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Chapter 21

Nervously I played with the hem of my t-shirt as we rode down to the police station in complete silence. Things were about to end weren‘t they? Joel and I just needed to identify him and things would pretty much be over, right? That’s the way that Benji said it would work but for some reason, I just couldn’t believe it. I had a weird feeling about all of this. Something just wasn’t right and I couldn’t quite put my finger on it at the moment. I was probably just nervous, I tried to tell myself. That would make sense because every time me and this man came in contact, something terrible happened. I just had to be feeling apprehensive, that had to be it, didn’t it? I mean, what else could it be?

I looked at Benji who appeared to be asleep in the passengers seat, the hood of his hoodie pulled down so that it completely covered his face. A small smile played on my lips as I kept my eyes on him. He seemed so happy and content in his sleep. He didn’t appear to be in any pain at all. Most of the pain had begun to fade, though some still lingered. Even though he wouldn’t admit it, it hurt. I could tell by the look on his face when he moved certain ways. That look always seemed to send a spark of guilt up my spine, but I tried my best to ignore it, saying to myself that what happened hadn’t been my fault, I wasn‘t the one that shot Benji.

“You okay back there?” Joel suddenly asked, bringing me from my thoughts.

“I guess,” I sighed.

“What do you mean you guess? They caught the guy, I thought you’d be excited about that,” Joel questioned, looking in the rearview mirror to glance at me quickly before turning his attention back to the road.

“I don’t know,” I said quietly, “something just doesn’t feel right.”

“What do you mean?”

“If I knew Joel, I’d tell you,” I explained. “I just have this feeling that something’s gonna happen.”

“What can happen? We’re gonna be in a police station,” he responded. “There are gonna be fuckin cops everywhere. It’s pretty much impossible for anything bad to happen. Besides, me and Benji will kick that guys ass before he does anything else to you.” I sighed again, knowing that Joel was completely right, but also allowing myself to smile at his last comment.

“Yeah, sure. Go after him now that he’s harmless,” I joked. “You’re right, I guess my imagination is just getting the best of me,” I continued seriously, hoping that he was right and I was just overreacting. He smiled at me kindly.

“We’re almost there. We should wake Benji,” Joel announced.

“Why? He looks so peaceful,” I said, “besides, does the really have to come in? As long as me and you can identify him, isn’t that all they need?”

“He was the one that got shot,” he simply replied and I sighed in defeat, knowing that he was right, again. Damn that Joel for being right all the damn time.

“Benji, babe, you gotta get up, we’re almost there,” I said shaking his arm lightly.

“Five more minutes,” he muttered and I snickered. He was so damn cute.

“Benj, we’ll be there in less than five minutes,” I responded. He just groaned.

“Benji, get the fuck up man,” Joel said, “cause we’re here.” This time Benji grunted but he pulled up his hood and unbuckled his seatbelt.

“Let’s get this fucker so that I can go back to sleep,” Benji said, sleep evident in his voice as he opened up the passenger side door and stepped out of the car. I shook my head as I got out of the car, Joel quickly following.

“You ready?” he asked quietly as we walked towards the door of the police station.

“As ready as I‘ll ever be,” I honestly replied.

“We’re gonna be right there with you,” Joel assured me and Benji nodded at me as if to confirm Joel’s words. The three of us stopped when we reached the door and they both looked at me, silently asking if I was ready. I replied with a nod and Benji reached for the door knob. I took one last deep breath before stepping inside. This was it, I told myself and nothing bad was going to happen. Like Joel had said, we were going to be inside of a police station surrounded by officers so we’d be very well protected. I looked over at Benji when I felt him grab my hand. When our eyes met, he smiled at me and I smiled back.

“We’ve been expecting you guys,” an officer that I remembered from the night of the original attack announced from behind a desk. “Just follow me.”

“So we just pick the guy and that’s it?” Benji asked.

“Sort of,” the officer said. “We’re going to split you guys up since each one of you have had an encounter with the suspect. It’s just so that we can see if you each pick out the same person or not.”

“I don’t know if I’m okay with that,” I said, gripping Benji’s hand tightly.

“You’ll be perfectly fine. At no time will you have any contact with the suspect. He’s going to be in another room, behind a one way, bulletproof window. You’ll be completely safe,” the officer assured. I was still hesitant, but I didn’t know what else to do. I mean, I couldn’t say that I wasn’t going to go through with this. This was something that I needed to do, I knew that. I was just scared and I’d assumed that Benji and Joel were going to be right there with me, but now, now I didn’t know how to feel.

“It’ll be okay,” Benji whispered into my ear. “It’ll only take a couple minutes.”

“Alright,” I said softly. Benji smiled again and nodded slightly in encouragement. The three of us followed the officer to the back of the station.

“Okay guys, just wait right here. Someone will be out to get you guys in a few minutes,” the officer explained.

“Alright,” Joel responded.

“I don’t see why we can’t just all go in together,” I said once the officer had disappeared behind a wooden door.

“Like he said, they just wanna see if we all pick the same guy or not,” Joel answered. “It’ll only take a second to pick the guy out, we’ll be out of here in no time. Relax, alright?”

“It’s almost over babe,” Benji interjected. “We’ve got this guy against a wall, there’s no place that he can go. We identify him, the police arrest him and charge him and his ass ends up to a jail cell where he ends up being someone‘s bitch.”

“Benjamin, you’re first,” the officer announced as his head popped out from behind the door that he had disappeared behind just a moment before. I immediately looked at Benji, who seemed to be completely at ease about the whole thing. Oh how I envied him at the moment. I just needed to relax, I told myself as the door shut behind Benji. Relax, just relax, I repeated to myself. I looked around the area that Joel and I were waiting in. It was pretty quiet and there was minimal foot traffic.

I saw a woman walking by, tears flowing down her cheeks. My heart went out to her since it wasn’t too long ago that I was in the same position that she was in, I mean as far as finding myself in a police station, crying. I don’t know how she ended up in that position but I knew, whatever it was, it wasn’t good. But then again, nothing that landed you into a police station had to be good. My eyes then fell to a man who was sitting in a chair with an oversized jacket on. That struck me as odd since it was relatively warm outside. Maybe he was from out of town, I thought before turning my attention back to where Joel was standing. He was looking at some posters and stuff that were on the wall. When the door opened, both Joel and I quickly turned our heads.

“Your turn Joel,” Benji announced casually. Joel nodded before moving towards the door. “You’re next Ang.”

“I know,” I replied nervously.

“There’s nothing to worry about,” Benji continued. “It’s pretty quick.”

“What did it feel like?” I asked, turning to look deeply into his eyes.

“Honestly, it felt pretty damn good.”

“You weren’t scared at all?” I questioned.

“Why should I be? There was no way that he could hurt me, hell he couldn’t even see me,” he answered. “You shouldn’t be scared either. Not just cause he can’t see you or anything but because if you let him know just how scared you are, then he won and that’s not what you want.”

“Angela,” Joel said softly as he returned. I looked up at him. “They need you now.” I took a deep breath and walked over towards Joel, who was holding the door open for me. “Just relax and it’ll be over before you even know it,” he whispered as I walked into the tiny room that was hidden behind the wooden door.

“Miss Peterson, this will only take a moment of your time,” another officer remarked once he saw me walk into the room. I nodded, not really trusting my voice at the moment. “Just take a look through that window over there. You’re gonna see several men standing there. I just need you to pick out the man that attacked you. Take as long as you need,” I nodded again and walked over to the window. They couldn’t see me and everything is going to be alright, I told myself as I peered through the glass. I didn’t even have to hesitate, I knew exactly which man it was.

“The third one,” I said seriously.

“Are you sure?” the officer questioned.

“Yes. I’ve never been more sure about anything,” I returned, pulling my attention away from the mirror. I didn’t want to look at that man anymore.

“Thank you, that’s all we needed,” the officer commented. I immediately turned around to leave. I didn’t want to be kept away from Benji and Joel any longer than I had to. I practically threw open the door. As soon as I stepped out, I collided with someone.

“I’m so sorry,” I automatically said, realizing that I had bumped into the man in the jacket that I had seen while I was waiting for Benji to come out. I don’t know how it happened, but everything seemed to go in slow motion and the next thing I knew, the man had grabbed me tightly and held a gun to my head.

“No one move!!” He yelled and immediately, I felt a new wave of panic rush over me.