I woke up that morning with an expectant glee, knowing fully well that I was going to see my children, most especially my little daughter Amanda. I've so much missed them and my greatest joy was when I was asked to sign the discharged papers. I did it and got into the car with Mason.
As we drew near to the estate where I lived, I saw Alfred, Jared's elder brother, whom I haven't seen since Amanda was born. He came visiting that day claiming he was around the city and just decided to stop by and say hi. I wondered what he was doing around the estate.
I made a mental note to ask the kids if he stopped by. Probably he heard about the news and came to check up on me.
"Kids please do not be hard on your mum" Mason said to the twins who were standing at the door anticipating my arrival. Alex came to assist Mason to bring me in as I was finding it quite difficult to keep my feet steady. Andrew stood with his arms folded.
After getting me settled, Mason left, promising to stop by later to check on me.
"Okay this silence is creepy. If you both have anything to say to me, just get on with it" I said weakly as I raised the cup of iced apricots lemonade tea, that Mason made for me to my lips.
"By the way, where's Amanda?" I asked.
"She's with Mrs Green. I think they're having a tea party or something there with her friends. Mum, what happened?" Andrew asked.
"You already know what happened so I don't need to explain it to you" I replied. I noticed a shadow moved over the window. I turned back to look outside, but there was no one there.
Alex scoffed.
"Mum, when will you realize that your job puts you at risk, and not just you, we're also in danger too"
"Alexandra!! My God!!! I can't believe you're the one saying this. I thought you've always said you're proud of me for my heroic acts and the fact that I'm saving lives?? It was just one accident... And I'm perfectly okay now" I put down the cup, when I saw that they were still not convinced. "Look, all jobs come with a lot of risks, and I knew what I signed up for when I joined the FBI. I knew what I was walking into" I tried to explain.
"Even at the expense of our lives?" Andrew asked.
"If you were asked to make a choice between us and your job, what are you going to do?" Alex asked.
"Oh my God Alex..." She gasped.
"Make a choice mum" She interrupted and burst into tears.
I saw that shadow again and immediately a red laser pointed on the TV and I pushed the twins down. "Get down kids!!!!" I yelled as shots rang through, shattering the TV, our family framed photo, the flower vase Alex gave me for my birthday when she found out I loved flowers and so many other things I couldn't even think about.
My house was being attacked.
I quickly grabbed a hammer that was underneath he centre table and broke open the ground.
The kids looked in and gasped in shock at what they saw.
"An underground house?!!!" The both of them screamed at the same time.
"Get in" I ordered. The shots kept getting closer. I'd noted the blindspots already. I made a quick glance at my sniper rifle that was lying above the ceiling.
"What??!!" Andrew asked.
"Son please I'll explain things to you later, but we're being attacked. The both of you should get in. There's a car there. There's a paper, with an address there. Program the address into the cars GPS and go straight there. Do not stop for anybody or anything, unless you hear our Safe word, okay??" To my relief, the both of them nodded in understanding.
"Mum what about you? You can't fight these people on your own" Alex asked, with worry creasing her brows.
"No baby. I'll be fine. The both of you should get down and get out now!!!" I said sternly.
"Don't die!" Andrew said, in a more warning, than concerned tone.
I nodded as they left immediately.
The gunshots stopped and one of the shooters walked in, fully masked. He removed his masked and I gasped.
"Alfred??!!"
"Hello ex sister-in-law. Long time no see. I came to warn you to get Jared out of that prison. He has a mission to complete, and if he doesn't do it in 12 hours time, a lot of things are gonna go wrong"
"So all these..." I pointed to my half-destroyed living room "...was just to come here and threaten me with nonsense??"
"You think it's nonsense, huh??!! You really do think it's nonsense. You're really naive as he says"
"What?!"
"Yeah" He replied. "You don't know what the nature of our job entails!!"
I decided to ask him the question that had been bugging me ever since I found out that Jared was a leader of a drug cartel.
"Do you... Is your family...? Are you a member of a Mafia?"
His eyes widened, and then he looked at me like I was an idiot.
"19 years!! 19 fucking years and you don't know what you married into? Have you heard of the Donatello Inc? My late great grandfather owns it. It consists of a string of illegitimate businesses, from drug deals to trafficking and we run brothels. We dominate everywhere and ..."
"Wait!!! Are you saying that Jared was a member of the Mafia?"
"Not 'was'. IS. He didn't want the business, so the motherfucker made a fake passport, changed his name and ID and a lot of fake things and came to America. Well, he got low on cash and needed money and we got him to come back. He's ruling it. Look I don't have time to spare. If Jared is not released in 12 hours, a lot of things are going to go bad. I came to warn you" He said and left immediately.
Oh my God!!
Oh my God!!!
Oh my God!!!!
I kept exclaiming. I went outside to town and got a new phone and SIM immediately. When I got back home, I opened my telephone directory and copied Tasha's and Mason's phone number into it. I had a feeling I was going to need it later. I then got into my car and drive to the headquarters. They were getting prepped for a mission when I got in.
"If it isn't the only Laura Anderson" Charles said with a smile and hugged me.
"What the hell are you doing back here Laura?" Tasha asked with a scowl. I gave her my new phone number and told her to share it with the rest.
"Well, hello to you too, Tash" I said with a smile and hugged the rest of my teammates.
"So what brings you back here?" Pat asked.
I related everything that happened to them and told them I needed to see Jared.
"Oh no" Nathan said.
"Definitely not, Laura. He could be lying. I honestly think he's calling a bluff. He just wants you to release his brother." Tash said.
"You know we can't let you speak with him since you're directly connected to him personally"
"Please guys" I said, looking at each and everyone of them. "I know Alfred very well. I need to talk to Jared. In fact, one of you could be with me in the interrogation room, if you think I'd let my emotions cloud my judgment"
They all looked at each other before Charles sighed.
"There's a problem though. He's no longer in our custody, but I'll arrange for you to go talk to him, with Nathan" He said.
"Alright that's fine" Although I didn't buy the idea of going anywhere with Nathan, considering the fact that he hurt Tasha's feelings.
"So I know you've been dying to ask what's happening between me and Natasha" He said with a smile, looking at me, as we drove on.
"I'm not going to ask you" I replied.
"You're not going to ask me? Why?"
"Because I've made my conclusion and confirmed that you're a douchebag"
He laughed at that statement. "The truth is, I have a lot of baggages and knowing the kind of person Tasha is, I wouldn't want her to get hurt"
"But you know, you won't know, unless you actually try" I advised. He looked at me and nodded.
As soon as we got to the station and showed our badges, they let us in.
"Special Agent Anderson!!" One of the officers called out. I looked up and went to him.
"You're the one that wanted to speak with Mr Colton?"
"Yes. Any problem"
"Well, we found him dead in his cell this morning"
"What??!! Excuse me" I rushed to the nearest bathroom and stayed there panting. Jared was dead, and gone forever.
Nathan came in not too long after and rubbed my back gently. "I'm sorry"
I looked at him.
"You knew. You all knew he was dead and sent me here to find out for myself" I said it more as a statement, than a question and he nodded.
"Alright. Let's go" I said and he nodded again. Just as we got into the car, our phones beeped at the same time, followed by a call from Tash.
"You both are needed back at the headquarters. Something just came up and it's very urgent"
I wondered what had happened again and I wondered if the day could get any more worse. I sent a message to Mason, telling him to send over someone to fix the damages in my home.
I checked the time.
4 hours had passed since the warning from Alfred, which meant that it remained 8 hours, which also meant that whatever wanted to happen, was going to happen at midnight.