JESSIE:
I start to tap my pencil against the side of my desk for probably the tenth time in the last hour. My focus is everywhere except on this test. I've only got three more questions left to answer, but I can't keep my mind, and eyes, from wandering. I purposely chose to sit in the back of the classroom so that I could see the other students. Although I've scanned every seat at least five times, I glance around again just to be sure. He's not here. Of course he isn't, the agents in the room would've pounced if they saw him.
I blink away my thoughts and somehow manage to focus for five more minutes, long enough to scribble down some answers and finish the midterm. I jog down the stairs to turn in my test, and on my way back to my desk notice the agents subtly alert whoever is in their ears that we're on our way out. Gathering my bag, I toss it over my shoulder and quietly exit the hall. How I managed to get through that test is beyond me. I probably flunked it. I don't remember half of what I wrote down. Guess I should cross my fingers that the curve falls in my favor.
Dean is waiting in his car when I step outside. I smile reassuringly at him and quicken my pace. He gets out and comes around to the passenger side to open the door for me and take my bag.
"Everything go okay?" he asks, placing a kiss on my forehead.
"Most likely bombed it, but otherwise, all good."
He shuts the door once I'm settled inside, then rounds the hood to get behind the wheel again. The drive to the apartment is too short. The ride in the elevator is tense. I turn to him before we reach my floor. "What happens if he's in there? I mean, I doubt picking locks is beyond his capabilities given everything else he's done. What do we do if he's already here?"
"The agents already did a sweep of the apartment before we got here, your uncle sent me a text. There are two on the rooftop deck, and two more parked outside. Him and Liis are down the block in a surveillance van."
He grips my hand as the doors open. I fish out my keys and let us in. Everything looks exactly how we left it. Nothing out of place, nothing there that shouldn't be. Yet I still feel a sense of dread walking into my own apartment. I'm no longer safe in my own home. If I knew only that alone, it would be enough to make me hate Will all over again. I'm a prisoner in my own life now, just waiting for the executioner to show up.
"See? All clear," Dean declares after checking the bedrooms.
"Yeah. Great." I plop down on the couch, still unable to shake the feeling of unease.
"Jessie, we're good. I promise." Taking the seat next to me, he reaches for my hand and I give it willingly but don't meet his eyes.
We may be fine now, but how long until the ball drops? I'd much rather have come home to Will waiting for us. At least then, it would be over by now. The FBI would take him in, and my life would be mine again.
We spend the next couple of hours watching TV and playing cards. I don't feel comfortable enough to 'act normal', so I'm glad Dean gets the hint and attempts to keep me distracted. There are periodic text updates of 'All Clear' from Uncle Tommy, which are starting to get on my nerves. I don't care that nothing is happening. Talk to me when there's something worth telling.
"You're grouchy," he accuses, tossing his hand of cards face down on the coffee table.
"Ya think?" I raise an eyebrow at the unnecessary observation.
"See? Right there. That's your hangry attitude. I'm ordering pizza. You need to eat something. All you've had all day is coffee."
When I don't object, but continue to sit there with a scowl on my face, arms folded across my chest, he makes the call to place the order.
"I'm taking a quick shower," I tell him. "Maybe it'll help my 'attitude'" I lay some extra emphasis on the last word and make a face at him.
He just smiles and pulls me into his arms. His lips hover over mine and I stubbornly turn and refuse eye contact. Gripping my chin between his finger and thumb he turns my face back to his, capturing my lips briefly. "You know I'll take whatever attitude you've got, but I'm not working against you here. Remember that." After another brief kiss, he releases me and I sheepishly make my way into the bathroom.
True to my word, it's a quick shower and I'm in my room drying off and getting dressed within about fifteen minutes. Sitting on the edge of the bed combing out my hair, in my comfy yoga pants and baggy, worn t-shirt, I already feel a little less ornery.
Dean pokes his head in the doorway, giving me a not-so-discreet once over. "Pizza's should be here any minute, I'm going to run downstairs and grab it. I'll be right back up. Lock the door behind me."
"Yes, dad."
His nose wrinkles as he turns away. "Gross!" he yells over his shoulder. Over my own chuckle, I hear the door click shut. I take a minute to tie a knot on top of my head before I go to lock the door.
I twist the deadbolt and head into the kitchen search for paper plates and napkins. I'm peering into the fridge trying to decide between water and soda when the door knob rattles impatiently. I notice the keys on the entryway table and, laughing to myself, go to unlock the door for Dean.
"Forget something?" I ask as I swing the door open wide and dangle the keys up high. The smile melts off of my face quickly when I see that it's not Dean at the door.
"Not at all," he smirks just as something hard slams into the side of my head and everything fades to black.
DEAN:
The sharp pain in my temple that throbs like a bad tooth is all I register when I come around. Groggy, I open my eyes slowly because the light makes the pain in my head even worse, which I didn't think was possible. It takes a minute to register what happened.
I left the apartment to get the pizza downstairs, and remembered that I didn't grab the keys before I left. When I turned around to go back and get them something nailed me right on the side of my head and that's the last thing I remember.
Looking around, I try to figure out where the hell I am. It's an apartment similar to Jessie's, but must be on the opposite side of the hallway because there's bright light streaming through the slats of the blinds covering the windows. I move to stand and that's when I discover that my arms restrained behind me. Swallowing down the panic, I try to roll onto my side but my hands are cuffed to the leg of a bed frame so I don't get far at all.
"Fuck…" I hiss at the pain in my wrists as I attempt to wrench them free. My breaths are coming quick, too quick, as reality sets in. Will. He knocked me out and tied me up here, so that he could get to Jessie.
Jessie.
The thought of her is all I need to ignore my own pain and try to figure a way out of this. I have to get to her.
Looking around the room, I notice there's not much around aside from furniture. It must be another student apartment, vacant for the break. The son of a bitch was hiding out here, waiting. I kick the table across from me so hard that it crashes to the floor and something black tumbles a few feet in front of me. My phone.
My eyes dart from side to side, trying to find anything sharp or pointy that I can use to get these cuffs undone. When I find nothing, my mind shifts into overdrive. The longer I'm here, the more time he has to hurt Jessie. Or worse.
I slam my back against the bed in anger and it shifts slightly. Something clicks, and I move so that I'm laying on my side, my back against the bed. I slide my shoulder under the bed and reach out a leg to use the wall for leverage. Slowly, I rise up on one knee, my shoulder lifting the bed slightly as I move. When I move my hands, trying to get the chain of the cuffs to slide under the leg of the bed frame, my knee slips and I crash flat on the floor, cursing.
Sweat is pouring off of my head, drops splashing to the floor in front of my face as the air whooshes in and out of my lungs. I gather myself one more time, getting more leverage with my shoulder this time and when the bed is an inch off of the ground I jerk my wrists until finally the chain slides under the leg and the bed drops back into place. I roll quickly towards my phone and realize there's no way I'm going to be able to use it with my hands behind my back. I sit up and think for a moment, trying to remember all the dumbass action movies Danny forced me to watch, thinking of anything that would help me out of this situation.
Then it comes to me. My legs are long, so it might not work, but I don't spend any time thinking about it. I slide my cuffed wrists under my backside and past the underside of my thighs. My shoulders are burning from being turned in an unnatural direction, but I don't stop. I pull my knees up as close to my chest as I can and try to get each foot through the loop made by my bound hands and the chain of the cuffs. It's a struggle, but I'm finally able to twist my arms around in front of me.
I pick up the phone and hit the call button next to Jessie's uncle's number. I bring both hands with the phone to my ear and it connects instantly.
"Dean! Where are you? Are you alright?" It's Liis' voice coming through and that instantly sends me into a panic.
"Will's here, Liis. He knocked me out, I'm in some apartment, but my hands are cuffed. I just managed to get to my phone. Where's Tommy? Why isn't he answering?"
"Dean I need you to stay calm."
"Where's Jessie, Liis? You've got her, right? Your guys stopped him and you've got her, she's safe, right?"
There's silence on the line. It may only be seconds, but it feels like hours.
"Liis?"
She takes an audible breath. "Tommy is in the building across the way. They have eyes on the apartment Dean."
"Is. Jessie. Safe?" I say it slowly, unable to keep the growl from my voice.
She tells me what I already knew deep down, from the moment I woke up. "He's in there, Dean."
"Why is Tommy not in there taking him down?"
"It's not that simple, we had to regroup—"
"WHY!?"
"Because, Dean, he's holding a gun to her head."
JESSIE:
The barrel of the gun is cold as it brushes the side of my head that's still throbbing from where he struck me. I can't believe I just opened the door without making sure it was Dean first. How could I be so god damn stupid?
Dean. Will obviously did something to him. There's no way he wouldn't have come back by now. Feeling the tears well up again, I squeeze my eyes tight until they burn and I see stars behind my lids. I won't give this psycho the satisfaction.
"How am I supposed to get her out? Okay…Okay, then where do I take her?" He's been on the phone with someone for a minute now. I can tell it's a male, but I can't make out what he's saying. It must be the lunatic COO that the FBI is after. "By the pier, right? Yeah. Fine, okay, I'll get her out through the maintenance door. The car is waiting."
He disconnects and I try to comprehend what's going on from his end of the conversation. I don't have much time if he's going to attempt to escape with me as his hostage. If I can keep him here a little longer, maybe the agents will figure it out. Maybe Dean will come for me. Maybe I'll have a chance.
"Have a nice chat?" My question oozes with sarcasm.
"That's none of your concern." He looks around the room, searching for something, but doesn't lower the gun. I can see him in the mirror over my bureau. I chew on my lip, trying to figure out a way to keep him here.
Changing tactics, I infuse my voice with emotion. "Will…I don't understand," I whimper. "Why are you doing this?"
He meets my eyes in the mirror and for a moment I see remorse streak across his features. I decide to grab the opportunity while I can.
"I've known you for years. This isn't you, Will. I know we had our own issues…before. But this isn't you. Please, just help me understand why?" I bat my wet eyelashes for effect.
It works. He lowers the gun. Crouching in front of me, he takes my hand in his and I struggle to control the shudder of disgust that wants to crawl up my arm and down my spine. "You have no idea how much I wish it didn't have to be this way, Jessie." He scratches his head with the tip of the gun, and I'm reminded not to get too confident. "I really wasn't trying to start any trouble with you on New Years. I saw you, and I just wanted to apologize. I knew it wouldn't have made much difference, but I needed to try."
Swallowing the bile rising in my throat, I force myself to speak. "I understand Will, I do. I was just so upset, seeing you again…I'm sorry things went down the way they did. But that doesn't mean you have to do this."
"You don't get it," he shakes his head. "When you all went inside that night, I stayed behind. I wanted to figure out a way to convince you that I'd changed, but I was so mad at you for taking away the two best friends I had. Dean and Danny stood by me when I tried to get past everything."
Get past it? He wasn't the one who was attacked and almost raped! What does he need to get past?! The fury is bubbling just beneath the surface, but I tamp it down because he's talking. And if he's talking, then we still have time.
"I ran into someone that night. He saw what went on between all of us outside, and he made me an offer. Get you, bring you to him just so he could talk to you, and he'd make sure I got my chance to make things right with Dean and Danny. I thought about it, but didn't want to get involved in whatever scheme he was working, so I blew him off. But when I got back to school, things were off. My moods were unstable, I started drinking pretty heavily, and then…everything that happened with Lauren at that party. I didn't mean to hurt her, I just blacked out and when I realized what happened, I panicked. I ran."
Lauren must be the poor freshman girl he beat so badly that she had to be put into a medically-induced coma. Disgust and guilt fill me when I realize all of this happened as a direct result of what went down between us that night. I force myself to meet his eyes again as he continues.
"I knew the guy from the party could help me. He had money, and connections. I just needed to get clear of everything, get my head together. But when I went to see him, he blackmailed me. Told me he'd call the cops and turn me in if I didn't help him get to you. I didn't have a choice. He paid me to come here, to watch you, and bring you to him. Once I do that, he'll help me get lost."
At that, he stands and raises the gun to point at me once again. "So, you see there's no way I can back out now. It'll be easier on everyone if you just come with me. I don't want to hurt you, and I don't think he does either. Just come with me, and everyone else will be okay."
"What about Dean? What'd you do to him? He should've been back by now."
Another flash of remorse. "Unfortunately, he had to be detained. But he'll be alright. I told you Jess, I don't want anyone to get hurt."
He grips my shoulder and pulls me to a standing position, pushing me gently in front of him towards the bedroom door and out into the hall. I scramble to come up with anything else to delay him.
"Wait, Will. Who is this guy that is pulling all these strings? Maybe the police can help. Cut you a deal. If you give him up, they can work with you. This doesn't have to be it for you."
"Yes, it does. After Lauren, there's no way around it. You'll meet him soon enough anyway."
Time's up. We're at the front door, and no one is coming for me. But Dean is okay. Will said he'd be alright. I hold onto that thought and it's enough to keep my feet moving.
"I'm going to have to put the gun away. Wouldn't look good if we ran into one of your neighbors, not that many of them are around. Spring break and all." He tucks the weapon into the waistband of his pants and pulls his shirt over it. Gripping my arm, he opens the door and peers out, looking left then right. "Don't make a scene, Jess. I don't want to hurt you, but I'll do what I have to do if you don't cooperate."
He tugs me with him and closes the door behind him. I silently pray for a miracle, but as he gets to the elevator and pushes the button, my hopes dwindle fast. As the bell dings, I close my eyes and swallow deeply, trying to prepare myself for whatever and whoever I'm about to face, not knowing what anyone could possibly want with me that they'd go to these lengths to get.
When I open my eyes, the doors part and instead of the empty space I'm expecting, two guns are pointed directly at my chest and I freeze. Will jerks my body in front of his and I can feel him scrambling for his own weapon.
"Hands in the air!" the shouts echo through the hallway. I realize after the initial shock wears off that one of the guns belong to my uncle.
Will backs up towards the stairwell but that door jerks open and two more agents emerge, weapons drawn. He must finally work the gun free because I feel the cool metal jammed into the side of my throat and his arm snakes around my waist, pulling me backwards with him, inching away from the agents and further down the hall where nothing but other apartments await.
"You've got no where to go, son," Uncle Tommy says as calmly as possible. "Put down the weapon, let the girl go, and this won't need to get any worse than it already is. Come on, you know how this is going to end if you don't let her go."
The gun presses harder into my jugular, and my eyes dart to Uncle Tommy, pleading. A sound to the left startles me and before I realize what's going on, I'm being thrown into my uncle and the other agents as a loud crash sounds behind me. I turn in time to see Dean tackling Will and hitting him over and over again in the face with his bound fists while Will returns the blows and tries to scramble out from under him. The gun skittered down the hall when Will hit the floor and one of the agents grabs it. Two of them dart forward and grab Will by the arms, pulling him away from Dean who continues his assault until another agent restrains him.
When he realizes that Will is being cuffed and is no longer an immediate threat, his eyes search for me. He stumbles forward and takes my face in his still cuffed hands, tilting my head to the side and examining what is probably the start of a nasty bruise.
"I'm so sorry I wasn't there." He whispers, placing a gentle kiss on my cheek. "I should've been there."
"Stop it. There was no way either of us could've known." My eyes well up with tears desperate to be shed. "It's over now, that's all that matters." I throw my arms around him with no intention of letting go any time soon.