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Chapter 22

“No one move!” he yelled again as he moved the gun around the room ready to shoot anyone that moved. I looked over at Benji who was standing frozen, in complete shock. I could see a look of panic and desperation clearly written across his face though. I could also tell that he wanted to do something to help and I hoped that he wouldn’t do something stupid and let the police work.

“We can talk about this. What is it that you want?” an officer said from the position that he had been standing in when this had started.

“I want you to let my brother go,” he said turning the gun back to me. I cringed slightly.

“Okay, but you’re going to have to let that young lady go first,” the officer said to him. Yeah, like that was going to happen, I thought to myself. I looked back over at Benji who was still staring at me. It felt like he was so far away even though he was just a couple of feet away from me at the most.

“Bullshit,” he answered. “My brother has to walk out of here first before I let her go.”

“Please let her go, she didn’t do anything. Please,” Benji piped in. I looked at him in complete shock. What the hell was he doing? He was seriously trying to get us all killed. “If you’re gonna take anyone take me.”

“Shut up,” the man yelled as he turned the gun towards Benji. Benji just stood there and looked at him, almost as if he was silently daring the man to shoot him. “It’s this bitches fault that my brothers here so she’s going to fucking pay for it.” Brother? This mans brother was my attacker? That’s who he was trying to break free? I felt a wave of disgust wash over me. How could someone stand up for a person like that, especially after everything that he’s done to me? I can understand that the were family but that man was nothing but trouble and apparently it had brushed off onto his brother.

“I’m just as much a part of this as she is,” Benji continued. My eyes locked with his and I silently pleaded for him to shut the fuck up. I didn’t need Benji to piss him off because who knew what would happen then. Everyone in here may as well end up dead. “I identified him too.”

“Benji..” I heard Joel whisper as he nudged his twin slightly, “shut up.”

But Benji ignored Joel and continued. “Look, you really should just let her go and take me instead. You’re more likely to get what you want that way.”

“How you figure?” the man asked, obviously buying into what Benji was saying to him or at least he was curious about what Benji was thinking. I kept my eyes locked on Benji, awaiting his next move, hoping that he would stop all of this and let the police do their job so that no one would get hurt.

“It’s pretty simple actually,” Benji started, his body visibly relaxing as he spoke. “If you took me hostage instead, you’d get more press since I’m in this famous band. More people are going to give a shit if you took me instead of just some random girl that no one knows shit about. And on top of that, you still get someone that helped put him in jail. He shot me, I identified him too. Actually, I picked him out before she did, so technically, the police didn‘t even need her, they already had my testimony.”

The man was silent and I could tell that meant that he was contemplating what Benji had just said. I looked at Benji intently, wondering what the hell was going through his mind. I knew that he was trying to help me but that doesn’t mean that he has to put himself in harms way. He had to know how guilty that I would feel if something was to happen to him during the course of all this. Maybe he was thinking the same thing about me, I thought, but still, that didn‘t mean that he had to go this far and subject himself to so much danger.

“I want to see my brother,” the man finally said, turning the gun back towards me again.

“Let me switch places with her first,” Benji said before any of the police officers could respond to the mans demand.

“Benji, stop it,” Joel whispered sternly, once again nudging his brother in an attempt to silence him.

“Both of you shut up!” the man yelled, turning the gun towards them. First pointing it at Joel who appeared to be instantly frozen with fear, then to Benji for the second time in only a matter of seconds. Benji, unlike his brother, looked un-phased. He just stared at the man, once again as if he was taunting him, telling him that he wouldn’t actually shoot him. “Or I swear to fucking god I’ll kill you and her.”

“Sir relax,” the officer said. “We’re going to get your brother, but once he‘s out here, you‘re going to have to let the young woman go. That‘s the deal, no negotiations. Your brother for the girl.” The man took his attention off of Benji and turned it to the officer. I, on the other hand, kept my attention on Benji. ‘Stop it, please,’ I mouthed to him. He looked at me sympathetically, he could obviously see the fear in my eyes. I hoped that meant that he was going to back down.

“How do I know that there aren’t any tricks?” the man asked.

“You don’t. You just have to trust us,” the officer answered honestly. “As long as you let the girl go, unharmed, nothing’s going to happen.”

“If you try anything, she dies,” he remarked evilly to the officer.

“No tricks, I promise you,” the officer said honestly.

“Good,” the man replied. He seemed to be pleased that this was going so ‘smoothly.’

“Why don’t you put the gun down,” suggested the officer, after another officer disappeared behind one of the wooden doors.

“Not a chance,” he replied. ‘I love you,’ Benji mouthed to me and I just looked at him, trying to read his expression. I was trying to figure out what was running through his head. Was he planning on trying something or just trying to soothe me? I seriously hoped it was the latter because not only was he in no condition to try to defend himself but it would be completely idiotic to push this man any further. ‘I love you too,’ I mouthed back to him and he smiled at me shyly. I flashed a tiny smile in return. A second later, a door opened and a police officer appeared with my attacker in toe. A shiver ran up my spine when I saw him.

“Alright, we’ve got your brother,” the officer announced, “now, you need to let the girl go.”

“Let my brother go first,” he replied instantly.

“Let the girl go,” the officer repeated, this time, more sternly. I could feel that the man was becoming slightly impatient.

“No. I said let my brother go first,” the man replied. The officer looked at the man for a moment, almost as if he was sizing him up. I was now trying to regulate my breathing by inhaling and counting to ten before exhaling in an attempt to remain clam. I could feel my heart rate increasing by the second as I watched the scene before me.

“How about we let them go at the same time?” the officer suggested and then their was silence as the man looked at the officer. Again, he was considering what was presented to him. It must have only been about a minute before he answered but to me, it felt like an eternity.

“Okay,” the man said, with a slight bit of reluctance in his voice.

“Alright,” the officer replied. “Ma’am, you’re going to take one step at a time, I’ll count them out, for both of you,” he continued, turning to my attacker for the last part of his sentence. “One,” the officer said after receiving a nod from my attacker. Both my attacker and I took one step forward. “Two,” we both took another step. “Three,” another step and by the time the officer reached ten, my attacker and I were side by side. I can’t even begin to explain how nerve wracked I was at that very second. I attempted to continue to regulate my breathing in hopes that it would help me remain clam but all of that was shattered when my attacker grabbed me into almost a choke hold.

“Angela!” I heard Benji call. Out of the corner of my eye I could see the other man hand my attacker a gun before grabbing Benji.

“No one move,” the man yelled once again, “we’re leaving and we’re taking these two with us. If I see anyone come after us, I’ll fucking kill the both of them.” I shuddered at his declaration. I looked over at Benji who took a quick glance at Joel before the both of us were pushed towards the door.