Worse deal ever

feeling lost

All Emerald could hear was screaming, a female high- pitched scream. Her feet seem to be rooted to the spot-, She wanted to help, but could not move. Fear held her firm in its grip. She knew the sound of that scream, but could not believe it where it came from.

With her heart racing, Emerald finally broke free of her paralysis enough to creep towards where the screaming was coming from. If she remained on the ground, he would find her. Sliding with her back against the wall, she came to a metal, ladder. As she climbed it with her heart beating like a car engine and tears threatening to cloud her eyes at any moment, both the ladder and the girl seemed too frail to go much further.

Once on the roof, Emerald crouched down and peered over the side, she saw Blazed Jimmy and ducked. Holding her breath, she peered over the edge once again. She wondered if he could see her, as well as she could see him. Emerald noted the figure on the ground. She knew it meant they had found them and he would be looking for her next. They knew they were never far apart.

Blazed Jimmy approached the alleyway, she heard Blazed Jimmy’s voice, ducking back into the shadows; she noted he was talking into his cell phone.

He passed beneath her continuing to talk on the phone. Emerald remained hidden.

“Yea boss, I got Ash, and I’m looking for Emerald. I will have them both by the end of the night. We both know that they are never far from each other.”

Holding her breath, Emerald decided she had no time to worry about Ashley; right now, she had to think about how she was going to get out of there.

That is all she heard, as she ducked back further into the shadows. She assumed he must have hung up, but she was not coming out to find out. Emerald was staying put until she knew he was gone.

Questions ran through her head. Lost in thought she did not see the stranger approach her until he was close to her. He jumped back when their eyes met as a light passed over her, revealing Emeralds hiding place.

“What the hell are you doing up here? Who are you?” He moved closer towards her. “I should be calling the police on you right now. There is no one allowed to be up here.” He informed her.

“I’m sorry I was being chased and didn’t know where else to go,” Emerald stated, slowly standing. “I figured I could hide here long enough to go in the other direction.”
He stared at her, eyes narrowed. Then gestured Emerald to follow him, where to? His apartment? She could continue to stay here or follow this stranger. If she stayed here, she could be soon swimming with the fish.

Emerald followed this man into the building. She looked left and right the whole time they walked down the hall. He unlocked a door to room four hundred and twelve. He stepped aside allowing her to enter first, and then he walked in and locked the door behind him.

“Would you like a drink?” he asked.

Emerald just shook her head. She turned around and stared out the window. They had to be up at least ten floors. All that kept going through my mind was Blazed Jimmy was out there, he might still be near here. Waiting.

“Look I know you don’t believe me,” Emerald stated. “I don’t really care either way. Since you seem to have a problem with me being here, I think its best I leave.”

Emerald started walking to the door. She knew he was behind her, but still she placed her hand on the doorknob. Ready to twist it, but before she could his large hand slapped on the door above her. His other hand gripped her arm and he yanked it, hard pulling Emerald into the living room.

“I never said I didn’t believe you, all I said was why would someone be after you?”

His face softened, maybe he finally believed her. She asked him kindly to take his hands off her. When she told him, he removed his hand, and stepped away from her.

This was not going to work. Emerald could not stay in this strange man’s apartment. She had to get out of here; damn he was a good-looking man. He had her heart racing with him close to her. She did not need this shit to cloud her brain right now. Emerald needed to make a plan and get the hell out of there. The one thing that kept going through her mind was where was she going to go? Sure, she had to plan to run off to Mexico with Ashley.

She sure was not going there without her. Emerald had no idea what the plan was really. Since Ashley was the brains, and all she had to do was to come up with a way out of this shit. She had idea what happened to her, for all she knew she could be dead somewhere down there. Alone!

“Please, come in and sit down. You don’t have to stand, you can sit down and tell me about whatever this is all about,” he said, and then gave her a sexy smile.

“What do you mean?” I asked playing dumb.

“You said you were being chased. Who was chasing you and why?”

Emerald looked at him through hooded eyes. Why would he care who she was running from? It puzzled her. Why would he care, surely he wouldn’t. This did not make any sense. The moment the thought entered her head, she felt his hand on her shoulder, she slipped down the chair, onto the floor. His hands gripped her leg, a vice like grip. Moving his and up to Emeralds thigh, she felt his hand tighten around her, his face within reaching distance, she clawed at his face. Creating deep scratches down his face. His skin beneath her nails as she scrambled towards the locked door.

“Where are you going, Bitch? There is no way out, and besides the party will begin when Blazed Jimmy gets here. He can’t wait to get his hands on you.”

Wait, did he just say, Blaze was on his way. Emerald was not going stay and wait. She didn’t care what he was said, she planned on getting out of there. There was no way she was going to die here. Not if she could help it.
She needed an escape route. Still on all fours, she was almost to the door, when the lights flickered on and off, and then finally off. Now she was on all fours in the dark, trying to feel her way around. That guy was in here somewhere, and she wanted out, especially before Blazed Jimmy got there.


We were so high up there was only two ways out of there. Emerald didn’t even know if there was a fire escape. There was only one way to find out, she couldn’t go out the front door and take the chance of getting caught as soon as she made it out. To Emerald, there was only the fire escape and she hoped there was a way down.

Being so high up Emerald had two options, and now she realized heading to the door was a mistake. Since the door was locked. She had no idea if there was a fire escape, but if there was, it was her way out of there. She had to make her way to the window.

Emerald crawled slowly, fumbling, shadows cast on the wall, making it hard to decide where he was. She could hear him, breathing, but had no idea where he was, as far as she could tell he was not behind her.
Placing her hands out in front of her, she felt her way around. The apartment door opened, a line of light flooded the room. She stood, dashed towards the window and quietly opened it. She needed to move quickly. Emerald had one foot out the window when she looked back, and there stood Blazed Jimmy.

“Bobby where are you!” Jimmy asked.

Emerald scrambled out the window, not waiting to hear the rest of their conversation. She slipped out the window, her legs dangling. She found the metal steps beneath her feet, and moved down the steps. The fire escape was old, rickety. She heard heavy footsteps above her as she raced down the steps. As soon as she reached the base, Emerald was going to flag down a car, but not a SUV. The guys after her, drove a SUV.

Emerald looked over her shoulder; Blazed Jimmy was not behind her, not yet. Being lighter meant she could climb down those stairs with ease. Blazed Jimmy on the other hand, was a stocky man and the ten flights of stairs she knew he would give him a problem. It took it out of her, her chest hurt as she was breathing hard. Her head spun, trying to take in the events of which occurred. Her feet moved forward, taking her towards the bustling street. A few cars lined the road, but few drove down it. She needed to keep going, find a place full of people. Where she could lose him in a crowd, and find safety. Emerald had an idea of where she was, but her head was fuzzy and all the streets looked the same. Was she going in the right direction? Her eyes were heavy, and she was exhausted, but she had to keep moving. In the distance, Emerald heard the rattle of the fire escape echo in the air. She knew once he was down he would be in the street and on her tail. Emerald continued on, the longest street she had ever been down, nowhere to hide or turn. Just going straight ahead, running like it was a bad dream and you were standing still, and going nowhere fast. She had to think of something fast, whom did she know who would help her? If she could just get out of there, she would take a plane and get the hell out of there.

Running, Emerald heard heavy footsteps in the distance, it had to Blazed Jimmy, and she looked over her shoulder he was running down the middle of the road. Faster and faster, she had to find another escape route, and she needed sleep; Emerald was tired, and she was running out of energy. She finally came to a junction, no time to make a choice, and Emerald just picked one, and sprinted into the next street.

There were people bustling around this street, and they were all staring at her. Yet she still ran, slower, sprinting. A man with white hair and beard stopped in his tracks to stare at her as she passed him. This street had alleyways; she dove down the second one, and hid behind a trash bin. She needed to catch her breath. Being in the open, meant she had more chance of him finding her, and killing her. Emerald held her hand to her chest, which was now burning with pain. She was a fit person, but still the fear and adrenaline was pumping, causing her heart to race. Emerald closed her eyes, and snapped them open, stars floated before her. She needed a place to crash, and get some much-needed sleep. She could feel her body shutting down, her eyes flickered open and shut. She tried hard to keep them open.

Emerald did not know how long she was out, but when she awoke, she was no longer in the alleyway. She lay on a bed, how did she get here, and where was here? Fear gripped her, if it had been Blazed Jimmy she would dead, or maybe they were going to torture her. She sat up, the room was dark, the night had drawn in more, and the only light she could see was through a tiny gap between the drawn curtains. It was then she noticed a silhouette of someone. Emerald gasped for air. The owner of the house, or apartment was in the room with her. She had nowhere to go. She was trapped. Emerald held her breath.

“You’re awake then,” a male voice told her. It was not Bobby, or Blaze.

Emerald continued to hold her breath.

“I couldn’t leave you down in that alley way, it wasn’t safe for such a beautiful young woman to be all alone.”

“Who are you? Why….” Emerald stuttered.

“Sorry, how rude of me, I’m Tony Shoden.”

His voice sounded sexy, and nice, but Emerald had been fooled once already. She could not afford to let her guard down again. She had slept, but not long enough, she was still tired and hungry. She needed to get out of there. Her heart started to race again, she felt as if she was stuck in a cage and no matter where she turned, Emerald was still locked in.

“W-w-where am I?”

A light flicked on beside her, it was then she saw Tony stood before her, dressed in casual jeans and plain blue shirt, no tie. She noted he had kind eyes, but she was getting tired of running into strange men. She had no idea if he worked for Blaze. Emerald needed to stay calm, and think of a way to get out of there. She would lie if it meant she could get out of here.

“Are you feeling better?” he asked, sitting on the foot of the bed. “I bet you are hungry and thirsty. If you want I can get you something.”

He seemed nice, but so did Bobby. If he worked for Blaze, surely, she would be dead or was he waiting for him to come. His eyes twinkled, and a smile crept onto his lips. Emerald remained where she was, watching his every move. She placed a fake smile on her own lips. Trying not to be taken in, by that sexy smile.

“If you could make a sandwich and get me a drink, I will be out of hair in no time. I am sorry to inconvenience you.”

“You don’t have to rush off. I want to make sure you are okay before you leave,” he said, sliding towards her. “I would feel like an ass if I let you leave and something happened to you.”

Emerald moved her legs to her chest and held them there, resting her head on her knees. She had to focus, if this had happened in a different circumstance, she would already be in his bed, with him.

Emerald stared at him, anger in her eyes. She wasn’t trying to be mean, since he had been so kind to her. Damn, he did take me in when I had passed out in the dark alley, but I can’t stay here, she thought. Emerald didn’t know how to do this without being the street smart girl. She lifted her head, their eyes met.

“Look, I’m happy you saved me. For that, I am grateful, but I really have to go. I can send you some money for helping me out.”

“Before you leave, please tell me why you were in that dark alley alone?”

“I was running from a man and didn’t know where else to go, but hid in the alley.”


“Look does it really matter who or why I was running? I don’t think it does. You have helped me out a lot, but I really have to get out of here.”

He acted like he didn’t hear anything she said to him.” What the hell” is this guy’s deal? Emerald frowned, did this guy not understand that it was time for her to go and she needed to go?

“I feel I can help you. Let me,” he said moving closer again. “I know I don’t know what you’re going through, but I think I can do something to help you out.”

“Okay, you want the truth. My best friend and I were running…”

“Best friend…” he interrupted.

“Yes, my best friend, Ashley. Anyway, she knew a guy, who knew another guy who wanted to party. So being her best friend I tagged along, not that it took much to talk me into going. We were having a blast, but then some guy wanted me to stay with over night. I was like hell no, and then I saw it.”

“Saw it!” his eyes widened.

Emerald had an idea what he was thinking, all men thought about was sex.

“Not that, what kind of girl do you take me for,” Emerald shook her head. “I saw a huge pile of cash. And I wanted it, the stash of cash.”

Emerald took a breath, before continuing, but he lifted his hand, she assumed it meant she had told him enough.

“It don’t matter what you did, all I’m saying is I can help you get out of the trouble you are in.”

“There is nothing you can do. I wish there was something you could do.”

Emerald slid off the bed, stood and headed to the window, moved the curtain to one side, about to peer out, when she felt him put his arms around her waist. She tensed up and tried to move away from him. He wouldn’t let her go.

“Please let me help you. Tell me your name?”

“Let me go and I’ll tell you my name,” she said, staring at the closed curtain, her hand still holding the material.

“I promise I will not just run out the door.”

He withdrew his hands from her waist. She had to tell this guy something, but what could she tell him for him to trust her that she was better on her own. She would have to come up with something fast. Emerald knew down in her soul that Blazed Jimmy was not far from her.

“My name is Emerald. Yes I know that is a weird name, but my mother loved Emerald’s.”

“I love that name. I thought when I was going to get married a few years ago; I wanted us to have a little girl and name her Diamond. She would have always been my Diamond.”

He was smiling when he said this. Oh how she wished things could have been different. If this had been one of her favorite novels, he would have been one of those kings’s you read about in romance novels.

“I’m so sorry to hear that it didn’t work out, but you’re young and good looking. I am sure all you have to do is talk to a few women. Then they would be falling all over you.”

He did not answer her. They heard voices outside, raised voices. Emeralds first thought was it was Jimmy, but as they stood there silent, stiff as rocks, she heard someone yell,

“Tony come outside for a minute and takes a look at what Jack got.” Joey yelled.

She looked over at him with one eyebrow raised. She was actually questioning him with her eyes, but he seemed to ignore her for the moment.

“I will be right back okay? Please stay here, until I get back. I don’t think you should meet my rowdy friends.”

Tony headed towards the door; he had been gone ten minutes. There was nothing else for her to do but sit and wait for Tony to come back. She was bored in here, and she was tired of being around a man that had her blood boil when she looked at him. He had her thinking these crazy thoughts of him naked. She could ravage him in so many ways, but that is not going to happen. She was getting ready to get out of here. It was not safe to be in town with a killer hot on her trail.

Emerald found her white Nike’s with the pink check on the side. He must have taken them off her when she was sleeping. That was nice enough she guessed. She did not want to think about how nice he was or how good looking he is. She just wanted the hell out of here, before it was too late.

Emerald walked down the hallway to the bathroom; she needed to wash her face from the night before. She needed a fresh feeling at the least. She walked by the window, and could not resist looking out. She could not believe it, there stood Blazed Jimmy and he was talking with Tony and his friends. He had something in his hands and he was showing them a piece of paper. The only thing she could think that he would be showing them is a picture of her.

Emerald ran to the bathroom. She was going to sneak out the window, but of course, there was no window in the damn room. She closed and locked the door and waited, since it was all she could do. Hide and wait.

Tony's POv

Tony works crazy hours so this is this first time he has been home long enough to shower, eat, and clean up his house. He gathered up the trash and shoved it the trash bags he laid on his kitchen table.

Walking over to his counter he could look out into the alley that ran behind his little cabin looking house. Though it is a house he calls it a cabin because it reminds him so much of his hunting cabin. He grabbed the trash bag, looked out the window, and saw a lonely figure on the ground.

He forgot about his trash and ran out into the alley. Stopping right in front of a female form on the ground. He didn't want to move her until He was sure that she had not be injured. He checked her the best he could, then he heard someone running and yell out "Emerald I will find you." The woman he named Emerald did not hear this threat as she was passed out. Tony crawled her against his chest when he was sure it was clear and no one would see him carry her inside his house.

Tony walked inside and laid her on his bed. He lived in a small one bedroom house that resemblyed a cabin so that is what he called it. He slept in the livingroom, using the bedroom as a store room. Continuing to do as he was he untied her shoes and slid them off her feet. He moved her just enough to cover her with his blanket.

He didn't have to go far so he could keep an eye on her while she got the rest he knew she much needed. He sat on his couch looking through some hand written notes. He texted on his phone so he would not disturb Emerald, if this was the woman the strange voice was yelling at. He could run her first name through the data base and give his friends a discription of her. He didn't trust anyone at face value and a pretty face was sure enough a sign for trouble.

Tony showered and ate a cold sandwhich while the woman slept. He would let his eyes wander over to her sleeping form. He wondered "where did she come from? Was she being chased by the strangers voicd he heard? Was her name really Emerald or a street name?" On and on that lead to more questions. He planned to get the answers to these questions floating around in his head as soon as she woke up.

Tony grabbed a cup of coffee that he had to warm back up from earlier. He added two spoons of sugar with a dash of Hazelnut creamer into his cup. He sat down in the kitchen chair so that he would not scare her to much when she did finally get up. He was not sitting for long when she sat straight up in bed trying to catch her breath.

"You're awake then." He asked her.

She was still staring at him with intrustful eyes and didn't say a word. So he continued, "I could not leave you out there in tbe alley way. It wasn't safe for such a beautiful young woman to be all alone."

"Who are you? Why.... she stuttered.

"Sorry, how rude of me, I'm Tony Shoden.

He loved the sound of her voice it sounded like soft love music. He wouldn't mind hearing that voice the rest of his life. As he stood there mentally kicking himself, she started to speak again.

"W-w-where am I?"

Tony flicked the light on that was next to the bed. He saw her eyes get wide. She looked shocked almost.

"Are you feeling better?" He asked her before he sat on the foot of the bed stating, "I bet you are hungry and thirsty. If you want I can get you something."

She smiled a smile like an angel and said, "if you could make a sandwhich and get me a drink, I will be out of your hair in no time. I am sorry to inconvenience you."

"You don't have to rush off. I want to make sure you are okay before you leave," he said sliding towards her. "I would feel like an asshole if I let you leave and something happened to you."

Tony didn't know if she was going to be sick or not when he put her head between her knees. Then her head snapped up and she looked pissed.

"Look, i'm happy you saved me. For that, I am grateful, but I really have to go. I can send you some money for helping me out."

He was offended by her bringing up money to him. Instead he continued on not changing his demeener, he said instead, " Before you leave, please tell me why you were in the dark alley?"

"Look does it really matter who or why I was running? I don't think it does. You have helped me out a lot, but I really have to get out of here."

Tony went in his own world now. He was trying to think what he could do to help her, if she would let him help.

"I feel I can help you. If you let me, he told her moving closer to her again. I know I don't know what you're going through, but I think I can help out."

She started going into a long story about her and her best friend stealing money from some gang members she was sure of. He tried to interrupt her but she continue and told him, " I have his money."

Tony had his hand up and said, " it don't matter what you did, all i'm saying is I can help you get out of the trouble you are in."

He let her slide off the bed. Watching her walk over to his curtain to look out. He walked up behind her and put his arms around her, trying to give her some comfort and said, "please let me help you. Tell me what your name is?"

She asked him, "to please let go of me first and then I will tell you. I promise I will not run out the door.

He walked backwards and held his hands up as a peace sign.

"My name is Emerald. Yes I know that is a weird name, but my mother loved Emeralds."

He needed something to get close to her with and she just opened up a door for him to walk through.

"I love your name. It fits you just fine. I thought when I was going to get married and start a family, I wanted to name our daughter Diamond. She would have always been my Diamond."

He heard her speaking to him but he was lost in thoughts of his own, when they both heard, " Tony come outside for a minute and take a look at what Jack got." Joey yelled.

Tony snapped out of his day dreaming and looked at Emerald saying, "stay here I will be right back. I don't think you should meet my rowdy friends at this time."
Tony opened his front door and slipping out without anyone being able to see in his house and see Emerald. He didn't need the questions he was sure to get if they seen her. He walked over to the bright red truck and stood by tail gate. "What's up? You seem a little to excited this evening.

"Jack got some new toys. Two semi automatics and two rifles." Joey pulled back the blue tarp that was over the bed of the truck. "Man that was nothing to get so excited for." He said with a wink and then said, "what is going on are we doing this or not?" That's when he remembered he had Emerald inside. When tony got this blank stare on his face as if he slowed some bad food he asked,"hey you alright man? You don't look so hot all of a sudden."

Tony swallowed and told them about Emerald. Since he didn't know to much he couldn't tell anyone else much. He asked them both,"would you come back in say thirty to fourty-minutes? I need you to pull back here in this spot turn your brights on the house and I will do the rest." After the plan was set Jack tied the tarp back down on his truck, just before two men walked into the driveway. One was some what big maybe a body builder. The other about average male size. "Excuse me but have you seen this girl?"
Tony took the picture the man had and seen it was Emerald. This time he kept a cool persauna. He looked at the picture for a few seconds and said,"no sorry I have not seen her but she is pretty. I think I would reconigne her right away." "I am Jimmy and this is my brother. We are looking for our sister as that is the picture I just showed you." Tony did not believe him for a minute. He could he was lying but said nothing but," I understand and I am sorry I could not help you." The two men left and Tony looked at his buddies and said," we are going to have to move fast they knew I could tell they were lying and I am pretty sure they knew I was lying as well." On his way inside the house he kept getting a bad feeling. He knew this night was going to go from bad to worse, plus some.
Before Tony entered his house he took a deep breath. He had to calm himself because he knew this woman was hiding a lot more then what she has told him, he could feel it. But he just didn't know what it was since she had already told him about Blazed Jimmy being after to get his money back and probably kill her.
Tony took one more deep breath before turning the knob and walking in slowly.

Running with Tony

Ten minutes passed, and she heard when Tony came back in.

“Emerald, where are you?”

She opened the bathroom door slowly. Emerald hoped no one else came in with him. When she poked her head around the door, it was only Tony. He walked towards her, as she sighed with relief.

“I can see why you are running now.” He stood outside the bathroom, and lent on the wall opposite. “I had a feeling there would be someone asking about you. It was a man by the name of Jimmy, he said if I see his sister to call them. Your family is worried about you.”

Her hands flew to her mouth. Did he believe him? What was he going to do call him back if he didn’t like her answers? She knew this was a bad idea. She should have been gone.

“Look that guy is not my brother. I don’t have a brother and the only parent I have is my mother, and she lives in a retired community. He is the main boss over Benny. I told you it was a bad idea for me to stay here with you, if they find out you lied they will kill you too.”

He grabbed her face and kissed her so hard she nearly fell backwards. He placed his hand on her lower back, to steady her. He kissed her like he taught a class on kissing. He pulled her closer to him and added more passion if that was possible.


Emerald placed her doll like hands on his large chest. She didn’t want stop him from kissing her, but this was not possible, there was so much going on, and now they were both going to be running for their lives.

“I’m so sorry. I don’t want to stop kissing you, but I can’t, we can’t do this. We need to figure out what we’re going to do next.”

He inhaled deeply, hugging her to his body. She could feel him shaking his head back and forth.

“I am going to get you out of this some way. Will he take the money back?”

“What the hell do you think?” She narrowed her eyes and shook her head. “I think since he sent his head men out and they’ve more than likely killed my best friend, they don’t want just the money back.”

They stood staring at each other. Not moving. She wondered what he was thinking right then, but figured it didn’t matter. They needed a plan to get out of this mess. Emerald knew they would be watching the bus stations and airports. The question was how long would they watch them?

“What is your plan Emerald?” Tony asked.

Emerald didn’t have an answer to that. She didn’t really have a plan now that she was on her own. Ashley usually came up with the plans.

“I don’t know yet. To stay alive for one, I may go to Mexico as we had planned. I don’t know, it won’t be the same going there without her. We had plans you know, but I will do this for her. The only thing is getting past those men.”

“Okay, first of all we need to eat something; I think we’ll need to keep up our energy.”

Emerald followed Tony to his kitchen. She discovered he lived in a small cabin so I did not have to walk far. It was maybe two feet from the bathroom.

“What do you mean we’re going to need our energy?” Emerald asked puzzled. “You can’t come with me. If you get caught with me; they will kill us both, I told you this.”

He was acting as if he didn’t hear a word she had just said. He continued looking in his cupboards and pulling out pans. Emerald wanted him to answer her, but knew he wouldn’t until he was ready. This man was very stubborn.

She sat in a brown kitchen chair, with a red cushion for the back of the chair and the seat. It made it more comfortable. Emerald crossed her right leg over her left and waited for him to say something. She had her head bent, staring at the floor.

Emerald heard him clear his throat and say something but she wasn’t paying attention.

“I said that is why I said we are going. I am not letting you go out there alone. You made a mistake. Everyone should have a second chance.”

Emerald opened her mouth to speak, as Tony continued to speak.

“It is dark enough out now that we will be able to sneak you out of here dressed like a man. You are going to have to wear my clothes but you can wear your own shoes.”

Emerald stood up and walked back to the sitting area. She needed to think. She was supposed to be doing this with Ashley, but there was a strong possibility she was dead. Now Tony had her heart beating, her hands wet, and her mind swirling; wanted to come with her and take a chance on being next.

She was thinking of a plan to get away from Tony, when he informed her he had to go into town to get some things for them to take. This is it, she thought. She could let him go to the store and she could get out of there.

“Okay, yeah well we’ll need some clothes and some food. We don’t know where we are going yet, or how long we will be there.”

He raised one of his eyebrows at her. Emerald smiled at him sweetly.

“You do know you are coming with me right?”

‘What! Why?” Emerald said, panicking.

“Like I said it will be dark soon and we will be able to sneak out without being noticed. We take some things from here that we need, then stop at the store.”

Emerald could not argue with that, but she did not want him to come along with her. This was not a good idea. He was putting himself in danger. She had enough to worry about with her own ass.

Since there was nothing she could do, but ride to the store with him and leave from there. She put on a pair of his black sweat pants over her shorts and his black hoody over her shirt with a baseball hat.

The plan was simple. They would get into his car, with her lying on the floor of the back seat. He would be driving of course. He would run into the store grab what they needed.

When they got into the car, Tony informed her he was almost out of gas. He was going to a gas station first or they would not make it to the store.

This was not going well. She should have seen this as a sign, but she didn’t and told him instead lets go.

They talked a little while he drove. He switched the radio off.

“I don’t want to get distracted,” he said.

“Do you want me to be quiet?” she asked.

“I think if someone see’s me talking to myself it may look, well you know.”

Emerald nodded, crouching down. They arrived at the gas station, and he exited the car. Leaving Emerald hiding, alone, she held her breath, until he returned and climbed back inside. He bent over to the passenger chair and opened the glove box, as if he was looking for something. Then spoke in a gruff voice,

“They are behind us. They’ve parked on the other side of the gas station so stay down.”


“This may get rough. I am going to try to lose them.”

Emerald laid her head on the seat while her ass was on the floorboard of the back seat. She could feel him picking up speed. It felt like her heart was racing in rhythm of the speed they were going. She could see from tilting her head up that the power wires were going by in a blur.

“BRACE YOURSELF!” He yelled at her over his shoulder.

Emerald braced herself just in time; he made a sharp right and sped down a bumpy road. She was scared to death but all she could do was hold on.

The road continued on, throwing her around the back of the car. Suddenly the car stopped, and they sat there in silence.

“We’ve lost them for now,” Tony informed her, turning around to face her. “Are you okay?”

Emerald nodded. Every bone ached, and she felt slightly nauseous.

“We cannot stay out in the open like this anymore. I’m going to call one of my buddies and get us some food.”

Before he could climb out of the car, Emerald jumped up and grabbed his arm.

“You can’t get out, it’s not safe. We may have lost them for now, but...”

“I know what I’m doing. Stay in the car in case we have to take off fast.”

Tony climbed out of the car, closed the door, and pulled out his cell phone. She could hear some of what he was saying, not that it mattered what he was saying. He was helping her. She didn’t need to worry about him killing her or he would have done it by now.

Emerald wished she had left Jimmy and his money alone. They could have made it some way. They always did. This time she fucked up by going after Jimmy. He got her back by taking her best friend, but that wasn’t good enough. He wanted her life too.

Something was eating her, she could not put my finger on it, but she was going to make sure she figured it out. Something did not feel right. This deal was the worst one they had ever made. They usually found a guy to date that would give them whatever they wanted. Then when they were tired of them, they would kick them out and move on.

Tony got back into the car and put his seat belt back on. He didn’t say anything, but he switched his head lights back on and turned the car around to go back in the direction we just came from.

“What the hell is going on? Why are we going back this way?”

Emerald saw him look in his rear view mirror. He was glaring at her.

“Get back on the floor. We don’t know where they are, but I can tell you they had someone burn down my cabin.”

“They did, I’m so sorry.”

“It’s not your fault, but this is getting personal. They should never mess with the best,” he said under his breath.

Emerald noted he was mad. She tried to tell him that things would just go from bad to worst. What part didn’t he understand what she was telling him? There were many thoughts going through her head right now and none of them was good. Her heart was skipping beats; she had to slow her breathing down.

Emerald watched him drive, keeping an eye on the speed meter, he never went faster than the speed limits. She remained hidden.

“Where are we going Tony?” Emerald asked, keeping her head down.

“We’re going to meet my friend Joey. He is giving us food and a tent.”

A tent! What the hell did he think we were going to do with a tent? We needed two tents. Damn it, this man didn’t listen to me. She was not sure if he liked being in danger or if he just liked helping people, but either way this was too much.

She opened her mouth to say something to him, but closed it just as quick. Emerald thought maybe once he was asleep she could take off. She would leave him his car so he could get home. Emerald decided she could easily walk through the woods for while. It had to come out somewhere.

They were not on the road for long when she felt him turn off the road again, this time to the left. She remained quiet, thinking. One thing Tony was right about is, she is starving now. She had no idea how to cook outdoors without a BBQ grill, so she hoped he did.

“I will be as fast as I can. I only have to jump into Joey’s truck grab some shit and then we can get going again.”

Emerald knew the drill by now. She was sick of this car, sick of being on the floor, and she just wanted this all to end.

He didn’t close the door hard, it barley clicked when he got out and shut the door. Emerald wondered if they were close to civilization. She didn’t have to wait long for him to return. He was back fast and they were back to driving.

“I got us a tent, and a sandwich, I think it is ham, at least it’s something to put in our stomach. I also got a big bag of chips, cans of pop, and a lot of water.”

“Can I ask where we’re going? Or even how long you think we will be staying there?”

He spoke as if they were not going to be seeing civilization for a long time. She didn’t mind really, it was just going to be harder to get away from him the further they went.

“I know this little place I like to use when hunting.”

Emerald remained silent; she had nothing to add to this new information. Although there was some tension in the air and she didn’t know why. He had been acting funny for most of the night, ever since that phone call he had made.

She wondered what happened? She knew it had something to do with her. She would ask him about it when they were settled. If he didn’t tell her it wouldn’t matter, because she would be gone by the morning.

“You should try to eat and then get some sleep. It will take us at least an hour before we get there.”

Emerald took a few bites of the sandwich, but she started thinking about Ashley and couldn’t take another bite. She missed her so much. If she listened, Emerald could still hear her laughing and making jokes. She could see her smile when we they talking about something funny.

She was her best friend and now she was gone, thanks to her. Emerald allowed a single tear to fall, knowing she would never see her again and she felt like shit, but since she got her killed. Did she deserve to live? Emerald hoped they would hurry and get to their destination.


Tony shook Emerald awake once they arrived at their destination. She opened her eyes partly, wanting to go back to sleep when she saw that it was Tony.

“Wake up, come on, we’re here. You’ve slept for an hour already.”

“I have?”

“Yeah, you have, I’ve almost done putting the tent up.”

Emerald got up, looked around, the only thing she could see were trees and a path. She had no idea where it led. Emerald listened, in the quietness she heard the trickling of water, she had to be close to a lake. Emerald decided to wait until morning to look around more.

Emerald climbed out of the car, stretched her arms and moved to the back of the car, picked up a bottle of water out of the cooler. It was still cool; even though it was hot as hell out. She didn’t hear Tony come up behind her until he spoke.

Emerald nearly jumped out of her skin. She spun around with the water bottle raised in the air. She did not know what the bottle was going to do to someone, but it was all she had.

They both started laughing. Emerald knew she must look funny standing there with one arm in the air with a small water bottle in it; ready for a fight.

Tony motioned for her to sit.

“I thought we could sit down on these logs here and talk before we lay down to sleep?”

Emerald frowned, worried about what he wanted to talk about, but nodded and headed to sit down on the log.

Tony was tall, his knees came to Emeralds chest level, and he sat awkwardly. Emerald sat down on the log next to his and crossed her ankles over each other, so her knees where almost flat.

“What would you like to talk about? I don’t know what more I can tell you.”

“I was wondering how well did you actually know Ashley?”

Emerald raised her eyebrows, what kind of question was that. Tony held his hands up. Before she could jump up, he had his hand wrapped around her wrist.

“Please sit down. I am asking this for a reason. I would just like to know how well you knew her before you decided to jump state to state with her.”

Emerald wanted to know why he was asking her this. She decided she would answer him. Maybe this has something to do with the weird feeling she’d been having since she started running for her life.

“I’ve known her long enough. I have known her most of my life. I don’t understand why you’re asking me about her,” she said through gritted teeth.

He remained seated, with a sad look in his eyes. She could tell he wanted to say something to her. What does he want to tell me? She wondered.

“Look, please just tell me what is going on?”

“The phone call I got last night shines a new light on things.” He looked down at his hands and then back up at her. “I feel that you’ve been played. I have reason to believe that Ashley is alive and she is with Benny and Blazed Jimmy.”

He did not have time to grab her this time. She was up on her feet in seconds pacing back and forth in front of him, like she was a tiger locked in his cage.

“What the hell did you just say?” You know that is not true. I heard her scream and saw her,” she stuttered. “Plus I’m the one being chased.”

“I have told you before I know a lot of people. The person that you have described to me and the picture I saw on your key ring, I know she is alive.”

Emerald couldn’t breathe. If this were true, why would she pretend to be dead, and let them come after her? Would she really let her die for this money?

“I’m sorry I have to go. I need time to think. Alone! I don’t know how I got you into this, but all I can do is thank you for your help.”

Emerald turned on her heel and started walking, heading towards a cluster of trees, she had no idea how to get out of there. All she knew was, she wanted out, she could hear the water was closer now, she knew she must be going in the right direction.

Just fed up

She did not hear anything, except the trickling of water. Until a twig snapped behind her, scared she dropped to her knees and cried. Feeling strong arms scoop her up, she laid her head on his shoulder. Allowing him to carry her back to camp, she assumed it was Tony, and one quick look towards his face, told her it was he.

“I can’t believe that of my best friend. There has to be a mistake. We have been through a lot of shit together.”

He didn’t say anything to her. He held her on his lap on the ground and rocked her. He was gently with her, he continued to rock her, and told her repeatedly; everything will be fine. Let him help her.

“I’m tired. I need to get some sleep. I’m tired of this stress and we have to figure something out when day light breaks.”

Emerald walked into the tent, alone. She left him sitting on the ground with his own thoughts. She lay in the tent to think things over. She didn’t think her friend would really screw her this bad.


Emerald kept thinking repeatedly why would her friend do this to her? Ashley was in on her having to run for her life and she had faked her death? This just didn’t make any sense to her. Emerald wanted some answers now, but how was she going to get some?

She was so lost in thought she didn’t hear Tony enter the tent. She knew he was in there when he moved his bedding to the middle. She looked up at him as he lay down.

“What is it Emerald?” he asked her.

“I just don’t understand how my best friend would do this? Why would she fake her death and then let the thugs chase me?”

He didn’t answer her questions. Instead, he moved his sleeping bag and pillow closer to hers and pulled her into his arms. She went stiff when he first pulled her to him, but relaxed, as she knew he wouldn’t hurt her. She could feel his heart beating rapidly. What did that mean? Was he, mad, turned on, or just thinking?

She didn’t dare ask. She just laid there still thinking of the shit she was in. She didn’t want to believe that her best friend would do something like this to her, but she had to think of the facts before her.

Somehow, she found herself running from gang banger, drug dealers, and her friend didn’t care if she was dead or alive? She was trying to think of her next move, where she was going to go, could she hide from them? She didn’t have the answer to these questions and it was driving her crazy. If it had not been for Tony, she did not know what she would have done. The one thing she did know was she would have been dead already. With Tony at her side, she was safe; at least for now, he had skills, and was able to keep them both alive. Only an hour ago he had managed to lose the men who were chasing them. Emerald knew they would soon be on their tail again, but Tony seemed to keep them one-step ahead.

“Tony, can I ask you something?”

“Mmm yea”

“What are you going to do now? I mean you cannot just mess with these kinds of people and walk away. They will come after you and if they don’t kill you they will make you pay.”

“Sweetie, you don’t know what I am capable of. I am a good man yes, but I will hurt someone if they hurt a friend.”

He just said friend. That means he considers her his friend.

“That is why I am worried about you. You are my friend and I do not want to see something happen to you. Maybe we should split up and you should run from here.”

“I told you we are not splitting up. That is a bad idea. I will not let anyone chase me off now; I am here to protect you.”

He pulled her more to his chest and kissed the top of her head.

“Go to sleep now. We have a lot to do in the morning. We need to figure out what we are going to do from here.”

She did not have any more fight in her tonight. She needed to give her mind a break. She would deal with all this tomorrow and figure out a way to get back at Ashley and her crew. Since Ashley could jump sides so easy; so could she.

Sometime through the night, she woke with nightmares. Emerald was screaming at Blaze.

“Please stop Blaze, don’t hurt him no more. I will go with you. Please just stop. He won’t give you any more trouble. Take me! Let go now!”

She woke to Tony shaking her. He was staring her in her eyes and wiping sweat from her forehead. She didn’t know what to do, she just broke down and cried.

She was crying a lot lately and over anything. She was not usually a crier so she didn’t know why this was happening to her now. Was she going to have a nervous breakdown?

“It will all work out. I am here and will help you through this. You cannot keep going like this; you need someone in your corner for a change.” He told her while he was rocking her back and forth, running his hands through her hair.

She didn’t remember going back to sleep, but when she woke the sun was beating against the tent. Tony was wide-awake still holding her. He didn’t look like he got any sleep.

“Did you sleep?” Emerald asked.

“No! I couldn’t sleep knowing you were….” He paused. “You were more worried about me in your dream, than you were for yourself. Why?”

She didn’t know what to say. She stretched her arms above her head, and then stood. Then proceeded to move towards the entrance of the tent, but he grabbed her wrist and pulled her back to him.

“Why would you care more about me then yourself?”

“I don’t know! I guess, because you have helped me out so much, and you didn’t have to. Then when I am close to you; my heart goes wild, it feels like it is going to jump out of my chest. I feel like I am having hard time breathing, and I just want to make love to you and I can’t.”She covered her mouth with both her hands when she let the end of the sentence slip from her lops. She blinked rapidly and backed away from him. Emerald was embarrassed and was not thinking straight when she said it. Yet she meant every word.

He didn’t move or say anything. He was watching her. Was she going crazy? She didn’t care. She had to back track.

“I mean. I us, I think you are good looking and when I first met you, the thought crossed my mind, but I left that back at the cabin. I am more worried about us getting out alive.”

She was nervous and she knew he could tell by the way her eyes darted back and forth and her body language. He didn’t have to say anything. The way he was smirking at her, and trying not to laugh said it all.

“Emerald you don’t have to feel embarrassed about how you feel. I have felt a sexual attraction to you myself. I just know right now is not the time. That does not mean when this is all over I am just letting you walk away from me.”

He pulled her lips closer to his thumb and first finger. He kissed her with so much heat, there was no way he was lying to her. He wanted her just as bad as she wanted him. They could not do anything about it right now. However, she could at least thank Ashley for getting her the right man.

When she pulled away she bent her head down, her cheeks turned pink, and she refused to look up. She was looking at the floor of the tent. She waited a heartbeat then turned back to him and said,” so what is the plan for us?”

“I am contacting an old friend a few towns from here. I know Jimmy is on our ass, so we don’t have much time for what I am trying to do.”

“What the hell does that mean?”

He didn’t answer her at first, he was wrapping up the sleeping bags so they could head out. He looked over his shoulder and said; “We need to get in that car and move out as fast as possible. I am trying to stay one-step ahead of them. We need to still change our appearance and find a hotel we can use for an hour.”


Emerald froze. He was a little too good at this getting away shit. She knew there was more to this man then he was letting on. She just didn’t know what it was.

“How do you plan on doing this? They are right behind us. We have nothing with us, and I am tired of running. I want some answers and results now.”

He smiled at her while he bent his head down to walk out of the tent, into the bright sun light. He looked so good when the sun hit his dark hair.

“We will get this done. I promise that I know what I am doing. I have already set up a plan and then I’ll ditch the cell phones. Do you have a cell phone on you?”

She was right behind him coming out of the tent. She was trying to get some answers out of him. She was tired of these short answers; trust me. Let me do this. She needed him to tell her something. However, when he asked her if she had her cell phone on her. She knew that they could be tracking them right now, because her cell phone was in the car.

“Yes, it is in the car on the back seat.”

He walked over to the car opened the trunk and threw the tent and things inside, and then he walked around and opened the back door with so much force she thought he was going to tear the door from its hinges. He bent inside and got the cell phone. When he brought his whole body from the car and was in a standing position, he threw the phone as far as he could.

“Let’s go. We have a lot of driving to do get done today.”

Emerald didn’t say a word. She was climbing into the back seat when he told her she should just ride up front now. They knew she was with him and it was day light, so they should be okay for now.

She did as she was asked to do. She sat in the front passenger seat, snapped her seat belt into place and leaned her head on the cool glass of the car.

She took a deep breath and just stared out the window. She waited for Tony to get in and start the engine. She realized he didn’t get right in the car with her. When she turned her head to look out the back window he was on his cell phone again.

“I am so sick of him being on his cell phone, and he always has to talk to whomever in private. This is most likely about me. Asshole, “ she said to herself in the empty car.

Minutes later Tony slid into the driver side of the car snapped his seat belt and started the car. He didn’t say a word he just started driving. He turned on the radio about five minutes into the drive; it was on commercial, about some tire store going out of business.

“Why is it every time you get off the phone you got a sour look on your face? Is something else wrong I should know about?”

“No. This is not about you this time. I have a life to you know.”

He gripped the steering wheel so hard his knuckles turned white. He was breathing rather fast too.

They had to be coming to their destination soon, she was sure they had been driving for an hour. She wanted to ask him what the plan was once they got to the motel. She kept her mouth shut since he still had that sour look on his face.

Emerald decided she did not want to live like this, constantly looking over her shoulder, worrying something would happen tomorrow, in three months, in a year. It wasn’t worth it. She was going to find out what was going on.

She was staring out the window when Tony cell phone off went off. He looked over at her, she could see him from the corner of her eye, but she didn’t say anything or turn her head to look at him. She acted as if she didn’t hear anything.

“Hello, yes. Okay, yes I know that. I am doing my best. I think that I am doing fine. I will. Thank you.”

She thought that was such a weird conversation, but she didn’t care no more. All she wanted was to be done with the stress, the running, and the old life she was living.

She felt a tear make its way down her face. She didn’t want him to know she was crying again, so she didn’t wipe it away; she forced herself not to cry. This was something that she couldn’t have seen coming. She was just trying to be a good friend to someone that has helped her out in the past. She didn’t think in a million years she would be running for her life and her best friend would be the one behind it.

“I think some way we need to get in touch with Ashley. Make her see me, or something.”

She knew she was not thinking straight, but damn it there had to be a way to get to the bottom of this story. Ashley could not just be setting her up without a reason. There had to be a reason that her friend was betraying her. Ashley was in on this shit to, why were they letting her live and be okay, yet they wanted her dead, and they were chasing her?

“We are going to find a way to get to them, but we have to take care of us first. I know you think I don’t know what I am doing. That I am just playing with you, but I assure you I am going to help you out of this.”

She nodded her head and lent it back against the headrest on the back of her seat. She was tired and she was going to get some more sleep, before they got to the motel. She didn’t really care where they stayed any more, she just wanted to stay alive and find Ashley.

When Emerald opened her eyes, she was in the car alone. He left her in there since she was sleeping. What an asshole. She could have been killed or kidnapped. Then she saw him coming towards the car with an arm full of bags.

“What the hell does he have there?” she asked herself in the quite car.

He looked over his shoulder while he was walking back towards the car and he was walking fast she assumed so they could get back on the road. Although she was curious about what was in those bags.


Tony opened the car door and started handing her bags. He didn’t say a word until he was done giving her things and setting things in the back seat.

Emerald didn’t look in the bags he was handing her. She just held them on her lap, which was filling up quickly. She didn’t honestly care what was in them as long as it helped them out of this shit.

“This is some hair dye, colored contacts, some clothes neither one of us would wear. This is the best I can come up with in a short notice, but I think this will buy us some time.”

Emerald knew that either he had run for his life or he has helped others. This means he could be a police officer, or someone along those lines.

“I think this is enough for now too. I am sorry I got you into all this. Just think you could be back at your place having a cup of coffee or any other drink.”

She shook her head. This was not going to help them right now. She needed to keep her head in the game and that is what they were playing. The only difference is they were playing with lives.

“May I ask what the plan is? I mean we don’t know where they are or how Ashley is involved in this.”

He smiled at her for a minute then he pushed a strand of loose hair from her cheek and tucked it behind her ear.

“I think that your friend is going to be contacting you. She may not be the one to actually call you, but trust me she has a plan to pull you out of hiding.”

“You know I didn’t want to believe you that it was my best friend that set me up, but the more I think of things, and this feeling that keeps eating at me. I know you are right.”

“Emerald it is not about being right or wrong. I wish I could tell you something different. I know that it hurts to know someone you trusted with your life is the one trying to help take it.”

Tony shut the car door and started the engine. They could not just sit out in the open. They had to make some kind of move.

“We are going to stay at a hotel ten minutes from here, were about an hour outside of town. I think that should buy us sometime.”

She told him yes in a whisper. She knew this was the best way to go, but she was getting nervous now. She didn’t want to see anything happen to Tony because of her. She was the one that got in this mess; she needed to figure a way out.

While they were in the car, there was little conversation. They were both lost in their own thoughts. Emerald just kept trying to think of a way to get Tony away from her long enough for her to get in touch with Benny. She would deal with the consequences.

They pulled into a dirt parking lot. They had fifteen rooms, which were in a circle around the parking lot. It looked clean enough, but Emerald could tell this was where men brought their prostitute for a good time.

Tony parked the car as close to the office as he could. He ran inside to pay and get the room key. He was back in a flash. He pulled up to room five and shut off the car. He sat in the car staring at the room door. Tony did not say anything, but he was breathing hard.

Emerald wanted to touch his arm and ask him if he was okay, but she figured he would not like that, so she left him alone to deal with his problem.

“Let’s get in here so we can get this done with. Not meaning I want you to leave. I just mean to get to the bottom of this.”

They got out together and walked up to the door. It took them two steps to be at the room door. Tony unlocked the door and stepped back so Emerald could walk in first.

When they were inside the room, he turned around and locked the door behind them. He was looking out the window and checking to make sure the window in the bathroom is locked up tight.

She stood there watching him. He was like a caged animal that was being beat. You could see that he was angry, because his eyes turned almost fully black.

“You can take your shower first and dye your hair while you are in there, so when you come out and I go in the dye has time to sit.”

She nodded her head yes and walked across the room the bathroom. She was in need of this shower. She couldn’t wash her hair if she was using the hair dye.

She sat on the side of the rub putting her head in her hands. She was so confused about everything that was going on. She wanted to keep Tony safe but she knew he was not going to let it rest is she was there or not. He was involved now.

She turned on the shower hot enough the bathroom filled with steam fast. She made sure it was not to hot by trying it on her wrist. She said “okay perfect” to herself before stripping down to step inside. Before she stepped in, she unlocked the bathroom window and opened it a crack so she could feel some cool air.

As soon as the hot water hit her dirty skin, she sighed. She loved the hot water running down her body, washing away the dirt and grime of the last few days.

She poured shampoo in her hand so she could rub it through her hair when there was a knock on the door. She nearly dropped the shampoo bottle. Damn she hated being so jumpy.

“Yeah!” she said a little sharper then intended.

“I was making sure you were okay in there. You have been in there for awhile now.”

She was not ready to get out by any means, but she was going to rinse her hair and get out so he could get in and have hot water.

Emerald dressed back in the same clothes she had on because she left the clothes he just got out on the bed area and there was no way she was walking out there in a towel in front of him.

She got dressed and wrapped a towel around her head and opened door to the bathroom; the steam just rolling out behind her.

“It is now your turn. The water is nice.”

She continued to walk towards the bed to get the clothes when she remembered that they did not bring the bags in. They were out in the car where she left them. Before she could say anything or make a move towards the door. Tony grabbed her by the arm when she was walking by him. He reached up with his right hand and snatched the towel right off her head.

He stood there glaring at her. She forgot with all the thinking and confusion going on in her head she climbed in the shower and washed her hair.

“Why did you wash your hair? And where is the hair dye?” he snapped at her.

The way he snapped she knew he was pissed, but she forgot. It was routine to wash your hair in the shower.

“I am sorry I forgot. It is habit to wash my hair while I am in the shower. I will put the hair dye in my hair as soon as you finish with your shower,” she said weakly.

“Not going to work. This is supposed to be fast. We were only going to stay here for an hour, we don’t want them to be able to track us down this fast and be cornered here with nowhere to go.”

He pulled her with him towards the bathroom. He had one foot in the bathroom and his left hand wrapped around her small one.

“You can come in here and do it while I am in the shower, it will take less time this way and then we can get out of here.”

He did not give her time to complain or say no. He was already in the bathroom with the door closed with Emerald in there with him.

Emerald thought she was going to die from heart failure. Her heart was beating fast, she was having a hard time catching her breath, and she couldn’t open her mouth to speak. Her mouth felt like cotton.

He didn’t seem to care that she was in there with him. He got undressed facing the other way so his back was to her. She hurried up and opened the hair dye package so she could get out of there. She pulled the gloves and read the instructions. She was going to be a red head. Bright red head not one of them dull red heads.

She opened up the bottle, poured the liquid stuff inside the bottle, waited five seconds while she shook it so it would mix up good, and worked as fast as she could to get the dye through her hair. It was hard since she could not see the back. Nevertheless, she felt she did a good enough job so she opened the door and left the bathroom.

She was sitting on the bed with a towel wrapped around her shoulders when Tony came out with just his jeans on. His chest was damp and he was bare foot. Her heart nearly stopped at the sight of him.

She turned her head back to the TV instead and concentrated on her breathing. She was watching some music program.

He came out and told her he had used the blonde color for his hair, he had to strip down his natural hair color to use it, but he figured he would look different.

She could not picture him with blonde hair but this was not permanent her hoped. She was changing her hair back as soon as possible.

“I need to get us some food when we leave here and you can change your clothes in the car.”

“I think this had been in my hair long enough. I am going to wash it out now.”

She stood- up from the bed and walked past him. She didn’t say anything, she just smiled at him. She wasn’t going to be able to find her own voice anyways.

Going to Jimmy

She walked into the bathroom closing the door behind her. She got undressed again. She figured it would just be easier to get all the dye from her hair if she was in the shower. Emerald rinsed her hair watching the red color go down the drain of the tub. When the water ran clear, she lathered her hair in shampoo. Letting the shampoo set there for a few minutes while she just stood under the spray of the water. It felt good beating on her body. She then rinsed the shampoo out and repeated the process just to make sure the dye was out of her hair.

She dried and re-dressed. She walked out of the bathroom with a towel wrapped around her head again. Smiled at Tony and sat back on the bed.

“You should probably wash the dye from your hair soon as well.”

He gave her a half smirk and walked into the bathroom closing the door.

She giggled, throwing her hand over her mouth she he did not hear her. They were acting like teenagers and they shouldn’t be. They had to stay alive and the only way to do that is think and behave like adults.

The news came on the TV and she muted it. She didn’t like to hear about the crime and things happening the world that she couldn’t change or she should be scared of. She would rather just not watch it.

Ten minutes later Tony came out of the bathroom in his jeans again. He walked over and sat on the bed next to her. He didn’t say anything. He bent down and put his socks and shoes on. He would look up at the TV now and then. She thought he was going to say something to her when they heard a loud BANG!

Someone crashed into another car, you could tell from the metal sound, and they knew whose car it was. they both jumped up. She jumped up from the bed and Tony jumped and ran to the window. They flung the window curtain open and looked out to see their car had been the one to be hit.

“Run! They know were here. Go out the bathroom window.”

“The money and everything is in that damn car, what are we going to do now?” She yelled to him.

He kept pulling her into the bathroom with him making sure to kick the door shut behind them. Before he sent Emerald out the window, a hand came inside with a gun pointed at them. Tony quickly grabbed the man’s arm and bent it until he heard it snap, and taking the gun from the floor and shooting him.

They had a gun now, but there were no other bullets, they had five rounds left and she didn’t know how to shoot. She was sure he could shoot after what she just saw. They ran back towards the door because they knew with the guys screaming he would draw attention. Tony told her on the way to the door that the guy was not going to make it, which would piss them off more so they had to be fast.

Since the guy in the back was screaming, it should be easier to get out the door; they were going to have to run as fast and far as their legs could carry them.

“I am going to open this door, I want you here by my side and you are to run as soon as I open this. Do you understand?”

“Yes! Let’s just get out of here.”

She grabbed the back of his shirt so when he opened the door to run she was right behind him. She couldn’t afford to lose sight of him. She was scared to death; she was visibly shaking, heart racing and head spinning from the gunfire that was going on, the screaming from the front, and the car he crashed into.

She didn’t know how much more of this shit she could take. She was ready to let them take her and do as they please. On the other hand, she was not ready to die and she had to listen to Tony right now.


She stood right behind him, watching his every move, when his hand went up signaling her he was ready to move. At least she hoped that was what he was doing.

He opened the door fast his gun in his right hand aimed at the center of the door. He grabbed her left hand behind him so he was holding the front of Emeralds shirt and he took off as fast as his feet could take him.

Emerald was trying her best to keep up she was having a hard timekeeping up and catching her breath though. She was tripping over her own feet, almost falling to the ground a few times. Her lungs and legs both burned from not using either, as she should.

Tony pushed her though. He has been through so much the last couple of days. He was pulling her and yelling at her “come on, damn it if you don’t get them legs moving.”

She felt tears coming from her eyes. Her ribs, chest, and legs hurt; but she still had to push on and she didn’t have it in her to do so.

They ended up on a dirt road that held six houses along the side. Very secluded, all they needed was a phone so they could get a ride out of there. They ran a good ten minutes before he finally slowed to a brisk walk. She knew they had to put enough distant between them; she just did not have any more energy.

He helped her by holding her around the waist because she was going to fall on the dirt road. If he would have hit the road she would have landed on her knees and then did a face plant. He did not allow that to happen; he told, “come on Em, you have to make it a little further and then you can rest inside that barn up ahead. I will go for help as you rest. You will be safe in there for now.” He tried hard to keep her awake but her head was starting to flop around and her feet were dragging more.

She knew she had fallen asleep while they were walking because her eyes snapped open as soon as he laid her down on a pile of hay. She was instantly back to sleep.


She woke to yelling, her body instantly going stiff, she was ready for a fight if that is what was going on. She would rather avoid it as long as she could. She walked over the barns open doors and peeked her head around the door so she could see what the yelling was about. She saw Tony, his friend Joey, and some older gentleman with white hair; he was holding Tony and Joey at gun point.

Emerald could not stand there and watch him get killed by this mans shotgun, he looked as if he was scared enough to pull the trigger any second.

“WAIT! Please wait, don’t shoot them Mr.” she cried out with her hands flying in the air.

All three men turned and looked at her in amazement. She did not know if this crazy old guy would shoot her or them but she took that chance anyways.

“I am sorry Mr. I do not know what they have done, but I am with them. He put me in your barn to sleep on a pile of hay. I was too tired to move another inch when we saw the barn”

The older man pointed the shotgun towards the ground instead of a person. She was thankful for that, but he was still looking at them all as if they were thief’s of the night.

“This one here says he came to pick the two of you up. I was wondering why there would be a truck around my place then when he said two, I thought he was plum crazy.” The man laughed.

They all laughed with him. Emerald speaking up before the mood went south again. “We are so sorry for any trouble we may have caused you sir. We were just trying to get a ride home after our car broke down or whatever it did.” She gave him her sweetest smile.

Larry was the man’s name and he made sure to let them know they could come by for a visit; he would love it if they did. That made Emerald want to cry but she held back the tears, climbed into the truck, and waved bye to him.

“What the hell started that? You don’t seem to get along with other people do you?” she asked.

Tony made some type of noise though she could not tell what it was. He did not answer her she did know that. She sat in the middle of the truck with her arms crossed over her chest. She was pissed she had been running for what three maybe four days. Hell they were all one blur to her now. She was being pushed around, yelled at, and then ignored. She was going to play the same game he was playing with her. He was getting little information from her and she was going to be short with him.

Since Jimmy and his crew burned down his cabin and seem to be everywhere they are what was they going to do? Where was they going to go? She knew they were running out of options and she needed to start thinking how to get away from Tony so she could find a way to contact Jimmy. She was going to go to him before this got worse and more innocent people got hurt.

“Tony do you know where the old mill yard use to be? I need you to take us there and then leave as fast as you can. You did not see us or talk with us in 24 hours. Got it?” tony asked Joey.

Joey nodded his head that he understood. He never uttered another word and he did not take his eyes off that wind shield. He pulled into the old mill yard and came to a stop. He still did not look at them as they got out and closed the door. He took off as if he was never there. Emerald looked at Tony with her eye brows raised but he ignored her as he always does.

Tony grabbed her arm and started walking her towards the back of some old building that she assumed was the main office of the mill yard. She was going to protest when they rounded the corner and she saw an old ass Mustang. She absolutely loved mustangs. She stopped in her tracks to stare at the beauty of this car.

It was a baby blue 1965 mustang with a white racing strip down the middle of the car. It shined in the sun light. This is the type of car that made you want to drive fast and dangerous. The best car for hot wild sex. She shook her to clear that last thought. But she was excited they were going to be riding in this. No one would think that she would be in any type of car that cost this much. She is the poor girl from the a rough neighborhood so what would she be doing in this?

“This is going to take us to another location about two hours from here, where we will be switching cars again.” He informed her.

She took in a deep breath. Damn it how many fucking cars does she have to switch to? Why does he constantly take them so far away knowing something always happens to them and they have to call for help? He is not doing a very good job picking locations that will not get them both killed.

She got into the passenger seat and crossed her arms over her chest. This is bullshit she has to keep running, she was tired of it now and she wanted it all to end. That means she does not care how it ends its time to end it. She wanted to go meet them herself so that they would leave Tony alone.

Neither one of them said a word to the other. There was too much tension on the air that you could cut it with a knife; she didn’t know what his problem was because he came on his own. She did not have a choice but to run.

Tony finally cleared his throat and said, “ Emerald this hard for me to do but I have to tell you that I am sorry that I cannot protect you as I thought I was going to be able to. I am taking you to a safe house now and then I am coming back into town to meet Joey and Jack. I am sorry.”

“Wait a damn minute. I did not run this far and go through this shit for you to drop me off at some safe house. That you know for a fact Jimmy will find me. Are you fucking kidding me right now? I think you better think that plan again buster.”

She was pissed because she planned on running off on him so he was safe but she did not know how she could get back being this far out. He was still driving; two hours from where they started. Then she thought about it, they may be a good idea because she could hop on the bus and go further out.

“You know what it does not even matter. I am going to be fine plus I am a big girl I can take care of myself.”

The car went silent again, they were both staring out the windshield. He had his hands wrapped around the steering wheel as if he was trying to choke it. She was staring out into nothing. She was trying to come up with plan onto the next bus or maybe she would stop being a chicken and really go to Jimmy herself so he will leave everyone else alone. She is the one he wanted and if he got her the rest would be safe.

Finally a little after lunch time they pulled up to a house that looked like elderly people lived there. Flowers all over the front yard and the porch. The driveway was long as hell. She thought this would be great for a grandmother.

“Come on we are here. I am sure you do not want me to walk you in so I will say good bye here. Emerald I wish I could have known you before all this.”

She gave him a weak smile and climbed out of the car. She stood there breathing for a minute. She turned to him and said, “ I am sorry about all this shit. I wish I would have known you before to.” She grabbed him and kissed him like he was her life line. He kind was she thought while she kissed him with all the power she had in her. She wanted him to always remember this female.

She broke the kiss and walked inside the house without looking back. She could feel the tears building in her eyes, she swallowed hard, and forced the lump down. She let her eyes take in her surroundings. She noticed there was a livingroom to the right, from what she could tell the walls were white through out the whole house. She could see there was a kitchen to the left and right before the kitchen was a set of stairs that took you up.

She was greeted by a man and woman who let her know the rules of the house. She was under police portection and she was not to leave the house at any time. No phones calls and no mail at all. She felt like she was in prison.then it popped in her head she had been right all this time about Tony; he is a damn cop.

She knew what that meant, they were going to use her has bait and an eyewitness. There was no way she was going to give any information on Jimmy and she was not under no circumstances testifying against anyone. They would kill her in prison so she might as well go to him now before they took her to a jail and made her go to court.
hey showed her to her room and told her dinner would be at 6 pm and she was to go down to the dining area. She could take a shower and go back to her room.
She agreed and walked into her room. She didn't need a shower.

She waited until she knew they would be busy in the kitchen making dinner so she could climb out the window. She was a good climber and she would be on the ground in no time. She knew she was going to run through the tree line she saw when Tony pulled up to drop her off.
She heard the noise below which was her cue to go. She opened the window and jumped to the lowest branch she could reach, and swung down to the ground. She looked around to make sure no one heard her. She took off towards the trees deciding whatever was on the other side she would just deal with.
She ran until her sides hurt and then she ran a little further until she collapsed onto the ground. She sat on there on the ground heaving and clutching her sides. She was trying to get her breathing under control so she could continue through so she could get to the other side.

Emerald was up on her feet walking fast as soon as she caught her breath. She walked so long her shoes rubbed blisters on the back of her feet. She finally saw lights in the distance; she made it to a new town.

She was calling Jimmy as soon as she saw a pay phone that worked. People did not use pay phones to much now days so she had to find one. She knew the cops were looking for her by now.

She was tired by the time she found a phone to use that she sat on the ground while dialing the number. When she hear a male voice say, "what is it?"

"Come get me. I am done running. You win okay?"

She heard him laugh and ask where she was. She had to look around and tell him the general area. She hung up and went to ask the store clerk if there was a bathroom she could use. She needed to hide until Jimmy got there.

She knew they called Tony by now. She knew that he would be out looking for her.

She had to wait almost fourty five minutes before they showed up to get her. She walked out of the store, they had the door to the black suv opened for her to get in. Once she got inside they peeled off so they could get out of the area before they were caught.

Jimmy was driving, Benny in the passengers seat, and some man at her left sid. She hadn’t seen him before but he looked meaner the other two; and they were cold blooded killers. She knew better to say a word right now. They were all pissed off she made them chase her for this long. All she knew for sure was this is her last night on earth, they were going to kill her she just didn’t know how yet.

Jimmy looked in his rear view mirror and said, “Did you think I was not going to find you? I know that cannot be the reason you came crawling back like a baby.”

She didn’t know what to say so she said nothing. She tried to look down at the floor board but Jimmy yelled “Thug” make her look at me when I am talking to her.” The guy that was sitting next to Emerald in the truck grabbed her arm rough at the same time as pulling her hair, so her head would jerk back.

“I want some kind of answer from you Emerald. I already know that you lost my money that you stole. How do you plan to get me my money?” he was screaming at her.

“I… I uh…I don’t know how, but I would try if I had more time. All I can say now is I am sorry.”

They all started laughing In unison, which was scarey if you think about it. She was in a car filled with mad men. She called them and put herself here. But this was the best way to go.

“Now answer the question; did you turn yourself into me because you didn’t think I could find you? I am not smart enough to find you so you thought you would just make it easier and come to me?”

She thought she was hearing things. They have been one-step behind them or in front of them the whole time. He knew she was never going to get away so why was he playing this game with her?

“No. it had nothing to do with if you could find me or not. I came in because I am tired of running from you and not getting anywhere. I know you would find me sooner or later and when you did you would kill me; so here I am.”

Jimmy continued to drive without another word. No one said a word until Benny answered his cell phone and leaned over to whisper in Jimmy’s ear, “Its him boss.” He did not whisper very well. Emerald had an idea of whom him was. If her feeling was right Tony just called his own death, she has done this all for nothing.

Jimmy said into the phone, “I am busy at the moment I will have to call you back. Do not go nowhere and answer this phone when I call it back.” He hung up without another word.

Emerald was not sure if it was Tony or not now. He was to busy to talk with someone? He was taking her to her doom and he was trying to figure out how he was going to kill her, she had that feeling. She was not normally wrong either.

He finally pulled into some kind of abanded lot. She did not even see a build out here, there was nothing. What did that mean? They could have a place already dug for her body to be put in. They would shoot her in her head and let her body fall in the hole. She was thinking so many secenrios out in her head. They ended so bad.

Jimmy drove maybe a foot and a half inside the parking lot, turned of his lights and instructed the men to watch Emerald. He was going to make a phone call. What the fuck is this game she thought to herself. There was nothing out here, he was on his phone, and these morons couldn’t do anything if it wasn’t for Jimmy giving them a job. If that is what they wanted to call what they did. She was get anxious. She did not want to die but the waiting was getting to her.

What is he doing here

Jimmy climbed back into the truck and started the engine. He did not say a word to Emerald but told Benny, " we are coming back later. We all get to have some fun." He had such an evil laugh.

Her heart racing and her head spinning made her feel nausea, she had to hold it in because Jimmy would flip out if anyone got one spot on his precious vehicle.

Twenty minutes later Jimmy looked in his rear view mirror and said, " we are going to an abaonded house where we are going to meet your boyfriend."

Emerald couldn't believe it she turned herself into him for no reason.Tony was going to get hurt because of her. She didn't care what happened to her anymore she had to beg for Tony's life.

"You got me and I am the one you want. Why do you want Tony? I came to you so you would stop hurting innocent people." She cried.

That amused Jimmy more when she cried and begged. He told her to keep begging and weaping like a baby and he might spare her boyfriends life. Though he was going to feel a lot of pain before they let him go.

"Do you know that Benny would have done anything for you? He fell hard for you as I did for Ashley; but you stole from him and ran off then fucked a cop."

Emeralds head snapped up so she was glaring at him through his rear view mirror. "I did not fuck anyone you got that? What do you mean he is a cop?"

He didn't say anything for awhile as he was driving. Jimmy finally cleared his throat and said, " well it don't matter what you did and you knew damn well he is a cop. I just want to know what all you told him? Oh and remember we know who Jack and Joey are."

She knew deep in her heart they would hurt anyone to get what they wanted and if they were not happen with the answers people gave them; they paid the price. It could be just pain, loosing a body part, or death.

Benny started to speak and Emerald wanted to hit him in his face. He is the biggest asshole on the planet. Bujt she had to keep her mouth shut right now.

"Your boyfriend is going to meet us at the house and do you know what I am going to do to him? He took my money when he took my girl. I am going to wait until he walks in the door and then stick him with a needle. Have you ever heard of that date rape drug?"

"Yes I have. Why?"

"You don't get to ask any questions right now. I am going to inject the drug into him so he can't move or scream out in pain. I will proceed to cut his skin with a razor blade then pour lemon juice over the cut. I am going to break his legs with a baseball bat. Guess what? You get to watch the whole thing beautiful."

Emerald could not swallow let alone speak. She had never been around anything like this. She knew Benny was going to do all those things and more to Tony. He was delusional because he said she was his girl. When the hell did that happen?

The streets are dark with no other cars on the road. She tried to pay attention to where she was but they took to many turns. She barley saw the house when they pulled into the driveway. Emeralds first thought was one of those movies that some crazy witch lived in and the towns people killed her. Emerald did not want to go in that house but they forced her out of the car. She refused to cry in front of them.

Walking into the house you would not think anyone was in there until you walked closer to the stair case. She could not believe her eyes. Tony was right along; he did not lie to her. There before her eyes say Ashely with her legs crossed proper and her hands laying over her knees.

Emeralds first instict was to run up to her and smack her across her pretty face. She didn't though knowing she would get killed before she could lay a finger on her.

"What should we do with her boss?" Benny asked.

Jimmy and Ashley said in unison, " the back room where there is only a spring bed. Handcuff her to the post of her bed."

Emerald shivered but not show no fear. She glared at Jimmy and Ashley until she could not see them any longer. She wanted one chance with Ashley before she died.

Benny and Thug both walked her to the room they were instructed to. They each held one of her arms. When they opened the door they pushed her inside so hard she almost fell. They closed the door and had it locked before she caught her balance. Probably a good thing; she was getting tired of being pushed around.

Inside the room Emerald stood there with her arms folded over her chest. The lighting sucked, it was a gray color. A single cot was set up in the corner with a black sheet covering the matress; she hoped the color was supposed to be black. There was no window in the room and it was so hot in there you could cook on the floor. She was sure of that.

She didn't know how long she was in the room but when Benny walked in the room Emerald was soaked like she jumped in the shower with her clothes on. She was to weak to go jump as she'd planned when someone walked in. She sat on the corner of the cot glaring at him as much as she could. Her hair was wet and the sweat was dripping in her face but she couldn't wipe it away fast enough.

"You will have company soon. I am going to have some fun with you first then we will have an audience for round two." Benny threw his head back and laughed.

"Fuck off Benny. You can go to hell with me."

Emerald never talked like that before in her life. She was usually the quite one and Ashley was the hard one. Emerald was tired of this shit. She wanted them to kill her and get it over with. They must think this is such a fun game. She was not going to show that she feared them. That would make them feel so supierior.

"Don't you want to know who is going to be joining the party?"

She didn't mean t say it, "who?"

"Your boyfriend will be here in another thirty minutes. I am going to finish some business and I will be back to take you."

Benny walked out the door and of course locking it behind him. Emerald was getting drosy from the room being so hot. She wanted to strip to her bra and panties but she remembered what he said to her before leaving the room. She was already having a hard time staying awake.

True to his word Benny returned to the room. Her eyes snapped open which means she ended up falling asleep. She watched him walk towards her with a pair of handcuffs and a rag. She jumped up onto her wobbly legs trying to make a run for it. She figured if he did not lock the door she could get out of here alive.

Benny must have saw what she was going to do because he stood hard and grabbed her when she tried to make a run for the door. He laughed in her ear and told her, "I get so hard when you fight me, baby."

Emerald tried pounding his back with her small fists and kicking her legs with all her mite. Nothing was working in her favor. He threw her on the cot and quickly tied her hands to the medal bar that is supposed to be the frame. He was not smiling anymore after he tied her up. The look in his eyes told her he was not joking no more.

Emerald wiggled and squirmed as much as she could, to the point the rope was leaving rope burns on her wrist. She felt the tears coming down her face no matter how much she tried to fight them. There was nothing more to do but let him do what he was going to do so he will.

Emerald closed her eyes because she could not stand looking at the man that was going to rape her. She felt when he grabbed her shirt and cut it wide open exposing her breast. He pried her legs open and climbed between them. She didn't feel anything but she knew he was between her legs because she could feel his body but he took so long to do anything that she opened one eye to look into Bennys face. He was smiling like the joker.

She snapped her eyes closed and waited for the enedible to happen. She felt the cold knife on her stomach after he used it to snap the button of her jeans. When he spoke she hardly reconized his voice. He said,"sorry you wanted this the hard way but I am going to have you. You will want me when this is over."

She did try to fight him though she knew there was nothing she could do. He cut her jeans off her with the knife, knicking her in the process. She would jump and hear him laugh at her.

While he was on top of her pumping away like he had never had sex before, she was in space thinking of Tony and how she should have made him run with her. But she remembered he is a cop so he would never leave but could have. He grunted and went still. He was finally done. Well almost done, he sliced the right side of her face. He did not go as deep as he could but he cut it enough she would need stiches if she was ever to get out of here.

She could feel the blood trickling down her face and shivered. She was proud of how pretty she was, she didn’t think she was model pretty but she was pretty enough to have any pick of a man.

He untied her and told her she was to sit in her bra and panties because he would be back and it would make it easier. She wanted to wash his touch off her but couldn't right now.

"Oh my god Tony! They are going to make him watch them rape me." She said out loud.

She hung her head in her hands and cried. She didn't know what else to do. She was going to be raped again and then he was going to make someone watch.

"You win! You win!" She screamed.

They made her want to kill herself so she is ready for them to kill her. When she was dead she didn't care what they did to her body

He said thirty minutes so Tony should be arriving soon. She wished she could warn him but there was no way to do that.

The door opened as soon as her eyes were heavy and started to close again. Did they have a camera in the damn room or something? She stood up in a fighting stance when Jimmy walked in holding the door opened, he was holding it open for Thug and Benny to carry Tony into the room. She could see that his eyes are open and he could look around, which means they gave him that date rape drug. At least he wasn't all beat up, yet!

Jimmy laughed and walked back out locking the door behind him. She knew it was time and she wasn't ready for this again. She saw that Benny was playing with himself to get hard. He smiled at Emerald and asked Tony, " are you ready to see how you really take care of a woman? You must not be good enough since she ran."

Emerald looked over to see Thug was standing next to Tony. She didn’t understand why until he grabbed his body and pulled him into a sitting postion and held his head so he had to watch Benny rape her. She felt her heart lurch; she wished she could go back and never meet him so he would not have to go through this shit.

Benny did the same as last time besides cutting her clothes. He tied her hands above her head to the post. This time he pulled her panties to the side and did not make it wet before he rammed into her. She screamed out in pain, with tears running from her eyes, and listening to Benny ask Tony if he liked what he was seeing. While he was pumping in and out of her like a mad dog he looked down into her face and without a word he stuck the knife into her right side, which made her buck her body up giving Benny an advantage of getting deeper. She knew he was trying to kill her while giving her as much pain as he could.

Emerald felt sick to her stomach and her head was spinning. She could not take no more and she passed out while Benny was doing his work. She kept going in and out of consciousness when he would stab or slice her. She thought she could not be to far from death know. Out of the silenece in the room she heard a loud crack, turning head so she could see what it was she saw Thug swinging a baseball bat like crazy connecting every time with Tonys bones. She could tell both his legs were broke and his right arm. She passed back out.

When she would open her eyes for a second here or there she could hear yelling and gun shots coming from the other side of the door. She didn’t know if it was the police or another gang out there fighting. She didn’t have time to think before she was back out. She could feel someone touching her and prying she opened her eyes to see medical personal attending to her. She let sleep fully take her; she was sure she was died when she closed her eyes.

She could see Tony walking and talking like when she first met him. She was glad he survived and nothing was wrong with him, that made her heart feel better. She didn’t want him to die with her. He kept smiling at her and saying something to her but she could not hear a word he was saying with all the shouting going on around her; when she realized they were safe. They were going home finally. Emerald heard them yell, “We need some help in here. Officer down, get in here now!”

That is when she knew they were both going to be okay. They were both safe and alive, she did wonder what happened to Jimmy and Ashley but she would worry about that later.

Emerald tried to open her mouth and talk when she opened her eyes but no words would come out so she closed it and tried to talk again. She was getting mad that she could not tell them what she wanted to tell them, the paramedics had to give her morphin for the pain and to help her sleep.


She could not fight the medicine they gave her so she closed her eyes and did not open them again for what she felt like was a week. When she woke she didnt know where she was at first.

The Hospital

Emerald woke in the hospital the next morning. She looked around the room and saw she was hooked up to an IV and something for her heart she could see that. She didn't have her eyes open long before a nurse came in and asked, "how are you feeling? I am Bettie and I am going to be keeping an eye on you for the day. Can you talk yet?"

She tried to open her mouth to answer the woman but when she opened it nothing came out. She quickly closed her mouth and tried to speak again. It was like it was being blocked inside her chest.

Since she could not talk she gestured with her hands for paper and pen. She did not get an answer but an hour later the nurse came in with a note pad and pen.

Emerald quickly asked, "where Tony was? Was he okay?"

The nurse read the paper and shook her head yes. She figured that meant he was okay. But she didn't say where he was. Did he get hurt so bad he had to go to a facility? Was he in a safe house because of the gang? To many questions going through her mind it was giving her a headache. She closed her eyes and willed herself back to sleep.

She did not open her eyes again until the doctor came in the room and woke her. He was feeling the pulse in her right hand. When her eyes popped open Dr. Bradson said," hello there young woman. I am glad to see that you are awake and your vital signs look great.

When she woke again she was being poked by the Dr. He was talking to the nurse when he noticed she had opened her eyes. He said," hi, my name is Dr. Bradson. I am glad to see you are more alert now. I have to keep you on morphine but we will be winging you off it as soon as we can. Can you talk today?"

Emerald looked between the nurse and Dr. Bradson and opened her mouth, took a deep breath, and said, "How long will I have to stay here? How serious are my injuries?"

The doctor smiled at her and checked the paper that was coming out of this big machine to read her heart while she was sleeping. He checked a chart he had in his hands and said," you will have to stay the night at least and we will see how things are okay?"

Emerald did not want to stay in the hospital. She hated being in one then the question she was dreading came, "do you have family we could contact for you?" The answer was always the same every time, "No."

After they left the room, she rolled over onto her left side and cried. She would do anything to be able to go back in time to be with her mother. She did not care she is an alcoholic. She could do what she wanted and Emerald would do as she should have and finished school.

Emerald drifted off to sleep. The morphine did its job and she stayed out of pain and slept for hours. When she woke, again there was a police officer with a note pad in his hand writing whatever the doctor was saying. He did not look like a pleasant cop either. Before she could close eyes, again the cop looked right at her and started walking towards her bed.

"Ma'am I am Officer Townsend and I have some questions for you. I am also sorry to tell you when you are released I have to cuff you and take you down town."

She noted he did not look sorry one bit. He looks like he enjoys ruining people’s lives and being paid for it.

"What do you want to know? I figured I was going to jail after I got out of here. I am actually surprised I am not in a jail cell now."

She knew she was being rude but she did not care.

He fired question after question at her and waited for the answer he wanted and on to the next question. He was pissed off at her because she would not answer him fully.

"I will have a guard standing outside the door. You will not run this time miss. Devon."

Emerald rolled over and closed her eyes tight as soon as the officer lerft her bed side. She was in so much pain again. She was scared to ask for any pain medication.

Emerald knew she had been stabbed a few times, her face was sliced, and he raped her repeadetly. He probably scared her for life. All she could think of was the pain, Benny has caused her physchialy and emotionaly.
"What do I care about going to jail anyways. Even if there was a way to see that I was not of them." She sighed then heard some voice. "There is so much you can do in both in and out of jail. You need to keep faith. I am nurse Barb, I will be with you most of today. Do you need something for the pain?" Emerald shook her head yes. She didn't have enough strength right now to use her mouth. She watched as the nurse used a needle and put the morphine in the IV that was already in her hand. It would take affect within five minutes. She closed her eyes waiting for sleep to over take her once agin. As she lay there in the boring hospital room alone, with a gaurd, she thought how nice it would be to get this drug the whole time she was in prison. She could sleep her time away. A single tear slid down her pale cheek, though it was stopped by the bandage on her cut. She couldn't believe she had ruined her life this bad. The next thing she knew the doctor was in there with a few nurses. They were all looking at the machine then at her. One grabbed her wrist and felt for a pulse. All Emerald could hear was waawaa waawaa..it was almost like a humming but with a weird echo. Her head started to spin and she passed out.

When Tony woke up, he was wrapped almost from head to toe. He had a cast on both arms, both his legs were in casts and he had a bandage around his head. The lights were too bright, they were stinging his eyes to the point they were watering.

His mouth felt like he had been eating sand for days. He had to open his mouth a couple times to get it wet enough to speak.

"What happened and where is Emerald." That was the only two questions he needed to know.


The nurse was writing something on a chart from the machine. Tony had some white sticky patches that sent electric waves to the machine.

The nurse smiled at him and patted his hand. Tony did not like being stuck in the hospital and then being ignored, he was getting ticked off. Maybe fifteen minutes later the doctor walked in. "I am Dr. Ling."

Tony tried to ask the same question but the Dr. Looked at him and said," you are going to have to go to a facility so that you can get back to your old self. You have shattered bones; they are not just broke. I am sorry."

"Wait! What has happened and where is Emerald?"

"She is in the hospital getting her wounds tended to. You both are going to have a long recovery, I am afraid." He walked out of the room leaving Tony feeling hopeless; he did not protect her as he should have and he still did not know if they had any of them bastards that held them hostage and broke his body up.

Tony needed to make a phone call but how was he going to do that? He could not move any part of his body besides his head, left or right. He didn't want to wait for someone to come in. He laid there going in and out of sleep. He didn't feel the pain or the dizzy spells when his eyes were shut.

When he opened his eyes again he saw his friend Jack standing over him.

"Well you are alive. You had me worried there for a minute. I see that you need me to give you ride, don't worry they are going to give us main medication for the ride." Jack tried to make this like a trip but Tony didn't care either way. You could tell by the blank stare he was giving.

He found he could sit in a wheel chair. He hated it instantly. Jack pushed him through the sliding glass doors so that he could get to outside. Tony loved the feel of the sun on his face and tried to smile, though it was not working very well. He saw Jack was taking him to a green van. At least he would drive in some kind of comfort.

"Do you want to sit in the chair or van seat? I can lay the van seat back."

"In the van." Tony said out of breath. His chest hurt outside as the wind picked, blowing leaves, trees, trash around them.

Jack did well for never taking care of a crippled before. He jumped in the van fast and they were off. He did not know where they were going and he did not care no more. He closed his eyes and enjoyed the ride in the van as much as he could.

Impressum

Texte: The picture on the cover of my book does not belong to me. I got this picture from free Google
Tag der Veröffentlichung: 20.12.2011

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