Page 31

Story: Most Of All

Why on earth did I think it was a good idea to leave them alone? How could I have been so careless? I was trying to give them the space they needed to grieve, to process their emotions.

It’s a wonder I didn’t get pulled over for speeding with how fast I drove to the hospital. By the time I arrive, there are police everywhere, what good are they now? Raine is gone, taken by that son of a bitch.

The weight of my decision hangs heavy. I can’t help but feel frustrated with myself for not being here, she would have been safe with me around. Why didn’t I trust my instincts? Stupid, stupid, stupid.

Howard lies unconscious, his condition unknown while we await the results of his blood work. They’re hoping to identify the substance Jack injected him with.

Meanwhile, the police review the CCTV footage with me.

It’s hard to process what I’m seeing; the audacity of this fucker is staggering. Brazenly, he walks into the hospital, dressed in a police officer's uniform, and once inside, he steals clothing from one of the doctors, further adding to the chaos. But the real horror sets in as he drugs both Raine and Howard with an unknown substance, and as if it’s nothing, he casually rolls Raine out of the hospital in a wheelchair, vanishing from the video feed.

The whole scene plays out like a twisted nightmare, and I struggle to come to terms with it all. If all that’s not bad enough, what were the two idiots I left to watch over Raine doing at the time? Oh yes, they were watching the wrong fucking room!

How can everything go so wrong, all at the same time?

My body is trembling with anger, as terror seeps its way through my bones. This fucker killed Rose, and has attempted to kill Raine once already. What’s next? What has he planned? The uncertainty is unsettling, I can’t shake the feelings gnawing away at me. I have only just found her; I can’t lose her.

It takes me a couple of moments to gain my composure. I need to be stronger than this. I need to find the strength for her.

My phone ringing snaps me out of my thoughts. Tony’s name flashes on screen so I answer. “We found him, sir, but he’s alone.”

“Do not approach him, keep him in sight till I get there. Drop me your location, I’m on my way.”

“Yes, sir.”

Dread washes over me as I hang up the phone, he either has her hidden away, or he has killed her. I’m praying he has her somewhere alive.

It takes me ten minutes to arrive at the location Tony gave. From across the street, I can see the motherfucker, but I don’t engage and it’s taking all the willpower I can muster to not go over there and rip his head off. “He was trying to get passports,” Tony says, waving an envelope. “But we managed to intervene before he got them.”

I take the envelope and scan its contents, two passports and two ID cards, with the names Mr. Michael Simons and Mrs. Andrea Simons on them. Seriously, this cunt is delusional. The audacity he shows is staggering! Was he planning on leaving with her?

After some deliberation, we settle on a strategy: Tony is going to approach him first, while I’m going to try to catch him off guard before he can get inside his car.

I position myself just out of sight and wait.

As soon as Tony is in position, I creep up and grab Jack from behind, pinning both his hands and twisting them to the point of pain. The fucker yelps out in discomfort, so, I twist some more, “Thought you could get away? There’s no escaping me, Jackie Boy,” I growl in his ear. My hatred for him is notable in my tone. “Now, where’s Raine?” He doesn’t answer, he just grins and I so desperately want to tear him to shreds, but I can’t, I need to find Raine, God knows where she is. “Where is she? You son of a bitch,” I yell, pulling his arms upwards.

“Wouldn't you like to know?” He answers laughing.

With a nod of my head, Tony begins punching Jack, getting in a good few decent swings. Not that it matters because this fucker is still laughing. “You’ll never find her,” he spits out. “And if you kill me, she dies.”

“Who said anything about killing?” I say as I start to drag him toward the van Tony was driving. “Oh, no, no, nobody said kill,” I whisper, as Tony and I chuck him into the back of the van. We don’t bother to restrain him, he can’t go anywhere. We just throw him in and secure the doors.

“You drive him back to the compound, I’ll follow behind,” I say to Tony.

“Sir,” he replies with a nod.

As I follow Tony to the compound, my thoughts race.

To pull this off, he wouldn’t have gone far, would he? The effort it took to kidnap her seemed too significant for him to simply abandon her somewhere, she has to be nearby, somewhere within reach. But where could he have hidden her?

When we arrive at the compound, I go over my thought process with Tony, and he agrees. We send some men out to gather information.

First, we are going to search for abandoned buildings, empty spaces, anything along those lines. I find myself shouting and swearing at everyone, my frustration is getting the better of me but we need to find her. God knows what condition she’s in, or what he has done to her. Come on, Little Wasp, where are you?