.
He started shooting as fast as his trigger finger could press down, which was very fast, but this time he wasn't shooting to wound. He was shooting to kill. He managed to fell his first adversary with a shot to the throat and another with one to the upper chest but the third had been bright enough to bring his own gun with him.
Cole barely dodged a low bullet that came hurdling toward him. He crouched and shot and the same instant the other did. He watched in triumph as his bullet met it's mark.
He stood up and suddenly felt a sharp pain in his lower arm. He looked down and saw his shirt was saturated in blood. He hadn't even noticed he'd been shot until now. Cole suddenly heard Molly scream against her gag. He pushed the pain to the back of his mind as he'd been trained to do in battle and blurred to the room.
Cole stopped when he saw the sight that met his eyes. The last man had Molly standing against him with a large knife pressed to her throat. She looked at Cole in fear, not knowing if he would help her or not.
"Drop your gun!" the man yelled, pressing the knife against Molly's skin to the point that it drew a droplet of blood. She whimpered pitifully.
Cole lifted his hands in the air and slowly placed the weapon on the floor. He tensed as he saw Sakir walking casually towards them, seeming not to care as he stepped amongst the crumpled bodies of his companions.
"That was impressive, I must say. Miss Diano didn't tell us she was bringing any friends along. Especially not one as interesting as you."
"She doesn't even know who I am you idiot," Cole replied in a sinister voice, "All she did was lead me to you guys."
Sakir raised an eyebrow but his expression grew somewhat angry at the insult.
"And why would you want to be led to us?" he asked.
"I just happened to hear that there was someone out there with some information in their heads that shouldn't really be there. Thought I'd come and try and knock some sense into them," Cole paused to see Sakir's features grow dark with rage at realizing his mistake, "So do tell, is it working?"
Cole didn't allow Sakir time to respond. To fast for either man to react to he kicked Sakir in the head, sending him to the ground unconscious, and then grabbed the hilt of the knife, tearing it away from Molly and sent it back to plunge into the other's man's chest.
Molly stumbled back against the wall and looked up at Cole in terror as he came towards her.
"I'm not going to kill you," Cole explained, "But I hope you've learned a lesson by now."
Molly nodded furiously, her mouth to dry from panic to speak. Cole grabbed her arm and they ran down and the stairs and out of house as fast as Molly's speed would allow.
"Get in the car!" he commanded her once they'd reached the driveway. She did so without hesitation and Cole joined her on the driver's side. The tires squealed and rubber burned as he slammed the gas pedal to the floor. They took off in a squall of dust and flying pebbles down the road.
"How'd you do that?" Molly asked after about thirty minutes of silence.
"Do what?"
"You know. Beat those guys like that and fight like you did? I've never seen someone move so fast! That was amazing!"
Cole rolled his eyes. Even after all that had gone down she was still as inquisitive as ever.
"Did you ever hear the saying, curiosity killed the cat?" he replied.
He smiled slightly as he could see her cheeks redden in the rear-view mirror.
"Why did you come after me?" she asked after several more minutes.
"I have my reasons," Cole answered, his tone unrevealing.
As they came upon a gas station along the side of the road, Cole realized they were very low on gas. He didn't particularly want to stop but, if he didn't refill the tank soon, the car would stop for good.
"Stay in the car," he directed Molly. She consented with a nod.
Cole stepped out and looked around. Only one person was inside the store, watching him expectantly as if he suspected he was about to get robbed. Other than that, all seemed to be fine.
He had just put the nozzle into the gas tank when suddenly something came flying at him, sending him sprawling to the gravel away from the car. Cole jumped to his feet and was neither happy nor unhappy to see that it was a someone that had hit him rather than a something. Jondy.
She stood there, looking like a demon out of Hell, her fists clenched to the point that her knuckles were white and her face malicious. Molly, who heard the loud crash and grunt from Cole, jumped out of the car and looked about ready to faint when she saw her friend standing there.
"Joanna?" she exclaimed is disbelief. Jondy didn't even look her way.
"So, 'Philip', what brings you to this part of the world?" Jondy's voice was practically dripping with venom.
Cole had the terrible urge to simply drop the whole charade he'd planned out and tell Jondy everything. But he knew she would never be free if he did that.
"Well I couldn't let those guys have all the fun with your nosy friend," he retorted, "You and I have acquaintances that are much more interested in what she has to say."
Jondy's pale eyes nearly boiled over with revulsion. She attacked suddenly and with a passion that could only come from her immeasurable hatred for Manticore.
Cole fought back but with only the bare amount of moves needed to keep himself looking credible. What he didn't plan on though unpredictably came next.
He kicked out at Jondy who went against her proper training, grabbed his ankle, twisted it around in mid-air, and sent a cast-iron chop to the back of his knee. Cole cried out as he felt and heard the bone snap in his leg before he collapsed to the ground in a mist of pain. He looked up and saw Jondy staring down at him. Her expression sent chills down his spine.
"Jo," Molly called out un-expectantly. She walked slowly up behind Jondy. Jondy didn't look up but the way she seemed to suddenly snap back to reality was enough for Molly to keep speaking.
"Joanna, he saved me from those men," she said softly.
"No, Molly," Jondy replied harshly, "Where he was taking you would have only been worse. Trust me."
Before anyone else could talk they all heard the distant sound of sirens coming toward them.
"Jo, come on let's go. Before they get here," Molly's voice was pleading now; devoid of the curiosity it'd contained only several minutes ago.
Jondy looked down at the ground and let out a long breath. She looked directly at Cole, "You're not worth my time," she spat.
She turned to walk away but froze when she heard Cole's quiet words behind her.
"You always did fight dirty, Jondy."
Jondy met eyes with Cole, her features saturated with horror. No one had called her that name in years. No one but Zack, and this definitely wasn't him.
"Who are you?" she whispered, almost afraid of the answer. Cole looked at the ground.
"No one worth wasting your time on," he said softly, his tone truthful.
Jondy seemed torn between what to do as Molly called her name again and the sirens got louder.
"Go," Cole directed, his voice more forceful than it'd been minute ago.
"But..." she said.
"Go!"
Jondy took one last glance at the mysterious figure lying on the ground before leaping into the car with Molly and zooming off into the night.
But she couldn't help but look in the mirrors one last time as she went.
"I'll find you again," she whispered so quietly that not even Molly could hear her on the passenger's side.
"I promise."
Something about the whole situation immediately felt wrong to Jondy. The moment that Molly first made contact with a man to escort her to Sakir, there seemed to be more than one thing amiss. First of all, the contact was extremely soldier-like in his stance and, if she hadn't known better, Jondy would have guessed him to be X5. Only he was way to old, somewhere in his mid-forties, and the back of hi neck, which was well exposed, contained no barcode. Nevertheless, it didn't seem right.
Jondy followed a ways back, struggling to keep up in the broken down car she'd rented in a hurry from the airport. They'd been driving for nearly an hour now, and she was afraid that the car was going to quit on her very soon by the way the engine continually coughed and made other abnormal sounds.
They drove for a few more miles before the limo Molly was in took a sudden turn onto a side dirt road. Jondy drove past about a half a mile and stopped the pile of junk she was driving. She got out of the car and started running.
She guessed that this guy Sakir must be pretty secretive the way he made someone else pick up his guest and then drive her to the middle of nowhere. More than likely there would be guards waiting at the entrance so Jondy figured she'd have a much easier time getting past on foot rather than in a car that could surely be heard within a two mile radius of where it was. Now if only she got there in time.
Cole however had figured out an easier way to follow Molly. He'd gotten off the plane before either her or Jondy and he'd knocked out and then dressed up as the limo driver, careful to make sure he had sunglasses on since Molly had seen him before.
The big, burly guy had paid no attention to him as they'd let Cole load Molly's luggage and open the doors for them. Now they were driving along a route that was shown on the car's GPS system, luckily for Cole, and neither occupant in the back had been yet to say a single word.
Cole kept himself on high alert as they finally pulled into a long, circular driveway and up to a house that could have been almost an exact duplication of the old White House. Just in the wrong country. He let his two passengers out and started to pick up Molly's bag for her but she insisted on carrying it herself. Cole, careful to keep his face down, complied and watched them go up the stairs into the house.
As soon as the door shut he jumped into action. He ran to the side of the house, shed the tight, uncomfortable suit, and changed back into his regular clothing that consisted of black jeans and a black, long-sleeved shirt, which adhered tautly to the muscular curves of his chest and arms.
Cole glanced around and found what he was looking for. On the side of the mansion there was a small balcony jutting out on the second story. He backed up a few steps before getting a running start and jumping effortlessly upwards onto the terrace.
He ducked down and peered inside, his enhanced eyes already used to the completely black view. It appeared to be a bedroom but the furnishings were entirely different than the exterior of the home would lead people to believe. There was nothing but a small bed covered with a tattered brown blanket, a dresser that was missing three of it's five drawers, and a murky, cracked mirror on the far wall of the room.
Cole stepped inside and silently looked around. The only other aspect of any significance he found amongst the repulsiveness was a corner of the room that seemed permanently stained with blood. Not a large spot that would be easily recognizable for someone merely taking a fleeting look around but, instead, several small, dark blemishes that Cole knew instantly to be blood.
Maybe this was the room they gave to their guests, Cole thought, his dark humor not seeming very funny at the moment.
Cole opened the door slowly, only moving it out enough to be able to hear what was going on down-stairs.
He could hear a man talking with a distinct African accent. He guessed that was Sarik.
"...thought you were coming with some of your own information. I wasn't aware that I led you to believe that I'd just give out information for free. No, my dear, that just wouldn't be right. You see I've worked so very hard for what I know and I can't be letting the whole world in on the secret. You do understand, I hope."
Molly answered, her voice sounding none too happy at the moment.
"You never told me once that you wanted to make an exchange of information, Mr. Sarik. You specifically told me that you knew what Manticore was and that you were flying me here to tell me."
"Hmm," Sarik replied, "Did I?"
"Yes, you did!" Molly was practically shouting now and Cole hoped that Mr. Sarik didn't have a bad temper. Something about his voice told Cole to be weary of him. Suddenly he sensed movement and heard the distinct sounds of one...two...three guns being cocked. He leaned in and listened intently, ready to jump into action.
"Check her for a barcode!" Sarik commanded. The heavy footsteps of the big escort could be heard crossing the room.
"What?" Molly asked in disbelief, "A barcode? You think I'm some kind of assembly line product or something?"
She grunted as she was shoved over and her neck checked.
"She's not one of them," Big Guy reported.
Sarik and Cole cursed at the same time, only one of them was out loud and the other silent. Now Cole knew why Sarik had been so anxious to bring her here. He'd assumed that Manticore was too classified for any run-of-the-mill cop to tap into so he had decided that Molly was an undercover X5, attempting to undo some of Manticore's enemies. The ironic thing was, Cole would have never been led to find out about these guys, whoever they were, if it weren't for Sarik making that mistake. And now Molly was in the middle of it all.
"Okay, I would completely love to know just why the hell you are pointing guns at me, checking me for a barcode of all things, and saying I'm 'not one of them'? I thought I was your guest! Is this how all hospitality is in this country? Because I'd like you to know that it sucks!"
Cole willed Molly to shut up and keep her temper in check. She was only digging herself a deeper hole.
"Put her up in the guest room," Sarik commanded, his tone once again smooth and under control, "We'll discuss this more tomorrow, Miss Diano."
Cole immediately sunk back into the shadows of the room and disappeared over the side of the balcony. He didn't actually go over the side however; instead he let himself hang there until he was sure that no one was coming in the room. He pulled himself back up and walked across the room.
Putting his ear to the door he listened to the footsteps and voices for several minutes until he had figured out how far away and how many people were in the house, minus him and Molly. Five on the first floor and three upstairs. Normally that would be absolutely no problem but he also knew that at least three, probably more were armed and he was also going to be dragging Molly along with him on the way out.
As he mentally prepared himself to go, he suddenly realized he had no idea where Jondy was. Things would go a lot easier if she were here to help him. Then again, she might rather shoot him first and then go along with everything herself. Oh, well.
Cole leapt into action.
He treaded softly out of the room and down the hall in the direction that they'd taken Molly. He came to a room on the other end of the house where he could hear her distinct voice; only now she wasn't saying words, she was grunting as if she was gagged.
"Here goes nothing," Cole whispered.
He kicked open the door and was greeted by an unexpected sight. Molly was indeed gagged but she was also tied to a table where it appeared one of the two men in the room were planning to take off her pants as his hands were grasping the cuffs of her jeans. All three of them looked at him in surprise.
Molly's eyes widened as she recognized Cole. The other two had much more violent reactions to their uninvited guest. The first one came at him with rage in his eyes and Cole was surprised when the punch the guy landed actually caused him to stagger backwards under the blow.
Without delay, Cole sent a flurry of kicks and blows back at him. The man seemed to barely feel them for he continued to advance on Cole using the same fighting techniques that Cole would guess a heavyweight boxer would. He was rather slow but he was incredibly strong.
Even stronger than an X5.
It was time for more desperate measures. Cole grabbed the gun from the guy's pocket, surprised it hadn't already been used on him, and fired two quick shots into his opponent's left thigh. The guy collapsed to the ground from the initial shock the wounds had given him physically but was almost instantly back to his feet. Cole cursed as he saw two more men running up the stairs.
"Let's go gun happy," Cole said to himself.
He started shooting as fast as his trigger finger could press down, which was very fast, but this time he wasn't shooting to wound. He was shooting to kill. He managed to fell his first adversary with a shot to the throat and another with one to the upper chest but the third had been bright enough to bring his own gun with him.
Cole barely dodged a low bullet that came hurdling toward him. He crouched and shot and the same instant the other did. He watched in triumph as his bullet met it's mark.
He stood up and suddenly felt a sharp pain in his lower arm. He looked down and saw his shirt was saturated in blood. He hadn't even noticed he'd been shot until now. Cole suddenly heard Molly scream against her gag. He pushed the pain to the back of his mind as he'd been trained to do in battle and blurred to the room.
Cole stopped when he saw the sight that met his eyes. The last man had Molly standing against him with a large knife pressed to her throat. She looked at Cole in fear, not knowing if he would help her or not.
"Drop your gun!" the man yelled, pressing the knife against Molly's skin to the point that it drew a droplet of blood. She whimpered pitifully.
Cole lifted his hands in the air and slowly placed the weapon on the floor. He tensed as he saw Sakir walking casually towards them, seeming not to care as he stepped amongst the crumpled bodies of his companions.
"That was impressive, I must say. Miss Diano didn't tell us she was bringing any friends along. Especially not one as interesting as you."
"She doesn't even know who I am you idiot," Cole replied in a sinister voice, "All she did was lead me to you guys."
Sakir raised an eyebrow but his expression grew somewhat angry at the insult.
"And why would you want to be led to us?" he asked.
"I just happened to hear that there was someone out there with some information in their heads that shouldn't really be there. Thought I'd come and try and knock some sense into them," Cole paused to see Sakir's features grow dark with rage at realizing his mistake, "So do tell, is it working?"
Cole didn't allow Sakir time to respond. To fast for either man to react to he kicked Sakir in the head, sending him to the ground unconscious, and then grabbed the hilt of the knife, tearing it away from Molly and sent it back to plunge into the other's man's chest.
Molly stumbled back against the wall and looked up at Cole in terror as he came towards her.
"I'm not going to kill you," Cole explained, "But I hope you've learned a lesson by now."
Molly nodded furiously, her mouth to dry from panic to speak. Cole grabbed her arm and they ran down and the stairs and out of house as fast as Molly's speed would allow.
"Get in the car!" he commanded her once they'd reached the driveway. She did so without hesitation and Cole joined her on the driver's side. The tires squealed and rubber burned as he slammed the gas pedal to the floor. They took off in a squall of dust and flying pebbles down the road.
"How'd you do that?" Molly asked after about thirty minutes of silence.
"Do what?"
"You know. Beat those guys like that and fight like you did? I've never seen someone move so fast! That was amazing!"
Cole rolled his eyes. Even after all that had gone down she was still as inquisitive as ever.
"Did you ever hear the saying, curiosity killed the cat?" he replied.
He smiled slightly as he could see her cheeks redden in the rear-view mirror.
"Why did you come after me?" she asked after several more minutes.
"I have my reasons," Cole answered, his tone unrevealing.
As they came upon a gas station along the side of the road, Cole realized they were very low on gas. He didn't particularly want to stop but, if he didn't refill the tank soon, the car would stop for good.
"Stay in the car," he directed Molly. She consented with a nod.
Cole stepped out and looked around. Only one person was inside the store, watching him expectantly as if he suspected he was about to get robbed. Other than that, all seemed to be fine.
He had just put the nozzle into the gas tank when suddenly something came flying at him, sending him sprawling to the gravel away from the car. Cole jumped to his feet and was neither happy nor unhappy to see that it was a someone that had hit him rather than a something. Jondy.
She stood there, looking like a demon out of Hell, her fists clenched to the point that her knuckles were white and her face malicious. Molly, who heard the loud crash and grunt from Cole, jumped out of the car and looked about ready to faint when she saw her friend standing there.
"Joanna?" she exclaimed is disbelief. Jondy didn't even look her way.
"So, 'Philip', what brings you to this part of the world?" Jondy's voice was practically dripping with venom.
Cole had the terrible urge to simply drop the whole charade he'd planned out and tell Jondy everything. But he knew she would never be free if he did that.
"Well I couldn't let those guys have all the fun with your nosy friend," he retorted, "You and I have acquaintances that are much more interested in what she has to say."
Jondy's pale eyes nearly boiled over with revulsion. She attacked suddenly and with a passion that could only come from her immeasurable hatred for Manticore.
Cole fought back but with only the bare amount of moves needed to keep himself looking credible. What he didn't plan on though unpredictably came next.
He kicked out at Jondy who went against her proper training, grabbed his ankle, twisted it around in mid-air, and sent a cast-iron chop to the back of his knee. Cole cried out as he felt and heard the bone snap in his leg before he collapsed to the ground in a mist of pain. He looked up and saw Jondy staring down at him. Her expression sent chills down his spine.
"Jo," Molly called out un-expectantly. She walked slowly up behind Jondy. Jondy didn't look up but the way she seemed to suddenly snap back to reality was enough for Molly to keep speaking.
"Joanna, he saved me from those men," she said softly.
"No, Molly," Jondy replied harshly, "Where he was taking you would have only been worse. Trust me."
Before anyone else could talk they all heard the distant sound of sirens coming toward them.
"Jo, come on let's go. Before they get here," Molly's voice was pleading now; devoid of the curiosity it'd contained only several minutes ago.
Jondy looked down at the ground and let out a long breath. She looked directly at Cole, "You're not worth my time," she spat.
She turned to walk away but froze when she heard Cole's quiet words behind her.
"You always did fight dirty, Jondy."
Jondy met eyes with Cole, her features saturated with horror. No one had called her that name in years. No one but Zack, and this definitely wasn't him.
"Who are you?" she whispered, almost afraid of the answer. Cole looked at the ground.
"No one worth wasting your time on," he said softly, his tone truthful.
Jondy seemed torn between what to do as Molly called her name again and the sirens got louder.
"Go," Cole directed, his voice more forceful than it'd been minute ago.
"But..." she said.
"Go!"
Jondy took one last glance at the mysterious figure lying on the ground before leaping into the car with Molly and zooming off into the night.
But she couldn't help but look in the mirrors one last time as she went.
"I'll find you again," she whispered so quietly that not even Molly could hear her on the passenger's side.
"I promise."