a friend from college-jemily

poker face

Giovanni slowly slipped his finger off the trigger and brought the gun down to his side. George sighed and set his head against the wall as he saw the crime boss's attention shift to his granddaughter. Emily could hear her grandfather's troubled breathing. "No," he'd whisper under his breath. "No, no." Emily gulped as Giovanni turned back toward, a devious, crooked smile on his face.

"Ahhh, now this is interesting," cackled the Italian man.

He slowly turned on his heel, slamming his boot down on to the wet ground as he stepped across the room to Emily. "Let's play a game, huh, Lauren? What do you say?"

Emily looked over at George but Giovanni grabbed her jaw and pulled her face in front of his. Methodically, he opened the bullet chamber on his gun and let all but one bullet fall to the ground. He took the remaining bullet between his fingers and held it out so that Emily could see it shine just barely in the dimly lit warehouse. Giovanni put the bullet back in the chamber and spun it before locking it up and pulling on the trigger.

"I think I'll go first," Giovanni laughed. "The game is simple. You tell the truth, you live. You lie, I pull the trigger."

"How will you know I'm telling the truth?" Emily asked.

"You better be convincing, then," the man cackled, spraying his vulgar breath in to Emily's face.

"Tell me, Lauren. Where are you from?"

"I was born in London, but I live in Boston now," Emily lied.

"That was too easy," Giovanni said ignorantly.

"Let's see," he said as he hit the gun against his hand and paced around the room. "Tell me about the girl. What's her name?"

Emily hesitated. "No, leave her out of this. You've already got me so you don't need to know about her."

"Ah ah ah, Lauren. Refusing to tell the truth is just like lying," Giovanni said. "One more chance, what's her name?"

"I won't," Emily defied her captor.

With a building rage, Giovanni pointed the gun to Emily's temple. George let out a yelp and Emily closed her eyes and held her breath. He pulled the trigger.

Nothing.

George and Emily let out a sigh of relief. Giovanni continues to pace.

"This is game would be much more fun if you cooperated, don't you think? Okay, next question. Why are you protecting this old man?"

Emily looked over at her grandfather and a slight smile covered her face before she said, "I'm not. He's the one that's been protecting me."

"Why would he do that?"

"Because he's a good man," Emily said. "The best man I've ever known." Tears were building up behind Emily's eyes as she said those words. They were the truth. Maybe not the whole truth, but the important truth.

"I don't believe you," Giovanni said and he walked back over to point the gun at Emily's head.

"No, it's true. I swear," Emily said. The gun clicked again. Still no bullet.

"Getting closer, Lauren. You better be more careful," Giovanni laughed.

"Fine, I know what you really want to hear," Emily sighed. "And I'm the only one who really knows what happened that night."

Giovanni raised an eyebrow.

"Lauren, you are pretty bold. You know that? I like that about you. And you're right. I want revenge, but I want answers too."

"Come close and I'll tell you," Emily said almost seductively. Giovanni leaned in.

Closer. Closer.

Emily began slowly recalling her night with Luis. She got to the part where he takes her to the alley when she breaks from her narrative and asks:

"Do you know what he said to me?"

The man shook his head and leaned in more.

Good.

Emily lifted her head as though she were going to whisper in Giovanni's ear. Instead, she bites down, hard. The Italian man yells and steps back, caught off guard and off balance. George runs up from behind him and knocks the gun out of his hand and it skips across the room in to the far corner.

"Emily, run!" George yells as he begins physically fighting the crime boss.

This time, Emily obliges and quickly treads through the sewage filled hallway back out into the Boston streets.  Just as she reached the exit, she heard a gunshot rattle the walls. She looked back for a moment, her heart nearly beating out of her chest. But she kept running.

It was pitch black now. Only the street lights and bar signs provided any light. But she knew exactly where she was. She jetted across the street and turned the corner.

There, she saw it. The little pond at the edge of the park she visited almost everyday when she lived in Boston. Out of breath and overwhelmed, she finds the bench that is hidden behind trees so she could not be seen from the street. While she tries to catch her breath she attempts to pull out her burner cell phone but her hands are too shaky to be able to dial any numbers. Just then, headlights from a car pull up near her on the road. She ducks low to remain out of sight. She hears the doors open and shut and footsteps approach her.

A young woman's voice calls out in to the silence of the night to her companion: "I know this is where she'll be if she can get here."

Emily listens closely. The voice sounds so familiar. It couldn't be? She peaks her head up to be able to see who is walking closer toward her. That's when she catches a glimpse of her light blonde hair.

That's her blackbird.

Emily steps back but accidentally steps on a large stick, breaking it in half. JJ and Jim immediately turn their attention in the direction of the noise. JJ points her flashlight toward the trees.

"Emily?"