A Wolf's Purpose

•Chapter 60• Did You See Him?

"You are coming with me." Lucas grits between his teeth. He struggled to release Jade from her seatbelt. Lucas doesn't even bother looking at Casper who is knocked out and bleeding from his head. Lucas mutters things to himself, how Jade will tell him everything while trying to get her out of the car. The detective briefly glanced over his shoulder to take a look at his own car. The front looked worse than he'd thought at first. Maybe it was the light or the angle. It did not look good. All that mattered right now, though, was getting Jade Salvini out of that vehicle. Jade is still alive, she's breathing, but she's having trouble keeping her heavy eyelids open. Jade couldn't stop him or free herself. At least she's out of the car. "I'm going to get him. You will help me get him. I know he is alive, I'm not crazy, I saw him." He continues to mutter to himself. No one could tell him otherwise.
"Did you, now?" Lucas glanced up to see Bill Salvini, a dead man walking, standing no less than five feet away from him. His heart skipped a few beats and at first, he didn't recognize him. It was as if his mind needed some time to process the whole image of Bill Salvini in front of him. Lucas lost his grip briefly on Jade but he quickly grabbed her again and lifted her. "I told them." Lucas said before exclaiming a psychotic chuckle, "I was right! Ha! You sick bastard, you are alive." Bill reaches out his hands. "I am. Now, give me my daughter, and I won't kill you."
"Ha! Did you-? No, you're not getting her. No, no, I wanna talk to you. We're gonna have a little chat, you and your daughter, and you will tell me exactly what's going on here. And you're going to tell me where your sons are. After that, your whole psychotic family will be either locked up, in a mental hospital, or dead. Whichever you prefer, of course." 

"Give me my daughter," Bill says sternly. "Why would I do that?" Lucas questions. "You rammed your car into hers. Give me my daughter. She needs to be checked in the hospital." Bill would almost give his life for his daughter to be safe. "So you could take her with you and flee the country? That it? That's your plan, right? Wonderful father, aren't you?" Lucas mocks him. "She needs to be checked out. She could've hit her head because of you." Bill snapped at him. He did have a plan if he needed to flee the country. But none of his kids were included. "She's just a kid," Bill added. He knows exactly what he's doing. Lucas knows it too. Playing with someone's emotions. Bill had followed Louis to Casper's house. The boys weren't there anymore but his daughter was. So he decided to keep an eye on her. After that joke that Casper pulled on him. Working with Louis? Bill could've seen it coming. The boy can't be trusted. Sly as a fox, that one, could easily follow Louis' footsteps if he wanted to. Bill noticed something on Jade's face, or rather, trailing down and over her face. Blood from her ear that had already been smeared over her cheek and neck and the blood coming from her nose. Jade looked paler than usual. Something clicked in Bill's mind. That couldn't be. "Give me my daughter," Bill says. "Why don't you get the other one and we'll trade? Or you can just keep him and I will take her." Lucas suggested to him as a joke. Was it a joke? Bill didn't care about Casper. He couldn't even see the boy bleeding in the car. "Give me my daughter! Now!" He yelled and pulled his pistol and aimed it at Lucas.

However, Lucas wasn't impressed by him. He pulled out his own weapon and aimed it straight at Bill. "My daughter!" Bill yells at him. "Not happening. You're both coming with me. I am not crazy and I will prove it to them! I will kill you! For my-" Before Lucas could finish his sentence Bill shot him through the head. Jade was released but her knees buckled causing her to collapse as well. Bill walks over to his daughter and lifts her up. He raises her over his shoulder. "C-Casper," Jade mutters. Bill could now see the boy, alone and bleeding inside the car. He turned around and walked away. Jade couldn't do anything. Through her blurry eyesight, she could still see a very vague image of Casper. All alone in the car.

"So, who are you? How do you know Louis?" Jack asks as Leah sets down the plates. She'd put together something to eat, mostly because Megan wasn't looking well, but the boys also looked hungry. It felt strange to serve food to the offspring of someone who tried to murder you years ago. Leah's pretty sure that she was going insane. The oldest, Jayden, looked exactly like Bill. A bit younger, though. "Uh, from school." Leah lied to him. "You don't look that old." Jack blurts out. Beside him, Jayden slapped the back of his brother's head. "What he meant was: you don't like old enough to have gone to school with Louis. If you did, then you look really good, ma'am." Jerry quickly cut in. Jayden glares at him with a teasing grin. "You have a girlfriend." He reminds his brother. "I am not hitting on her. Not that you're not pretty enough, ma'am, you look great. I am not hitting on her." Jerry moved between his brother and Leah. The woman couldn't help but smile a little at the boy's comment. "You are too sweet. No, I was a few years under him. He tutored me." Leah lied again. "Tutoring? Louis?" Leah nodded her head. Leah could only think of the example she would be setting for her kids. They were with their father far far away. They could not be here while Bill was in town. Leah looked at the boys and girl again. Megan silently chewed on her food while two of the boys were discussing something. But Jayden looked straight at her. "You're one of them, aren't you?"

The room fell silent, even Megan stopped for a minute, and everyone looked at the oldest triplet. Jerry also looked at the woman and narrowed his eyes. "One of the girls my dad- you know. The ones that he took. The last ones." Jayden added. The youngest triplet suddenly recognized her from the files and newspapers. She'd been in those pictures taken in court that they'd taken on the days in court. "Elms. Leah Elms?" Jerry filled in. "Sweetheart-" Leah started. "Are you?" Jayden asks very calmly. Leah locks her eyes with Megan for a brief moment. "Yeah, yes, yes, I am," She confessed to them. Louis told her not to, and she didn't want to tell them, but Leah's a bad liar. "Wow." The three boys said. "So, you know my mom?" Megan speaks up. Leah nods her head. "Yes, I know your mother. And your father as well, boys."
"I noticed. You flinch whenever I move. And the thing with the front door." The boys aren't like Bill, as far as she's seen, Leah felt bad for her preconception. But they didn't seem at all offended by it. "And you still let us stay here?" Jack questions. "Yes. They asked me to. I'll be honest, I didn't want to at first. But Megan-" Leah sighs, "They told me that Selena's daughter was with you and that you wanted to protect her. The house was empty anyway. More than enough room for all of you." The teenagers all smile kindly at her and thank her. "Where is your family now?" Jerry asks her. "Far away." Leah's answer was short. Of course, understandable, she wouldn't want to tell them too many details. The triplets were understanding of that and didn't press her. "Mad respect for you, Mrs. Elms," Jack tells her. Jayden glared at his brother again. "What? She has my respect. She got out alive, went up against him in court, and now she's taking in his sons. That's badass if you ask me. I wouldn't have the balls for that. Not for that specifically." Jack continued. 

Leah exclaims a small sigh. "Ma'am, our brother is a dumbass." Jayden tried to apologize. "He's not wrong. It can't be easy for you." Jerry added as he looked at the woman. "It's fine. It must be crazy for you too, especially you Megan, to be here with me." Leah replied quietly. "You're not afraid of us, are you?" Jayden asks her with genuine concern. The woman looked up at the boy and swallowed the large lump in her throat. "A little. This is bringing up some memories. Some things I haven't thought of for a long time." Leah explains to them, "I'm sorry. Every time I look at you, I see him, I see the man who tried to kill me." Tears started to form in the woman's eyes. Jayden carefully reached out and placed his warm hand over her cold one. "Ma'am, I can assure you, I am not my father. Neither are my brothers. My sister... maybe." Jerry rolled his eyes slightly. Jayden shouldn't bring that up now. "All I'm trying to say is that you can trust us. We don't want to hurt you." Jayden assures her, "I was actually planning on hitting you later in the kitchen. Man, you do not look your age." Jayden worked his charms a little. Megan and his brothers glared at him while Leah blushed slightly at the boy's comment. But this also reminded her of something that happened in the past. She tried to ignore it.