Redamancy | ᴶᵃᵏᵉ ᴾᵉʳᵃˡᵗᵃ ˣ ᴿᵉᵃᵈᵉʳ

The Wrong Jess... (7)

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The Safehouse
13:01

The sunshine trickled through the open windows, immersing the apartment with its heat. Every breathing juncture the far-off rumble of cars driving beneath the apartment complex could be heeded; accompanied by the odd ringing of a car horn. As cars brimmed the roadways, pigeons drift among the sky. The bird equivalent of a rat would constantly be on edge with the deafening noises of the human population.

That's how I felt. On edge. As though, the slightest alien noise would startle me greatly. Dread and anticipation pumped through my veins. I took every precaution and did everything in my power to avoid the windows and avoid me from being seen, and more importantly: to avoid Jake from being seen with me.

"This place is... cosy" Jake and I now stood in the dining room, the only room where there were no windows seeing as it was in the centre of the flat I stayed in. Here we stood quite close to avoid being seen from the archways or doorframes that lead to the room.

"Don't play coy with me, Mister" I giggled at his obvious sarcasm, despite being away for so long, it's like we've never been apart.

Normal. That's how it slowly began to feel. During this inaugural moment my brain didn't need to dwell on how my life has turned to shit. For the first time in a hot second, my brain didn't pity me for how much I screwed up.

I knew I needed to ask him eventually; but is it so cruel that I wait? Wait for just a little while longer? If I could stretch this moment out, and never move on, I wouldn't hesitate. Unfortunately, that's not how life works.

"How is everyone?" The words forced themselves from between my lips, making me cringe and tense at how abrupt this topic came up despite my initial desperation to avoid it.

My eyes refused to look at the man who stood before me. I'm the one at fault, the one to blame for all of this. Everything is my fault, yet there is no way I could fix it. Fear struck in my brain, countless voices ran like church bells, echoing in the back of my mind; I made the squad's lives hell. You would have to be a blithering idiot not to see that I'm the reason for this mess.

I screwed up Rosa's and I's case. I've put an immense amount of pressure on the 99 to find and arrest 'Smoke' before he can find and... end... me. I've put everyone's lives, careers and families on the line for myself. Because I jumped the gun.

"They are okay. Don't beat yourself up over it. Everyone is willing to do whatever it takes for you. They care about you..." Jake began to explain, his soft, smooth voice lulling me out of my rampaging doubts. He paused for a moment, as he did his fingers caressed my cheek reassuringly. As his soft fingertips made gentle contact with my skin, my eyes averted back to him and his honey brown eyes. With care, his fingers brushed back a loose strand of hair behind my ear before continuing; "I care about you"

My heart and soul lit aflame at the man's words. Blood rushed to my cheeks as a result of my quickened heart rate. As futile as my efforts were, I desperately tried to cover up my obviously flustered state. Without a doubt, the childish man picked up on the change in my demeanour as I noticed the smug smirk that stretched across his pale complexion. His cheeks and eyes wrinkled with his actions, his pride in making me flustered even more evident.

"Anything that I've missed?" I coughed out, wanting to direct the attention off of me, and onto a more interesting topic at hand. Knowing one of Jake's weakness is that he can't seem to refuse a good gossip, I opted for that in hopes it would save me from any further embarrassment.

"Well, Charles as started to ferment a cow's eyeball under his desk, so now the precinct stinks a real bad. Terry has been dancing nonstop for about 3 days trying to relieve his disco childhood. Rosa has been working nonstop to find that hotdog psycho, and so have I. And, I got a new case file, a woman aged 33 named Jessie Williamson was killed yesterday, her face had this sick scar on the right side of her face. It was so deep it was like her face was falling off!"

My blood ran cold. That name seemed so familiar. Suddenly, my brain desperately tried to piece together how I knew this woman. Amidst my thoughts, Jake saw my face contort into mild panic and confusion then he began to speak once more; "hey, hey, hey, what's wrong? Are you alright?"

When I didn't answer, worry struck Jake more. Slowly, he lowered both of our bodies down to the floor. There we sat, his whispers of almost voiceless hushes falling from his plush lips and trickling into my ears. His words swayed my nerves and killed my panic, sending a wave of serene silence over me.

In my peace, my mind clicked. I knew how that name sounds familiar. Jessica Williams is the name I gave to the guy working at the hotdog stand! But he knew I was a cop, shouldn't he have known my real name? Wouldn't have he used a shred of common sense to guess that the name I gave him, wasn't my real name?

For whatever reason, I'm assuming he didn't do his research into me as I had suspected. I bet he followed me that day, plotting my demise, that was until he saw me get into a cop car. I'm assuming that he never had suspected me until then. He must have tried to track me down, but without my real name, his efforts were futile. Unfortunately, a poor, innocent women's life had been taken in the process.

I spilt everything to Jake, unable to bear my excitement any longer. Once I had told him, his face donned a mirrored expression as mine. Eyes glassy with emotion, smile wider than ever, eyebrows raised in surprise and happiness.

He didn't waste any time getting back to the precinct. No, literally. He sprinted away, almost forgetting the precautions he had been instructed by Captain Holt to take when entering and leaving this apartment.

However he didn't, he left me with a kiss goodbye that heated and muffled my senses. In my flustered state, I didn't have time to forbid him a farewell, for he had left me before I could.

I'm going home.

I'm leaving.

Finally.

We caught 'Smoke'... that name is dumb as fu-

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