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THE PAIR RACED UPSTAIRS after the security guards and back to the second floor, holding hands but all of the previous romantic notions were forgotten.
On the second floor and all down the hallway closest to room 207 was a mixture of security and local police officers crowding the entryway. Jalen scanned the full space for Jamie then released a tense sigh when he finally spotted her closer to the doorway, sobbing with her back pressed against the wall.
"Oh my God," Noelani pulled Jamie into her arms the moment they reached her, "What happened?"
"She was telling me about how she was gonna go back," Jamie sniffed as she retracted from Noelani's embrace, "And I went to the bathroom to calm down and then all I heard was Lei screaming. I tried to get out but they must've had something against the door because it wasn't moving and when I could finally get it open, she was-." Jamie choked up and then a fresh batch of tears began to stream down the length of her face, "Someone took her!"
"It's alright." Jalen said, comfortingly putting a hand on Jamie's shoulder, "Even if we don't find her, one of these guys sure will."
Jamie suddenly tensed up, her eyes on someone in the distance. When Jalen turned his head, he spotted the same man who had shown up to look for Leilani earlier that day. "Who's that?" Noelani questioned, her eyes flickering between Jalen and Jamie.
"He works for Luke." Jamie was physically shaking, "He's with the man who took Lei."
Noelani's face turned red and before Jalen could grab her, the woman was speedily making her way through the crowd towards him.
"Ah, shit. Stay here," Then Jalen took off behind her through the crowd.
Throughout their almost six years together, Jalen had known that Noelani was a kickboxing prodigy but he had never seen her use those moves on anyone besides a punching bag and himself, the first time they broke up in their senior year of high school.
So when Noelani had gotten close enough to roundhouse kick him in his torso, Judo flipped him onto the ground and then press her knee right on his chest to yell at him, "Where's Lei?", it took Jalen a couple of seconds to realize that he should probably pull her off.
But then the guy smirked at Jalen and then at Noelani without saying a word, only enraging both Jalen and Noelani further.
"Tell me!" Noelani jabbed her elbow right into the man's Adam's apple, causing him to physically wheeze, his breathing now disrupted, "Tell me where my cousin is! Where is she?" When the man remained silent, Noelani pulled him up with ease and slammed the stranger into the space between elevators, and then held her elbow up to his throat.
"Tell me right now or I'm knocking you the hell out!" Noelani demanded.
The man looked to where Jalen was standing behind Noelani, "Are you gonna get her?"
Jalen simply snickered, "You better tell her what she needs to know."
"Even if I did, it won't mean anything until Luke gets that money." The man smirked once more.
"How much does she owe?" The man took too long to answer Noelani's question because she pulled him forward and then slammed him back roughly, "How much?"
The sound of his skull clanging against the tiled walls had gotten the attention of some of the police officers hanging around and a particular burly one was now beelining straight for them, his hand on his taser.
Jalen held up one hand to the officer so that he would stop in his tracks, "I got her."
He wrapped both arms around Noelani's waist to pull her off and away from the man.
"Get off of me, Jalen! Get off!" Noelani yelled, simultaneously attempting to push both of his hands off of her torso.
"Ma'am, please calm down. I assure you we have this situation under control." The officer replied, "If you don't stop, I'll be forced to arrest you for assault and battery."
"Arrest me? Arrest him!" Noelani yelled back, "He knows something! Do your fucking job!"
Jalen protectively tightened his forearms around Noelani and in response, she rested both hands over his and took a series of deep breaths.
"This isn't working. I still wanna beat his ass." Noelani admitted, "They're not doing anything."
"I know baby, but he's not gonna tell us anything." Jalen spoke into her ear, "There's only one way to get her back."
Noelani caught up immediately, removing herself from his hold and then whirling around to look up at him, "No, I can't ask you to do that."
"Baby, you're not asking. I'm offering. Wait here." Jalen brushed back a few of her red curls before stepping around her and walking a few inches closer to where the man was still recovering near the elevators.
Upon seeing Jalen's proximity, the man straightened up, "Keep that crazy bitch away from me. I'm not telling y'all shit."
"Don't call her that," Jalen immediately corrected, "Leilani owes about twenty thousand right?"
The man was rubbing his Adam's apple as he fixed Jalen with a wary glare, "Yeah... You gonna pay for her?"
"Soon as you give her back." The man snickered at Jalen's response and pulled out his cell phone, pressed a button and then the object to his ear, "That's not how this works. You don't get to make any demands. Hello?" The man's attention switched to whoever was on the other line, presumably Luke.
He spoke a few words in Spanish, waited for a moment for the response, and then hung up before turning his head up to where Jalen was waiting, "Here's what's gonna happen. In about two hours, you are gonna meet in the parking lot of The Forum for the drop with the money plus interest. You call the cops, she's dead. You don't come with the right amount, she's dead. You don't come alone, she's-."
"Dead. I got it." Jalen spat, "I'll be alone."
As soon as the man had walked away, Noelani came and stood by his left side, lightly gripping his arm, "So?"
"So," Jalen heaved a great sigh, "Time to go to a bank."
