Disclaimer: I do not own Death Sentence.
Elvin rushed into the hospital and frantically looked around, trying to find a familiar face or hospital staff. The halls where littered with injured people and a few frazzled looking nurses. She tapped one of the nurses on the shoulder bit was quickly told to wait her turn.
"I'm looking for my cousin." Elvin said in a bit of a panic. The nurse huffed and looked over her shoulder at her.
"Look, there are a lot of people flooding in here after the drive by. If you think your cousin is among the injured then you are just going to have to wait till we have a list of names. Right now we are just treating as wee go." The nurse said as she moved on to the next injury.
"My cousin wasn't in the pile up. She's a preschool teacher…"
"Elvin?" Heco called from down the hall. Elvin pushed passed the nurse and ran up to him. "Have you heard anything about Shaylee? Billy has been going nuts."
Elvin looked up in shock. "No, I figured you knew. You guys haven't heard anything?"
Heco looked nervously over his shoulder. "They won't tell us nothing. Bodie and Baggy are trying to keep Billy calm. But Billy man…. He's about to snap. We still ain't got word on Joe neither. Still in surgery."
Elvin's eyes widened and Heco quickly realized that Elvin had no clue on what had happened. "They didn't tell you?"
"No one told me a damn thing!" Elvin yelled at him in frustration. "Shaylee didn't come home and didn't answer her phone. So I called the school and they told me she was brought here. What the he'll is going on!"
"Lower your damn voice!" Billy growled from the door way next to Heco. "What the fuck do you two think you are doing? You really want security over this way?"
"Sorry Billy." Heco said as he bowed his head and headed back into the waiting room. Billy looked down at Elvin, who was glaring up at him.
"Why didn't you call me?" Elvin asked as she bit her lower lip and looked away from his stern gaze. She could feel the familiar tug on her heart. The same tug she always got when he looked at her. Even though he was with her cousin, Elvin still had feeling for him.
"Lost my phone during all this shit." Billy said with a shrug. "And had cops snooping around. Can't have them knowing about Shaylee and I. Would look bad for her."
Elvin glared up at him. "She wouldn't care!"
"Will you stop your fucking yelling?" Billy growled as he grabbed her arm and led her away from the door. "I just got Juniper to sleep and I'll fucking kill you if you wake him."
"Sorry Billy." Elvin said as she looked down at his hand on her arm. He saw her glance down at his hand and he quickly pulled away from her. He had know the woman had developed feeling years ago. The last thing he ever wanted, was for her to think the feelings where mutual. She was actually lucky to be alive. If it wasn't for Joe's protest and now being Shaylee's family, Billy would have collected on her debt many times before. Even though he had let her pay him with sex, he never enjoyed her company. He found her annoying and her voice gave him a headache.
"Why aren't you with Shaylee?" Billy asked and Elvin could see the slight worry in his eyes.
"Because I just got here! And no one can tell me where she is!" Elvin demanded. Billy rolled his eyes and headed out to the front desk.
"Tell this girl where the hell her cousin is so she'll leave me the fuck alone." Billy growled.
"Oh gee, thanks." Elvin growled as she walked up to the counter.
"Welcome." Billy growled back at her.
"Name?" The nurse behind the desk asked as she eyed Billy.
"Shaylee Lancaster." Elvin replied. The nurse started to type on her computer. She looked up at Billy once more before she turned her attention back towards Elvin.
"She is in exam room 4. Stab wound to the hand and shoulder." The nurse replied.
Billy turned and walked away. He didn't want any one too see the look of relief on his face. Shaylee was fine. Meaning the body in the body bag belonged to Tommy. He wasn't sure how he was going to tell Juniper that his mother was dead. He would worry about that later. But it also meant he wouldn't have to worry about Tommy taking Juniper away. Or Shaylee killing her.
XOXOXOXOXOXOX
Shaylee tried her hardest not to roll her eyes at the detective who was asking her questions. She hasn't really been paying attention to her questions. Hoping she was pulling off shock not ignorance. The last thing she wanted was for some one to see through her good teacher act. She needed that cover. It was the best thing going for her some what double life. Even though her connection with Geno was heavily documented. She had done well with playing unaware girlfriend back then. But with her anger and adrenalin still pumping through her body, she was finding it difficult to keep herself calm.
"Miss Lancaster?" The woman asked giving her a sympathetic look. "I know this is hard. But I need to get your statement while everything is still fresh in your mind."
Shaylee kept her face blank ad she looked up at the woman. "I'm sorry. What was the question?"
"What is your relationship with the Darleys?"
"I'm Juniper's teacher." Shaylee said quietly. "My cousin is friends with Joe. So I see him and his brother around."
"Your assistant told us that Juniper some times calls you aunt." The detective said with a raised eyebrow. Shaylee mentally kicked herself for never correcting him at school. But she never dreamed that she would be questioned about it.
"After his mom went away, I offered to watch him. Billy and Joe live in the apartment building behind mine." Shaylee said as she wiped away a few fake tears. "He started to call me Aunt Shay and I never corrected him."
The detective seemed to take that as a believable answer and moved on to the next question. "The secretary said you got a phone call right before the incident happened. Said the man was very rude and demanding."
"It was Joe. He told me that Tommy wasn't allowed to pick Juniper up from school. He said he was on his way to the school." Shaylee said as she looked down at her hands. "Tommy came in shortly after I hung up."
"Why didn't you call the police? Why wait so long to get help?"
Shaylee looked up at the woman confused. "Tommy wasn't acting right. I was just told that a student wasn't allowed to leave with some one. Even if that some one was the mother. I was trying to keep my student safe. I figured if I dialed 911 when she walked in, that something. Would happen it him."
"You said Tommy wasn't a ting right? How so?" The detective said as she eyes Shaylee closely.
"She seemed nervous. Juniper was hugging my leg and didn't want to go with her." Shaylee said with a sigh. "She watched out for him and her hands where shaking and they where stained in blood. Like she had just wiped them off."
The detective looked at Shaylee in shock. "What happened next?"
"I tried to keep Juniper calm. His yelling caught the attention of Mrs. Henry and I gave her the code for intruder. Soon after Joe came stumbling in. His shirt bloody. He told me not to let her take Juniper. I got him to a chair and asked Tommy to call 911. But she just stood there. She didn't even reach for her phone till Juniper yelled for Joe to get up. She grabbed her phone and pretended to call 911."
"How do you know she was pretending?" The detective asked. She was obviously not buying the retelling of events.
Shaylee fought the urge to roll her eyes again. "There are mirrors around the room. I could see her screen was still black."
The detective nodded then motioned for Shaylee to continue.
"Tommy let go of Juniper and he went to his dad. I could hear Billy's car and told Juniper to run. Not to stop till he reached Billy. Juniper refused but Joe told him to go. He started to fade and I pushed Juniper out of the door and shit it when he was out. Tommy then came at me with a knife. I blocked it with my hand. I some how was able to get her calmed down enough. Told her Juniper needed his mother. That she didn't want to do that. She then told me that she had already stabbed Joe. That there was no turning back. She came at me again. I tried to avoid the knife but she got me in the shoulder. That's when the police showed up. They told her to drop the knife but she ignored me and came at me again. That's when they shot her."
The detective nodded then put her little notebook back in her pocket. She took a deep sigh and looked sternly at Shaylee. "Rumor has it, that there is a girl running around with Billy's gang. Do you know who this girl is?"
Shaylee shook her head. Making sure she gave the detective her best innocent look. "There are always girls hanging around them."
"This one is different." The detective eyes her. "She's apart of the life. It's possible she is one of the Darley boys girlfriends. Have you seen any one that stood out?"
Shaylee shook her head again. "No but she must be missing a few screws to get involved with them. I'm from that neighborhood. Every one knows to keep their distance."
The detective nodded. She stood up to leave but stopped at the doorway and turned back. "Have you seen Geno Moreli lately?"
"Not since I left his lying ass." Shaylee said with a sneer. "What does this have to do with what happened?"
The detective shrugged. "He was spotted in the area. Thought I would get two interviews done instead of calling you to the station later. I'll let you get finished up here."
The detective left the room and was quickly replaced by a nervous looking Elvin.
"Are you ok?" Elvin asked and Shaylee nodded. "Joe is in surgery. Billy is being a complete ass as usual. Pretty much kicked me out of the waiting room he was in."
"Shhhh." Shaylee said in a warning tone she wasn't sure if the detective had walked away or was waiting by the door in hopes of hearing something. She motioned for Elvin to check the door. Elvin obeyed. The hallway was clear and she looked over at Shaylee confused.
"Why the fucking secrecy? What the he'll is going on?" Elvin asked in complete confusion.
Shaylee rolled her eyes at her cousin. She had informed Elvin on many occasions that she wanted to keep her teaching life away from her involvement with Billy. "There are to many cops asking questions. My cover could get blown. And I can't afford the school to find out about me and Billy. They'd fire me on the spot."
Elvin rolled her eyes knowing her cousin was being paranoid about losing her job. The school couldn't afford to lose teacher's. There was already a huge turn over in that district. No one wanted to work at a school in gang territory. They couldn't afford to lose a teacher who was so willing to stay.
"Did Billy say anything about Juniper?" Shaylee asked.
"He had just gotten him to sleep." Elvin replied and Shaylee sighed. The poor kid had seen way to much that day.
"Will you do me a favor?" Shaylee asked and Elvin rolled her eyes at her again.
"You know you don't have to ask." Elvin said as she headed for the door. "I'm always willing to watch the kid. I'll take him to our apartment."
Shaylee nodded her thanks as Elvin walked out the door. She headed back to the waiting room where Billy and the boys where. As she walked in. She froze to see the same detective talking to Billy. He must have been giving the woman a rough time as Billy's boys snickered behind him.
"Aren't you the girl who was just visiting Miss Lancaster?" The detective asked with a quizzical look.
Elvin nodded. "I'm her cousin."
The detective raised an eyebrow. "How do you know these men?"
"I'm friends with Joe. We went to school together." Elvin replied she looked around the room pretending to be a bit confused. "Did I come at a bad time? I can come back later. I just wanted to know if you wanted me to take Juniper back to my place."
Billy nodded. "Take him."
Elvin bowed her head and nodded as she walked up to the sleeping form. She went to pick him up when Baggy grabbed the kid for her.
"I'll come with you. Hospitals give me the fucking creeps." Baggy said giving Billy a knowing look. Billy didn't even need to demand one of them to go with. They knew he wouldn't want Juniper to be out of their sight. He also knew that Elvin didn't have a car. It was a long walk with a sleeping child to carry. They walked in silence to her apartment and stayed silent as Elvin leaned her head on his shoulder and quickly fell asleep. Baggy sighed heavily and moved some hair out of her face. He had remembered her back in school. Her and Shaylee. Walking around like they owned the place. She had changed drastically over the years. The drug abuse doing a number on her. But with her being clean the past few months was helping. She was starting to healthy again. Started to look like the girl he remembered. He just wished she didn't harbor feelings for Billy. Then she might see the other guys around her.
XOXOXOXOX
Billy was starting to get annoyed with waiting on news of Joe. It wasn't helping that he hasn't seen Shaylee. Or that there was a detective snooping around. He didn't need the cops messing up his business.
"Yo man, I guess B street had a drive by happen." Bodie said coming back from getting coffee for every one. "There are a shit tone of them boys here. Said it was a fancy black BMW. Who we know that drives one of them?"
Billy growled knowing exactly what that meant. Geno was in town. He stood up and was glad Bodie hadn't handed him his coffee or he would have thrown it across the room.
"You find out where the fuck she is! Don't let her out of your fucking sight!" Billy growled. Brodie placed Billy's coffee on the closest table and quickly headed out of the room. He knew the order would come for one of the guys. He was just a bit surprised that he was the one being sent. Usually Billy kept Brodie close to him. Having him go to Shaylee only meant one thing. Billy cared about her life more than his. The girl had officially become the official ol lady. And if anything happened to her, then it was his ass Billy was going to kill.