my dear fellow readers, i give you my sincere apologies...LMAO! tht felt so weird...but seriously ... sorry.
I've been gone for a conference (it was awesome .) for a few days and i didn't have anything to write on. So i got a notebook from a frend and started brainstorming about the chapter and i had it! but as i was coming back HOME i somehow lost the paper (-_-) and so i tried to think of the excat same way i took notes on...soo...yeeeeeeeeaaa :) hehehe...mah bad...
It was cold. That was about the only thing he could think of. The cold, damp floor that he was currently being stuffed against wasn't the best of place to be left at. Kicks were repeatedly being showered at his stomach and he had lost count after 26. His stomach was on fire, face was absolutely crunched up in pain, and hands and feet, numb. About the only thing he could feel was his tongue, and the taste of blood on it wasn't so entertaining either.
"Had enough, Lightman?" DeGrow said.
The kicks were stopped but the numbness stayed. Cal breathed heavily as he slumped against the floor, out of breath.
"I'll give you a break. I need coffee anyways." Footsteps echoed throughout the quiet room as he walked out and the door shut.
Cal coughed and spit out blood. He groaned and tried to sit up, but his tender ribs protested against it. Giving up, he slouched back onto the floor. His breathing started to regulate after taking a few deep breaths. And for the first time, the air tasted bitter sour. It made him gag but he had his empty stomach in control for now.
He looked around the room for an escape route. It was dark. There were no windows, the only way out was the door that DeGrow went out of. The only furniture in the room was a metal table which looked surgical and a chair on the far side of a corner. However, on the walls hung all different categories of weapons, knives, guns, brass knuckles. It was like being in a Saw movie. At the thought, Cal shivered. He shook his head and closed his eyes. What he needed was to focus, not think he was in a serial killing movie.
Focus, dammit, focus! He said to himself.
What he needed to know was why DeGrow really wanted him. Then maybe he can figure something out with the wanker. But the question was, how? Cal needed him to think he's won, that's how.
But that's going to be painful, the back of his brain lectured.
I don't care, do you want to get out?
So he laid still and tried to wait patiently until DeGrow came back. It didn't take long for the man to return.
In DeGrow's was a phone and a smile plastered on his face.
"Let's make a call shall we?"
-x-
"Vance! What's wrong?"
Carson stared, wide eyed at the boy standing in front of him.
Vance's eyes were red and puffy. He'd been crying. He swore to himself he would never cry, but he did. And he felt ashamed.
"Vance, talk to me," Carson said softly. His voice was full of concern but held curiosity in them.
He swallowed a took a deep breath. "C-can I come in?"
"Sure, sure." Carson led him into his office and the two sat down on the couch, opposite sides of each other. For a while no one talked, they didn't know whether to go first.
It was Vance who broke the silence. He bit his lower lip. "Can I...can I tell you something?"
Carson's eyebrow furrowed. "Sure, Vance. You can tell me anything, you know that."
He took a deep breath, and told Carson the news.
-x-
She'd been making a sandwich when she got a call on her cell. Frustrated, she picked up.
"Torres," she answered.
"Ah. The young sound of Lightman's protegé ," someone on the other side said with an eerie voice.
Ria at first, froze. The voice sent chills running down her spine. Then something clicked and she was running out of the break room and into the hallway. "Who is this?" she asked in a haste, not wanting them to hang up.
"I think you already know that."
She rocketed into the meeting room where Reynolds and a few were going over files.
"What th..."
Ria pointed to the phone and motioned him to shut up. The room was full blown active after. Ben got up and went over to listen to the conversation as the three other agents got busy taking out the tracking device.
"DeGrow," Ria said. "What is it you want?"
The was laughter on the other line. "Well I figured you want something, after all I do have your boss right next to me."
The agent motioned for the phone and Ria put it on speaker and handed it to him. He plugged the wire into the input.
"Ya? Well why don't you tell me where he is?"
He chuckled. "You know that's not going to happen."
Gillian walked in the meeting room when she saw everybody crowded around the phone. Ben mouthed 'DeGrow' and she was instantly interested.
"What's it going to take us?" Ria asked.
"Hmmm. How 'bout Lightman for my brother."
Ria glanced at Ben. He flashed surprise then frustration and shook his head.
"Not gunna happen," Ria replied slowly.
"Oh well maybe then you'll find his body in a ditch somewhere. Good Bye."
"No! Wait!" Ria's shock almost consumed her.
Ben frantically wrote something down. He passed it onto an agent who looked at it once, peeked at Ben with curious eyes, and ran out the door, phone in hand. Ben turned to Ria and nodded his head once.
"We'll...we'll give you Evan."
"Good." She could almost hear him smile. "Dr. Foster delivers him. No police, no FBI, no one. Just her, alone."
Ben spoke up for the first time. "We can't let that..."
"No. I'll do it." Gillian said from the back of the room. He statement was clear as day. Ben sighed.
"Good," DeGrow said. "I'll meet you in the back alley of Joe's Bar in two hours."
The line disconnected. The room went silent for a second or two. No one spoke, moved, or did anything. The odd silence was broken by Ben.
"Didya get where he is?" he asked the agent who was sitting in front of the table.
The man shook his head. "No, it bounced off a frequency and landed back here. This guy's good."
"Dammit," Ben cursed under his breath. He turned to Gillian and sighed. "I guess we have to get ready."
-x-
Evan DeGrow was tossing around a hacky sack when the door to his cell buzzed and soon, opened. A large, bulky looking guard came in with a grim expression. "You. Come with me." His voice wasn't a kind one, it was rough, groggy, and deep.
Evan grinned. He got up without a word and followed the guard out. The plan was going great.
-x-
"I'm going to drop you off there. The only way we're leaving, is when we have both you and Lightman in the van." Ben rattled on and on about safety precautions and other protocols.
Gillian, however, wasn't even half listening. Her mind was focused on getting Cal back to the office. Her mind drifted off into a direction that led to where Vance was. Where was he? It's been about an hour or so since he'd left, or fled, from the Lightman Group. A part of her brain told her he left for good, but another part somehow knew he wouldn't do that. She's known the kid since he was in grade school. He wouldn't do that, she knew him well enough. But she still had no clue as to where he was and she didn't really want to ask Ben to track his phone down, that would just feel plain weird.
Ben knew there was a possibility that the whole thing was a scam. He knew there was a bigger chance of it being a scam. He didn't want to make Gillian do this but he knew she would just go in by herself if he said no.
Ben parked the car and got out, Gillian stayed. He walked over to the heavily wired fence and squinted through it. He saw Evan walking towards them with a goofy smile on his face and a guard next to him. Ben sighed. He kept on repeating that this whole thing was a good idea but no matter how many times he'd said it, it seemed to run out the other side of the ear.
-x-
"Get up."
A cool metal object, also known as a gun, was pushed towards his neck. With a black rag on his head, he couldn't see anything. Obeying the order like a loyal dog, he stood up, his knees wobbling. His ribs still ached and lips were busted. The metal was pushed farther, telling him to walk. He did as he was told and started walking slowly. A few steps later, going down a set of stairs, and into a few more hallways, they were outside. He could tell because of the fresh air blowing across his face. They walked a few more steps until they stopped.
"Get in the car."
Cal slowly started to get in and when he was, the door slammed. Where were they going all of the sudden? He felt the upper door open and close as well. And then without a word, the engine started.
-x-
They waited out in the cold. Just the two of them. Gillian was standing beside Evan, who was still handcuffed. They were waiting in the alley like they were told. Behind them, the FBI, including Ben, sat in the Van, looking at them through binoculars.
Waiting a couple more minutes, a black SUV with tinted windows pulled up on the other end of the alley. Ben saw it and radioed for back up. He then motioned the team lined up behind the curb.
The car stayed there. The men climbed out. One, with a black hood over his face and the other, with nothing on. Gillian realized that the man with a black hood was Cal and the other was DeGrow. Gillian moved a step forward.
"Cal," she whispered. His clothes looked ragged and dirty. His voice snapped to her voice but he couldn't see.
That's when all hell broke loose.
The FBI came swarming in from behind Gillian and had their guns raised. Gillian glanced to see DeGrow's reaction, and what she saw, wasn't something she'd except. He was smiling. And soon, they knew why.
From above, behind, in front, gunshots rang out. But they weren't from the FBI. They were DeGrow's men. The agents on the ground did their best to fight them off. But one by one, they fell. The randomized gunshots ricocheted off the brick walls and created a chaos. Gillian hit the floor to avoid the shots and the small cubes of brick showering down. Her ears were ringing. She couldn't hear accurately. Suddenly, she was being pulled up and before she could do anything, a wet rag was put under her nose and she felt herself beginning to fade away.
well tht took a while! dam...im a slow writer haha :)