Chapter 16
“You sure you want to come with me? I mean, there isn’t much for you guys to do there.” Jazmine worried her lip as she drove the van toward the pier.
“Oh please, I feel like I’ve been stuck in the house forever. I’m finally starting to feel better. We won’t be a bother.” Angel pouted her mouth prettily, and Jazmine smiled and shook her head. She wouldn’t tell that little girl no.
“Yeah, a little fresh air can’t hurt,” I said as I hunkered down further into my chair. My eyes darted in every direction. I was always on the lookout, making sure we weren’t being followed. The paranoia I had felt all those days ago was starting to lessen, but it was always there in the back of my mind. I don’t think I would ever feel safe until I could see the Giles’s head rolling around on the floor. Minus their bodies, of course.
The red and blue flashing lights were the first sign that something was wrong.
“No, no, oh no.” Jazmine pulled her van to a stop. “You two hide in the back, and I’ll pull around to the back of the store, don’t get out until I come to get you. I’ll try to make sure they don’t open the door.”
“Inkpop, what’s this?” Angel whispered to me.
“I don’t know, do what Jazmine said, let’s get in the back.” I pushed her off the seat and into the space that led to the open area of the delivery van. I did my best to slide into the area as well. I sat on the floor next to Angel, using my body to block her from anyone that might decide to burst through the door.
Jazmine drove the van to the back of the shop, “I’ll be back, okay.” I wanted to tell her to stay, I wanted to pull her with us in the back of the van and just keep her safe, but I knew I had to let her go. She had to find out what the fuck was going on.
“Ink, you’re squishing me.” Angel shifted next to me.
“Shhh!” I hushed her before letting relaxing my hold. I was trying to hear anything that may tell me what was going on, but I heard nothing until the sound of tires moving away.
The latch lifted, and the door slid open, my body coiled ready to attack. I saw a glimpse of Jazmine’s face as she moved away from the door. I moved quickly out and could see her storming around the corner and into the shop. I grabbed Angel, and we went down to the cellar using the back door.
“Oh, no! Inkpop!” Angel gasped when she saw how the small basement looked.
It was destroyed, every tin of paint opened and splashed around the room. The walls dented and carved up, every single canvas sliced through. I turned to look behind me at what Angel was now staring at. In big large yellow letters, the word INK.
Jazmine walked down the stairs slowly, her arms wrapped around her body, her eyes rimmed red, and her face flushed. She looked up to my name painted brazenly on the wall, and she closed her eyes in defeat. One tear seeping down from beneath her shut lids.
“Jazmine, I…” I didn’t know what to say. I knew saying sorry wasn’t going to cut it. I had brought this craziness into her life. “We can leave, Angel is well enough now. We can go.” I walked closer to her.
Her eyes popped open and found mine, “You will do no such thing. This is fucked up, it is beyond fucked up, but I will not be intimidated by anyone. When my father and brother got sent away, I walked away from them. I walked away from that life because I knew what they had been apart of was wrong. I swore I would never go back. Yes, you brought all this shit back in my life, but walking away from you, and this little girl is not an option. I walked away last time, now I stay and fight with you.” She said, determined.
I exhaled roughly, “What did the jakes have to say?”
“These bastards hit every store up and down the pier. I don’t know how many of them are looking for you, but they’re sure you are at one of these shops or someone in one of these shops knows something. They found Parker this morning.” Another tear fell from her eye.
“Who is Parker, and what do you mean found?”
“Parker owns the coffee shop next door, and they killed him.” She ran into my arms, now unable to hold the tears back. “They said he was tied down to the chair and his throat was cut. That man never hurt anyone. Why would they do this?” She sobbed hard against my chest. Angel rushed over to us, her little arms wrapping as far as they could around both me and Jazmine. Her little face wet with tears too.
I held them tight. My chest began to feel heavy, and I thought I heard steps outside. The paranoia was trying to rear its ugly head again. I held onto both of them for as long as I could. I didn’t know what else I could do. I was just one man.
“We need help.” Angel raised her head and spoke to me.
I looked down at the girl I had partially raised. It would make sense that she knew what I was thinking.
“You’re right. We need help. I’m going to get us some.”
“Wings?” Jazmine asked, finding my gaze.
“Yeah, it’s time for me to find out once and for all.”
Jazmine pulled back from my grasp, “What if you’re right? What if they are an enemy
