Jamie Campbell Bower as Derek Giordano-Vega

~

Stuck on You: Kapitel Zehn

"You've got to be fucking kidding me."

I flipped through the various mails that our captain, Xenon, handed me once he finished his rounds. "Just bills, more bills, bills upon bills. Ew," I slammed the envelopes on the desk in front of me, furrowing my brows when my eyes landed on an unlabeled envelope. "Hey, Xenon, where did this one come from?" I inspected it, seeing nothing but my name and the address of the police station. It also said to open it with care. This felt suspicious and I looked up to see Xenon occupied in a conversation with Alex.

I looked around the department, seeing that everyone was focusing on what they were doing, so they weren't going to pay attention to me. Good. I used my finger to slice up the unlabeled envelope open, pouring the contents out on my desk. "Oh!" I screeched, hissing internally when a dead caterpillar fell on top of what seemed to be a note. It was white, with black and green lines and it looked to have been freshly killed. Who the fuck in their right mind would send some shit like this?! I gagged, using the end of the envelope to push it out of the way. This had better be some sick joke or I was going to murder people.

I stifled the bile in my stomach before opening the white note. I recognized the cursive handwriting as the same from before, fear creeping my spine and setting root in the back of my neck. What the hell was going on? Breathe, Brad, breathe. This is just some person wanting to fuck with you. This didn't come from who you think it came from. Remember? She's in jail, rotting away as she should. You are okay. Just throw it away. I held the note in my hands, fingers trembling as I read every vicious word on the page, trying to understand the hidden agenda.

Wow, she looks so much just like you. When will you let me meet her?
I'd kill for a chance to meet my granddaughter.

-Mom

Then a picture of Ivory and I from the day we went to get ice cream fell out. It was carefully zoomed in on our smiling faces as I fed her some of her creamy goodness. My mind was going haywire and I stared at everything in confusion, letting it fall from my hands. Why was this happening to me? I had enough on my plate. I could feel my skin crawling like I had tons of bugs walking across it. My heart was racing, beating hard every minute as I reread every single word. It was no doubt her handwriting and the memories of suffocating overwhelmed me.

This couldn't be happening, not now. I knew for a fact that I was going to have to protect Ivory. I didn't want to shelter her away from reality, but I couldn't chance her life on some note.

Because I had a feeling it was real and this was the calm before the havocking storm.

"Brad, you okay?" I felt a hand on my shoulder and I sniffled, closing up the note, along with the picture. "Yea, yea." I nodded, knowing full well that I was lying. Why was it now that secrets and old flames decided to erupt? It didn't make any sense and it was bothering me. A week ago, I was living my best life and being me. Now, I was so confused and so lost. Feelings that I hadn't felt in years decided to brim at the surface and people I haven't spoken to, showed their faces.

"Sorry, what did you need me for?" I slid the note into the drawer in my desk, hoping that I'd never had to deal with it again. There was someone watching me, watching my daughter, and I had to figure it out before it was too late. I was not going to risk my precious daughter's life over some bullshit. "We're leaving in ten. I'll drive there, you drive back." Alex clapped me on the shoulder before walking away and I sighed. "I do need the time to think." I whispered to myself. I didn't know if I wanted to help Emilia. The empathetic in me told me that I should without hesitation, but the skeptic in me reminded myself of how her son left me. How he promised happiness and up and ditched like I was nothing.

Being the me that I was, I pulled out her card and studied it. She needed my help, otherwise, she wouldn't have come to me. "I think she meant to read in between the lines literally," I stared at the words. They were paragraphed in a way that was obvious, but it just wasn't clicking yet. "Does she want me to see the first letter of every paragraph or the first word?" I reached over for a person, grimacing at the dead bug just laying there.

First, I wrote the letters.

A, R, I, O, R, E.

Then the first words.

Anthony, right, it's, obviously, read, Emilia.

She mentioned that there was a greater enemy coming to Manhattan, someone far bigger than Santiago and the murderer he's dealing with. I have a feeling she was trying to give me clues as to what their name was. Then the first letters are what I need to be looking at.

"Brad, come on." I heard the clinking of my keys and I put the note back in its hidden place, grabbing my jacket. "Don't fucking shit yourself, Alex." I cracked my neck as I walked down the hall, beside him, exiting the building. Once we were secured in a squad car, I turned to Alex, who was driving out the parking lot. "Once we get a secure list of everyone who was working there on all of the nights that they were killed because I saw that the killings happened at night, we can eliminate suspects." He clicked his tongue before pointing to a notebook in the glove compartment. "Already ahead of you. According to the security cameras and clocking records, there were only 3 people on site after 7:40 PM." I flipped through the book, seeing 3 names: Haila Sudlow, Jacien Montrue and Terrence Evermoore.

Just as I predicted.

"Once we get back, we need to run full background checks on these people. These three are our main suspects," He nodded before focusing his attention on the road. It was odd. I couldn't shake the feeling that I had seen Haila before. Her eyes seemed to be too familiar.

It almost reminded me of something.

"I'd follow you wherever you go, Anthony. I just can't be without you," A soft kiss was placed on my forehead and I blushed, shaking my head. "No, Santiago! I want you to have a future, do whatever it is that you want to do with your life. You know, something extraordinarily great?" I smiled, rubbing his arms as he held me.

"But what do you expect me to do when my future is you?"

It was funny.

We both went to schools in Louisiana and I moved here when I turned twenty-three to further my education. Santiago had nothing here. There was nothing he had here because all of his life came from Baton Rouge. All of our memories started and ended there. It was sad because everything had changed.

When we arrived at the large skyscraper, we were met with Santiago and three men in black in tow. "Anthony, Alex, good to see you again." He looked ever so good and I hated that he did. "Hello. I'm going to go get started." I nodded, watching him walk out distance before punching Santiago in the arm. "Ow!" He hissed, staring down at me and it reminded me of old times. It was sad cuz' I didn't give a shit. It was what it was.

"What are you going to do once you find out who's behind this? You know, you're risking my career here." I hissed venomously, wanting him to understand the severity of what he was asking me. "Anthony, you're a lot smarter than you think," Santiago grinned dangerously. "You and I both know the lengths I'm willing to go to." He leaned down just so that his lips were above my earlobe. "Once I find out who is doing this, killing my people," He chuckled, licking his lips and he never sounded so sinister. "They are going to beg for mercy." He shook his head before standing to his full height, winking at me. "Let me know when you're done."

Then he walked off and I was left with the air that a sadistic mafia boss stood in. I was left with the notion that this was a lot deeper than it seemed. "O-oh!" I felt a tap on my arm and I turned to face Haila Sudlow, who had a look of uncertainty on her face. "You guys are back." She beamed but I could tell that it was fake. "No need to look so sad. I just have a few questions," She nodded, narrowing her eyes as I pulled her into a quiet corridor. She folded her arms and stared up at me. "Haila, you are aware that you were here all of the nights that the killings happened." She raised a brow, nodding. "Yes. I am the cybersecurity manager. Decoding and encrypting hidden messages that the boss sents takes a long time, if you haven't noticed." There was a clip in her tone and it made me suspicious.

"Is there anyone who can vouch for your alibi? We just need to make sure you are clear." She stared at me before forcing a sarcastic smile on her face. She was a bit different than when we first met her. "Yes. Jacien was here with me, so you can ask him." She moved from leg to leg and she appeared to be nervous and jittery. "What would you say your relationship with Santiago is?" I questioned, taking in and analyzing every move she made. "He's my boss," Haila smiled sweetly but I could sense that it was all a hoax. "Don't we all love him?" She tilted her head and I nodded, moving to dismiss her.

Once she was down the hall, head bowed low as she skittishly walked, I called out to her, testing her. "Hey, Haila," She turned and looked over her shoulders, eyes widened and shoulders cowered. "I'm just curious because you seem so devoted to technology. You're the same age as me right, 28?" I raised a brow and she shook her head. "No, I'm 26." She replied in a cool tone. "Oh, wow. That's crazy. Where did you go for undergrad? I went to Columbia." I said in a casual tone, knowing that I was lying.

"I went to Lousiana State," She folded her arms. "I must go now."

Then she scampered around the corner, phone in hand.

"Huh," I folded my arms, figuring out where I knew her from. She went to the same college that I went to for undergrad. What was she doing here, working under a man like Santiago Luzardi? I wanted to know why she seemed so hostile.

Once I finished interviewing people, I bumped into Alex, who was waiting at the entrance. "Did you speak to Jacien?" I questioned and he nodded. "I did, he seemed a little upset that I was there but I got him to come around," I narrowed my eyes. "Did he seem skittish, nervous and hostile all in one?" I asked and he nodded. "That's the same way Haila was acting. It makes me suspicious." We were going down the elevator, the boss waiting for us downstairs as he was going to follow us back to the station. Safety purposes, my asshole. "Yes, but I have to verify his alibi first. He told me that Haila would vouch for him." Alex stated and I raised a brow, red alarms going off in my mind.

"Well, Haila said that Jacien would vouch for her so unless they decided to share the same job for 17 nights, somebody is lying." We had to go back and look at the pictures, do background checks and discover motive. This person wasn't done killing and we needed to follow the profile. Hopefully, in their background, it would tell us about the personal vendetta against Santiago. "What about Mr. Evermoore?" I spat that man's name coldly. I still couldn't stand him. "Oh!" Alex beamed as we walked towards the car, keys in my hand. "He wasn't here for some odd reason. Santiago said he took a few days off."

Well, isn't that suspicious?

I raised my eyebrows, keys in hand as we walked towards where we parked. "Why is Mr. Luzardi following us?" He asked once we were situated on the road. "Don't ask. I don't particularly care to know." I snorted, loving that the back roads were free of traffic. I could speed if I wanted to. "Once we get back, we have a lot to do. There's so much to uncover." I murmured and Alex sighed, pulling out his phone to text. I looked ahead to see that there was a steep curve and I grimaced, knowing I was going to have to slam on brakes.

"Brad, slow down. We're about to approach a curve." I rolled my eyes at Alex's complaining before listening. He always hated when I did a 70 in a 50. Wuss. Hm, that's odd. The car didn't even lurch a bit. I was sure it was just the inertia. "Brad, slow the fuck down!" Alex yelled and I slammed my foot down on the brake and nothing happened. Dread filled my core as I began to internally panic. "Alex, our brake line was cut." I calmly whispered and before I could even pull the emergency brake, the curve came so fast and there was no stopping it.

It all happened so quick.

I looked up to see that there were headlights of another car speeding towards us and before there was any time to react, any time to get ourselves together, I felt the colossal impact. My head lurched against the steering wheel as the car flipped over, the sound of tire screeches and a blaring horn filled our ears. There were simultaneous screams, some louder than the others as I felt my body slam against the seatbelt, long before I heard my own pained scream as the shattering glass cut my face and arms. I couldn't tell if we were upside down but my body was pressed tightly against the ceiling and tears were pouring out of my eyes. "H-help..." I reached an arm out to get attention but my vision was blurry and pain wracked my entire body. I was going in and out, delirious. Something was broken.

The sound in my ears erupted into a horrifying screech. Glass continued to shatter and everything seemed to twist and contort into something incredibly terrifying. Everything built and built until the noise was the only thing left and suddenly it was gone. Silence filled the air and seemed almost worse than the screeching as if the whole world was so shocked, it couldn't produce a single sound. But instead of noticing the pain, there was silence, filled only by a ringing in my ears. I could not see anyone else, my vision filled with the harsh stain of blood. As the cars continued to crumble, a smell of burning filled the air.

It all happened so quick.

"CALL 911!" I heard someone scream with so much agony in their voice but the overpowering scent of poisonous petrol fumes blended with the sticky copper odor of blood dripping killed my senses. The last thing I could see before I succumbed to complete and total darkness was the awkward twist of my arm and a man standing over, fear etched on his face. "Damn, at least I get to die in your arms..." I whispered with a soft smile on my lips, pain filling up every nerve as blood flooded my lungs. The sky was beautiful, dark clouds coming in to line up with the solar rays. I choked a bit before closing my eyes once again.

"Anthony, stay with me!"