Vengeance

Chapter 22- Save Alex

Gerald's laptop had raised more questions than answers provided. Could Damon have been behind all of this? But if he was why would he have risked his life to make mine hell? And what was going to happen to Alex. Questions raced through my head. Charles was right, I wasn't going to get much sleep these days, maybe because we were getting close to finding out who was behind all of this.

"We need to keep a close eye on Alex," Andrew stated. "Get CCTV of all possible cameras in that hospital we have a team close by if anything happens."

"We have," Isla, who worked on the surveillance team of the PSS, replied, "but there are no cameras in the corridor leading to his room and security is tight, there are guards everywhere."

"Do we have cameras everywhere else though?" Andrew asked.

"Yes," Isla replied.

"Well here are the people we're looking for, as soon as you see any of these, alert the field agents we need to close in on them as quickly as possible so, that they don't escape. All we know is that each and every one of these perpetrators are capable lose them once and you'll never see them again." He ordered.

I couldn't help but notice that Damon's face was also hanging from the wall, the person that was claiming to have been helping me was now a suspect. The irony was just not helping.

"Are you OK?" Charles asked, noticing the worried look on my face.

"I'm just so confused," I replied. "I thought that, that laptop will have all the answers to my questions, instead it's risen more questions."

"Don't beat yourself up about it too much," Charles reassured.

"I wish I was as brave as you, you know," I sighed. "The fact that they're always one step ahead of us, that they know what we're going to do next doesn't help at all. This is like a game to them, they know how it's going to end, we're just like pieces on their chessboard."

"Not necessarily," Charles suggested, "everyone has a right to decide their own ending, you just have to make your way around it."

"Why couldn't they just tell us the rest of the story, instead of just ending it with Alex's name. They're just teasing it to get us worked up. Why can't all of this just end?" I ranted. "You know... when I saw Mia alive, I couldn't believe it, it gave me hope, made me think what if my parents were also alive, out there somewhere."

"They are alive," Charles nodded, "but not out there, in here." He pointed at me. "They're alive inside you. It's what I used to tell myself about my daughter."

"When will you see her again?" I asked.

"I don't know, but I never say never." He said before leaving to discuss something with Andrew.

It was nice to have built an understanding with someone, someone who had felt the same way as I had, someone who'd experienced what I'd experienced. But at the same time it frightened me to think that I might have to live like Charles my whole life, be a wanted person for the rest of my life and have to live in hiding possibly in a country different to my own, with people that won't ever be able to understand me, to be seen as a criminal wherever I went haunted me. 

Mia walked past me diverting my attention. She'd  been reserved ever since we'd looked through the laptop. She was probably just as shocked as I was about Damon, or maybe she felt betrayal, after years of knowing someone to realise you didn't actually know them, that they'd been pulling wool over your eyes was probably the worst feeling you could ever go through.  

"Mia," I called to her.

"If you're gonna ask whether I've found something, then no not yet but I'm onto something." She replied emotionless and walked away. 

Days passed and surveillance of the hospital continued but nothing had happened, the mystery grew louder and louder making us question ourselves. 

Until the day came.      

It was morning time and we'd just had breakfast and I was helping Mia piece together the photograph,  she was going through a database of people she'd found that had similarities to Gerald's daughter and was trying to narrow down the options. 

All of a sudden we heard Andrew cussing and swearing as he was having a heated argument. Both of us went to see what had happened. It was hard to tell through the shouting, he stormed off as he saw us two enter. 

"What happened?" I whispered to Travis.

"The field team got a chance to walk into the ward, they went in to check upon Alex but the bed was empty." He explained.

My heart sank. Alex was gone. Had they killed him? Was the only question that was going through my head at that moment in time. My breath became hitched, my chest tightened, I couldn't breathe, everything went black. 

I shot up gasping for breath, I was surrounded by Mia, Charles and Travis. 

"Are you OK?" Charles asked giving me a glass of water.  

"I don't know," I cried burying my face in my hair. "Is he dead?"

"We don't know," he replied. 

"I need to go see him, I need to find him." I got up and ran for the door. 

Mia grabbed me by the hood and pulled me back. 

"You're not going anywhere. None of us are," she ordered. "Andrew said it could be a trap."

"A trap huh?" I scoffed. "Well, he can stand around and wait to figure out whether this is a trap or not because I can't, Alex is my friend and I'm going to find him!"

"Are you mad?!" She screamed. "You could get killed." 

"Good!" I screamed back, "then maybe all of this will be over then won't it? At least Alex won't have to die if he isn't dead already thanks to Andrew and his shitty surveillance. I'm going and no-one's going to stop me." I pulled away from Mia and headed for the lift. 

"No!" Charles grabbed me by the hand. "You're not gonna go. I am." 

"Charles-" I started but he cut me off.

"This is my battle to fight not yours. None of you are allowed to tell Andrew we're I've gone. I promise Alex will not get hurt." 

And with that Charles went on a hunt for Alex.