A Blessing in Disguise 5 | COMPLETED

Vanessa

Hailey still couldn't believe her eyes. Was it really Vanessa in front of her? Or was it just a hallucination from the drug the man gave her? She tried blinking her eyes, trying to make sure that it wasn't a figment of imagination. "Hail, it's really me," Vanessa tried reassuring Hailey, but Hailey was still staring in shock at Vanessa. She had a hard time believing that this could all be true, she was waiting for the other shoe to drop, but the longer she looks at her best friend the more she knew that she wasn't just going to go away. "Fine, if you don't believe me, then let me prove myself," Vanessa huffed in frustration at Hailey's disbelief. "I joined the unit a few months back. You took me in and let me live with you. You also took Lizzie in when she had nowhere else to go. And, as she would say, I am the captain of the upstead ship and she and Trudy were the co-captains of the ship." A small laugh suddenly escaped Hailey's mouth, but she quickly covered it up by shaking her head and pretending that it didn't happen. Vanessa immediately gave her a glare, but both knew it wasn't out of anger. "What?" Vanessa asked, trying to sound annoyed. It slowly started to sink into her at how much she missed being with Hailey. She missed her bright smile that could light up a whole room. She missed having sarcastic conversations with Hailey. And she missed Hailey's hugs that made her feel so loved and protected.

A smile immediately grew on Hailey's face as she was brought back to the good old days where she and Vanessa would have sarcastic conversations about Jay, the movie that they've just watched, or anything that they could find to talk about. She lets out a chuckle and says, "Oh, nothing. I just wanted to say that you look great." Vanessa smiles and chuckles at Hailey's comment. "Really? Cause I thought that these chains wouldn't fit in well with my style," she says. They both laughed as they somehow found humor in the situation they're in. After a few moments, the sound of their laughter died down into a smile on each of their faces. They were both happy to be back in each other's presence, to know that the other was alright. "So, how's Jay?" Vanessa asks after a few moments of silence.She was wondering why the former soldier hadn't shown up to rescue Hailey yet. Hailey immediately had a guilty look on her face, but she swiftly covered it up by saying, "He's alright." Vanessa's eyebrow raised in disapproval of her best friend's answer . "What happened?" Vanessa asks, knowing that something was going on. She was only met with silence.

Several minutes passed and the dark-skinned woman knew she wouldn't get an answer unless she pushed for it.  "Hail...," Vanessa started hesitantly . "I pushed him away," Hailey confessed. This response took Vanessa aback. "Why?" Vanessa was perplexed at this new information. This time, Hailey began to reflect on what she had done, she pushed Jay away and she didn't even really know why except that she just wanted to protect him. Tears started to form in her eyes forshe knew that pushing Jay away was and never will be the right call. "I don't know." Hailey frustratedly wiped a tear falling using her shoulder.  Before their conversation could continue, the muffled sound of keys jingling behind the locked door echoed through the room. The two women in the room fell silent. Hailey immediately composed herself by wiping her face with her shoulder. The two women shared a reassuring glance with each other, but the pair  knew that they were hoping for a miracle at this point since they had no idea where they were, what this man was capable of doing, or even if they had any hope of anyone in the intelligence team finding them.

The door opened and they both saw a man in his late twenties. There was nothing distinct about him. He looked like an average man that works a 9 to 5 job just to make ends meet. He dragged a chair into the room and made it face the two women chained to pipes. He then sat down and proudly looked at Hailey and Vanessa like he just won the lottery. Pent up frustration radiated from the blonde; anger began to tear away the bits of self-control she had left. All she wanted to do now was to beat the man to death."What do you want?" she snarled, her eyes narrowed as she spit the words with disdain. The man smiled as a guilty look formed in his face. "Forgive me as I forgot to introduce myself. My name is Clinton Barnes. I already know both of you so you don't have to introduce yourself," Clinton smiles . Hailey merely eyed Clinton, not letting the man have any sense of satisfaction."Ok, so I'm gonna ask again. What do you want?" Hailey asks with no hint of fear in her voice nor her expression. "Well, that's for me to know and for you to find out," Clinton said excitedly. Hailey rolled her eyes at this comment like she heard it a million times before and she didn't care. "I already know you guys are cops, and that you have a group of people who will do anything to save you, but!" Clinton exclaimed as he stood up from his seat and walked closer to the middle of the two women. "But, this is a well thought out plan and they won't find you unless I let them. Oh! And if you don't believe me... You know what, I don't care. Just know that I am a wanted criminal and they're following clues after clues that will lead them to dead ends after dead ends."