At All Costs || Jerrie

Chapter 27

TRIGGER WARNING!!!

~~~

Jade
The entire Tower Bridge was roped off. Only people within law enforcement were allowed on the bridge. Everybody else was banned. There were police cars and police officers everywhere. An ambulance was here as well, obviously in case the poor man jumped.

Curious people stood gathered in huge crowds all around the bridge. Some of them chanted "jump" while others filmed the entire thing. What a bunch of idiots. I had to fight the urge to walk up to them and whoop their asses. With a life on the line, I needed to remain calm and keep my priorities straight. Karma would take care of them anyway. Just wait and see. They'd get what they deserved.

Noticing our arrival, Leo "The Teddybear" Collins dropped everything he was doing and jogged up to me and a pretty shaken up Jesy.

"What do we got, Collins?" I asked firmly, my professional side rising to the surface.

"Timothy Parker, 42. He has a long history with mental health issues and was once a patient at Cygnet Hospital Wyke" officer Collins explained.

"Does his family know where he is?" I asked.

"His wife, son and two daughters are here, actually" he said.

"Where exactly are they?" I asked.

"In officer Bushnell's car. She's trying to keep them calm" he said simply.

"Okay, thank you so much."

Knowing more about the man, I walked up to him. He held onto the railing with both his hands as his gaze pointed down. His chest heaved as he struggled to control his breathing. I could tell he was hesitant. A person who was 100% sure he wanted to die would've jumped a long time ago, not wait and draw attention - undesired or desired - to himself.

"Hello Timothy, I am officer Jade Thirlwall, you wanted to speak to me" I began softly.

"That's correct, officer" he said politely.

"How come you want to talk to me?" I asked curiously.

"You're a celebrity" he smiled.

"A celebrity?" I asked, confused.

"You did arrest a serial killer and put him behind bars" he stated.

"Oh...I didn't know doing me job made me a celebrity" I chuckled.

"Now you arrested one of the most dangerous killers in the world. That should be reason enough for people to respect you, and think highly of you" he said matter-of-factly.

"True, but he's on the loose. Not much to admire now, eh?"

Just the thought of Sam walking freely, planning his next move, as I stood here trying to save a man from killing himself, made me feel sick to my stomach. I wanted to throw up. Someone as dangerous as Sam wasn't supposed to be walking on our streets. He was supposed to be locked up in a cell until his dying day.

As much as I'd like to spend all my time on tracking Sam down, I knew I had to pretend he was still locked up. He was a distraction and if I thought about him now, I wouldn't be able to save this man. I needed to keep my cool, focus on why I came here in the first place, for the sake of his life.

"Can you tell me what's going on, Timothy? Why do you want to jump?" I asked calmly.

"The demons inside my head want me to put an end to the suffering. They say all the pain will go away if I jump" he said.