A Blessing in Disguise 5 | COMPLETED

Be Careful

Vehicles of different sizes and colours filled the streets of Chicago, signifying the start of the morning rush hour. A blue truck arrived at the long line of cars waiting for the stoplight to turn green. With a huge six-wheeler in front of them, the police lights blinking atop the windshield did nothing to help. The detectives inside grunted and cursed at the time they wasted just travelling from the district to the airport and at their current predicament. The traffic moved a few inches, however, this still didn't make a difference. Hailey, who sat on the passenger seat by the driver, deliberated on leaving her partner in their vehicle so that she could run to the airport. . Her head turned towards the man beside her. Naturally, her partner already knew what was going through her mind. His hand held hers, "Just be careful, Hailey." Just hearing the way he said it made her whole body stay frozen at her seat. "Are you sure?" The facial muscles on Jay's face relaxed a little and his head tilted to the side. After years of reading off of each other's body language and sharing silent conversations with each other, something in Hailey knew that Jay was telling her that he supported whatever she chose, while also believing that she could do either one. She lightly nodded her head, then Jay slowly let go of her hand already knowing what she chose. "Be careful, ok?" His concern was evident. A corner of her mouth lifted into a reassuring smile that was accompanied by a nod. "I will."

Hailey hopped out of the gray truck and approached the entrance. She walked past the people lining at the front to get their baggage cleared. Soft murmurs already started to grow in the crowd as they watched the detective speak with the officer at the front. "Detective Upton, Chicago PD. Do you have an evacuation plan for an emergency?" She tried to keep her voice down, but she already knew that the people around her knew something was going on. The police officer nodded as a response. "Good, execute that quietly and get these people out of here." She received another nod and made her way inside. She quickly made a beeline up to the middle of the terminal. As she looked around, she immediately saw a group of people slowly rushing towards her. She made her way towards them and snaked past the crowd. She then finally got past the people in her way and saw the person she was looking for. The dark circles under Barnes's eyes are an obvious sign to him not getting enough sleep for a while now. His stance was threatening as he held a gun in one hand and a detonator on the other, but as Hailey looked closer her eyes widened in fear. The detonator he was holding was actually a dead man's switch which means that one wrong move and they could all end up underground. At that exact moment of realization, his tired eyes met hers. The tiny hairs at the back of her neck stood as she saw how lifeless his eyes were.

Hailey tried her best on maintaining eye contact with Barnes and keeping her composure; however, anxiety also began to creep to the forefront of her thoughts. Her brain racked about how, at any second Barnes could just decide to let go of the switch, then Jay wouldn't be able to see her again and she wouldn't get to be with him anymore. After a few moments of steadying her breath, her instincts started kicking in. She slowly raised both her hands up and slowly approached the man in the middle. The man just stared at her and with every passing second, his stance also began to relax. Hailey's face scrunched a bit; her gut feeling was nagging at her that something seemed off but she didn't know what. . "Hey, it's me again," Hailey gave her all to make a smile appear on her face. "I know you still remember me." Barnes's hand with the gun slowly raised towards her, then she briskly stopped at her tracks. She could see his eyes studying her. She stayed as still as possible to not make any sudden movement that could cost her life. The gun in his hand slowly started to shake. "No! No!" He cussed as his head shook in despair, then he held the gun by the side of his head. His eyes snapped back at Hailey. "No!" He screamed at her, "Why are you still here?" Hailey knew that her face was now painted with confusion. She didn't understand why he would ask something like that. "Why?! I was trying to help you get rid of yourself from this cruel world, yet what do you do?" His finger was already on the trigger, Hailey could see how his anguish was starting to take over his being. Her heart was pounding in her chest. She studied him as fast as she could, trying to find a way to intervene before it was too late. Her eyes grew wide as she watched his hand that held the detonator slowly relax. "You stand in front of me and do what?" His voice sounded like he was giving up. His disappointment was motivating him to push through with his plan. "Are you planning on stopping me from saving these people from this horrible world? Well, Ms. Upton, I'm not going to let you do that."