Behind The Flames: A Detective Chineke Series

Chapter 13

"What the hell are you doing?" Tarah questioned the couple seriously.

With guns pointed at Tarah and me, there was only one thing we could do. Although, it was highly risky.

"They're working together." I answered Tarah's question.

"Shut your mouth!" The husband yelled after pumping his shotgun.

"See, I told you they would find out." The wife mentioned to her husband.

I could tell the man's wife was nervous. More than likely, she was afraid to go to jail for what they were doing.

"Calm down! We're going to be fine." The husband spoke to his wife.

"Yeah, maybe if you don't go to prison." I muttered sarcastically.

"Shut up! And you drop your damn gun! I won't say it again." The husband told me and Tarah.

Tarah dropped the gun to the floor. Without hesitation, Jeff picked up the gun and stood up from the floor. I noticed the look in Serena's eyes went from terrified to surprised.

"What do we do now?" The husband asked Jeff.

"You can't kill us. The police already know we're here." Tarah commanded truthfully.

"Exactly. You are coming with me and the kids. You'll make a great sex slave for the club." Jeff replied with that damn sly smile of his.

What a sick piece of shit! There was no way I was going to let this slide.

"I'll kill you!" Tarah spoke seriously.

"Hahaha!" Jeff laughed.

Then, he grabbed some rope from the shelf behind him and threw it to the husband.

"Tie them up!" Jeff told him.

The wife took the shotgun from her husband shortly after placing her revolver in her holster. Her husband reached down to pick up the rope. The man's wife held the shotgun pointed at me while her husband began to tie my hands with the rope. As soon as her husband's hand made contact with my hand, he passed out on the floor.

BOOM!

"Donny! What did you do to him?" Donny's wife yelled at me.

"Damn it!" Jeff whispered softly.

I looked over at Tarah and saw her crack a smile. What Jeff and the husband's wife didn't know was that anything or anyone with a flowing source of water can be manipulated to my will after making physical contact. Using my power, I caused Donny, the wife's husband, to lose consciousness for some time. It was done to Tarah when we were at my loft.

"Chineke, what did you do?" Tarah asked seriously playing the part like she had no clue.

Just from watching, Tarah figured out that was the same way I knocked her out earlier.

"Looks to me like he passed out. Maybe he's dehydrated or something." I mentioned sarcastically.

"You need to get him to a hospital." Tarah suggested cleverly.

That's my partner! Now that I think about it, I'm glad she came to be my partner. More than likely, I wouldn't have been able to do this alone.

"He's going to be fine! We're not going anywhere!" Jeff demanded strongly.

The wife glanced at him with fierce eyes.

"I'm taking Donny to the hospital and you're going to help me." The wife mentioned as she pointed the shotgun at Jeff.

"Woah! We can't do that right now. Besides, you can't get paid without me." Jeff said honestly.

Tarah's eyes glanced over to connect with mine. Things were starting to make a little more sense. We just waited while things played out.

"Help me get rid of these two and we can go." Jeff added.

"It must've been his heart. I can't wait any longer." The wife insisted seriously.

"I'll help you take him to the car." I commented.

The woman didn't say anything. Tarah looked concerned about what I was doing. Offering to help a couple of criminals. People who just pointed their guns at us.

"Your husband has an arrhythmia condition, right? His slow heartbeat kept him from getting enough blood to his brain. That's why he passed out." I explained to the woman.

"He's lying." Jeff barked loudly.

"How'd you know that?" The wife asked me curiously.

"When I was here gathering information to find your kids, I noticed the letter from the hospital on your kitchen counter and that's when I read a bit of the information." I answered the woman.

Tarah wore an image of complete surprise on her face. She had no idea I was that observant. We both went through changes after that job we did two years ago. It was clear we had more to learn about each other.

"Okay, let's go." The wife said as she held her shotgun at me.

I bent down to pick up her husband. After throwing his arm over my shoulder, I dragged the old man out of the front door behind his wife. Once she opened the passenger door of their car, I put her husband inside.

"I'm sorry we had to do this. He's important to me." The woman told me sincerely.

"The money is for his brain surgery, right?" I asked the woman.

She nodded. I noticed her eyes began to tear up. Then, she got inside the driver's seat and placed the shotgun on the floorboard of the car.

"You'd sell your kid's into sex slavery to save your husband?" I asked her while I held the passenger door open.

"YES! He's my everything and those kids will be fine! I don't care how it makes me look. Just let us be!" The woman yelled emotionally.

I was speechless. So speechless that my jaw dropped uncontrollably. What kind of love would drive a person to do that to their kids? Then, the woman drove off out of the driveway like a bat out of hell. The passenger door closed on its own from the speed of the vehicle.

"Wow! Just unbelievable." I whispered to myself.

Then, I reached into my pocket and grabbed my phone. Thirteen percent! Just enough to make the call. I dialed the number as quickly as I could. It began to ring. Then, the ringing stopped.

"Simon! Get to the hospital and keep an eye on the couple. Don't ask why, just do it! And send backup to the couple's house to get these kids." I demanded as I hung up the phone.

Right after I hung up the phone, I rushed back into the house to find Tarah and Serena still held at gunpoint.

"Stop right there! That's as far as you go, Chineke." Jeff said cautiously.

"I've had enough of you!" I mentioned just before I took a deep breath.

Without thinking or hesitation, I used both of my hands to freeze Jeff's entire body into a cube of ice. At that moment, his entire body except for his hand which was still holding the gun was frozen solid.

"Okay, when were you going to tell me you had powers?" Tarah asked seriously with her arms folded.

Without saying a word, I quickly unstrapped Serena from the chair and took the tape from her mouth.

"You couldn't have done that earlier?" Serena asked curiously.

"You're still alive, right? Now let's go. That ice should hold him until the police gets here." I told Serena.

"I'll take this back, you sick fuck!" Tarah commented as she picked the gun from Jeff's hand.

Just as we were making our way out of the front door, I heard the sound of ice melting as the droplets hit the floor. To my surprise, when I turned around, I saw Jeff melting the ice with the temperature of his body. Clever! Using fire against ice. No choice left but to fight.