An: um hi! I know, I haven't updated this in a while. Apologies for that. I made this a longer chapter to make up for it :) I had to break it up into two parts because it was way too long. I can post the second part sooner rather than later (since it is already written) if people are interested. Please let me know how you are liking the story. Oh, and for those of you who may have read "fixing the broken" do you really want me to continue it?
disclaimer: I do not own anything except my OCs. All mistakes are mine.
Chapter 4: Sacrifice for the lies - part 1
Paige burst through the front door of Graceland yelling for help.
"Charlie? Paul? Anyone home?" Charlie, who had gone to her room after arguing with Briggs, could hear the desperation in Paige's voice so she came running down the stairs. Getting one quick look at the DEA agent sent her into mama bear mode. Who the hell had hurt Paige?
"Pauly!" Charlie shouted. By the time he had gotten downstairs she had the blonde seated on the countertop in the kitchen. She brushed past him to run to the bathroom and grab a first aid kit.
"P, what happened?" Briggs stood in front of Paige with a hand on either side on her on the counter. His brown eyes searched over her for any more injuries. Charlie nudged him out of the way so she could look at the wound. Paige grabbed her hand to stop her.
"Johnny. Bello had Johnny." Her normally whimsical voice had a slight tremor. She was scared . Scared for their resident jokester. She couldn't picture anyone wanting to hurt the sweet boy. "It's my fault..."
"Don't play the blame card." Paul stopped her before she could go any further. "Tell us what happened." Paige nodded and let go of Charlie's hand before starting to speak again.
"When I was heading to Hector's to meet Johnny Bello's men found me. They pulled guns on me and I tried to fight them. Ended up with this nice battle scar-" She pointed to the deep bleeding cut, "- by a crazy ass knife wielder. They threw me in their car and used me as leverage to get Johnny to I with them." Briggs finished peeling the remains of the tape off her wrists and handed her a glass of water. She was looking pale and he could see she was in pain just from Charlie cleaning the cut. He didn't want her passing out of them. Paige thanked him and drank a few sips.
"Mike. Oh God, Mikey! Call him!" Charlie said, turning to Paul, worry showing through in her voice. Of course Bello would try to reach Mike. He was the one who introduced Johnny. Briggs cursed when Mike didn't answer.
"He's not picking up." Paige slid of the counter against the 'house mother's' protests.
"Bello could have already gotten to him. He could have Johnny and Mike. God. Where is Jakes?" Charlie put an arm around the other girl, rubbing her back in attempt to calm her even though she was internally freaking out. She had just spoken all of their biggest fear aloud. Paul shook his head.
"DJ is busy." He knew where the customs agent could possibly be but didn't have time to go hunt him down right now.
"With what? This is pretty damn important. Johnny and Mike's covers might be blown! Bello will kill them." Charlie took charge of the situation. They needed to think straight right now, not be pent up on emotions.
"We need to stay calm, alright? It's going to be ok." Charlie and Briggs' eyes met before he turned and went upstairs, phone in hand. Charlie led Paige over to the island and sat her on a bar stool.
"Johnny could be dead. So could Mike. We need to go get them!" The dark-haired female stroked her friend's hair soothingly To provide what comfort she could. She knew how Paige felt about Mike and knew of her and Johnny's good friendship. Charlie would miss them just as much. They were like younger siblings to her. She loved each one of her housemates.
"Paul is working on it and the Paul Briggs I know doesn't give up."
Genesis swallowed and looked at Fletcher with a smile of ease.
"Sure, I've heard of him. Who hasn't? He's some tough guy who gets his H from Odin." She knew more but couldn't divulge that. Fletcher would know something was up if she knew too much. Knowing some basic stuff was ok. Most criminals knew of Jeremiah Bello. Her finger traced around the rim of her wine glass as she was thinking. Things were going to go to hell if Antonio found out about Briggs working for Bello also. That would not be easy to explain. The dark-haired man grabbed her wrist to stop the movement, and threaded his fingers with hers. Nesi stayed stock still as he leaned in closer to her.
"Relax, Ness. Why so tense, huh? You know you are safe here. Do you feel threatened by me?" Truthfully, yes. Hell yes! She wanted to scream that at him but she could never admit to that. She didn't even say it to her housemates. Genesis had to keep up her reputation. A soft amused laugh escaped her lips effortlessly.
"Now why would I be scared of you? I trust you, Antonio. " His gray eyes searched her face, looking for any signs of false pretense, finding none. If she was a liar then she was a damn good one.
"Fair enough. Now, back to Bello. He and I have a newly developing partnership of sorts. I give him guns and he provides me with drugs at my whim. I need someone who can deliver the weapons to him when I am busy with other clients." Oh shit... "And you had me in mind?" She wasn't surprised when he flashed his ever charming smile and nodded his confirmation. this was just freaking great.
"You have proven yourself to me many times. I trust you and I am sure Bello will like you too. Paul could even join you." In her head Nesi was still cursing. She should have never gotten Briggs involved in her case. This was her fault. She should have guessed that Bello would turn to someone like Fletcher for weaponry. Both were violent psychopaths who act like they are just normal people with normal lives.
"I can do it on my own. I do not need Paul's help."
"No, you need someone with you. Bello may not be as dangerous as me but he can be a violent man and I do not want to see you get hurt." His concerned tone made Genesis want to gag. She hadn't wanted to get that close to Antonio. She never wanted to get that close to any of the assholes she came across through her cases. But they were always attracted to her like flies to honey. One reason why she wished she hadn't been blessed with her beauty even if it was helpful for undercover work. Gen knew arguing with him was pointless. She would have to warn Paul.
Fletcher's untraceable cellphone ringing broke the silence. "Excuse me." He said, before answering. Not even 30 seconds into the call Fletcher held the phone out to her. "Paul wants to speak to you. Try and make it quick." Speak of the devil. She took the phone and walked across the room to the door. With his nod of approval she stepped out of the room.
"Paul, not a good time." Briggs sat down in a chair in the phone room and pinched the bridge of his nose.
"I know, but we have some trouble here." His tone of voice alarmed her. It was urgent and run down. Briggs was never that weary.
"As do I. I'll be back as soon as I can." He sat up straight and dropped his hand to the desk.
"What's going on? Are you ok?" Ness shook her head and looked around the empty hallway.
"It's not me you should worry about. Look, I have to go. Just hold down the fort." Genesis sighed as she hung up. Things were just going more and more downhill.
Upon returning to the room she found Fletcher hanging up his desk phone after finishing a call of his own. The look on his face showed his pleasure with whatever he had just heard. With him you never knew what that could be. But one thing he loved more than anything else: violence.
"Bello just called. He's having a little personelle problem and wants some help dealing with it."
"Well, what are we waiting for?" Best to get this over now so she could get back to the house. Little did she know that the problem was Mike and Johnny. She was in for a terrible surprise.
DJ sat at the local bar that Derek normally inhibited, nursing a beer. He should be doing work but at the moment he just needed to clear his head. He lost track of how long he had been there by the time someone came in and took a seat beside him.
"Rough day?" Derek asked.
"You can say that again." Jakes chuckled. He set down his beer on top of a napkin and looked at Cassie's boyfriend. He didn't have his usually calm demeanor. He actually looked pissed. "What's up man? Problems with your girl again?" At that Derek flew from his seat and pulled Jakes off his stool by the front of his shirt, slamming him into the bar counter.
"You don't talk about Cassandra and you stay away from Daniel!"
"What the hell are you talking about?" DJ asked, shoving the other man off of him. But he just came right back and decked him in the face.
"Don't think I didn't see you earlier at my house or watching from a distance at his soccer games. You are the ex who broke Cassie's heart, aren't you? You are Daniel's father. You left them! You have no right to them anymore. So stay the hell away before I get a restraining order." DJ was now pissed but he went against his natural instincts and did not hit him back. He had made Derek mad enough and deep down he understood.
"It was the hardest choice I ever made to leave them. I just needed to know for myself that they are ok. Excuse me for wanting to watch my son grow up." Derek finally gave in to the bartender who was yelling at him to get out.
"Save it for someone who cares about your dumb decisions." He shook his head, waking out the door, leaving Jakes alone to drink again. Now that was not what had had been expecting to happen today.
When Johnny came to, he was sitting in a chair with his wrists chained to a table in a deserted filthy room. There was a small throbbing in his neck. Yep, they had injected him with something to knock him out. His brown eyes darted to the door. The lock was clearly on the outside. Ice rushed through his veins at the sight of the blood spattered around the room. It had been used to kill people before. Or torture. This was not looking good for him. He wasn't ready to die. JT was too young. There were so many things he wanted to do. His family would miss him. The house would never be the same. Genesis.. He couldn't leave her. He knew she had a tough past though she didn't speak about it. He couldn't just drop out of her life. Johnny cared about her more than he realized. More than just a 'family member'. And now he might not even get the chance to tell her.
The door slammed open against the wall, causing Johnny's eyes to snap back to that direction. It was Bello. Who else should he have expected?
"Johnny. Friend of Michael. I and my men no longer expected to see you. It was to our surprise when we found you to be in good health. Raffe came to me saying he saw you two days ago at Hector's Tacos. My men have been watching the place since and finally you show up again." JT internally grimaced but was in way relieved Graceland wasn't burned. Bello didn't follow him. Hector's was probably burned though. Unless he could talk his way out of this. Bello's fist collided with the young agent's jaw, snapping his head back. Johnny made no noise though as he leaned to the side and spit blood on the ground. His interrogator stepped closer in an obviously threatening manner. "Tell me, Johnny. Who do you work for? And who the hell has my drugs?!" Jeremiah Bello had always seemed like a composed man who knew how to keep his emotions in check, but right now it seemed that ship had sailed.
"I already told you, man. I'm a SEAL. Nothing more. Your drugs blew with the bomb."
"Then why didn't you die? How did you get away? You were right there!" Bello turned away from him to compose himself. Meanwhile Johnny hung his head to his chest, his mind quickly trying to grasp an excuse. There really wasn't any logical ones But bello didn't necessarily know that.
"I'm a SEAL, you think I don't know how to escape the blasts of underwater explosives? Shit went off and I high tailed my ass outta there. Next thing it know, I wake up in some hospital." Bello said nothing to the on the spot made up story which got his hopes up. Maybe he could get away with it. Maybe he will live to see the next day. Bello was a smart man though. There was a good chance he didn't believe him but just didn't say anything.
"Does Michael know you are alive?" Now that was a simple question with a tricky answer. He would need to answer what he thought Mike would say. Warren would be shocked if he saw him and demanding his release. Would he seem surprised enough to say 'no' or worried enough to say 'yes' to the question. It was a gamble he had to take.
"No. He doesn't know."
An: well there you have part one of the chapter. Again, drop me a review so I know if you are still enjoying the story. I may even be able to have part 2 of the chapter up tomorrow. Hope you enjoyed! There is much more excitement in the next part :)