HENRY
~~~~~~

Finding the Mercedes in plain sight when we reached the location was suspicious enough. When we approached to investigate, they suddenly took off. Luke's hybrid sedan followed the two vehicles, with us behind him. Red and blue lights flashed, and sirens wailed from his car as he tailed them.

Identical cars and a hostage trapped in one of them. Way to mislead us. The Trickster's one hell of a bastard.

"Well, that wasn't so hard," Louis said. "Explains those numbers in the message."

I wrenched the steering wheel and careened around the corner of the street after the Mercedes took a sharp turn.

"Wasn't hard? You serious?" My voice rose. "If we get the wrong car, we lose the hostage. What if Robert's in there?"

We caught up with Luke, driving close behind. The two black cars snaked through traffic, then swerved and headed down a narrow road between two buildings. I overtook Luke and plunged the car down the road after them. When they came out on the other side of the street, they split up and drove off in different directions. One went left, the other straight.

I missed the left.

"Shit. Luke, follow the other!" I yelled into the transceiver.

"On it!" came the reply.

I practically flew along the streets. The trees lining the middle of the road seemingly sprinted in the opposite direction. Up ahead, a part of the road was closed off for construction. Vehicles had to drive around it. As a result, the traffic slowed to a tortoise's pace.

The kidnappers had no intention of slowing down. They headed right for the construction site, hitting the traffic cones and breaking through the roadblock. Startled workers jumped out of the way as the car raced past them on the newly laid asphalt.

I followed suit. The Mercedes basically cleared the way for us. We crossed the construction site and got back on level ground. I kept on the target's tail. Louis took his gun out and rolled down the window.

"Careful," I said. "There could be someone in the trunk."

"Well, then we better make sure," Louis replied.

He knew better than to shoot the trunk. Instead, he targeted the rear windshield. A man leaned out of the car and fired back at us. I turned to get out of his line of sight. Louis retaliated, able to only fire twice at a time, for fear of hitting the trunk.

One of the Mercedes' taillights fell out and a pair of bound hands stuck out from the hole, waving frantically.

Louis pointed at it. "Look!"

"I see it," I said. "We need to slow that car down. Give a chance for whoever's in there to jump out."

"It could be him."

Possibly. Robert would have the quick thinking of knocking out the taillights to attract attention.

"If it is, we need to help him."

Just then, Aidan spoke through the radio. According to him, the numbers in the message could indicate time.

Louis grabbed the transceiver and said, "You certain it's time?"

"Like I said," replied Aidan. "Wild guess."

"Better safe than sorry, I suppose."

We had twenty-five minutes, which wasn't a lot of time. We had to hurry.

The Mercedes headed for a tunnel, dimly lit by orange lights. The gunman inside leaned out and fired at us again. We ducked as bullets hit the windshield, and shattered my headlights. Spider web cracks formed around the bullet holes. We pursued them out of the tunnel, onto a wider open road. The traffic was considerably lighter, which gave me a chance to catch up.

The closer I got to the car, the more gunfire came at us. Shots ricocheted off the bonnet, shattered my window, and broke the side-view mirror. The moment the shooter paused to reload, Louis seized the opportunity to fire back, wounding him in the shoulder. The man cried out in pain and retreated.

I matched the pace of the Mercedes. The driver shot me a glare and rammed into my car. Brakes shrieked, and we veered to the right. I tried to get us back on track when he rammed us again. My seatbelt dug into my neck as we jerked violently. Louis cursed under his breath.

In between, Luke's voice sounded from the transceiver. "Detective, it's me. The car I chased was a decoy. Where are you?"

I glanced at a street sign as we sped past. "Delbrough road."

"That's nearby," he replied. "I'll catch up with you soon."

The driver crashed into my car again, throwing me off course, attempting to shove me into other civilian vehicles. I swerved, colliding with his car as retaliation. The two of us fought to overpower the other.

Just then, a rash civilian car veered into my lane. My breath caught and I hit the brakes. The Mercedes got ahead of us, much to my anger.

"Shit!" I drove around the civilian. "Asshole!"

"I'm guessing he got his license from the internet," Louis said.

I had to catch up with the perp. We only had ten minutes to stop it and every second counted.

"We're running out of time," said Louis.

I clenched my jaw, pulse racing. "I know."

Up ahead, a road from the right joined into the main one. A cop car showed up from there and T-boned the Mercedes, shoving it across the road. It skidded out of control, leaving a trail of smoke in its wake before coming to a stop. A vehicle passing along screeched to a halt a few feet away from them. Other vehicles tried to brake in time but ended up colliding with each other.

"Jesus Christ!" Louis exclaimed.

I reached them and pulled over at a safe distance. Luke stepped out of the cop car with a gun in hand. I worried about the hostage in the trunk.

Scrambling out of the car, I ran towards the crash. I expected the Trickster to set a bomb off anytime soon since he had a penchant for that.

"Get back!" I yelled at Luke.

He was closest to the vehicle and I didn't want him to get hurt. I sprinted towards the Mercedes faster than I'd ever run in my life. The trunk popped, and Robert rolled out. He landed awkwardly on his shoulder and struggled like a fish out of water. His hands were bound so tightly blood swelled his fingers.

I grabbed hold of him and tried to drag him away. He mumbled something behind the duct tape across his mouth. He twisted to reveal the explosive belt strapped to his body, half behind his suit.

He winced when I ripped the tape from his mouth.

"Get away," he said, his voice weak and breathy.

Louis rushed and knelt by him. "Shut up! We're not leaving you." He took a switchblade from his pocket and brushed the wires with a steady hand. Anger and determination settled on his face. "Not this time."

The civilians got out of their vehicles, unharmed, thankfully. At the sight of the bomb, they panicked and backed away.

As Louis cut a wire, the door of the Mercedes opened. Blood streamed from the driver's mouth and down his temple as he staggered out, almost falling as he held onto the door for support.

I whipped my gun out—about to shoot him—but stopped when he raised a hand. A detonator firmly clutched in it. His thumb pressed and held the button on top.

He grinned, baring bloody teeth. "It's a dead man's switch. I think you know exactly what that means."

I clenched my jaw. Damn it.

Louis stopped cutting the wires, and Robert turned a weak gaze to him.

"You thought you won, huh?" said the man. "You thought you were gonna rescue your friend and escape?"

I refused to put my gun down. I hated being in this predicament, where a psycho had the upper hand and I was utterly helpless.

The son of a bitch continued to taunt. "What's his name again? Your other friend. Aidan Hunter? Oh, I'd love to see the look on his face when he finds your body parts all over the place."

Luke moved slowly towards the Mercedes, unbeknownst to the man. I stepped forward to keep his attention on me.

"Seems like we've gained quite the reputation," I said. "I mean, everyone who works for Trickster knows who we are. I just have one question. Why send inept morons like you to do his dirty work? It looks to me like that smug bastard fears Aidan. That's why he's hiding out in a little hole like the rat he is."

"Considering your current situation, you need to choose your words wisely." He smirked. "Aidan's not gunna be alive for long. Trickster knows what he's doing."

"So I've heard. What exactly is his issue with him? Pretty sure he has a hidden agenda."

"As far as I heard, Aidan killed his best friend. He wants revenge."

What?

No. It couldn't be true. Aidan wasn't capable of something as despicable as that. He was a gigantic pain in the ass, eccentric as hell, and reckless to a point I might end up breaking his bones someday. He was a lot of things but a murderer wasn't one.

If the Trickster took the trouble to plan all this to get to Aidan, there had to be a valid reason. Couldn't be this. It had to be a huge misunderstanding.

Luke approached closer to the perp.

"Aidan would never do that," I replied. "And how do you know this, anyway? You're nothing but a useless pawn."

The man shrugged. "I overheard him talking to the others. Now, enough talk. You—"

Luke grabbed his detonator hand so he couldn't lift his thumb and locked his free arm around the criminal's neck.

I glanced at Louis. "Defuse it!"

He got back to work. I didn't dare shoot the man from the fear he'd drop the bomb. He and Luke wrestled for the device.

Louis cut the wires connecting to the vest carefully. My gaze darted between him and the scuffle in front of me before I holstered my gun and ran towards it. The perp fought his way out of Luke's grip, punching him in the face. I grabbed him the same way Luke did, clasping his detonator hand and locking my other arm firmly around his neck.

"Louis!" I yelled. "Anytime now!"

"I almost got it!" he yelled back.

The man tried to wrest himself from my grip, wriggling and twisting. I gritted my teeth and lowered my stance. He elbowed my gut. I grunted and tried to turn my body when he elbowed me again. The second my grip loosened, he twisted free. I coughed and staggered back as he kicked me right in the stomach, causing my legs to buckle.

Luke rushed and tackled him. Louis still worked the wires.

"Goddammit, hurry the hell up!" I spluttered.

He didn't even glance at me as he eased the vest off Robert. At that moment, Luke lost his grip on the man's hand. I scrambled to my feet.

It felt like slow motion, watching the man's fingers peel away from the detonator.

Every detail crystal clear, it fell through the air.

I reached for it. My breath caught as I grabbed the device midair, immediately placing my thumb on the button.

Luke knocked the man out by bashing his head to the door of the Mercedes. Louis flung the explosive belt away and clutched Robert protectively, bracing for an explosion.

I froze.

My hand gripping the detonator shivered. A bead of sweat ran down my forehead. I didn't move, as if I were standing on a mine and the slightest movement would set it off. My heart thumped in my chest, in my throat, and every breath was shallow.

It should've happened by now.

A few moments passed, and the bomb lay inactive. I exhaled, clasping my mouth. My eyes almost teared. I took a deep breath to compose myself.

I couldn't have a repetition of previous events. It would be too much for me to bear if innocent people got killed again, including my friends. I didn't have space in my heart for anymore regret.

Luke and I looked at each other, both sharing the same relief. The one most relieved was Louis. He hugged a weak Robert in his arms, who clung to his friend for support. He looked at me, nodding in a way that said 'we did it'.

And we did. Though there may be more dangers ahead, this counted as a small victory at least.

It was a brief respite, though. I remembered Aidan. Considering what happened to us, I figured he and the chief were in a similar dire situation, and it concerned me. I pulled my phone out and called him, only to be greeted by the automated message: 'The number you have dialed is currently switched off. Please try again later'.

I tried Martin's phone next, and Cliff answered. "Henry."

"Cliff?" I said. "Where's the chief?"

"He's alright. He's getting some medical help. Told me to answer the phone."

"Is he okay?"

"Yeah. Minor injuries. We got away from the explosion in time. What about you? Is Robert okay?"

"Wait, what? What do you mean explosion?"

"Car bomb. We got the hostages to safety."

The anxiety I'd felt earlier came back. "Where's Aidan? He's not answering his phone."

There was a pause. I didn't like it.

"He was closer to the explosion than the rest of us," he replied.

I swallowed. My voice lowered. "Where is he?"

"In an ambulance. He doesn't look too good."

My head spun, and the world faded to black. I lowered the phone to my side, unable to speak another word. Luke came to me asking if Martin and the others were fine, but his voice drowned in the background. All I could see were the movements of his mouth.

All this time, I never expected something bad to happen to Aidan. He had been through worse and always survived. I did worry about him but I also believed he was tough. There was no way he could get hurt.

He couldn't.