I saw her. I was there. Kara was there. She had gotten out before I got to her, but neither of us were fast enough. Braden had her. He had her gagged and tied up. I saw the ropes tightened against her wrists. I saw her tears. She was powerless against him. She was strong and she never cried, but she cried today. How many other times had he made her cry, had forced her out of her comfort zone. I watched the white car drive away, turning a corner right as the police found me. I cursed under my breath. Was it my fault they left? Or was he planning that all along?

Before I knew what was happening, O'era was in front of me. I couldn't hear her, still deafened by the gun shot. She started pawing at my shirt, trying to rip it off. I tried to push her off of me, she knew I had a girlfriend, she was helping me look for her. I was confused. She never behaved like this, desperate.

I reached for her shoulder to push her away, and that was when I saw the blood. I looked down towards my chest. My blue shirt was becoming a deep dark and sticky purple. He hit me. I tried to stand up, but my right leg was numb. I glanced down again only to see more red seeping from my upper thigh. Twice? I couldn't help but chuckle, two out of four shots wasn't bad. He was a good marksman, but not good enough. He had hit me, but I'd be fine, I had to be. My football career might be over, but that was nothing I couldn't handle.

Detective O'era was holding my face in her hands, lightly slapping my face to try and get me to stay awake. But my eyes were so heavy. I thought a nap couldn't possibly hurt. I could rest for a minute or two. I hadn't gotten any real sleep for weeks anyway, no wonder I was so tired. She shook me, but I ignored her, letting my head loll to the side. I was more relaxed than I've ever felt. I knew I'd been shot, but I felt so numb and weightless.

As I began to close my eyes, ready to succumb to the sleep. All of a sudden, my chest and leg started to burn. It was as if someone had set me on fire. It was so intense and overwhelming that I couldn't think of anything else. The detective had disappeared, as had the police cars and the rest of the neighborhood. It was just blackness. Blackness and the fire. It spread up through my body, traveling inside of me. I couldn't put it out. I think I was screaming, I don't remember. Slowly the dark closed in on me, enveloping me slowly until the burning finally went away and I passed out.

Detective O'era

I turned the corner to see Liam sitting up in the middle of the street, blood seeping through his clothing. Shit. I told him not to do anything stupid! Had he ran all the way here from campus?

I jumped out of the car, door slamming behind me. The other officers starting to follow me, but I just yelled at them, commanding someone to call an ambulance. I couldn't be one hundred percent certain, but Liam had been shot twice. Once in the chest and once again in the leg. He was going to need some serious medical attention.

I ran over to him, crouching beside him. I started grilling him, asking what he was doing here. he wasn't listening. He was staring at a corner of a neighborhood. I commanded officers to drive down there and see if anything looked suspicious.

Liam was chanting under his breath, "White car, has her, white car, has her." Before the other officers took off I told them to keep a lookout for a white care driving very fast. I turned my attention to the boy sitting before me. He was fading, and fast.

I cupped my hands around his face, trying to hold him up. I tried to pull the shirt off of him so I could get a better look at the wound, but he just tried to push me off. The stubborn kid. I tried to explain what I was doing, but I could tell he couldn't hear me. He was in shock. I got the shirt off of him and had an officer put pressure on each of his wounds. It didn't go straight through, the bullet was still in him.

I returned all of my attention to his face, trying to keep him awake. I tried yelling and slapping him to keep him awake, but he insisted on relaxing, his body growing loose and limp. I was losing him. I instructed one of the officers to increase pressure on his leg, hoping the pain would keep him awake.

His head dropped to the side and I thought he was gone, but then he started screaming. The sound the most awful noise I had ever heard coming from a human being. The burning had started. He would black out soon. The ambulance turned the corner. I slapped him, trying to keep him conscious as the EMT guys jumped out with a stretcher. They lifted him up, still screaming. He finally stilled once they get him on the stretcher. He passed out. They closed the doors behind him. I swear to god if that kid dies I'm going to kill him. If he lives, I'm going to give him a goddamn job at the station.

One of the cars that I had sent to follow the phantom white car came back. He pulled up in front of me, telling me that they chased a white Audi until it reached the freeway, maneuvering around other cars until they lost sight of him. I smiled. There weren't that many white Audi's on the street these days. We were especially lucky because it had a license plate that we'd be able to track.

I thanked the officer and radioed Stephen. He was the best hacker on the force. "Stephen, do you read me?"

"Loud and clear, Detective."

"I need you to do me a favor. Can you track a white Audi with the plate 7, Charles, Beta, 6, 8, Alpha, 2?"

I heard him typing on his computer, becoming more aggressive as I stopped listing the license plate. "Can I? You severely underestimate me, Detective," I smiled, "He's going south on the freeway, heading towards Glendale."

"On it, stay with me, okay Stephen? I'm going to continue to need updates on his position." I turned to the other guys with me, desperately awaiting orders after the ambulance had already taken away a dying man, "South on the highway. Head towards Glendale until you hear otherwise. Lights and sirens off. We're looking for a white Audi and if you see it, keep your distance. We can't spook him again. Move out!"

I climbed into my own car, ready to lead the boys in this car chase no matter how far it took us. I floored the gas pedal, not wanting to give him a further head start than he already had. Liam had come this far, all I had to do was finish it for him.