Chapter 17 - Ambush

Jack felt like a hypocrite after telling Julia she needed to process her trauma, instead of hiding in the office. He felt he was actually doing the same; hiding. Of course he would never compare his memories with Julia's, but whatever he'd experienced, whatever he'd seen that evening had left a mark on him. He wouldn't admit to it, but he kept on having nightmares where he was running to Julia, could see her laying on the ground and being kicked by the two men, but he couldn't get to her. No matter how fast he ran, she was just further and further away. On some nights he would dream that he was the one being beaten and that feeling of total helplessness accompanied him not only in the dream, but also after he'd woken up.

The worst nightmare of all however was the one where the two men would grab Julia and throw her in their car. Jack couldn't ever get to Julia in time to save her.

That dream became a nightmare during the waking hours too. Jack was terrified of the thought that Starr's men might kidnap Julia next time they meet her. That was why he was pushing Tom like a maniac to continue his investigation. That was also why without asking Julia for permission he'd bugged her phone, had even put an additional bug in her bag.

Jack felt that if he could somehow fix all this, stop Julia's past from haunting her, then he would also process his trauma.

That's why when a few days later Tom walked into his office in the evening, followed by ten of his men, Jack finally felt relieved. He knew such a numerous group in his office meant there had been a breakthrough in Tom's investigation.

He looked at the men, raising his brow.

"Don't sweat, Deschanel, Julia's already left the office." Tom skipped the hello.

"I'm aware of that," Jack answered. "Please tell me you've got something for me."

"They are back," Tom simply stated.

"Starr's men?"

"We've spotted them two blocks away. They have the same van, just changed the plate numbers."

"What are we waiting for then?!" Jack asked impatiently.

"Well, they are surrounded by ten of my men. They don't know it yet..."

"So? Do we call the police?"

"We could..." Tom said, but did not sound convinced. "The footage from the day Julia was attacked is not very clear, so if we call the police the only way to convict them would be for Julia to testify."

"What's our other option?" Jack asked, trying to weigh in different possibilities. He wanted the men locked or dead. Anything to make sure that they never came after Julia again.

"We could take them down ourselves..."

"Jesus, Tom!" Jack exclaimed. "Do I sense another but?"

"Well, let's say we grab them, take them to some dark place and then what?" Tom asked, calmly.

It seemed to Jack this was not the first time his friend was handling a situation like that, but Deschanel didn't feel like asking.

"We either... dispose of them..." Tom continued, raising his brow, as if awaiting Jack's reaction, but did not get any.

Jack knew very well what Tom meant by that, hell, he'd considered that option too, but he kept staring at his friend not batting an eye.

"Or we force them to speak..." Tom added.

"What if they don't speak...?"

"That's my but, man." Tom sent Jack a sad smile.

"This is the moment, Tom, when you tell me you've got another solution, one that would be perfect... Where we get all the information we need from these guys, we turn them over to the police and no one gets hurt anymore..." Jack sighed, running his fingers through his hair. He looked around his office. Tom's men were still standing there like statues, looking somewhere in the distance. They were focused though and listening to their conversation closely. Jack knew that Tom brought them here for a reason.

"I've got another solution..." Tom answered with a grin. "We ambush them."

"And how do we do that...?" Jack asked, but he sensed he wasn't going to like the answer.

"Julia will walk out of the office and pretend she's waiting for a cub. Same way she did last..."

"That's out of the question!" Jack exclaimed.

"That's not your decision to make, Jack."

Everyone turned to the door. Julia was standing there pale with clenched fists.

Shit.

"I thought you already left..." Jack said, immediately feeling stupid for speaking the words. Well, clearly she hadn't left.

"I came back to fetch something from my desk and saw you, ladies, have a party down here," Julia said bitter. She walked into Jack's office and turned to Tom. "I'll do it, Tom. I'll help you ambush them."

"You will do no such thing!" Jack almost ran to her and grabbed Julia's good arm, turning her to face him.

Julia pulled her hand from his grip harshly.

"That's not your fucking decision, Deschanel!"

"Yes it is, Stiles. One word from me and Tom and his men are gone..." He did not mean it. Jack knew he wasn't going to call off Tom and his crew until this mess, being Julia's past, was cleaned up.

Julia knew that too, so she ignored his words and turned to Tom.

"What do you want me to do, Tom?" she simply asked.

Tom, looking kind of lost, shot Jack a questioning stare.

"Tell me, Stiles," Jack would not give in. "Why do you always need to play the good Samaritan? Why do you keep putting yourself in harm's way?"

Julia turned to him again. Anger oozing out of her.

"I think I know why you do it, Stiles," Jack continued. "Maybe you like getting hurt? Maybe pain turns you on? Maybe..." His words were cut off by the slap Julia gave him.

Jack's head was abruptly pushed to the left. The room, already pretty quiet, went dead silent after the slap sounded in the four walls. All the eleven ex Special Forces officers, who must have seen a lot in their line of duty, literally stopped breathing.

Jack turned his head and bore his eyes into Julia's. She was flushed and breathing hard. He could see she was shocked by her own reaction.

"I... I just want this... nightmare to be over," she whispered in a shaky voice. "I don't want to be afraid all the time, I don't want to be constantly followed by a bodyguard wherever I fucking go..."

Jack looked at Tom and nodded. That was sign enough for his friend.

"OK, Julia. This is what we are going to do."

Julia turned to him. Jack could see she was terrified with what she agreed to do, but there was so much determination in her eyes too, that he knew she would not back out.

"You are going to leave the office with the main exit; same way you did two weeks go. You will stop in the middle of the square and pretend you're waiting for a cub."

Julia nodded.

"If everything goes according to the plan, they will approach you again. This time though you need to start asking them questions...."

"About?"

"We need to get a confession out of them that Starr has sent them..."

"What if they don't confess?" Julia asked, clearly terrified.

Tom scratched the back of his head embarrassed.

"Then we will get that confession out of them with force." He sent her a shy smile.

"Oh..."

"Yeah, so don't worry about that, just get them talking. I'm sure they will spill something... and once they do, we will record all that."

Julia seemed completely lost. Jack grabbed her hand gently.

"Julia... you don't have to do that."

"It's OK," she shook her head, but did not pull her hand out of Jack's grasp.

Tom gave a sign to one of his men. The guy walked over to them with a tiny device.

"That's a bug, Julia." Tom explained. "We will attach it under your clothes and not only hear what the assholes are saying, but we'll also record it. On top of that we have the additional cameras set all around the square, so this time their faces will be clearly visible."

"They cannot touch her, Tom." Jack gritted his teeth.

"They won't."

Tom seemed to have it all figured out, but Jack still felt unsure of what they were going to do, of what Julia was going to do.

"We already have ten men watching them," Tom continued explaining. "Before Julia walks out the other ten would take position around the square. She will be safe, Jack. You have my word."

After saying that Tom nodded at the men who, as if just waiting for that sign, left Jack's office. The one holding the bug stayed behind.

"Where do I attach this one, boss?" he asked.

"This one?" Julia asked suspiciously. "Why did that sound like this is not the first bug you put on me?"

Fuck, Jack thought, pissed at the guy's big mouth.

"I had them put a bug in your phone and in your bag." Jack explained calmly.

"You did what? When!?" Julia was outraged.

"Few days ago," Jack answered. He was not going to apologize for that. He'd do anything to keep her safe.

"Guys," Tom interrupted. "Could you please discuss this later?"

Jack walked over to his desk and leaned against it, still not believing they were going to do that. How can he allow Julia to risk her life like that?! He looked at her and saw clearly that even though she was terrified, she'd already made up her mind. He just hoped Tom was right and nothing would happen to her.

***

Julia could swear the world around her fell into a menacing silence; the only thing she could hear was her heart beating like crazy and her terrified lungs trying to breathe.

She forced herself to cross the building lobby and headed for the main exit. She shot a glance at the security guard's desk and noticed one of Tom's men sitting there.

"Ma'am" he greeted her, playing his role perfectly.

Julia focused her attention on the door.

Calm down, Stiles. Otherwise you'll drop dead before you get to the square. You can do this! She tried convincing herself.

The moment she walked out of the building she could feel over twenty pairs of eyes watching her. Tom's men were out there somewhere. This did not make her feel any less alone though. She looked around hesitantly; few people were crossing the square, a homeless man was lying on a bench nearby, but that was it; no one else was there. At least no one she could see.

I should be glad, she tried reasoning with her terrified self. If there are no people around me, then Nicholas' men will approach me and this will give us a chance to capture them.

As agreed she looked at her cell phone display, pretending to be checking the hour. Then she started pacing back and forth.

Let's hope they'll buy that 'waiting for the cub' act.

Julia hesitated for a moment, but then sent a quick text to Jack.

I really hope it works... she wrote, hoping that texting would not blow her cover.

We got you, Julia. Hang in there. It will be over soon. Jack responded almost immediately.

I hope... she started writing back, but stopped, hearing footsteps approaching.

Julia did not have the courage to look up from her phone, but at the same time did not find the strength to continue texting. She just waited terrified.

"I see you've healed nicely, beautiful Julia."

This was the voice that she'd heard in her head in the last weeks, the voice she knew she would never forget. The moment she heard it though a cold desperation ran through Julia. She knew this was the moment. And she was not scared anymore. She was just angry.

She slowly turned in the direction of the voice.

"Don't you just get tired of stalking people?" she asked, her voice still shaky. "For heaven's sake, Nicholas is in jail and you still follow his orders like a brainless puppy!"

The older of the men just laughed. Julia knew that face very well; Banks.

This wasn't going as she had planned. After her offensive statement the guy was supposed to admit that he was following Nicholas' orders.

"I must confess it was annoying at times. You kept slipping away. But in the end I was awarded and got the chance to mark your beautiful face."

Julia couldn't help but shudder. Had he really just revelled in the fact that he'd beaten her?

"So what do you want now?" she asked, feeling the panic returning. "What else does Nicholas want? Wasn't a dislocated arm, concussion, broken ribs, bruises and abrasions revenge enough for him?"

"He would like to see you suffer just a bit more..."

Julia fought back a smile; that was it. The guy had just admitted that Nicholas had ordered the attack. And it was all being recorded.

Banks took a step towards her. And just as Julia thought he was going to hit her, red dots flooded his chest. Julia could not see Tom's men holding the laser guns, but she knew they were ready to pull the triggers if forced to.

"Boss..." the younger of the men pointed at Banks' chest.

He didn't get to finish though. The homeless man that had been sleeping on a nearby bench, or at least that was what Julia had assumed, suddenly got up and pointed his gun at Nicholas' men. Right after that ten more ex Special Forces officers showed up from every possible direction and surrounded the shocked assailants. The square, totally deserted just moments ago, was now swarming with agents wearing black.

Someone took Julia's hand. She turned around to see Tom pulling her away.

"You did it, Julia," he whispered. "Great job."

She just nodded, unable to utter a word.

"Take them away!" Tom ordered his men. "I'll be right with you."

Banks still tried throwing himself at Julia, but he was pinned to the ground by at least three pairs of hands.

"You bitch!"

Tom stood between Julia and Banks. He shot his men a cold glance, so they took the two men away, almost running away with them.

"Are you ok?" Tom asked Julia.

"I don't know..."

"If you ever want to start your career in Special Forces call me, I know people," Tom tried cracking a joke.

Julia forced a weak smile to her face, but couldn't erase the sight of Banks' furious face. She looked around, trying to locate Jack, but he was nowhere in sight.

"I want to go home..." she whispered.

Tom signalled to two of his men.

Julia let herself be led to a car. She just wanted to go to bed, hide under the covers and believe that the nightmare was over.