Polar Opposites

Chapter 8

William
After Mrs. Wykes leaves, Lamar turns on us.
"What were you thinking?" he asks, as Scarlett puts on a pair of jeans. "You knew I had feelings for Scarlett for years! What do you mean?" I half yell at him, ignoring the shocked look Scarlett gives me.
"Not about that! I mean, what were you thinking quitting the case! And your job! Now Scarlett has to do this by herself! This guy goes after women!" Lamar is now completely shouting.
Scarlett is tearing up and I just walk down the stairs to sit in the living room.
Scarlett follows me and drapes her legs over my lap while crying into my shoulder. Lamar joins us and begins talking only to me.
"You are going to get a hotel room here and you're going to keep a safe distance from Scarlett in the field but you better be near," he says calmly,"Watch over her, Will. I'm going to unit."

Scarlett
The next few days are, to say the least, overwhelming. Without Will by my side, everyone is expecting me to get all of the field work done.
Of course, I'm not entirely by myself. When I have to go out in the field, Will is always close by.
Today, however, it won't be so easy for him to follow me. I have a huge assignment. Henry Lawson has threatened to blow up the Eiffel Tower and I have to follow him to the top, risking the chance of blowing up.
I shower and dry my hair, leaving it to hang down. I dress in a white v-neck and a leather jacket, my usual huge assignment attire. Will meets me in the hallway when I'm ready. They made him take the room across from me when he got a new hotel room
"Scar...please don't do this," he pleads with me, his eyes bloodshot from obvious lack of sleep. I kiss him lightly on the cheek,"I have to."

William

        I watch one of the unit cars pull up outside of the hotel. Scarlett gets in, glancing back at me once. I wait until they are out of range to grab the rental car and follow them. They weave in and out of the backed up traffic towards the Eiffel Tower. 

        They park in the back parking lot of a pharmacy. I park two buildings down and wait for Scarlett to get ready. She takes off her shirt and jacket to put on her bullet-proof vest. After she hides a Beretta compact pistol in the back of her jeans, she grabs a Michael Kors purse that the unit must've added a gun pocket. She unzips a pocket hidden in the front and conceals a Remington pistol. 

        After the unit car drives off, she places her sunglasses over her eyes and walks my way. "You know, you're going to have stay on the ground for this one," she tells me as we walk five feet apart towards the tower.

        "I know, but I'm not leaving," I assure her. We make it to the courtyard and she places something in my pocket before we part ways. I watch her walk away before sliding my hand in my jacket pocket and taking out the earpiece she handed me. "Well aren't you Miss Rebel," I say as soon as I put it in my ear. I can hear the smile in her voice when she answers,"I stole it from the desk of a worker back at the unit."

        I smile and shake my head as a black van pulls up to the courtyard outside the tower. "Our party guest is here," I mumble as three men get out and split up to approach the tower. I hear Scarlett sigh shakily. "Scar, if you're this nervous just come down. It's better than getting killed," I tell her. A little boy dressed in a blue polo with messy hair glances at me curiously as he passes, hand-in-hand with his mother. She squeezes his hand and scolds him for staring. I smile at her and shake my head reassuringly. She returns the gesture and continues walking. 

        I curse myself for getting distracted as Scarlett whispers into the mic,"They're almost here, Will." I look up to the tower in time to hear people screaming as Henry Lawson's two accomplices run through the crowd with guns, shouting in Arabic. Henry himself is already at Scarlett's level and is approaching her. "Everybody down!" I yell to the people of the courtyard as I pull out a gun and shoot into the air. People scream and a police siren is buzzing towards us in the distance. The little boy and his mother are fleeing as I begin to run towards the base of the tower. But I stop in my tracks as I hear a gun click to life beside my head. "Turn around," a man with a thick Arabic accent says from behind me. I drop my gun, causing it to fire a bullet into the ground. A lady screams from a few feet away but I ignore it as I slowly turn with my head raised.

        I've never seen these men before but they must've driven separately from Henry Lawson. "Kneel," the one with the gun says. I do as I am told,"now listen to the girl die. I look at him confused but am thrown forward by a sudden explosion from behind. I yell in pain as I feel a searing burn on the back of my legs and my back. Pieces of metal fly past me as the police cars pull up. The two men that held me at gun point must have been killed by the flying metal. They're lying face down beside a patch of burning flowers.

        Reality sets in as I achely turn around to look at what used to be the tower. The only part remaining is about 10 feet of the base. The rest has been obliterated. But I don't care about the tower. My heart bursts as I scan the ground for her. "Scarlett!" I yell out, as if she'll answer me. "No!" I yell again, louder this time. Two paramedics are trying to roll me onto a gurney. "No! No! Save her! Where is she? You have to save her first!" I'm crying now as I scan for her. But she was at the top, and she wouldn't have made it. 

        "Scarlett!" I wail like an idiot as they finally hoist me onto the gurney. They strap an oxygen mask to my face and wheel me to the ambulance. Even though I'd rather die than go to the hospital, I let them take me. Because now I have nothing to lose. He really did take what was most valuable to me.