7 Minutes ✧ Syndisparklez

Probable Cause

We had all gathered in the living room. One of my legs was folded under my body, and I observed as Tom and Jordan held each other close, Ethan was squinting to see his papers in the dimly lit room.

Picking at the skin surrounding my thumbs, I birthed a final plan to get rid of James and Oliver for good, because the prison obviously wasn't the best choice. What I had planed would put me in jail, but that's a risk I'm willing to take.

~~A Spoiler~~
My plan did not place me in jail.

"Ingrid," Ethan mumbled. "Can I talk to you?"

"Yeah," I meekly followed him to the kitchen, out of earshot from the couple dozing off on the living room sofa.

"Listen, the best option for me right now is to place you and Jordan under F.B.I. watch until we can catch these guys, and-"

"Catch them? Why, so they can both just escape again? Are you out of your mind?" I scolded, slapping him upside the head. "That's the stupidest thing that has ever come out of your mouth."

"What do you want me to do, kill 'em?"

Empty silence filled the air, as I stared up at him.

"...Yeah, that's kinda the idea," I finally mumbled.

"We can't shoot them unless they're armed-"

"You seriously think they won't be armed? You know Oliver, and we saw how beat up Jordan was, you cannot trust that these two are gonna be perfectly okay with giving themselves over to the police."

"How do you know they won't surrender when we've got them surrounded?"

"How do you know they won't have a bomb strapped to their chest by the time you find them?"

That shut him up.

"You're gonna get yourself and others killed if you don't fucking shoot these two before it's too late," I whispered.

"Ingrid, I can't just-"

"If you don't, I will."

"I don't know how you plan on doing that."

"I have my ways," I muttered, before turning to go back to the living room.

"Ingrid... Ingrid, we have to put you two on lockdown, it's the safest option right now," Ethan called out, following directly behind me.

"It's not the safest option. We'll all sleep better at night with those two 6 feet under ground."

"Yeah, you'll sleep real good on the floor of a prison cell."

"There are plenty of rivers in London, whose to say I'm gonna get caught?"

"Alright, well you just confessed to it, and- Where do you think you're going?"

"Home."

"What's going on?" Jordan's tired voice asked from the couch.

"Ingrid?"

"Ingrid, get back here, you're not going home."

"Watch me," I hissed. I was tired of this, why the fuck do we all have to be pacifist?

"Ingrid, please," Jordan cried from behind me. I dared to look back. Tears were streaming down his face. "Please don't leave me alone, I don't want to loose you, I don't want to face James alone, please."

"You're not gonna face James, I will," and with that, I stormed out. Too bad Ethan had to follow me out.

"You're insane, are you kidding?" Ethan asked, the volume of his voice starting to raise.

"If no one is going to do anything, then how do you expect us to feel fine? We're terrified, Ethan!"

"You can't kill them, you don't have a probable cause!"

"Probable cause? Are you serious right now? How's this for probable cause? Two fuckers are out on the loose, and they get off on torture and pain, and they're about to target Jordan and I so they can circle jerk it while we're fading away into nothingness. They'll be laughing in their cells, reminiscing on good times while you have to stand at our funerals because you didn't have 'probable fucking cause' to shoot their asses while you had the chance! They're sadist! They're crazy! They're not people anymore, they don't deserve rights if they're torturing us! They didn't think of our rights while they were beating us and torturing us, so why should we think of theirs now?" I screamed.

~~Fun Fact~~
I've never yelled at Ethan before. Neighbors actually began to call the police because of a "domestic disturbance."
Reminds me of the "good 'ol days" of dating Oliver.

Locking the doors behind me, I crawled into my car. Stretching over the passenger seat to unlock my glovebox, I reached for the pistol inside. I carefully put the firearm in my pocket, just in case.

Reluctantly, I pulled away from the driveway, watching Ethan stuff his hands in his pockets. He just stood there. A witness as I drove away, towards my greatest fear.

Oliver.

I was already mentally preparing myself. There's no way they wouldn't be waiting for me by the time I had driven home. Just expect to see pictures of my dead and mangled body on the channel 5 news.

The hum of the radio was interuppted, as a breaking news broadcast beeped through the speakers.

~~The Broadcast~~
"This just in, an abandoned, black 2013 Honda was found on the side of Oxford Street. It is suspected the car was stolen by the two felons who are currently on the run from the police, James Hayes and Oliver Thompson. The inmates' prison jumpsuits were discovered in the trunk of the car, along with empty ammunition boxes. These criminals are potentially armed and dangerous, so please lock your doors and report to the police if you have any information on the situation at all."

"There's your probable cause."