Chapter 40
Here to those that are forced to keep walking around eventhough their faiths are on broken glasses
To those that are so close to breaking down
"When you're at the end of the road
You just seem to lost all sense of control"
It was a few seconds to go before the clock reached 3PM when George stepped out of the elevator in hurry , straight into the penthouse .
Quiet . Empty . Gloomy . Depressing . Those were the words that could possibly fit to describe the situation in the house right now .
Arizona was sitting alone awkwardly in the living room . She sat still , fixing her gazes into that one empty space of the wall . It had been a very long time since the last time her house sounded this quiet . Arizona exhaled , taking her time to made herself comfortable again with the deafening silence while her brain processed what was happening . The storm that about to landed right into her laps .
This moment was confusing . Probably it was also her calm before the storm moment .
She needed just a few more moments .
"Arizona ." George called from the back of the couch .
Or maybe a few seconds . But Arizona knew this was it . The calm - before - the storm - period , it was over . The blonde turned her head only to be greeted by George's low spirited eyes .
The facial expression tells it all .
"She couldn't be found anywhere , is it ?" Arizona felt her heart started to beat rapidly . Her breath started to increase as she just suddenly realized how things just got real .
"Arizona , it's best we go down to the police station and lodge an official report as we don't know how serious the situation Callie's in ." George said with regretful voice . "The car is all ready downstairs . We will go but only when you are ready ."
"I .. I ." Arizona was still breathing heavily like she was running but the truth , she was only sitting on the couch . Yet , she couldn't steady her breath .
"Breathe in , breathe out . Slowly ." George sat down next to Arizona , gently rubbed his palm against the blonde's back .
"Arizona Robbins . Yeah , like the state's name . Can I just go up there to meet her ? I know her . I am her brother ." Timothy Robbins said impatiently after a few minutes waiting .
"Sir , I couldn't just simply let you up to the penthouse . Especially if it's Miss Robbins's penthouse . I got to make a confirmation first if she's comfortable to have a guest coming up . It will take a few minutes , I'm still trying to reach her penthouse . I would really appreciate if you could let me do my job ." The person at the front desk replied with a phone in his hand .
"That is what you said a few minutes ago and here I am still waiting ."
"I'm still trying to reach her , Sir . Why don't you have a seat . I will call you as soon as I get her permission for a visitor ." The man gave out a warm smile , still managed to do so eventhough truthfully .. Tim was really getting on his nerve now .
"Fine , alright . But I am coming back to this desk five minutes from now ." Tim firmly said , making his way to the nearby waiting area . There goes my surprise visit .. He mumbled to himself .
Before he even had a chance to sit down on the sofa , a commotion started to take place in the lobby .
"Miss Robbins , you have a visitor ." The man at the desk quickly spoke at his first glance on Arizona , who was accompanied by large number of men around her .
"I am not up for any visitor , Howard ." Arizona's voice was monotone , didn't even bother to ask who the visitor was . She only had Callie in her mind . Anything or anyone else didn't matter to her for now .
"What if the visitor insists ?" Tim stood up against Arizona's direction . "Hello , sis !" A dimpled smile met Arizona's face .
Arizona tilted her head to make sure that she wasn't hearing things but it was indeed Tim's voice that greeted her . "Tim !"
"Damn , why do you even need an army of bodyguards ?" Tim raised his eyebrows as all the men that were surrounding Arizona stepped aside , making a way for his little sister to get to him .
Before Arizona knew it , her body was already wrapped in her brother's embrace .
"I know it wasn't usual for me to see you before seeing mom and dad but , umm ... Surprise !" Tim excitedly said into the hug . "I guess , I just couldn't wait to see you and Callie in person now that you both are really dating each other . No more fake relationship , huh ?" Tim bumped his fist playfully onto Arizona's shoulder .
But his playful mood only met by Arizona's pensive gaze .
"What's the matter ? Where's Callie by the way ?" Tim stared at Arizona , waiting for an answer . "Don't tell me that you both broke up ." He spoke innocently .
"Callie .." Arizona had her palm nervously on her forehead , wasn't sure how to explain to Tim about the whole situation without breaking down . Arizona was already on verge of tears as she ran her palm up and down her face . She was shaking as she tried to maintain her composure but she knew she was indeed failing .
"God , Tim . I don't know where she is . All I know that she is in danger ." Arizona trembled , she threw herself into Tim's embrace again .
"Hey .." Tim broke the embrace as Arizona's sad eyes penetrated his . "Arizona , what happened ? What do you mean that Callie is in danger ?"
"She may .. may have been kidnapped ." Tears finally fell down on her cheek . "We are about to go down to the police station ."
"I will come with you ." Tim pulled the blonde woman into his hug . "We will find her . I promise you , we will ." Tim closed his eyes in pain as he heard another sobbing came from his little sister . Tim took a little moment to digest the pain that his sister felt .
They had always been close as childrens . He was the protective brother of Arizona . Not that he needed to but because he wanted to . But Arizona literally had no problem to take care of herself . She always had been a strong girl and now a strong woman . Hardheaded . A person that stood tall to her own principles . But Tim had to admit that they kinda grew apart as they got older . They went their separate ways but that special bond they had , it would always be there . They would come back for each other in the end . Except when Joanne died , Arizona never really came back .
Tim joined the Army when Arizona was in high school . After he finished his military training , he spent his available time before being deployed tutoring Arizona . Or was it Arizona that tutored him ?
Tim admitted , he wasn't a book smart or a brainiac like Arizona . The little blonde would always outrun him in that department . Sometimes Tim did get jealous about it . Because Arizona had both their parents's traits . She got mom's brain and she also got dad's fearlessness . Tim was jealous about that fact when they were both kids but soon that jealousy turned into an admiration as they grew up . He was probably the proudest brother in the world when he heard the news that Arizona was accepted into Hopkins .
Arizona never came back to Tim after what happened with Joanne . But after years of isolating herself .. miraculously Arizona came back to him , to their family — simply because of Callie .
And the cold realization finally hit Tim right on his face . Arizona might not make if she lose the person that she loves , again . This time it would be too far for him to reach her .
Tim flexed his jaw angrily , making a silent promise to himself . Whoever the person behind all of this , that person better wish that he's dead instead of alive when he finally catches him . He would hunt that person down himself if that what it takes .
Flashback
"Does Miss Torres has an enemy ? Has she been complaining about anything out of ordinary to you ?" One of the police officer asked while the other officer next to him scribbled down on her notepad .
Arizona used her palm as her chin stand , staring blankly on the wooden desk as she forced her brain to work . It had been almost thirty minutes since she walked into the interview room . She tried to think of anyone that possible in hurting Callie but she just failed . The brunette was kind and loving as an individual person . Everybody loved her for her kindness and her high spirited energy .
Even before coming down to the station , Arizona already had that question in mind . She already questioned herself dozen of times on who could possibly do this to Callie and was she able to answer that question ? No , she kept hitting the wall with that one key question . Callie was loved by everyone . And she definitely didn't deserve any of this .
And the more she thought about it , the more she felt like the current situation being swerved directly to her .
"MAAM , time is a crucial thing for all of us now . We need your cooperation in order for us to act fast . Do you think Callie made an enemy recently ?" The officer knocked down on the table when he noticed that Arizona had drifted away to nowhere .
"No . Callie is a very loving soul . I couldn't think of anyone that might wanna hurt her ." Arizona finally replied out loud .
The other officer looked down on her notepad , writing down the not much helpful information on her notepad .
"Is there anything you want to add ? Anything that you think would be helpful for us ?"
The blonde began pensively stare down at the desk again as she thought about all the threats she had received — the threats that were being pointed directly at her . Only her . Nothing related to Callie . Maybe it was because Callie's relationship with her was still new . Arizona thought about the first time she discovered the threat — the one in which sent her into a hospital .
Rephrasing the officer's question silently in her head again , Arizona asked the question to herself instead . At this point of interview , she still hadn't tell the officers about the threats . She wasn't sure if she should at first but Arizona came to think again .. If holding informations would only make the investigation go slower , she shouldn't be withholding any of it . All Arizona wanted right now was to help the authority in this investigation so that they could find Callie , ASAP . Although at first she did think that she could solve all the deep shits she was now in — alone , without the police . But now ?
The threats weren't empty threats anymore .
Arizona wasn't the person that believe much in the justice system . She used to believe in it . Her father and brother were in Army , for God's sake . But after Joanne , she just lost her faith in it . Those sons of a bitches that got their prison years reduced or skipped , Arizona closed her eyes in pain .
She shook her head , her emotions must be set aside now .
"Actually there is something important that I would like to add ." Arizona looked up to the officers . "Something happened .. mostly .. to me and is still happening and it might be connected to Callie too now ."
Arizona stopped . Taking a very deep breath , she continued . "I have been receiving several threats since months ago by an anonymous person ."
"And you think the same anonymous person kidnapped Callie ?" The officer asked with a very obvious of uncomfortable gesture .
Arizona nodded her head slowly . "This person is capable of doing it . More than capable ." Her mind quickly flashed back to the incident of her car being roasted in her own garage .
"Do you know who could have possibly done this to you ? Who do you suspect ? Is there any name you can give us ?"
Arizona's gaze was stabbing the officer's eyes as she gave a deep thought . She found herself desperately wanted to answer the question but she just couldn't give up names with a short thinking . Making name for herself in business area , she had few competitors that didn't take well that their companies got defeated by Sullivan's . And in terms of her personal life , Arizona admitted that she also had few personal fallouts with certain people .
The Vanderbilt's and Colton's — These both companies were furious as hell when Arizona won several deals instead of them .
Jack — The crazy about money , always drunk uncle .
Echo — Although she seemed harmless but she was brought up in a rough setting . Arizona never looked down on her . Therefore , she was also in the list .
Enrique Vargas — The worker that lost both of his legs during the collapse in one of her site . Yes , they settled it peacefully outside the camera of medias but Arizona never truly knew if the young man's family ever personally forgive her for the tragic incident .
All of the people above that crossed into Arizona's mind when it came to 'The list of suspects' , Arizona had ask George to tail them all closely . And she had found nothing weird about those people .
"I have a list of names ." Arizona knew even with her giving up the names to the police , the result would probably be just as same as what she got but it wouldn't hurt to have the police double check it this time , right ? Arizona thought before she finally gave the police her own list of suspects .
"Actually Miss Robbins , why didn't tell you us about the threats the first thing we all got into the room ?" The officer had a questioning , suspicious kind of look . "Damn , we will need to look through the police report you have made regarding the threat ."
Arizona bit her lips ."Well , about that .. I didn't make any report for that thing ."
On instant , the two officers looked at each other in disbelief .
"She gotta be freaking kidding us ." The leading officer muttered under his breath to his partner .
Present Time
"Robbins !" Mark Sloan approached her in the office inside of her penthouse — with quite an unpleasant facial expression , killing all the flashback of her time during the police interview yesterday . "What the hell are you thinking ?" He asked flat - tone , trying hard not to express what he felt right now with his army voice . He knew it would be disastrous if he couldn't control his emotion in this moment when talking to the blonde lady — his best friend's girlfriend .
Yes , Mark was here . Along with Lexie , camping in her house since the news about Callie's possibly - damn - sure kidnapped broke out . Right after she returned from the police station yesterday , Mark and Lexie both stopped by at the penthouse to pay their friend a visit .
It was tough for Arizona to explain to them . Yesterday was indeed a day full of interrogation . Everyone seemed to have their own questions that they thought Arizona could answer . Mark , Lexie , Tim and the police officers . And for Mark and Lexie , the blonde decided not to give away much of information of what happened as she was too — unsure of what was happening right now . She had many questions too in her head and she was mentally exhausted .
And to think about how Callie's family in Miami was still unaware of what happened to their daughter ? Arizona was screwed but she decided not to think much of it and just let the police do their work . She would cross that bridge when she got to it .
When the time comes , she definitely would need a lot of drink right after that . Heck , she already needed it now . Arizona gently lifted the glass , sipping her choice of drink for this rough moment . She tried to ignore the Army Major that she knew right now was watching her like a hawk from her behind . She literally could feel Sloan laser gazing the back of her head .
And there was a moment of silence but it seemed like the tall man still demand answers from her .
"I heard from the station , literally from the new officer in charge of Callie's case that they suspected you of withholding crucial information from them ." Mark spoke again when he felt like it was impossible for him to get anything out of Arizona's lips if he didn't push much harder on this matter .
Maybe in Arizona's perspective , she was trying to remain calm that she chose not to say much . But for Mark , Arizona's ways of silently processing all the stuffs alone was not helping at all . It didn't help in the past — the threats that she chose to let it slide . And it wouldn't help anything for right now — this moment . And it certainly wasn't helping Callie's case at all . It almost felt like Arizona was giving everybody a silent treatment for whatever psycho fucked up reason it worth .
And it simply drove Mark to the verge of rage .
"I had to hear it from the Captain that is now taking over this case ! What the fuck were you thinking when you chose not to lodge a police report for the threats you have been receiving these past few months ?!" Mark clenched his teeth , trying hard to suppress his seething anger . "And the Captain even told me that you didn't voluntarily tell them during the interview . You only told them after they had their suspicion to ask you !"
"I screwed up , Mark . I know that I should make a report back then . There's nothing I can do about that now . Let's all .. be focus on the present ." Arizona flatly replied . YEAH . That was Arizona biggest mistake . To looked down on those threats . There was nothing she could do about it now . She knew exactly Mark's point here . But truthfully to what she said to Mark , Arizona had never felt as helpless as she was right now . There is just nothing she could do right now . She might handled it differently if she was given another chance to response to the threats .
"How could you be so easy and relaxed right now ?" Mark continued with his attack . "Have you even contact her family yet ?"
Arizona chose to ignore the first offensive question and only answered to the second question that was threw angrily by Mark . "I will reach out to them when there's new lead on Callie ."
"When there is a new lead .." Mark imitated Arizona's words . "For God's sake , is this what you always do ? Wait and ignore . You are fucking unbelievable !"
Reaching to her boiling point , Arizona turned to face the taller man . "Major Sloan , I know that you and Lexie are both staying here to follow up on the case closely but if you don't stop yelling at my face , I will not hesitate to have my security remove you out of here ."
"Bite me , Robbins ." Mark's face was few inches away from Arizona when he said that . "You know what ? I'm gonna tell Carlos about Callie by myself ."
"No , you won't !" Arizona replied with a high pitch tone , startling every people outside of her home office . Their heated arguments had now become audible to everybody on the same floor .
"Yes , I will !" Mark shot back . "You don't care about anyone but yourself . Everyone who crosses your path ends up a fucking casualty !"
"Sloan !" It was a warning shout , followed by a punch coming out of nowhere .
"Fuck !" Mark grunted . The punch he just received from the younger man definitely thrown him off guard . One second he was push to the wall . And the next second , he had a fist flying onto his face .
And it all happened too fast for the blonde too . Arizona took her eyes off the situation for a split second and when she turned her head around , it was Timothy's turn to groan in pain as Mark launched a punch in respond to the one he got from Tim .
"Mark .." Lexie rushed to get to her boyfriend that was leaning awkwardly against the wall with blood coming down from his nose . When Lexie saw the other soldier that was rubbing his cheek slowly , cringing in pain , she immediately didn't feel the need to ask what happened .
"You should expect yourself getting call in back to the station , soon . It's been almost 24 hours and there is still no new lead , no phone call regarding ransom money . With no new lead , the partner will usually be the first person they would investigate as the case turns cold and colder ." Mark wiped the blood with the back of his hand . His voice was emotionless as he spoke . There was no anger . Instead , his voice was just flat . "Arizona , you are the person of interest ." He continued , almost like a casual heads up he was giving to Arizona .
"Lexie , I have a med kit in the kitchen . There's probably some stuff in there that could stop the nose bleed . You are welcomed to utilize it ." Arizona didn't spend much thinking about what Mark just said to her — the reminder nor the insensitive remark he just said to her before that . She would have much time later on to properly dwell on that . After all , her attention was very much distracted by the blood coming down from Mark's nose . Arizona was a surgeon . Her first instinct whenever she saw blood dripping out was to stop them . But this time it might be best for her to borrowed Lexie a med kit rather than stopping the blood herself .
For a brief moment , Mark set his eyes on Tim before he finally stepped out of the office with Lexie following him closely from behind . Just before they left , Lexie turned her head to Arizona and Tim - mouthing a sorry .
When the silence was the only thing that occupying the room right now — that was when Arizona's gaze met with Tim's .
To Be Continued ...
A/N : Thanks for the overwhelming responses .. And I wish a goodluck to those that got exam coming on to their ways . With holiday coming up , I wish in advance a happy full of bless Eid Fitr to those celebrating it . Remember to keep up with the new normal & social distancing during this festive season . Do your best part in stopping the spread of this virus . I , myself , couldn't go back to my hometown to celebrates it with my parents : (
Personal Monologue : Trust ... ? Yes , I have trust issue and maybe I am overreacting or maybe I am just simply projecting my insecurity on you and then you just automatically become the people that I blamed on every of my past trust issues but I don't think I am demanding much as we started off with honesty ? Main reason why I am only close to few certain people in my life . So that whenever someone disappoints me , I could just pack my bag and disappears out of their lives - I don't have anything to weigh in . Disappointed ? Confused ? The fear of not be able to trust again ? These are the things that been going on inside of my head nowadays . Maybe I am just fucked up . Maybe I will never recover . Maybe me being robotic seems to be the best for everyone . Maybe I am done trying .
