Chapter 19

Kaitlyn’s POV

It’s been 30 minutes since Mia and her crew left. Who the hell does Mia think she is, leaving me behind? I wasn’t exactly excited about the fact she brought me along but still. This is an opportunity for me to finally see this whole thing in action.

I lean over so I can reach the driver’s side of the door and press the button that unlocks the car. Did she really think I’d stay behind? I got out and shut the door behind me. I look up at the abandoned building and take a deep breath. This is your job, Kaitlyn. You need to do this. Everything’s gonna be okay.

I head into the building and take out the flashlight on my phone since it’s dark inside.I clear the building floor by floor. The first four floors are empty, nothing but shadows and broken concrete. It isn’t until I finally reach the fifth floor where I finally found something.

A dead body. No blood surrounding it, which means he was probably strangled to death. I keep walking through the dark, empty hallways. I turn a corner and come across one of Mia’s people who has a gun pointed at her. I retreat immediately, pressing my back against the concrete wall. Hopefully they didn’t see me. Okay, I just need to find Mia and see what she’s up to.

I went the other way since I pretty much had no other choice. I look forward to the dark hallway and see a door at the end. At the bottom of the door, I see a glimpse of light shining through. Mia must be in there.

I take a few steps forward, moving quietly. I have no weapon on me, not a gun or a knife, nothing. Let’s just hope Mia’s got everything handled. What the fuck is even going on? She got a phone call and she didn’t even think twice about coming here. Someone important must be in trouble if that’s the case. Either that or-

My thoughts were interrupted as I heard a gunshot inside, followed by more gunshots caused by Mia’s people. Panic coursed through my veins, my heart pounding quicker. I got into the first room I found. It was an old storage room, nothing to find inside other than metal shelves with very old supplies.

I try to lock the door, but since it’s an old building of course the lock doesn’t work. Fuck, I should’ve stayed in the car. I hid at the back of the storage room thinking it was safe, but I found another door at the back. What kind of storage room has two doors?

I stay in that dark corner at the back. I hear gunshots, way more this time. My heart beats faster, I barely feel like I can breathe. I close my eyes and try to calm myself down.

“I don’t know anything, I swear just please let us go” I beg the men surrounding us, practically crying. In front of me sat Scarlett tied to a chair just like me, but she was barely conscious.

“I’m gonna ask you one last time,” He grabs Scarlett by the hair and yanks her hair back as he points a gun to her temple. “Where is the murder weapon?”

“We don’t have it!” I scream, the ropes biting deep into my skin as I violently thrash against my chair, desperate to break free. “The precinct didn’t log it yet! We were still processing the scene, I swear to God! Please, just leave her alone!”

He doesn’t blink. He just tightens his grip on Scarlett’s hair, forcing her head further back. She lets out a weak whimper, her bloodied lips parting as she opens her eyes just enough to look at me. Even through the swelling, her gaze is steady.

I was brought back to reality as I heard someone crash against the door. The wood rattles on the door hinges, followed immediately by the sickening sound of a gasp. A second later, a dark pool of blood begins to seep under the door frame, staining the concrete right next to my shoes.

I take a step back, until I’m pressed up against the wall with nowhere else to go. I was trapped. I hate the sight of blood. I hated seeing it, I hated everything about it. I stare at the pool of blood as it inches closer towards me. I’d rather die at this moment rather than have that dark red liquid anywhere near me.

The gunshots have died down, I’m guessing that means Mia’s gone with her crew. Of course she’d leave me. I have to get out of here before anyone finds me.

A few moments have passed, and I have been trying to build up the courage to escape. I try to take a step forward, but I don’t move no matter how much I tell my brain to go. I take a deep breath and reach for one of the metal shelves. I can do this, I can make it out.

I take a step forward, my shoes hitting the pool of blood below me, slipping slightly. I let out a shaky breath as I looked up at the ceiling. I look back down, seeing the blood of a dead person. I took another step forward, but my shoes were too slippery. I ended up slipping and falling straight into the pool of blood. I land on my hands, stopping my face from making contact with the floor.

I hear footsteps approaching. Fuck, they probably heard me. I quickly got up and went to the corner of the room, going back to where I originally was. I look down and see my clothes were soaked in blood. I shake my head, that wasn’t my priority right now. I can find other clothes later, I just need to get out of here. I look at the door near me, I can’t use that to escape since there’s a dead body blocking it.

I turned my attention to the door I came from which was on the other side of the room. Under the doorframe, I see footsteps approaching. I look around to see if I have anything to defend myself with, but I see nothing but empty boxes filled with office supplies. I fully turned my attention to the door as I hid behind the boxes on the shelves, anticipating someone to come in and kill me.

I was so focused on the other door that I didn’t notice the door behind me open. I only noticed when a hand grabs my shoulder and turns me to turn in their direction.

“Kaitlyn.” I look up with tears in my eyes when I realize who it was. It’s Mia. She looks at me from head to toe before meeting my eyes with a worried expression. I was still in shock, because of the gunfire and the blood, but mostly because she came back for me. She had blood running down her face, gun in her right hand. Her left hand stayed on my shoulder, pressing me against the cold metal behind me.

She glances behind me as I hear the door open slowly. A gasp escapes my lips. Mia wastes no time and brings her left hand to my mouth, covering it to prevent me from making any noise. The tears escape from my eyes as I hear someone going into the room. Mia slowly points her gun in their direction, ready to shoot at any moment.

I listen to the sound of the man’s boots against the concrete floor, preparing myself for the gunfire that’s about to happen when he finds us. After a few paces, the footsteps paused. A tense silence stretched between us, until the boots finally turned around and retreated. The door shuts quietly behind him and Mia takes her hand off my mouth. I let out the breath I was holding, thankful the guy didn’t see us. She looks around and stops her movements when she sees the dark red liquid we’re currently stepping on.

She snaps her gaze at me with that same worried expression. “Are you okay?” She asks in the softest voice, the type of softness I would never expect from someone like her. I nod my head in response, unable to talk at the moment as I’m still in quite a bit of shock.

“Okay, let’s go. Follow me.” She grabs my wrist and opens the door. As we exit the room, I see the lifeless body of a man. I’m guessing the blood on my clothes belongs to him. I turn to look down the hallway and find a series of dead bodies. Holy shit, did Mia do all this?

She doesn’t let go of my wrist as she leads me through the building, making our way to the stairs. We made it out without anyone finding us, we had a few close calls though. We headed towards one of the cars parked outside of the building which was the car the rest of Mia’s people had come from.

Mia tries to unlock the door but it is locked. I hear her curse under her breath. I look away to try and see any other way out, but before I could even find something the sound of glass snaps my attention right back to the car. Mia had slammed her elbow to break the car windows open.

“Get in.” She reaches inside and pops the door lock. She got in the car and I did the same. I got in the passenger seat as I waited for her to start the car. She looks around the car, the sun visor, her side of the door, and then the glove box. In there, she finds the keys to the car which I’m guessing is a spare key.

“For fuck sake, Bruce.” She shook her head before putting the key into the keyhole and starting the car. We sped through the road, finally escaping that god forsaken place. I let out a sigh of relief and looked down at my hands. My hands were stained with blood, and so were my clothes. My hands start shaking. The sounds of gunfire still echoes in my head.

“Don’t tell him, Kaitlyn,” Scarlett whispers, using what’s left of her strength to speak. “He’s going to kill us anyway.”

I ball them up in fists to try and make my hands stop shaking.

“Shut the fuck up,” the guy says through gritted teeth, his jaw clenching as his knuckles turn white on the grip of his gun. His index finger tightens on the trigger, one more move and he’ll shoot her dead.

The air collapses in my lungs, I close my eyes and focus on my breathing.

“No, please! Look at me! Shoot me instead!” I beg once more, tears completely blinding my vision as my voice breaks into a ragged sob. “Please, take me! Just don’t do it, please—”

“Prescott!” Mia’s voice cuts through, bringing me out of my thoughts. “Did you hear a single word I said?” I clear my throat before looking at her.

“No sorry, I was..” My voice is barely audible. I swallow the lump forming in the back of my throat. “What were you saying?” I continue and Mia gives me a confused look laced with concern.

“Forget it,” She whispers as she continues driving, speeding our way through the highway. “We’re going back to New York. It’s too dangerous for us to stay here now.” I nod in response, not even attempting to argue. I can’t do this. I need out. I need to get back to New York, I can’t do this anymore. It’s too much, I’m not ready.

Mia drove us as the car was filled with silence. I thought she’d get mad at me for leaving the car, for not following her orders, but she didn’t. Or maybe she did, maybe that’s what she was saying earlier. But why did she come back for me? She had every right to just leave me and yet she came back.

The sounds of police sirens behind us make Mia tense up. She grips the steering wheel tighter, causing her knuckles to turn white. She’s thinking about what to do, and she decides to pull over. “What are you doing?” I ask in a panic.

“If I don’t pull over, he’ll follow us. It’s fine, let me handle this.” She tries to appear calm, but I can tell she’s freaking out inside. She puts her hands on her lap so she can easily grab her gun which was hidden by her coat. The police officer makes his way over to the car, approaching my side instead of Mia’s so I roll down my window.

“Are you aware that you’re speeding, ma’am?” The officer says, leaning down to the car window. “Listen officer, it’s late and I’m sure you’d like to go home rather than give me a ticket.” Mia reasons with him. Seriously? That’s how she’s talking her way out of this one?

“How are you so sure of that?” The police officer says and Mia shrugs. “You have a wife, don’t you?” She points to the ring on his ring finger. “I’m sure she ain’t happy you’re working this late on a weekend.”

The officer was about to say something, until he looked down and noticed the blood on my clothes and on my hands. His expression shifted immediately and he reached for his gun in his belt. “I’m gonna have to ask you to step out of the vehicle.” If we get arrested for this, that means I probably won’t be able to get back to New York. Even if I hadn’t done anything wrong, I was an accessory to a crime. And the blood on my clothes do not look so innocent.

Mia and I don’t move an inch, we stay in the car. “Ma’am, please comply or I will be forced to-” I don’t think about it as my fist makes contact with his face. The contact causes him to take a step back and before he could take a step forward, I open the car door and hit his legs with it. I’m sorry officer, I need to get back to New York.

“Drive, now!” I scream at her. She wears a shocked expression on her face as she hits the gas pedal. I look back to see if the police officer is chasing us but he’s still limping his way to the car.

“What the fuck, Prescott?!” Mia says in disbelief as the car continues to speed through the roads.

“Don’t start with me right now,” I whisper, closing my eyes tight as the streetlights flash rhythmically across my eyelids. The smell of copper from my blood-soaked clothes is making my stomach turn. “Just get us out of here, please.”

Mia doesn’t say anything back, she just keeps driving. We soon arrive at what I’m assuming is her private jet. I can’t wait to get back to New York. I need to find Quinn, this is all too much to handle. I thought I was over it, but clearly I’m not. I don’t want to do this anymore.