Chapter 28 – Loud Sound

William

Leaving the Pearson mansion, I thought to myself that nothing could ruin this day for me. I had been a ball of sunshine for the past couple of days. Everything between Harmoni and I was going well, training this morning had been filled with pleasantry and stolen kisses. I felt a weight being lifted after I told her the truth about my past and the heavy secrets I had been carrying.

I remember telling her I would tell her about my family the day she had opened up about her mother. I regretted not explaining everything to her sooner. She had shown me once again that she was mature beyond her age, and how caring of a person she was.

I was blessed to have her in my life and for that sole and unique reason, I hadn't been able to wipe the smile off my face for the entire week.

I walked up the stairs to HQ, coffee in hand, determined to make this day a good one. I was almost at the locker rooms when someone bumped into my shoulder roughly, nearly making me spill my burning hot coffee over myself.

“Sorry,” I quickly apologize. Even if I wasn't the one who had bumped into this guy, I didn't want any trouble and just wanted to move on with my day. I expected him to return the apology and be on his way, yet that was far from what happened next.

“Watch where you're going prick!” he insulted. By then I had already walked past him, hearing his crude words, I turned around, eyebrows raised. To say I was stunned was an understatement. No one had ever shown me this much disrespect in the past, especially in HQ. I was a respected sergeant, but more than that, I was friends with all my colleagues.

“I beg your pardon?” I asked, trying my hardest not to explode on this man. I was in too good of a mood to let this man I had never seen before ruin it. “Look, man, you bumped into me, the least you could do is apologize,” I didn't raise my voice and tried to show more maturity. It wasn't hard seeing how low he had placed the bar.

“I bumped into you? You've got to be kidding me, if you didn't have your head up in the clouds you would have seen me coming a mile away and gotten out of my way,” he accused. What the fuck is wrong with him. Breath Will, it's a good day remember.

For this one time I decided to take the high road, I shook my head and went to my locker. Yet, before I had even walked out of sight he added chuckling “I would love to tap some of what you're having if it makes you lose even the most basic senses like sight.”

If he wanted to insult me that was fine, I could take it, but I wouldn't allow him to talk about Harmoni like that, regardless of the fact that we weren't sleeping together. Before he could register what was happening, I had him pinned against the wall. My forearm pressed tightly against his throat, making sure he had nowhere to run to.

“Watch your mouth, and next time you walk into my workplace and decide to insult me or anyone of my colleagues, I would advise you to know who you're facing and think about it twice. I don't know who the hell you are, but let that mouth run in front of me again and I will make your life at HQ a living hell,” I threatened, looking at him straight in the eye. He didn't break eye contact, challenging me further. What a cocky bastard. He had no idea who he was up against.

By then, Cayden who was changing in the locker rooms before I arrived had heard the commotion and joined us.

“Huntz let him go. He's just an idiot, I'm sure he's learned his lesson,” he gently said, placing a hand on my shoulder.

I released him and walked away. He had completely ruined my earlier positive mood.

“Who the fuck is that?” I asked Cayden who had stayed behind while I got ready.

“Jason Lopez, he's the new addition to one of the SWAT team, we don't know yet if it's ours our SWAT 2. He's fresh out of the academy and scores nearly perfect scores on all his assessments,” he explained.

I stopped listening after he mentioned the possibility of him join my team. Hell no! If that were to happen I would either drill some respect into him or end his career before it even started.

Once we were changed, we walked into the briefing room. Our captain had an announcement to make.

“Good morning everyone. I would like to offer a warm welcome to the new addition to our family, Officer Lopez.” Everyone in the room clapped, and I could see Jason smile smugly, bathing in the attention. It's like every minute I spent near him I found a new reason to despise him.

“Sergeant Huntz, Sergeant Cassey. It was decided earlier this week that one of you will be taking Lopez as a new member of your team,” the Captain continued. My eyes landed on a paling Jason as he swallowed hard. That's right jackass, I'm a Sergeant. His smug mask went back up but not fast enough. “After further consideration, officer Lopez, you will be joining SWAT 2 with Sergeant Cassey,”

Thank God, I had no intention of playing strict father with a disrespectful officer. Best of luck to Sergeant Cassey.

The Captain continued the briefing with different tasks and news that had come up since the previous day. Once that was done, we all regained our team offices.

Not even an hour into our shift, Mia called me over to where she sat in front of her computer. We had been looking into possible leads on the kidnappers.

“I got something. Remember how we asked officers to monitor any incoming or outgoing communication of Carl Kelson? Well, one of the officers just sent us a picture of a note he sent out,” she started.

“Put it on the big screen,” I directed. Soon after, a piece of paper was displayed on the screen. On it was written three simple words. ‘It’s a girl’.

“This could mean anything,” Cayden voiced my thought. “Maybe he’s talking about a pregnant friend, or maybe his wife just gave birth to a girl.”

“Or maybe they aren’t looking for a son but a daughter,” Seth cut in.

“If that’s the case, it means they will start targeting the girls at Everlight High. We need to be sure, let’s check if there were any pregnancies or births he could be referring to. And in the meantime, let’s see if we can narrow down the list of possible targets, both male and female,” I ordered.

If they were changing their target to girls, that would put Harmoni right in the middle of it. ~Did everything just get a whole lot more dangerous?~

By the end of the day, we hadn’t found any clue to make us believe this was related to a baby, therefore, we would now be looking into Seth’s theory.

I left work shortly after to pick up Harmoni at school. I drove to her school, parked my car, and patiently waited for her to walk out onto the field. My heart palpitated excitingly at her mere proximity.

Soon enough, students were leaving the stadium and regaining their cars. Spotting Harmoni, I watched her walk towards me. I couldn’t help but look at her beautiful plump lips and remember how they felt just this morning on my own, warm and soft, passionate and hot.

I knew there was a lot at risk but at the same time, I had been incapable of resisting her. All I wanted to do was push her against the wall and allow myself to have her. She was stunning, funny, kind, and so much more. She was perfect.

As the realization grew on me, her eyes finally met mine and she gave me her million-dollar smile. I was honored to be the reason behind that smile. It truly didn’t matter how she dressed or whether she wore makeup or not. Harmoni was a natural beauty as much on the outside as on the inside.

She started making her way towards me. Her sports bag holstered on her shoulder. That same sports bag she had attempted to throw in my face on my second day of work. We had come a long way now, hadn’t we?

Harmoni

Once cheer practice was finished, I was eager to leave and see William again. I had seen him this morning during training, but the time spent away from him felt interminable. I loved being with him and the feelings I had for him grew stronger with each passing day.

Noticing him leaning against his car, I smiled. My emotions stormed in my brain every time he was around, making me lose all control I had over them. A smile would always grace my lips just like my heart would involuntarily start beating faster.

I strolled towards him, wanting to hug him, to feel his warmth and scent envelop me.

Yet I never got there.

One moment I was walking towards William, the next I was on the floor, struggling to move.

My ears were ringing. I could barely see past the smoke. From the debris and rubble around me, I understood what had happened. A bomb had just gone off.

Strangely, I wasn't scared, nor was I panicking; on the contrary, I was in complete shock. I slowly stood up, confused and lost. I couldn't put two words in a row in my head, let alone figure out what I needed to do.

Apart from a scratch on the side of my face and where my jeans were torn, I didn't seem to have been injured.

As my eyes glanced around, I noticed an unmoving body lying on the floor near me.

~Please be alive, please be alive~ I chanted in my head, as I took a step closer. I recognized her blood-stained blonde hair that was scattered on the floor. The girl lying there was Cecilia, our cheer captain.

The smoke was dense, yet I could still discern a silhouette not too far away.

“Will,” I tried to call, hoping it was him, but my voice came out as a whisper. Yet, not a second later, he was by my side, holding me.

I could see his lips moving, yet I couldn't hear anything as my ears were still ringing because of the blast.

“I can't hear you!” I screamed, pointing to my ear. He leaned down and grabbed me into a princess hold as he started walking away.

“Wait, what about Cecilia?” I asked, pointing at my cheer captain. William set me down and went to check her pulse. At first, nothing happened. I could feel the tears building up at the thought of her never waking up hitting me hard. Then, suddenly, I noticed her legs moving. She was alive. She sat up slowly, with the help of William. From the looks of it, William was reassuring her.

Her knee was badly injured. William took her in his arms and carried her while I walked next to him.

Why was all of this happening to us?