Chapter 2

Jason could hear voices in the background, he opened his eyes, but he couldn't see, everything was too blurry; he blinked them once or twice. The first thing he saw was the bright fluorescent light hanging above him.

"Where am I?" he thought, moving his head left and right, then, a face appeared over him,

"Hey,"

"Gah!" he leapt up and rolled off the side of the bed, he hit the ground with a heavy thump and lay there for a few seconds, he then stood up and brushed himself off, he looked ahead to see a uniformed officer standing next to his bed,

"How's it going, kid?" greeted the cop, but instead of answering, Jason put his hands to his chest, only to discover, there was nothing on him except a patient's gown. "Looking for these?" asked the cop, as he threw two Desert Eagles onto the bed, Jason picked them up and aimed them at the policeman, "Don't bother, J." He said, rather calmly, "They're empty."

Jason turned them over, he was right. He dropped them on the bed, looked at him and asked, "Okay, so you know who I am, slap the cuffs on me now, why don't you?"

"Nah," he said, shaking his lowered head,

"Huh? Why?"

"Because… I owe it to your old man." He sat on the bed, and looked up at Jason

"How did you know my dad?"

"Simple really. I was on a stake out, checkin' what the Sindaccos were up to… you know, hiding in their newly purchased casino"

"Yeah, go on."

"When I realize, they knew I was there, they found me, popped three caps in me, and were ready to make it four, and that would have been the final shot they needed to take me out. Then, your dad showed up… lucky for me, he was planning on raiding the place that very day. So, he finds me, wastes every last Sindacco punk, and blows they're playground sky high."

"Wow,"

"Yeah, I know, your pop was a Crime Lord, but the man had a heart of gold."

"I never really knew my dad, so I didn't know." said Jason hanging his head; he was killed before I was old enough to know he was alive.

"I would expect something like that, that was years ago, and he was shot like, a month later. Your brother would've only been like six, or seven years." Then, Jason remembered, Drew, he never found out about Drew,

"Where's my brother?" he asks urgently, but all the cop does is shake his head in dismay,

"Sorry kid, two of those shots, got 'im right in the heart." Upon hearing this, Jason fell onto the bed; he looked dazed and confused,

"No, no, he's lying, Drew is alive, he's still alive, it's a joke, it's nothing but a sick, cruel joke…" this thought continued to swirl around in his mind, he couldn't accept the fact that his brother, his best friend was dead, but he finally convinced himself of this, when a covered corpse was rolled past his room, and the toe tag read Andrew R. Masters, he knew that the cop wasn't lying, he knew that Drew was really dead, and he knew that he wanted to do no less that kill, Paul Sindacco.

He got off the bed, and looked at the cop, who was still sitting down, "Where is Sindacco." He looked up at him, and told him,

"Knowing him, either Liberty or Vice."

"Fine, I'll be heading to Liberty City first then, that's where the cowardly bitch came from!"

"Then, that would be the last place he'd be going."

"Maybe he wants us to think that. Besides, if he is somewhere else, someone's bound to tell me where… I can be very persuasive." He walked toward the bathroom to change, when the cop stopped him,

"Wait kid, here!" he threw him a white T-Shirt, with the words 'what are you lookin' at!' on the front, and a pair of jeans

"What's this?"

"You're actually planning on going out there with a gown are you?"

"What happened to my suit?"

"Well, it's that guy that rescued you."

"Yeah? And…"

"… And he has this, habit, of taking someone's clothes, when he thinks they've croaked" he grinned, while saying this,

"So you're tellin' me, that he just took my suit? My six thousand dollar suit?"

"Hey, you've got to stop buying such expensive clothes kid." Jason sucked his teeth and sighed,

"These are the kind of officers that we entrust our lives with?"

"Not all of them are like that… just the very large majority." He was very close to laughing, and was very close to making Jason grin, but with no success.

After a few minutes, Jason stepped out of the bathroom, fully dressed, and the officer threw him a backpack,

"In there, is everything you'll need, for now."

"What about my birds?"

"What?"

"My guns."

"Oh. No, you can't take those with you, airport security."

"What! The Airport? Won't the Sindaccos be able to track me?"

"No, until you get to Liberty City, you'll be under the alias of 'Frank Tenpenny'."

"Really? How were you able to hook up that?"

"I told them at the precinct that you were part of a witness protection program, they bought it."

"You never cease to amaze me-" then Jason remembered, he never found out the cop's name

"Oh yeah, sorry. I forgot to give you my name. Rockwell, Leroy Rockwell."

"Take it easy, 'Mr. Bond'." He finally grinned, which in some way pleased Rockwell,

"Come on kid, you need to get going."

"Why so ready to send me off?"

"Because, I have someone waiting for you, and he doesn't like waiting."

"Alright, alright… I'll be on my way."

Jason walked out of the room and headed for the doorway, when Rockwell called out to him, "Don't forget to call me when you're nearly there, so I'll no you're okay."

"Alright!" said Jason, raising his hand to show he understood.