CHAPTER FIFTY-ONE , FIRESNATCHER

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Emery has always had a hard time trusting others.

And now she was in a predicament that made her not realize she couldn't trust anyone.

She didn't want to put her walls back up and push everyone away again—But she also didn't want to let anyone else in, in the first place. And of course, the one time she does.

He's a fucking serial killer—It was a thought she contemplated over

Emery had the need to open her eyes. But she chose against it. She couldn't open her eyes even if she wanted to. Her body felt numb and her mind was foggy. How hard did he fucking hit her?

Heavy boots thud against the floor which forces an echo to hit across the walls. Emery tries her best to make out where they could've been.

A factory or abandoned warehouse?

No, with the way the ground slightly bounced, there's no way it would be a building.

A truck then.

Emery feels a rough hand wrap around her arm and flips her onto her back.

"N-No—"

"Hey, hey. It's okay."

Emery continues to let out weak detests, her body still numb. The hand releases her arm and pulls the blindfold off her eyes, revealing the dimly lit semi-truck. Emery blinks a couple times, trying to readjust her eyesight. She then looks around the truck and spots a lifeless body in the corner. Emery's heart sinks, "Oh, god—Tom?!" She goes to move forward but her body fights against her mind and she ends up falling forward.

A soft laugh is heard beside her. The man crouches down and touches her hair. "Don't worry. He's not dead...yet."

Emery's lower lip quivers but she quickly inhales a breath. Trying her best to regain her confidence. "Why are you...why are you doing this?"

"Is it not obvious?" Joe stands in front of her. He takes a moment to sit down crisscrossed. Joe then helps Emery back up, allowing her to sit on her knees. "I'm the—"

"I know who you are, Joe." Emery snaps. Joe's spine straightens from the sudden shakiness in Emery's tone.

"I want to know why you pretended to be my friend. Just to do this!" Emery cries.

Joe stays silent for a moment, the only thing being heard are the flies buzzing at the singular dangling lightbulb from the top of the truck. Emery's only seen that in old closets.

"Em, you have to understand that I wasn't pretending to be your friend."

Emery lets out a scoff and looks to the side. Joe followed her eyes, making sure she knew what he was saying was true. "I build bonds with everyone that I take. I need to get to know them. I take people who will end up alone."

Emery pulls her brows together and snaps her eyes over to Joe. "What?"

"Firefighters who put their lives on the line for others, but suffer in silence; because they feel so alone—"

"I'm not alone—"

"Then why did you confide in me about everything?"

Emery's jaw goes slack and her heart sinks into her stomach. Her body begins to shake and her breathing heavies. She practically gave away her life story to this stranger because she felt—alone.

"One day...you would've ended up alone, Em. It's just the pattern." Joe reached up and cupped her face.

A tear slips from her eye and Joe is quick to wipe it with his thumb. "Normally, I would begin the torture right away but...this time is so much harder."

"Yeah? And why is that?" Emery croaks her glassy eyes on his soft ones. It made Emery reluctant to hate him.

"Because I truly made a friend out of you, Emerson Bailey Sharpe."

Emery's skin crawls. "I never told you my middle name."

"I had to do some research on my own." Joe cracks a soft smile. "Proud of me?"

Emery keeps her eyes on Joe without saying a word. Joe lets out a breath.

"You were just so desperate for someone to listen to you without judgment." Joe gives Emery a sympathetic look. "So, you just chose without looking too much into me. That was your first mistake."

"How does this have anything to do with Tom?" Emery's voice was trembling and tears were in her eyes.

"Oh, it doesn't."

"So, Let him go—"

"He's seen my face, Emery. He's not going anywhere."

Joe stands up and Emery's panic rises. He pulls a syringe from his back pocket. "Look, you're a smart woman. Clever too. And those are some of the reasons why I enjoyed having you as my friend. But it's also why I need to inject you with this."

Emery's breathing quickens, she falls on her butt, and scoots back. "Joe, don't."

"Oh, come on...fighting will only make this harder. And it'll make me angrier."

"I promise you. I won't fight you. I won't...I won't try and escape. Please—just don't..." Emery's back presses against the wall of the truck and she softly whimpers.

"I've already injected you with one dose while you were asleep, Em." Joe crouches in front of her. "Either way...you're gonna need your fix soon."

Joe grabs her arm and Emery tries her best to pull it back. "Emerson." His grip tightens around her arm.

Emery freezes from his change of tone. Her eyes trail behind Joe, "Just tell me if he's hurt."

Joe chuckles, "Of course he is. As soon as he saw you unconscious he wouldn't shut up. He would do anything for you." He then scrunched his nose and that smile was back on his face. "I think he kind of likes you."

Joe plunges the needle into her vein and she bites her tongue. He then frowns, "I feel like the blindfold is a bit overkill. I mean, in a few minutes, you won't even know what planet you're on." He stands up and tucks the syringe back into his pocket. Joe walks toward the exit of the truck.

"You don't need both of us." Emery swallows. "Just let him go, p-please. He has a kid."

Joe pushes his lower lip out. He lifts a hand and grips her chin, forcing her to stare into his soft eyes. Emery's skin begins to crawl from the sadistic smirk across his lips. He truly found enjoyment in seeing her like this. Weak and Begging for Tom's life.

"Joe--"

"It's time to get on the road." Joe stands up with a huff.

Emery's stomach sinks and she shakes her head. "No, please wait!"

Joe pulls the chain of the lightbulb, and the truck immediately falls dark. Emery's breathing quickens, she can hear Joe's boots thud farther away from her. The door to the truck swings open and light bleeds into the truck.

"Oh, and Emerson..."

Emery keeps her brown eyes on Joe's innocent expression. How could he still look at her like that? As if, he hasn't done anything wrong.

"You should learn to stay quiet...if you know what's good for you."

He jumps out of the truck and slams it shut. As soon as the truck shut, Emery felt her world begin to spin and she fell forward with the side of her face meeting the truck floor.

☆

Emery and Tom were the only two who didn't call their names out for a headcount.

They were both together, so if one answered then the other is assumed to be fine if not stated otherwise. So, this worried the entire team. Luckily, they already had the LAPD outside the building.

"She said the west wing, right?" Wren walks through the building with her light moving up and down the halls. "Okay, uh, Buck and Diaz you're with me."

Athena points at Wren, "Keep that walkie on."

"Yes, ma'am." Wren sends a quick nod to Athena before walking down the hall. "How long has it been since she and Thomas have been gone?"

"They're not gone," Buck says, his voice was low but the worry was evident in his tone. "They probably got lost. It's a big building."

Wren looks at Eddie who had the same look as her. The brunette didn't know what to say or do that would comfort Buck. And even if she did know, she probably wouldn't even say the words because she wouldn't believe them herself. They all knew Emerson and Thomas. No way were they lost. And Wren didn't have the patience to sugarcoat it right now.

"Em's a natural when it comes to directions. And her memory is off the charts." Wren voices. "They're not lost."

Buck couldn't tell if his heart was dropping or beating faster.

Wren holds a hand out to the men and they stop along with her. The door number was 708. The same number Emery told them. Wren pulls her gun out and looks at the men behind her. "Wait, here." Her voice was a whisper.

Buck shakes his head and he walks toward the door. Wren presses a hand against his chest and lightly shoves him back. She then points at Eddie and then at Buck, signaling Eddie to watch him.

Wren walks over to the door and lightly pulls it open. Her eyes examine the empty room. "This is Deputy Marshall...room 708 is empty."

"What?"

"No one is in here." Wren looks around her own worry begins to grow. She tilts her head and glances at the door. "Diaz, Buck. Get in here!"

Without a second to spare, both men enter the room and look around. "You find anything? Is she close?"

Wren shakes her head and Buck's jaw clenches.

"But, I need one of you to do something for me...talk into your walkie."

Eddie pulls his brows together but he grabs his walkie. "Testing? Testing, one tw—"

A small static click is heard in the dark corner of the room. The three first responders all exchange a look. But they make their way over to the noise as Eddie counties to speak into it.

Once they get closer, Buck shines his light down, spotting the object. "Wait, is that—"

"Em's walkie." Wren digs through her pocket, grabbing her gloves. She slips on the latex gloves and crouches down. Wren lightly touches the walkie that was smashed to pieces. Her eyes shift to the other smashed pieces. "And this is Tom's."

Wren's eyes shift to the blood on the ground and her heart sinks.

"What the fuck is going on?" Eddie exhales. "So, Emery and Tom just disappear off the face of the planet. Without a trace? Did the pyromaniac get them?"

"It wasn't a pyromaniac."

Eddie and Buck look at Wren. The brunette's voice was shaking at this point.

"How do you know that?"

Wren grabs the item off the ground and stands up. She walks over to the two men and holds the old matchbox out to them.

"What the hell is that?" Buck asks.

Wren rubs her upper lip. "Okay, guys. There's only one person who leaves vintage matchboxes at a "Pyro" scene."

Eddie and Buck keep their eyes on Wren, their anxiety and worries for Emery and Tom growing.

"Who? Wren, who did this—"

"The Firesnatcher." Wren exhales. "He has them and he knows that we would find this."

"Who is the Firesnatcher?" Eddie cranes his neck forward.

Buck slowly nods his head, "Wait...I heard Emery and Amaya talk about the Firesnatcher a lot." Amaya always had paranoia over 'The Firesnatcher'. I mean, her big sister was a firefighter—of course, she was going to keep track of this serial killer.

Buck pulls his brows together and his stomach violently turns when he quickly realizes,

"A fucking serial killer kidnapped them?!"

Wren inhales a quick breath and she looks from Buck to Eddie. "Okay, we've gotta go. Now." she brushes past the two and quickly leaves the room. Eddie was quick to follow Wren.

But Buck was frozen. His eyes were glued to the broken walkies. He was just guiding Emery to her welcome-back party an hour ago. How could this day go wrong so fast? And why did it suddenly feel like his own heart was ripped out of his chest?

☆

Tom couldn't tell which way was up or down.

But he did know that he wasn't alone. At first, he heard just a man's voice. Then he heard the voice that had grown to be a daily reassurance to him. And it filled him with relief when he heard that Emery was alive. Then he heard how scared she sounded and it filled him with dread again.

Tom wanted to say something. But the last time he did. Whoever took them hit Tom hard. The person then put duct tape around Tom's hands and mouth, and he finished that off with a blindfold over his eyes. But from what Tom could hear, Emery was free and moving. And she knew who this guy was.

"Oh, and Emerson..."

Tom could feel Emery's skin begin to crawl from the tenderness in the man's voice.

"Whether you two fight or not...neither of you is getting out of this alive."

Tom felt like he was going to be fucking sick.

The door behind the man closes and Tom hears a soft thud. Tom waits for a moment, hoping that he and Emery are truly alone. The truck made a heavy clunking sound before it began moving.

Knowing it's safe to talk, Tom parted his lips and his breathing was a lot more apparent than before. "Emery?"

Soft whimpers were heard in the corner and Tom's gut twists. Tom slowly rolls onto his back and runs his face against the truck floor. His blindfold slightly inches down his face, and he could see small movements in the corner of the dark truck. Tom rolls himself toward the soft whimpering.

Tom realized he had made it over to Emery when his shoulder bumped into something that let a soft cry. "Emery, hey. It's okay."

The boy shakes his head, his blindfold falling around his neck. Tom could see now that Emery had her back turned away from him and her arms were curled around her body. Almost like she was comforting herself. It hurt Tom to even think about that.

"Em?"

Emery inhales a breath. It takes her a minute, but she sluggishly turns her head. There was a thick silence despite Emery's heavy breathing. With whatever was running through her veins and with how dark it was in the truck, Emery wasn't going to be able to tell who was there. Tom didn't know that Emery was drugged, but he could tell that something was wrong and it was getting in the way of her comprehension.

"I-It's Tom."

Emery's eyes widen and she lets out a gasp. "Hi."

Tom softly chuckles, "Hi. All right, let's sit you up." He goes to help her up, but he's quick to realize his hands are taped. "I can't really help with that, actually."

"I wouldn't be able to sit up...anyway." Emery inhales a deep breath. She's trying so hard to focus on Tom's words but her heartbeat was so fucking loud.

Tom pulls his brows together from the slur of her words. "Em, are you okay? You don't have a concussion do you?"

Emery shakes her head slowly, "It's Joe...h-he drugged me. He stuck me with something—twice." She inhales a shaky breath. "I was thinking it was a horse tranq. Xylazine, specifically."

"Wait—he what?" Tom then furrows his brows more than before. "How'd you come up with Xylazine?"

Emery coughs to the side. "I remember doing extensive research on different drugs just in case a patient of ours needed our help on a call...lucky me, right?" She covers her mouth and closes her eyes for a moment.

"Em, I'm sorry."

Emery inhales a shaky breath. "You...have nothing to apologize for." She tries her best to keep her words from slurring. Tom could feel Emery's frustration as her head continues to drop to the side. "This is my fault. J-Joe...wanted me. You were just..." she trails off her words and a painful lump forms in her throat.

"Wrong place wrong time?" Tom softly speaks.

Emery swallows the ball of guilt. "Yeah." Her voice cracks. "Thomas, I'm so sorry."

Tom's chest tightens. "You didn't know Joe was a serial killer."

"No, but I opened up to him...too fast." Emery sniffles. "I never do that."

"All right..." Tom lets out a small breath. "We can't do this. We can't...blame ourselves for something a serial killer did. We need to find a way out."

"It's a moving truck, Tom." Emery slurs. "There's no...getting out."

Tom could tell from the way her words were slurring together and how her breathing was slowing, that he was losing Emerson fast. "Emery—"

"He said we were going to die either way." Emery inhales a shaky breath. "He's not letting us go."

Tom stays silent for a moment while his chest tightens. With fear. But it wasn't fear for himself. It was fear for his son. He didn't want to leave his son in a world where his mom abandoned her and his dad died. Tom wasn't going to do it.

"Well, I've got a kid to get back to, Em."

Emery's eyes fill with tears.

"So...are we gonna come up with a plan or not?" Tom's voice was filled with a breathless desperation that caused tears to spill from Emery's eyes. Even though she has been trying to stay grounded, her mind was completely out of it.

"M-Maybe..." Emery shifts. "If we do what he says—"

"Absolutely not—"

"—if we do what he says. He might let you go."

Tom freezes. "What about you?"

Emery bites the inside of her cheek.

"Emerson. What about—"

"The only reason we're in this shit is because he wants me." Emery softly speaks. "But, you being let go...he could be convinced."

"No."

"Oh, god. Thomas..." Emery huffs.

"Even if he did happen to want to let me go. I wouldn't leave you."

Even though it was dark in the truck and neither of them could see, Tom felt a shift in Emery's energy.

"You listen to me, right now." Her tone was low. "If Joe does end up giving you an out. You take it. Even if it's without me."

"I won't do it."

"Dammit, Tom. It's like you said. You have a kid to get back to. Dylan needs his father." Emery states. "The only reason Joe chose me was because of how...alone I felt."

Tom pulls his brows together. Emery could feel his confusion in the darkness. "I love you guys. I do. But...I also feel alone. And it's none of your guys' faults. It's just what I'm dealing with."

"You don't have to explain that to me, Emery. I'm just sorry that Joe took advantage of that."

Emery's mouth twitches. Her eyelids begin to fall heavy. "Tom?"

"Yeah?"

"I'm not...okay..." she trails off her words and her eyes fall shut.

Tom pulls his brows together from the sudden silence. "Emery?" When he doesn't receive a response, his heart rate rises. Tom has to turn himself around to be able to check Emery's pulse. He lets out a soft breath when he feels her pulse. It was slower than the average heartbeat. But with the drugs in her system, that's normal.

Tom knows that he should go back to the spot he was at earlier, so Joe wouldn't suspect anything when he came to check on them. But his blindfold was already off, Joe was going to find out he moved sooner or later. So Tom walked on his knees closer to Emery. He presses his back against the truck wall and sits beside the girl, checking her pulse every now and then.

☆

Buck remembers when he first met Emerson.

The day was honestly not that impressive. It was one of the brining days at the station. Not many calls. And when there weren't many calls that meant chores. And Buck hated doing chores. So, he decided to slack; but one girl loved cleaning. And hated slacking.

These two were meant to bump heads from the start. But now everything felt different. He couldn't even imagine still having so much hatred towards Emery. Buck liked everything about her. Even the things she has said many times "she had to work on".

Everything about Emery made her the girl that Buck fell for. And he wasn't going to let that girl go before he told her how he felt.

"Buck."

The boy blinks and forces himself out of his worried thoughts. He looks at Eddie, who has a look of concern across his face. "You okay?"

Buck looks back at the building where Emery and Tom had been taken from. Wren and Athena had called in more units, including Detective Romero. There was no trace of where the Firesnatcher could've taken them and there was no lead on who the Firesnatcher even was. They had nothing to go off of.

And that scared everyone to their core. The firefighters were all standing near the rig. They were watching the police tape the entrance to the building off. The 118 had no idea what to do. They certainly weren't going to leave until they had any more news about Emery and Tom. Bobby was talking with Athena and Wren in front of the abandoned building. It was obvious by the way they were standing that the conversation had a serious undertone to it.

"They're not gonna let us stay."

The team all look at Hen. Eddie pulls his brows together, "What makes you say that?"

Hen motions her head over to the three. "Look at how they're talking..." her body tenses. "It's not good. And they're not gonna want us to be there to see it."

Buck's body tenses, "B-But we could help." he looks at Hen. "Help find them. What else could we do--"

"We can go back to the station and do our jobs."

The team looks at their captain. Buck's jaw goes slack at Bobby's words. "But, Bo--"

"The LAPD will let us know if they have anything," Bobby says. "All we can do right now is help the people out there that we can help."

The team stayed silent, but there was a heaviness hovering over them. All of them disagreed with leaving. Even Bobby didn't like the idea. But he also knew that the team was going to be so deep in their thoughts about Emery and Tom's whereabouts, they probably wouldn't even be able to aid the LAPD. If they went back to the station and distracted themselves with their jobs, they would be helping with something. And they all needed to feel useful right now.

"Wren and Athena promised--"

"There was blood on the ground." Buck cuts in. "If there is any way we can help them find Emerson and Tom--we should take it."

"The only thing we can do is go back to the station." Bobby folds his arms.

"So, give up and abandon our friends?"

Everyone tenses from Buck's sharp words. Bobby clenches his jaw, "We're not talking about abandoning or giving up." He states. "We're talking about helping in ways only we can help."

Buck stays silent and his eyes fall to the ground. How the hell was he going to go back to the firehouse and focus on something else that didn't involve helping his friends?

Bobby looks across each firefighter's defeated expressions. His own chest tightens. Bobby knew that the team wanted to stay and dive head first in the search for Tom and Emery. And he wanted to be out there searching for his team as well. But, he had to be the rational one here.

...

"So, this 'Firesnatcher' what do we know about them?"

Wren looks at Athena and she sucks in a small breath. "Besides their killing pattern? Not a lot." She keeps her eyes on the cork board in the police station.

"Okay...then let's start with that." Romero speaks.

Wren's eyes stay glued to the picture of Emery pinned to the cork board. She had a huge smile on her face with her arm around Amaya's neck. Emery always made it clear that she didn't like taking pictures by herself. She never knew what kind of pose to do unless someone told her. But when other people were around, posing for a photo came naturally to her.

Wren shifts her almond brown eyes to the picture of Thomas and her eyes soften. Tom was holding his son, Dylan, in his arms while they were both standing in front of a giant water slide.

"The Firesnatcher forms bonds with the people they take...that's how it starts." She gnaws on her lower lip. "Normally, they'll find whoever he's got an interest in, outside of their job...I don't know why they decided to change anything up."

"Maybe they were desperate." Romero suggests. "They couldn't get Emery and Tom alone. So, this was their best shot."

"Normally, 'The Firesnatcher' takes one person." Wren states. "This time they took Emery and Tom. So, we don't know which one they had an initial motive against."

Wren's stomach turns and she begins to feel her fear creep through her. "They'll torture them for the first few hours. Weakening their strength physically and mentally. They want the victim to beg for their life. know that they're never getting home. But there's always that hope." Her voice begins to shake. "And they l-like when the victim still have that hope. Cause that's when they'll..."

Athena and Romero anxiously wait for Wren's next words.

"...that's when they'll bury them alive."

Wren covers her eyes and looks away from the two. Her breathing was quick and her eyes were burning with tears. "God, we have no leads and no time."

"What are we going to do?" Wren pulls her hands off her eyes and looks at Athena and Romero.

Silence hangs heavy in the fishbowl room. The three had no idea what to do next. Especially without any leads. But this was Emery and Tom's lives they were discussing. They had to think of anything.

"We have to think of Emery and Tom as just another firefighter that was kidnapped." Romero voices. He notices the slight hesitation in Wren's body language.

Athena notices as well and she touches the girl's shoulder. "I know that's hard to hear. Tom and Emerson...they're not just any other firefighter that was taken. They're our family."

A painful lump forms in Wren's throat.

"But right now, us thinking about them like that is distracting us from doing our job," Athena states. "And our job is to save them."

Wren finally meets Athena's eyes and a sudden calmness washes over her. "Yes, ma'am." She looks back at the corkboard. Her mind begins to race as she tries to find one single clue that could lead them to finding a suspect. Like a flip of a switch, Wren thinks of something.

"The Firesnatcher forms bonds with the people they take..." Wren looks back at Romero and Athena. "That's where we start!"

"We go through Emery and Tom's lives. Find out which of the two met anyone new recently." Romero says. "When we do that—"

"We'll not only find 'The Firesnatcher' but we'll learn who they were trying to take in the first place."

Athena turns to Wren, "How long do the victims normally have before he buries them?"

Wren swallows, "48 hours."

"So, we have 32 more hours to find them."

"Unless he already got to them," Romero says.

Athena shakes her head, "No. Emery's smart, and Tom's..." she raises her brows. "He's strong."

Wren deadpans. "Tom's smart, Sergeant. They both can handle themselves until we can get to them."

Emery and Tom are strong and intelligent. They would definitely put up a fight when it came to it. That's one of the things that caused Wren to sweat.

☆

Emery and Tom were sitting side by side together. The truck hadn't stopped driving once, so there was no way they could catch a glimpse of where Joe was taking them. Emery had woken up about an hour ago. Her mind was still foggy, but she had enough strength to sit up. The truck was silent beside the soft rev of the engine.

"You know..."

Emery keeps her eyes forward as Tom continues to talk.

"...I was running late for work today. So, Dylan and I were rushing to get ourselves ready. I dropped him off at school today and I told him to "have a good day"." A lump forms in Tom's throat. "I didn't say "I love you"."

Emery's jaw goes slack. Even though she couldn't see in the pitch-black truck, Emery still looked to the side at him. "Tom..."

"I always say it and the one time I don't..." Tom trails off his words and he shakes his head. "I have to get back home to him, Emerson."

"And you will." Emery grabs his hand. "You will."

Tom lets out a soft breath from her emphasis. "You keep emphasizing 'you', as if you're not getting out too."

Emery pulls her hand from his and Tom's body begins to feel cold. The girl pulls her knees toward her chest and exhales a shaky breath. "Joe only wants me." she looks at him. "He doesn't need both of us." 

"He's not gonna let only one of us go." Tom states.

"He's obsessed with the cat and mouse game he plays with the police." Emery softly speaks. "If...he were to let you go—"

"That could help the police with their search for him." Tom finishes. Emery nods her head. "Exactly. If we can convince him in a way that could catch his attention. There could be a chance he'll let you go and that'll better my chances of getting out."

Tom didn't like the idea of leaving Emery here by herself. He also knows that he wasn't much of a planner. So, if the planner comes up with a plan. It was n best to follow it. Especially if she was deadlocked on the idea.

"Okay." Tom sighs. "Fine. We'll do it your way."

Emery slowly nods her head. "Okay...thank you."

"And if my plan doesn't work...we can do yours."

Tom raises his brows, "Really?"

Emery softly huffs, "Yeah, it's not like we have a lot of any other ideas to go off of."

Tom softly chuckles and he moves his head sideways to side. "You're not wrong."

Emery softly hums, "I usually never am."

Suddenly, the truck jerks to the side, causing Tom's body to hit Emery's. "Shit—sorry."

The truck then comes to a full stop with air hissing.

"You're apologizing for the serial killer being a shitty driver?" Emery then lets out a soft scoff. "You truly are a gift, Thomas Fletcher."

Tom couldn't help but smile.

"Now, go back to your spot." Emery softly instructs.

Tom forces his body back over to the other wall of the truck, his back pressed against it. Both firefighters wait anxiously for a sighting of The Firesnatcher. The truck was getting hotter by the second. And food and water hasn't been a priority.

The back truck door pulls open and Joe climbs in. He closes the door behind him and turns the light on, lighting up the entire truck.

"You two are up!" He claps his hands. "You both have time to make a game plan? I always enjoy when they tell me their game plan."

Emery and Tom stay silent which causes Joe to laugh. "Really, you two came up with nothing—Emerson, you came up with nothing?"

Joe then clicks his tongue. "Then again, I know why you can't really think of something." He taps his arm, mirroring wear he's been sticking her with the needle. Emery bites her tongue, resisting every urge to badmouth him.

"Speaking of which. It's time."

Emery's stomach sinks and she begins to feel sick. Tom could tell from across the room that Emery was panicking. "Joe, I can't..." she presses her back more against the wall. Joe walks over to her, "Oh...of course you can. You're Emerson Sharpe. You..." he crouches in front of her and lightly taps her nose. "...can do anything." Joe pulls the syringe from his pocket.

A small exhausted whine escapes her lips. Joe tightly ties the rubber around her forearm. Emery shakes her head, "Joe, get that away from me." her tone was stern.

Joe lets out a breath. "No, Em...I'm not going to do that just because you told me to." he digs his hand into his pocket and pulls out a prescription bottle. Emery pulls her brows together as Joe rattles it in her face. Her eyes catch sight of the name on it and her jaw goes slack. "How did you get my..." her heart drops. "You were in my house?--You were in my home?!"

Joe blinks, "Of course." he tilts his head. "I needed to find an incentive to keep you in line."

Emery's eyes fill with tears. "M-My...my dad?" Her heart was beating aggressively against her chest, she could barely hear herself think.

"Your dad? Elijah Malcolm Sharpe?"

Emery's lower lip quivers and Joe softly smiles. "No, I didn't kill him, Em..."

A breath escapes her lips and she leans her head against the wall.

"Believe me, Elijah doesn't need any assistance when it comes to dying." Joe sighs. "Also, one more reason why you're going to end up alone."

Emery clenches her jaw and she looks to the side. She forced herself to stay quiet. She wasn't going to agitate the man that has Tom and her lives in his hands. "I told you earlier that you should let Tom go." She looks up at him.

"Yeah, you did...and I'm not doing it." Joe pops open her prescription bottle. "Now, open."

Emery clenches her jaw. Joe rolls his eyes, "You're such a brat." He grips her chin once again and forces her mouth open. Emery's softly grunts as he forces the pill into her mouth. He presses the water bottle to her lips and Emery drinks the water allowing the pill to slide down her throat.

"See...this doesn't have to be so bad." Joe softly speaks. He closes her mouth and looks across her face. "You know...I get why so many people fall for you."

Emery shifts her eyes from Joe and looks at Tom, who was sitting against the opposite wall. She forces her eyes back on Joe. Emery swallows the urge to tell him off and a small gracious smile spreads across her lips. "Thanks, Joe."

Joe raises her brows from her gentle response. "Now, see? That is a whole lot better." He presses his lips together. "Now, what was your idea?"

Tom's back straightens, his hope rising. Emery slightly parts her lips. "Let Tom go." She softly speaks.

"If I let Tom go, he'll tell everyone who I am and where we currently are." Joe clicks his tongue.

"Exactly. Can you imagine the chase?" Emery raises her brows. "The fun?"

Joe's ears perk and he slightly leans toward the girl. "Go on?"

"You've always been a step ahead of any police department you've come across." Emery tilts her head. "Now, the LAPD? You've never dealt with them." She chuckles. "Could you imagine the stories they would tell about you? If you had the police right on your trail—they're this close to catching you. Just for you to disappear off the face of this earth?"

"I'd be a legend."

That's his motive? Becoming infamous? Emery nods her head. "You'd get all the attention..." she pulls her brows together. His motive had to be much deeper. Emery hated to admit it, but she knew Joe well enough to know that he wouldn't do something this immature. "You'd get everyone's attention."

There it was.

Emery saw the corner of Joe's mouth twitch. All he wanted was attention from someone. A family member maybe? A significant other?

Joe looks back at Tom and bites his lower lip, thinking. "Imma need to sleep on it." He looks back at Emery. "That's not a problem, right?"

Of course that's a fucking problem, dickhead. Emery swallows the defeated lump in her throat. "No, not all. You take all the time you need."

"I will, Em...oh, I will." Joe points at her. With an extra pep in his step, he jogs over to the door and closes it. Emery lets out a sharp breath of relief and closes her eyes.

"He didn't stick you." Tom chuckles. "He was too in his head about your idea."

Emery sniffles, "Th-Thank god..." she softly whispers.

But she instinctively grips her arm where the needle had found a home in.

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author's note.

This was a bit of the build up chapter...next time we get INTO ITTTTT

We're going to see A LOT more of Wren as she helps (basically LEADS) search for Emery. Ma'am is going to be kicking down DOORSSSSS I LOVE HER 🫶

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