"Not the point." He bristled with annoyance. "Florence, understand your position and make a choice that will have a good outcome for yourself, your family, and the safety of this nation. I'm only here to physically protect you. I can't do anything about what goes on in that head of yours, and neither can Detective Rossen or anyone else. It all comes down to you. The more information we have, the easier it will be to catch them. And the sooner we catch them, the sooner you can move on with your life. Isn't that what you want?"

A sharp exhale left my lips. "I don't know what I want."

Preston's tongue flicked out. He wet his lips before continuing. "Florence, all's fair in love and war. But not the law. When it comes down to the bare truth, the second before the judge's gavel hits the sound block, you need to forget everything you know or ever will know about Wolfe Sterling. Your emotions cannot  affect your decisions when it comes to right and wrong. Do not let a moment's affection make you stray from the fate at hand. Wolfe Sterling and his friends will be given the highest punishment, whether that be a life sentence or execution, and there is no amount of affection or forgiveness you have that can stop that."

I grabbed a strand of my hair and fiddled around with it nervously, mulling over what he said. I couldn't look Preston in the eye and I felt absolutely ridiculous even trying to explain to myself why I wanted to defend Wolfe, much less explain it to him. Did I forgive Wolfe? No. Would I throw my arms around his neck and kiss him for all he was worth if I ever saw him again? Yes.

I think Preston guessed that.

"He's not the guy you think he is." I said quietly. "The FBI know him by statistics. I know him by flesh. Those are two different things, two different viewpoints on the same person."

Preston glared at me. "The fact that you know him by flesh is the exact reason you're in this mess. Why are you defending him, Florence? After what he's done to you, done to your parents, how can you look me in the eye and say that he's not as bad as everyone says he is?"

"Because he's not!"

"Yes, he is! We're not discussing a storybook villain, we're discussing a very real and very dangerous human being that would probably kill you the second he gets the chance. Wolfe is bad, Florence. I fail to understand how he could convince you he's something other than the lowest of the low." A scoff left his lips. "Grow up, Florence. The man left you for dead in the middle of the Atlantic."

No, they thought  that Wolfe made me jump off the helicopter was so he could kill me. But that wasn't really the real reason, was it? Or maybe they were right and I was wrong. I didn't say that to Preston. "I know  that. I'm not singing his praises, my guy. I'm just saying that-"

"What characteristic of Wolfe Sterling could justify his attempt to kill you? Tell me if I'm wrong, Florence, but did this man not singlehandedly threaten your family and you, coerce your mother and father into giving up half of their life's work to a nefarious American mafia, kidnap you, and then shove you out of a helicopter into the freezing Atlantic ocean? Did he not do that, Florence? That, and a lot more? I fail to understand this defensive act of yours."

"Preston, I'm not defending him!" I jerked up straight. "Look, everyone's already so biased against him and they don't know anything about him. Okay, wait, scratch that. They do, but they only know his crimes. They don't know his motivation. They know him for his actions, but nothing more than that. It'll be an unfair trial, Preston. No matter what I say, no matter what anyone does, he's getting a life sentence. Everyone's made their minds up about the punishment before a review of the crimes has even been told, before they've even met him. There won't be a nonpartisan panel anywhere. I'm not defending him. I'm just saying it's not fair. He isn't evil, Preston. He's everything but evil. That should mean something, coming from the girl he apparently tried to murder."

"There's nothing apparent  about it, Florence!" Preston gritted his teeth, letting out a hissing exhale. "It was, without a doubt, a murder attempt. Why else would he force you to jump from a helicopter into the ocean? He damn sure had to know you had a very little chance of surviving it. Florence, you were one minute away from being dead. One minute." He repeated firmly. "Another 60 seconds and you would've drowned. You think he'd do that if he cared about you? If he really was a friend to you, would he endanger your life in such a way that you'd barely make it out alive? If that's the case, why didn't Wolfe Sterling just take him with you along to wherever he was going? Florence, he didn't expect you to survive."

"You're wrong! He knew I would. That's the only  reason he forced me to jump- because he knew I would make it! Wolfe isn't stupid. He didn't get to where he is today by being stupid. Yes, there was absolutely a chance that I wouldn't make it. But there was absolutely the chance that I would. That's the difference, Preston."

"It was attempted murder."

"It was not."

A tense silence settled over the room.

"You will  testify against him in court." Preston's voice was like ice.

"Yes." No matter how much conviction I could put into my agreement, I couldn't convince myself of it. "But to what degree, that's no one's choice but my own."

"And he will  get a life sentence."

"Not if I have anything to say about it."

"The jury isn't going to accept anything in his favor, Florence. They expect a full testimony to his crimes by a firsthand witness. This whole country is going to expect you to stand up there in court and say 'yes, this is the man who tried to kill me.' It's either the death sentence or a straight acquittal. Nothing in between- no 20 year prison sentence or an insanity plea.Florence, you cannot  stand before this nation and defend his actions without somehow incriminating yourself."

"Maybe self-preservation was never my goal, Preston. There are numerous times he could have killed me. I purposely annoyed the shit out of him to see how far he'd go before he snapped, to the point of throwing a cup of coffee into his face. But he didn't. I'm still here, aren't I? Still here without any considerable damage, physical or otherwise. I can't just-"

The sound of glass breaking suddenly made me stop.

Preston and I froze, momentarily taken by surprise. The sound seemed to have come from downstairs. Both Mom and Dad were in bed, so the noise would have made me panic if Preston wasn't here with me. He met my wide eyes with furrowed, confused ones. Glass just doesn't break by itself. If that's what it was, anyways. Maybe a vase tipped over?

"What was that?" Preston breathed.

"I don't know, but I think we should go see." I stepped out of bed gingerly, my heart beating a staccato on its own, and made my way to the door.

Preston stood up too. Before he walked out into the hallway, he went over to his bag and pulled out a black handgun. I waited for him by the door. I wasn't exactly scared, but I wasn't about to venture downstairs and get myself killed by some crazy axe-wielding murderer. That's how it happened in the movies. Not me, though. I had a tough guy bodyguard with me, so I was okay. Just down the hall, the door to my parent's room opened.

Dad stuck his head out. "The hell was that?"

"Let me take care of this." Preston moved forward and headed for the stairs, keeping his gun carefully poised by his side. Mom, Dad, and I all followed after him silently. "Something must have fallen over but there's no harm in taking precaution. Florence's safety is the only thing that matters. Just to be safe, stay behind me and-"

"Hey, officer?" I whispered. "Maybe you should shut up before the murderer hears us."

"Florence!" Dad was shocked. "Apologize this instant."

"Oh, for Heaven's sake." Mom sighed deeply. "It's midnight, what could possibly have gone wrong now? Aren't there officers stationed outside?"

The stairs led down directly into the hallway outside the living room. The front door was in plain view, and it was locked and secured. Preston turned on the light. We all stopped and stared, looking for anything that was visibly wrong. Nothing was out of place...until Preston walked into the living room and we all followed. And we all stopped and stared.

One of the living room windows was completely shattered. Shards of glass littered the wooden floor, the vicinity of the mess reaching far and wide. The object that had caused the destruction was close by. It was a large grey rock, plucked from the flower garden out front that management took care of. The October night wind rushed in through the gaping hole in the window.

Out of pure curiosity, I went over to the rock that lay a few feet from where I stood. It was the size of a grown adult's fist and shaped almost perfectly round. It was a dark grey color, almost like it was...wet. Upon closer inspection, I realised that it actually was  wet when I picked it up. Soaked in some kind of liquid, it seemed. I turned the rock over in my hand, half expecting there to be a note taped to the bottom. Suddenly, a sharp pain captured my left thumb.

A drop of blood ran down from the small prick on my finger. I looked at the rock again, my heart thudding. Some sort of glass shard was embedded near the bottom, but it had a strange shape. The glass piece was kind of cylindrical with jagged edges like it was broken, a small thing barely bigger than a pencil stub.

"Florence?" Mom's voice came from behind me.

"Yeah?" I quickly turned around, wiping my thumb on my pajama shorts. Dismissing the rock and its strange properties, I walked back over to Preston and my parents. They were all staring at me.

"Are you okay?" Mom asked. "You look pale."

"Yeah. I'm fine. Just tired." I shrugged and then immediately regretted the gesture when a flower of pain bloomed at the top of my shoulder. My thumb itched from where it had been cut and I mindlessly rubbed it against my shorts once more.

Preston was the first to gather himself. "Hold on. Florence, stay close." His gaze shifted over to them. "Don't let her out of sight, okay? I'm going to radio this in and send some officers to investigate what happened. Remain calm, we'll figure this out. Follow me quietly. As far as I know, the safety of this structure has been compromised and we need to take extra measure to-"

A knocking on the door interrupted him.

"That must be the officers." Preston headed towards the front door. I followed after him, twisting the heart pendant from my necklace around my fingers to calm myself down. It didn't really help, though. My nerves were jittery and the weight of exhaustion crawled around my limbs. All this drama, all this breathless waiting for Wolfe to make the first move, was draining.

Preston pulled open the door. I caught a glimpse of several officers donned in the navy blue police uniforms. One was short and one was tall and they both looked seriously confused. The crackle of one of the officer's radio made me jump. From the living room, I could hear Mom and Dad speak in low tones, and then the crinkle of glass as Mom began sweeping the shards up. The sound seemed like it came from a distance, even though they were right in the next room.

The itching on my thumb got worse. I stuck the tip into my mouth to scratch at it with the edge of my teeth and looked at Preston. He was deep in conversation with the two officers. All three of them kept glancing back at me, like I was going to do something stupid. For some reason, that agitated me more than it should have. I was legally considered an adult, I could take care of myself. Preston turned to me and said something. I barely caught the words. Why was he speaking so softly?

I stared at him, a growing dread in my stomach. "What?"

His lips moved but I couldn't hear him. It was like my sense of hearing had suddenly gone woozy. A slight panic tightened my chest. Staring at Preston's moving lips, I scratched my thumb again. Man, it was really itchy.

"Are you okay, Florence?" Finally, I heard Preston when he raised his voice. He was still speaking incredibly low, or at least it sounded like that to me. Behind him, the officers shared a glance.

"Yeah." I nodded, but the movement felt slow and heavy. I felt like I was underwater again.

"James, perhaps you should let the girl sleep while we figure this out." One of the officers, a young man with squinty brown eyes, spoke up softly.

"She's under my care." Preston shook his head. His fingers wrapped around my elbow, and I was shocked to realize that I barely felt his touch. I clenched my fists. My fingers were cold. Glancing back, I saw Mom and Dad in the living room, Mom holding a tray filled with the glass from the broken window. The rock still sat on the table where I had last placed it. It seemed less...gray. I sound crazy, don't I? Preston pulled me forward and I nearly stumbled over right onto the two officers. "I can't let her out of my sight. The safest place is by my side. She goes where I go. Let's go outside and talk to Benson. He must've seen something. Come, Florence. Stay close."

Preston let me go and I numbly followed. My legs felt trembly, and it wasn't just from fear. My very organs seemed to be shutting down. There was something on that rock, some sort of chemical. There had to have been. It wasn't just exhaustion making me feel like I was ready to fall over with the softest push. I felt slow and awkward, like a zombie, following Preston and the officers down the stairs. My thumb still itched like crazy.

We headed outside, where there was a flurry of activity. Police cars lined up in the streets and the roads were being closed off by people in neon yellow jackets. Officers talked quietly amongst themselves. The shops that lined the streets were dark, but people stood close by, curious as to what the reason was for all the noise. Red and blue lights threw everything into strange hues all around. The noise, all the chatter and the people, made my head hurt. Everything hurt, but it was a dull pain that seemed to begin at the very core of my stomach.

I needed a Twizzler.

I stared at the red and blue lights on top of a NYPD car, mesmerized by the flashing. I don't know how long I stood there, shivering and still. People gave me strange looks but I ignored them. Something was wrong. My gut was all twisted up, like my subconsciousness knew something was going to happen even though I did not. Annoyed, I bit down on my thumb. Was it swollen? It felt swollen. Something was on that rock. Was that why I felt like I was a zombie? I needed to tell someone. Someone...Preston...

Suddenly, a wave of exhaustion nearly made me fall over. It was getting worse. The very last thing I wanted to do was walk over to where Preston was and tell him something was wrong. When I tried to open my mouth, my jaw felt too heavy to move. Nothing hurt except for a dull throb on my thumb where the glass has pricked me. Was there something on the glass? I was just so...tired. I wanted to sit down right where I was and close my eyes. Just five minutes. 

A bristling sound captured my droopy attention. It came from behind the apartment complex.

An animal? A racoon determined to sneak the last bit of edible food from the trash if it's the last thing he did? A squirrel hell bent on revenge on another squirrel? Maybe one of the male squirrels slept with his best friend's girlfriend squirrel. Who knows? Squirrel drama was very interesting.

"Florence." A soft, male voice called from behind me.

Gathering the last of my energy, I turned around. Even in my drugged stupor, I recognized the face even though it looked a bit blurry. It was Brice, hunkered down near the trash cans by the side of the building. He hadn't shaved (he never shaved) and his magnificent beard was even more magnificent-er. My heart jumped, but the reaction felt slow even to me.

"Brice?" I whispered, my lips barely able to move. Forcing myself to turn my head, I glanced back. Preston was still involved in a conversation with an important looking woman and man, but his attention was sure to shift over to me any second now. Tears filled my eyes, making Brice's already blurry face even more pixelated. The growing panic in my chest suddenly fell flat. It wasn't as if I wasn't afraid and about to freak out- I was, I just didn't have the energy to harbor that feeling any more. It was a strange sensation. The watery sound of my heartbeat resonated in my ears, soft and throbbing but slow. Why was everything so slow? 

Brice glanced around and his eyes finally settled on me. The trees beside the complex provided enough security but he still stayed glued to the side of the building, near the shadows where wandering eyes couldn't see. "Hey, Florence." He said softly. "Come here."

I tried to lift my arm so I could rub my eyes but the limb felt incredibly heavy and I didn't have enough left in me to try. Blinking madly, I shook my head. Brice may as well have been a figment of my imagination. "I can't." I said but it might not have been audible because Brice's sweet face crinkled. "You shouldn't be here. Please go. They're looking for you guys, they'll find you. Oh, I'm going to be in so much trouble-"

He still didn't move. "Just come here."

I shook my head. A lone tear trickled down. Again, I tried to raise my hand but I couldn't. "No. Please just go before they see you."

Brice seemed to be growing increasingly agitated. Finally, after I made no effort to come to him, he reached into his back pocket and pulled something out.

A bag of Twizzlers. The mint kind, to be exact.

"If you come to me, you can have this whole thing." Brice offered sweetly.

Well, that was an offer I wasn't about to refuse.

"Alright." I concluded after a second of hazed thinking. Everything about the whole 'don't take candy from strangers, you idiot' scenario suddenly went dull- my whole focus was shifted to the magical substance in his hands.

"Okay, come get it." Brice stayed where he was and held out the bag to me.

He was standing about ten feet from where I was. Okay, I can do this. Twizzlers, Florence. Do it for the Twizzlers. The thought of the candy was enough motivation for me. All I had to do was go to him and I'd have my beloved Twizzlers. What's the worst Brice could do? He was so sweet, he wasn't going to hurt me. One step. Two step. Forcing my numb legs to move, I stumbled over to Brice. Three steps. Four steps. Five, six, seven. Just a few more and I'd be okay. 

Brice reached out and pulled me towards him when I was at arms length. We were covered by the shadows and I was basically invisible to the watchful eyes of Preston. Just for a few seconds though, and then I'd go back before they noticed I was missing. Brice smiled and handed me the bag of mint Twizzlers. I smiled back and stuck the corner of the cellophane bag into my mouth, tearing it open with my teeth. 

"Thank you." I mumbled, too interested in the candy to notice the figures appearing behind Brice. The drugged stupor I was in made my mind hazy and slow. I wasn't thinking right. I wasn't thinking at all, or I wouldn't have come to Brice in the first place. He was just as dangerous, right? But he was so nice. He gave me Twizzlers. Mint Twizzlers.

"No problem." Brice slipped his fingers through mine and began nudging me forward, leading the way to the back of the apartment complex and away from the flurry of activity out front. Chewing on the end of one white Twizzler, I busied myself in scratching at my thumb again. I didn't bother protesting because I was too interested in trying to move my arms so see where Brice had taken me. If he wasn't there for me to lean on, I would have fallen right over. 

I looked up, trying to make sense of what I was seeing. There was a big black van parked in the middle of the street. Were the doors open? I couldn't make out. The sounds of feet shuffling made me a bit more alert. Something was heading towards us. What if it was Preston? I couldn't get Brice into trouble. 

I couldn't raise my hand to pull the Twizzler I was chewing on out, so I simply opened my mouth and let it fall to the pavement. A dizzying sensation nearly tipped me over. I picked my head up and tried to warn Brice, but the words wouldn't leave my tongue.

"He's here. You'll be okay." Brice let me go and patted my back nicely.

Who's here? 

Before I collapsed, I noticed a dark figure walking towards me. Before I closed my eyes and succumbed to the tempting sleep that had been calling me for the last ten minutes, strong arms wrapped around my waist and held me up. Before I finally let the last of my energy drain out of me and completely pass out, I caught the fragrance of his cologne and my brain placed the scent with the owner before everything went dark.

Only one person could smell so good and still be considered a bad person, remember?