Fireproof // H.S.

31. Trouble

I stepped off the subway with a bag of groceries in my hand. I was able to fix my makeup to erase what happened earlier from my face. Although my appearance gave off the impression that nothing happened, I was still a wreck inside. Zayn knows he's being watched and I have no idea what he will do with that information. Also, how did he know I was visiting his dad? Did he follow me or did his dad tell him? I shuddered at the thought of being followed and glanced nervously around me. I didn't see anyone suspicious so I continued walking back to Harry's apartment.

I was shocked to see Harry right as I entered the apartment. He was leaning against the small table by the front door, his arms crossed.

"How was your day?" he asked casually. It alarmed me how calm he was.

"It was good," I chirped. "I got some groceries." I held the grocery bag up for him to see and walked past him into the kitchen to put away the food. He got up to follow me.

"You didn't sound fine earlier. Violet, you can trust me. What happened?" he asked. I started making myself busy by putting the apples in the refrigerator but I started to feel guilty. I should tell him what happened.

"I went to see Yaser Malik again today...." I started. Right away, I could tell Harry was upset at my decision.

"Without telling me?"

"I knew you wouldn't approve so I didn't tell you," I told him truthfully. "I was hoping he could help us reach Dr. Chen, but to be honest, he wasn't much help. And...once I left, I was unexpectedly visited by Zayn." Harry's eyes widened and he quickly walked up to examine me.

"Are you okay? Did he hurt you?" he asked, inspecting my arms for any injuries. I swatted him away.

"I'm okay, I'm okay! He didn't do anything to me surprisingly. He just came to warn me."

"Warn you about what?"

"He knows the police are after him. He told me to tell the police to back off or more lives will be lost. And he told me to stay away from his dad."

"So what are you going to do?"

"I won't visit his dad anymore because he's not much help. As for the police...I don't know."

"We're so close!" Harry shouted, running his hand through his hair. I could tell he was frustrated. "I was hoping he wouldn't know about the police but he's a smart one, I'll give him that. The police knows he's guilty and I know they won't listen to us when we tell them to back off. Just what is he planning to do exactly? What does 'more lives will be lost' even mean?" I shrugged my shoulders. "We need to tell the group this."

.

.

"We have to go forward with the plan," Bridget said firmly. "There's no way the police will back out. As for 'more lives will be lost,' I'm thinking he's willing to kill the police in order to get away."

Liam turned to face me. "Violet, can you call Matt to see if there are any updates? Aren't they planning to do something soon?" I nodded and quickly fished out my phone. Everyone held their breath as I dialed Matt's number.

"Hello?" Matt asked. He sounded busy as if he was multi-tasking.

"Hi Matt," I said cheerily, which was strange because in reality I felt the opposite. "I was wondering if there are any updates?"

"I was going to call you later today but you beat me to it. I do have some updates for you," he said in an excited tone. I held my breath in anticipation. I could feel everyone breathing down my neck but I didn't dare put my phone on speaker. "We arrested Stephanie last night at her apartment. She was definitely not expecting us! She kept saying she was going to hire a lawyer but she put up no fight. She's currently in jail being questioned." I covered the mouthpiece of my phone and whispered to everyone that Stephanie was arrested last night. I could see Niall cheering in the corner of my eye. "As for the other three, they've been spending a lot of time together after her arrest. I think they know they're being watched and that we're coming after them." Oh. So the police have reached the same conclusion. Well I guess it's a good thing they know they've been spotted.