GUILT

Chapter 22

     Devin looked outside the car window and saw headlights coming down the street. He figured that they were his uncles and the crew. He looked at Shay, who was still in the backseat sleeping and decided to leave her in the car while he went to talk to Trae's uncle. Devin walked up to the trucks and other cars and saw his uncle sitting in the front seat, loading bullets into a gun with a cigarette hanging from his mouth. 

     "Mr. Jackson?" Devin said approaching the truck.

     "You must be Devin," his uncle looked up.

     "Yeah, its me."

    "Trae in there?"

    "Yeah, he's been in there for about an hour now."

    "Get in the truck," his uncle said. "There's two men around back, we are going to take them out first."

     Devin felt slightly nervous but followed his orders anyway. The other cars drove ahead and began firing shots as they got closer to the doors. The bullets flew at the guards, guarding the outside, causing them to duck and fire back. One of the guards fell to the ground while the other tried to dodge and run. The cars that were driven by Trae's cousins followed the other guard. Once they found him, they jumped out the car and fired bullets at him. His uncle drove around the back and met up with the rest of the crew. 

     Shay woke up with a terrible headache and a jacket covering her. She looked at the front seat and didn't see anyone sitting there. The trail where Trae's car was parked was unfamiliar to her. She looked out the window and it was dark and wooded. She could spot the trail, but was too afraid to get out to find Trae and Devin. Shay slowly pieced together that Trae and Devin was at the location to rescue Chantelle, but she couldn't figure out why they left her behind. She put on the jacket and got out of the car, seeing nobody. It was kind of chilly, but she wanted to be apart of the mission. She walked down the trail and saw a building. Shay began to creep towards the building to see if Devin was near, but she didn't see anyone. She wondered if anyone was inside the building because she saw a light that led to a basement. On the cold ground, she scrunched towards the window hearing voices, and seeing Trae and JT aiming guns at each other.

     "Boy, boy, boy. Tradarrious, you're really brave. I can say that," JT laughed.

     Trae kept aiming the gun at JT. "Let her go," he said.

     JT continued to chuckle and fired a shot, missing Trae. 

     Trae shot back, missing JT. The shots triggered the inside bodyguards to come in.

     Shay moved away form the window, covering her mouth to keep from screaming. Tears formed in her eyes but she wanted to know the outcome. She heard yelling and saw Trae being tackled by the bodyguards. The bodyguards wrestled him to the ground and took his gun away from him. JT grabbed a chair for them to tie Trae in. Trae was wrapped in ropes and a rope was tied over his mouth. Shay quickly got up to find Devin. Once she ran across the grass, she stumbled over one of the bodyguards that was covered in blood. She crawled backwards, covered her mouth again, and took off running.

     "Devin!" she yelled out. She kept back down the trail, hoping she would find him. "Devin," she yelled again.

    Trae's uncle was outside of his truck, standing in the wooded area off the trail, discussing plans with Devin and the crew. All of sudden, Devin heard shrieks in the distance. 

     "What the hell is that?" Trae's uncle said, looking confused along with the rest of crew.

     Devin stood there, trying to make out the sound and quickly realized it was Shay. He took off running to follow her screams. Finally, he saw her running and he ran to her. She had tears streaming down her cheeks. "What's wrong? Are you okay?" he asked her.

    "I woke up alone in the car, and I didn't know what happened to you. I decided to come and find you, then I saw this huge building and a window. Trae is in there and he's in trouble," she said out of breath.

    "Trouble? What kind of trouble?"

    "I was looking through one of the windows, close to the ground, and I saw Trae and JT aiming guns at each other. Then, shots went off and they tied Trae up."

    "Hurry, this way," Devin said guiding her back to the crew.

    "What the hell boy? You brought a female?" his uncle said in anger.

    "This is Shay. She's my girl and Chantelle's best friend. She said she saw Trae tied up in the basement."

    "Tied up? It's time to move in fellas," his uncle said grabbing his gun. 

    The rest of the crew returned to their cars and sped off back towards the building. Trae's uncle walked back to his truck. "Now, look, this ain't no place for a female."

   "She can help, she can be lookout or something," Devin said, holding her hand.

   "Lookout for what? She's not even armed."

   Devin handed her his gun. "There, she is now."

   "You know how to use that thing?" Trae's uncle asked.

   "You damn right," Shay grinned.

  "Alright, when we get there, show us where you saw them and secure the back."

  Trae's uncle drove over to the building with Trae and Shay along. "Now, where did you see them?" his uncle whispered.

   "There," she pointed at the window.

   His uncle bent down and saw Trae in the chair tied up. He quickly told the crew to find every window leading to basement and to draw their guns at it. Trae's uncle fumbled in a black duffle bag to find a black shirt and bandanna to tie around his head. He removed his shirt and placed on the t-shirt. 

   "What are you doing?" Devin asked.

  "I'm going in," he assured.

   "Are you sure about that?"

  "That's my nephew in there, I'm going," his uncle said getting up to go towards the doors. He handed Devin one of his guns and told him to aim it at the windows. Then, he proceeded to enter the building.

   Once he entered the building, he saw a hallway and broken glass cabinets. He moved quietly down the hall with his gun held tightly in his hand. Eventually, the hallway split into two different directions. Then, he heard a door close and footsteps approaching. He quickly jetted behind one of the walls and glanced around the corner and saw Joi walking down the hall. His uncle snuck upon her and held her against the wall, holding her at gunpoint. She tried to fight him off, but he was too strong for her.

   He aimed the gun at her head. "Where the hell is my nephew?"

  "I don't--I don't know who you're talking about," she stuttered.

  "You know exactly who I'm talking about. Cooperate or you're brains going to be splattered up and down these halls."

   Joi shook and didn't say a thing.

   "You're going to take me to him, and if you take me the wrong way, your life is going to end," he said aiming the gun at her side.

    "No, you can't. I'm pregnant with his baby."

    "Shut the fuck up and walk," he said, not believing her.

    Joi led him to the door that leads to the basement. Once they walked down the stairs, they approached the giant metal doors.