Chapter 65- Taunting Arrests

[] T H I R D • P E R S O N []

Officer Santana lead her team to a warehouse near the edge of the woods, close to where they had gotten a signal on a phone nearly twenty minutes ago.

On their search for Amelia, they had found her car near her house, and had found her phone in there. They checked for messages, and the last call she made was to an unusual number. They had tracked that number and went in search for it, hoping that that is where they needed to be.

Her team of thirty were ready to take on an army as they marched into the woods. What they didn't expect, was find themselves in the middle of a group of young men, armed with guns. They were all snorting something, and barely noticed the group of officers scattered around them in the woods. The officers knew what to do in this situation. They immediately spread themselves out to surround the group, without being noticed. Once they were surrounding them, but were also covered by the trees in case one of the boys started shooting, Officer Santana spoke loudly.

"Drop your weapons! You are surrounded by police from all around! There is no escaping. We have a warrant against everyone involved with Jackson Crawford's crimes! We hereby arrest you for the illegal use of drugs!"

Within seconds, the boys dropped their weapons. The officers wasted no time in charging to them and handcuffing each and every one. However the boys looked too stoned to fight back. A few officers dragged the boys away, and the rest of the team started to cover the building. As they searched, they only found one door leading inside. At last, Officer Santana pushed through the doors, aiming her gun in front of her.

At first, they were greeted by darkness. It was hard to see what they were up against, but the officers were used to this. They were ready to take on any situation with bravery. So, with Officer Santana leading, the officers slowly crept into the warehouse.

Noises could be heard in the distance, and they had all hoped that this is where the girl was.

Officer Santana turned around briskly and ordered for her fellow officers to break out into different directions, staying clear of the only light in the room where they now saw a girl tightly strapped to a chair. A man was hovering above her, a gun in his hand.

As they distributed themselves around the warehouse, they heard the boy and girl yelling at each other. They only caught bits and pieces, but it was enough for them to confirm what they already knew about the case.

Just as they finished getting into place, Officer Santana noticed that the boy had brought the gun up to the girl's temple.

And she hoped that they wouldn't be too late in saving her as she lunged into the light.

* * *

After a three hour torturous ride, Jamal finally pulled up in front of their destination. It wasn't hard to spot them, as police cars lined nearly the entire road. The road was connected to a layer of dense trees, and a clearing on the other side. Before Jamal could even park decently, Leo was flying out of the car. Jamal stepped on the breaks in susprise, causing the car to lurch forward.

"Leo!" Jamal called out.

But Leo didn't hear him. He ran towards the police cars, immediately tensing when he noticed that he officers were pushing a handful of handcuffed boys into various police cars. Between this mess, he saw a flop of brown hair. He recognized John and ran to him.

John saw the car pull up long before any other officer did. He saw as Leo stumbled out of the car and towards them. He started walking to him, but Leo was already running towards him. The two hadn't met formally, but each knew the importance of the other to Amelia. They had that understanding at least.

"Where is she?" Leo asked, not bothering with greetings.

John sighed.

"We don't know. The cops are still lookin-"

"Still looking? What do you mean? It's been hours since she was missing!" Leo said, grabbing John's collar.

John pushed him off with all the strength he had. Leo blinked a few times when John did that.

He looked at his hands, then at John.

"I...I'm... I didn't mean to do that," Leo said breathlessly.

For the first time in his life, Leo's own strength scared him. John sighed, understanding Leo's anguish. Heck, he had just grabbed an officer the same way at the station a while back.

"It's okay. We're all worried for her. Not just you," John said.

Leo swallowed and looked away from John. He finally remembered what he came for.

"I want to go with them to find her," Leo said desperately.

John shook his head.

"We can't. Those guys are armed. We don't know how many-"

"Armed?"

Leo was going to hurl. These guys had guns. And Amelia was caught up somewhere between them.

He looked ahead at the vast forest before him, and without another thought, he started running towards it. However, before he could, John pulled him back.

"No! We can't go in there!"

Leo struggled in his grip.

"Let me go!"

Finally, two cops noticed the commotion near them. They immediately set out to tear the two boys apart.

Leo struggled against them too. He almost broke through, when another officer held Leo down too. Leo continued to thrash in their hold.

Jamal had just finished parking and making sure Andre was secure in the car. When he finally got out, he noticed the commotion behind him. Two officers held Leo down as he tried to fight them. The guy they had met nearly two months back, John, he remembered, was also watching the officers trying to get them to stop. Jamal speedily ran over to them, quickly getting the officer's attention.

"Hey! He's not one of them!" Jamal yelled, holding his hands up in surrender.

The officers looked up to Jamal.

"His girlfriend's in there, Amelia," Jamal explained.

The officers immediately froze. They suddenly looked down to Leo, finally noticing how he kept muttering, "I need to find her."

The officers got off of Leo apologetically, but still held him at arm's length. Leo didn't fight them this time. He turned to them with a desperate look.

"I need to go in there. Please- I- I'll do anything but please, just let me go find her," Leo begged.

He was ready to get on his knees in front of the officers. He just wanted to go find his Moonie.

"Listen here boy, we'll find your girl. But we can't have you in there. This is a crime scene-"

Before the officer could finish, their walkie-talkies sprang into action, Officer Santana's voice flowing through them.

"Officer Craig? Billings? I need you for backup. We've found Jackson Crawford."

* * * *

[] L E O []

I felt as if I died when I heard those words shout through the walkie-talkies on each of the officers' hips. After receiving the message, they both started heading towards the forest, making eye contact with the other two officers before they left. I didn't waste a second in following the officers who were running towards Amelia.

This time, no one stopped me.

I ran through the two feet deep snow, not bothered by my soaked feet, my bruises, or my aching legs. I just ran, wanting to get to Amelia as fast as I could.

With every step closer, I felt my heart breaking more.

'Please let her be okay,' I thought relentlessly.

When we reached a warehouse in the middle of the woods, I finally stopped behind the officers. If they noticed me, they didn't comment on it.

A huge group of officers stood outside the warehouse, many talking into their walkie-talkies, or to each other. However, neither Jackson or Amelia were seen. I slipped past the group of officers and into the warehouse.

She had to be there.

The two officers I had followed were also headed that way, a few steps ahead of me.

The room was dark when I entered, however, there were officers in here as well. I followed the path of officers and finally found myself near the center of the room. There was a bit of light here, allowing us to see the scene.

What I saw had me nearly break.

Amelia was tied to a chair in front of Jackson. Despite the height difference since she was sitting, her eyes were wide with hatred as she stared him down. Jackson looked at her with a burning rage as three officers held him back. He had a gun in his hand, loosely pointed at Amelia as he struggled against the officers.

Amelia was stuck in a chair in front of him, in front of the gun, and no one dared to step forward.

I took a shaky step forward, my legs nearly crumbling beneath me.

Amelia was sitting there, completely defenseless, and no one was doing anything.

Or maybe I couldn't hear what was going on.

All I could focus on was the shiny metal gun pointed at her.

Just as I was about to run forward, a gunshot rang throughout the room.

I gasped, falling to my knees. I watched as everyone froze, my own ears ringing.

A single cry rang out in the room, rising above all others.

And that was the second heartbreak Amelia Harrison gave me in the span of a week.