The Arrangement | Jay Halstead

Chapter 17 | Flashlight

Part 17

Anna woke up in the middle of the night, only to see a flashlight directed into her bedroom window. Her eyes widened and she grabbed her gun. "Hey! What the fuck" Anna shouted and got out of her bed immediately.

The person fled and Anna ran out in barely any clothing, but with her gun in her hands she felt safe enough. She saw nothing when she ran out of her driveway.

The person was gone.

Anna was breathless from the adrenaline pumping through her bones. She took another spin around herself to see if the person was around. But nothing happened so she ran back inside.

A person had been watching her while sleeping. After securing her doors, she grabbed her phone only to see a few missed calls.

Anna narrowed her eyes, it was two in the morning. Anna called Adam back. "It's Al" Was all Adam needed to say. Anna got dressed shakily and raced to the hospital.

Anna was still shaken up from the window stalker, but she had to be strong for Al. Something was dangerously wrong.

"Anna?" Hailey called out once she saw the brunette walk through the doors of the hospital. "Someone stabbed Al, multiple times. It's not good" Kim said.

"Are you okay?" Hailey asked, noticing the extra panic on her face. "No, yeah– can I crash with either of you for a couple of days?" Anna asked.

"Sure, you can stay with me" Hailey said, Kim touched Anna's shoulder and gave her a small smile. "How is Voight holding up?" Anna asked.

"Everyone" Adam called out. Hank walked into the waiting room and Anna knew it was bad.

Hank didn't say anything, he didn't need to. A simple shook of the head let the team know what they had feared. Al was gone.

Anna felt a gut wrenching pain, like someone had just hit her in the stomach with a sledgehammer. Tears immediately prickled in her eyes, some dropping.

Jay stormed out and Anna felt dizzy, not understanding how this could be reality. But while everyone was falling apart, Anna pulled Hank into a hug.

He didn't fight her, he hugged her back, allowing her to help him just a little. Like he had helped her.

Trudy sat down and Kim was crying as well. Hank pulled away and captured Trudy in a hug as well. Anna squatted down, to take deep breaths.

Nothing helped, she was panicking, grieving and struggling with the fact that this wasn't a nightmare.

Anna felt it harder to breathe when Ruzek engulfed Kim in a hug, so Anna left the room. Anna stormed out of the hospital with determination. She needed to break down, once she pushed the hospital doors and fresh air engulfed her.

She felt like she could breathe. Sobs escaped her throat as she fought to make her way to her car. Anna's hands shook as she tried to get her car keys to unlock her car.

"Fuck!" Anna shouted in the rush of anger. Anna gave up working her car keys and slid down the side of her car. She sobbed and hid her face in her hands. She couldn't believe it.

Al was really gone.

"Anna?" A voice called out. She couldn't make out the person until he stood in front of her, Jay crouched to her level. His eyes were blood red from the tears and his cheeks were wet.

"Come on, we gotta get back in" Jay said with a shaky voice. "We need to know what to do now, how to find the guy who did this" Jay said.

Anna didn't look at him, she just kept sobbing. She slowly felt Jay's arms around her and his cheek pressed against the side of her face.