Channing Tatum as Terrence Evermoore

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Stuck on You: Kapitel Acht

"Would you like to make a collect call to inmate #31535? If so, please click 1 on your keypad now." I clutched the letter in my hand, silent gasping on the phone. I hung up the call, staring at my phone, wondering why I decided to call Rikers. I gritted my teeth, a silent tear running down my cheek. She was playing a game here, even after 15 years, she still wormed her way inside of my mind and I knew she was going to be gone for a long, long time.

But what if she wasn't?

I stopped for a minute to control my breathing, forcing myself to forget that 13-year-old me locked in the car, a 2004 Nissan Rogue, struggling for air. I forced myself to think about how I made it out alive, not how I died for twelve minutes. "You okay, partner?" I jumped when a hand touched my shoulder and I turned around to see Alex. "You good? Have you been crying?" He looked at me oddly and I took several deep breaths, wiping the sweat away from my forehead, depositing the letter into my back pocket before faking a smile. "No, I'm fine," My heart was still racing like Usain Bolt and I felt like someone was staring at me.

It might have been that black car that was perched in the corner even after the rest of the vehicles had left.

"You ready?" Alex furrowed his eyes as he stared at me in concern. "Yea," I sighed, catching my keys as he threw them to me. "Let's go." I unlocked our squad car and slid into the driver seat. "The address?" I asked as I turned on the navigation system. "115 5th and Main." Oh, okay." I pulled out of the parking lot, willing myself to be calm and collected as we rolled towards downtown Manhattan, where all the elite and rich and pompous people worked. The ride was silent, my mind still occupied with that letter and Alex texting someone. I didn't know what to think. First, Santiago came back into my life abruptly, causing things to shift awkwardly. Then, my mother finds ways to haunt me, even from her jail cell.

Or was she out getting laid on the street? 

I didn't know.

"Where are we supposed to park, dude?" We pulled up to a large, glass skyscraper, probably 40 floors tall, standing over all of the other buildings. It had the name of the corporation embedded into the glass, with gates for entry on the first floor. "Here we go," I pulled up to the gate, a keeper waiting to allow me approval. "Lieutenant Brad Thorpe," I rolled down my window, flashing my ID card. "Your boss allowed me to come here and scope out things." The man peered over and analyzed my card, scanning my face. "Yes, he did mention your arrival today. Please go on through and park in the third spot to your left." I nodded as the gate opened, allowing my passage.

I cruised through the dark and dim lit parking deck, looking for an empty spot on the left. "There we go." I murmured, parking with ease and exiting the vehicle. "Let's go. It's a big company and so many people." There was a man dressed in a black suit guarding the front entrance and he looked at me, nodding as he opened the door. "Yea but Brad, I analyzed the pictures Mr. Luzardi gave us. This looked to me to be a personal vendetta." My mind was running through different types of profiles that this murderer could fit. I was smart and I didn't need much information to put together anything. 

"So we're looking at someone who's probably close to Santiago, someone he trusts well enough and has access to this facility full round. We're looking for someone 20-30, no one older and no one younger," I narrowed my eyes as we walked through the pristine lobby, taking note of anyone who looked too comfortable. "Why?" Alex asked. "Santiago would never hire anyone older than him, superiority rules, and he would never hire anyone younger than 20 because it would be a waste of time." I stated casually and Alex stared at me. "You seem to know a lot about him."

Yea, well I did date him for almost 3 years.

"Yea," I coughed awkwardly, looking away as I stepped onto the elevator, pressing for the 30th floor. It wasn't as busy as normal, but I could see people shuffling in and out, calls being made as well as meetings being held. "From the looks of the pictures, the person seems to hold in a lot of rage, so look for someone who seems to be an imposter. Someone who fakes being happy. They'll most likely try too hard to fit in with the crowd so that they blend in. The killings," I thought back to the brutal slash of the throat and beaten to death with a hammer. "seem to be disorganized, but the method of choosing victims and luring them seem to be organized, so it is possible we have a mixed killer.  The victims are left exposed, so it appears to me that this killer wants their victims to be found." 

The beep of the elevator resonated in my head. "It's possible that we're looking for someone who's plain, who you'd never know was there. Someone who is really smart and put together but lacks social skills. Like I said, in order to cover up their tracks, they'll force themselves to be extroverts." Alex nodded, and I smirked, knowing he thought I was smart as hell.

"Here we are." The elevator stopped on the 30th floor and the doors opened, people typing away at their computer furiously and voices booming up and down the floor. "Ok." I shook my head, trying to figure out where this dumb asshole was. I didn't want to be here longer than needed. "Anthony," A deep, breathless voice called and I turned my head to see the man of the year walking towards me, donned in a grey two-piece suit with brown dress shoes, his stubble outlining his jaw. Damn, he was beautiful. The dude behind him ruined it though as Santiago came up to me, standing next to me as he placed a hand on the small of my back.

Move that hand.

"This is my partner, Terrence Evermoore," My nostrils flared as I put on my best sarcastic smile, taking his hand in mine. "How do ya do?" He winked and I internally rolled my eyes. Don't act like we ain't never met before. If I recalled, he was the one who made a disturbance call for no reason at all. Dumb ass. "I'm Lieutenant Brad Thorpe, but I'm sure you already know that." I removed my hand from his. I didn't think that he would be behind it, considering that there was nothing awkward about him. He didn't seem to be extremely intelligent and I highly doubted that he was anything less than outgoing. There was a girl walking towards us with her head down.

"Sorry." Someone bumped into the girl as Santiago moved her out of the way. "Be careful there, sweetheart!" He smiled down at her, her brunette hair covering her glasses as she looked up at him. "Oh!" She muttered awkwardly. "T-thank you!" There was a soft smile on her face as she turned to look at me and her face seemed really familiar to me. "Brad, meet Haila Sudlow, my cybersecurity, uh, manager. She's really good at her job." The girl stepped forward, her overall dress falling to her knees as she smiled up at me. "Nice to meet you, Brad. I'm Haila," She reached out a hand and I grasped it, wondering why it was shaking.

Probably nerves.

"Haila, I hope you don't mind if I ask you a few questions," She shook her head vehemently and I nodded, studying her. "How long have you been working for Santiago?" I asked, mentally recording her answers. "Uh, um, Iet's see, 5 years now?" She replied and I nodded. "Can you tell me how you heard wind of this job?" I questioned and she slowly nodded. "Yes! Uh, my father was really good friends with Mr. Luzardi, so I decided to work under someone who shared the same mentality." She smiled grimly. "Thank you." I replied, motioning for Santiago to take me to someone else. "Thank you, Haila." I said and she walked away.

We entered the office of a man who was sitting at his desk, black hair covering his eyes as he typed away at the keyboard. "This is Jacien Montrue, who is my finance recorder specialist." The stocky dude looked a bit scared and awkward as Santiago introduced him. "Yea, that's me. Nice to meet you." He breathed heavily as he stood to his full height, shaking my hand. "Hello, the name's Brad Thorpe and I'm with the NYPD." His eyes widened as he began to sweat, obvious to only me. 

"If you don't mind, I just need to ask you some questions, simple as that," He nodded and I continued. "What can you tell me about the people you work with? Is there anyone that strikes you as odd?" He looked uncertain before he shook his head. "No, everyone gets along here. Everyone is pretty normal and chill." He laughed awkwardly and I made brief eye contact with Alex before exiting.

There was something off about him.

"Here, Alex," I handed him the car keys once we were done gathering data. "I'll call my dad to come to take me to my car. There's something I need to ask him about." I texted my dad, who told me that he was only a few minutes out and that he'd be right there. "Okay." I walked with him down to the parking deck, seeing my father's Grey RAM 1500 outside of the gate. "I'll text you later," I threw to Alex as I got into his truck. "How are you, son?" Noah greeted me with a smile and I grinned back. "Just living life." He pulled out of the gateway and headed back to the department, the ride silent.

"Dad, when was the last time you spoke to her?" I spat coldly and Noah looked at me, taken aback a bit before he calmed down. "It's been years, Brad. Years. You don't need to worry." His eyes were begging me not to think about and I decided to keep it to myself. "Yea, you're right." I finished that statement as he brought me to my truck. "I'll call you later."

My mind was blank as I made my way home, drifting and tumbling up the elevator.

"Dad?" I murmured as we sat in the garage, the door having been gone down a long time ago. "Please unlock the door, I need to pee." I whined, trying to bust out of the car. "What are you talking about, kid? I have been unlocked it." Noah furrowed his brow as he clicked the unlock button. We both watched as the handle unlocked, then locked in an instant. "What?" I narrowed my eyes, wondering why it still wouldn't open. "Dad, stop playing games with me please." My bladder was hurting, but I could sense the unease that he felt as he pressed the dang button over and over again.

"It's not working over here either." There was slight panic in his voice as he looked around the garage. "Dad, what is that?" I questioned and both of our eyes snapped to the front of the car, seeing white smoke filling the air outside. "I don't know." I heard my dad wheezing from the left of me as he grabbed onto the wheel, clutching it for dear life. He looked scared, so scared and that's when I took a deep breath in. I felt life slowly slipping away as the white smoke slithered its way into the car, filling every pore. Desperation to get air overtook as my lungs pounded against my ribcage. "What is this?" My eyes were wide, going red from lack of oxygen.

What was happening?

I banged on the car window, trying to break it as a silhouette moved beyond the mist. "Heh," I heard that shrilly laughter as I coughed and coughed, trying to dispel the fog. Someone, please help. Black dots coated my vision as it became too much to keep my eyes open. Someone, please! I don't want to die! My throat started to close. I had to breathe but I couldn't. It hurt too. The ache in my chest grew worse by the moment as I writhed and gasped in my seat. Slowly the world started to spin, to fade, as each sound grew dull. A world of black rushed over me, pulled me down, and my body went limp. 

I don't know how long I was gone for.

With a sharp breath, I brought myself back to reality, realizing that I was standing in my living room. This letter was nothing but a cruel joke and I was going to leave it alone. I checked my watch, seeing the time. 12:21. Damn, I still had 3 hours before I had to pick up Ivory from her private school. I laid on the couch, scrolling through my phone. I decided to bother Luzia as Derek, Micah, Demi, and David were all busy with their men.

Brad Thorpe: Hey Luz, what are you doin

Luzia Cardenas: I'm in the middle of working.

Brad Thorpe: Oh! You never told me who you work for. He must be someone rich to have you styling as you do

Luzia Cardenas: lol, something like that. He's just some business mogul. I need to go, we have things to fix ASAP

Brad Thorpe: okay. text me later

Then there was a soft yet rapt knock at my door. "The fuck?" I called out, not expecting anyone to be here right now. My father went home and Ivory was still at school. Santiago was still at work and I knew his knocks like the back of my hand. Stop it, Brad. You're supposed to be over him. I grumbled in annoyance, throwing myself off of the couch as I stomped over to the door. Whoever it was, they better have a fucking good excuse as to why they were talking to me right now.

"What?" I pulled the door open with a fierce arm and my eyes widened as I took in who was standing before me. Wearing that red and blue Tory Burch dress with the gold Louboutin platform hills, and a gold Michael Kors purse to match, Emilia Karas never failed to slay the catwalk. Unfortunately, I hated her. "What do you want?" I stared in mock interest as she smiled a bit before her face came to a complete look of sorrow. "Can I come in?" She asked in a small voice and I stared at her, opening the door wider so she can enter my kingdom.

"Next place you have here." She complimented and I nodded, feeling awkward. The last time we were alone together, she belittled me on how terrible I was of a match for Santiago. Needless to say, that ended with me in tears. "Thanks." She turned around to look and me and there was this indescribable look in her eyes, a feeling of dread. "I came to tell you that I want you to stay away." She said this but the look on her face resembled panic. 

Huh? Fuck was she going about here?

She looked out of the penthouse window, scanning frantically before turning back to me. She sighed before reaching into her purse and pulling out a grey card, handing it to me. "You need this." She mouthed as if she was afraid someone was listening to her. I, with hesitation, grabbed the card, opening it to read.

Anthony,

Right now, you're probably extremely confused as to why we would show up out of the blue so abruptly. I know you're wondering what the hell happened to us over these years and I must tell you that I didn't do it because I wanted to, I dislike you because you gave my son what I could never give him. I dislike you because I was forced to ruin his semblance of happiness and it made him hate me. 

It's not as easy as it seems, but there is so much before that you don't even know. A war is brewing and you will be swept up in it. People are going to die. I am going to die. Santiago will die. There's a greater enemy than the one he's fighting right now. He may not know it, but I do. I have known for 28 years. If nothing is done, then I'm afraid it'll be over. I am scared, so scared because I don't know what to do anymore. 

Obviously, there are clues all over this letter and I need for you to figure them out. Do you want answers? Do you want to know why Santiago left? Do you want to know why he's changed so much? Do you want to who your enemy is? Do you want to save Santiago? I dislike you, but even I as cruel as I am, will not deprive my son of love. If you are as smart as you say you are, then you will figure out why I'm using a card. Have you ever heard the saying that betrayal often times never comes from the enemies?

Read between the lines and understand what I gave you.

Emilia.

"Huh?" I sputtered in confusion as I looked at her, eyebrows furrowed up. She stared at me, sorrow evident in her brown eyes as she pointed to a scar on her forearm. "What are you talking about?" Her card made no sense and I got the feeling that something dangerous, something malicious was going to happen and it was just a matter of time. She sighed as she smiled sadly, shaking her head as she turned around and headed for the door.

"Time is ticking, Anthony."

Then she left.