Lion's Den(On Hold)

Chapter-24 The Court Hearing

Derek was dressed up in his formal attire, the full uniform for the court hearing. Diana did not wake up and it seems as though Derek wishes to go to the hearing alone. It was the same when Diana was shot before. The feeling was grim for the most part. Although I want Diana to sleep more and recover well, I am not very fond of the fact that Derek is leaving to court without her. Gabriel agreed to send a group of agents with Derek for his protection but I am sceptical of the entire arrangement. If Terranova knew, will they attack? Who am I kidding, they would definitely attack. They are worst target to spy on, it's hard to obtain inside information, even with my hacking. Even if I did, there's not much I can do. Derek has to go for the hearing, whether we like it or not so all I can do for now is wait and hope for the security measures we took to work.

Derek leaned down to Diana and took her hand.
"I love you D" he whispered and kissed her forehead.
He was acting weirdly. After yesterday's conversation, he hasn't spoken a word to me. As he walked past me, he murmured the words I didn't want to hear from him.
"Take care of her if I don't return, Nate."
"You will return!"
"Thank you Nate."
This fucker was saying his goodbyes already and I hated it. He will return and I will make sure everything will revert back to how it was. We had taken precautionary measures like changing the route and added the most capable agents to the group so, despite my doubts, I want to believe that they will be safe. When all this bullshit is over, the dominoes are ready to fall. Time's running out, Gabriel.

After leaving a couple of agents at the safehouse, I returned to the SIO to monitor Derek's movement. A few moments after work commencing, there was a call from one of the agents at the safehouse.
"What is it?"
"Nate, she's gone."

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A faint throbbing on my back, a sting on my hand, and different voices were bothering me. My eyes squinted under the light streaming through the window. All the memories jammed in at the same time, the call, Nate, the explosion, Derek! My eyes were wide awake now and I sat up much to the displeasure of my back. Looking around, my eyes fell on a woman, a nurse to be exact and Derek was nowhere in sight.
"You, where is Derek?"
"Um..he.."
"Yes?" I asked sternly.
"The hearing was preponed to today. He left a few minutes ago."
"What!?"

I had to remove the IV. Tenderly removing the bandage, I detached the syringe from my hand. It was not so painful unlike ripping it off forcefully. I dressed up in haste and also took my gun, not minding the faint pain on my back which was increasing gradually due to stretching the wound. My mind was only focused on Derek and that he is out there, singled out. The route was drawn on a map and left on the desk, it was familiar because of our night shifts. There were agents outside but I took a bike ignoring them.
"Hold it! Get off the bike, lieutenant."
That wasn't stopping me.
"Get off or I will shoot!" he ordered pointing a gun.
"Go ahead" I said and drove off.

Midway on the route, I noticed smoke at a distance. Driving right into the fight was not advisable. So, I jumped off my bike and sprinted through. Soon, I arrived at the scene. It was mayhem with agents and mafia gang members lying dead and strewn across the road. The smoke was from a car due to bullets pierced through the hood. And in front of it, was Derek. The other man was facing him and did not see me.

Derek leant onto the car hood panting with blood and bruises covering his face. These two were the only survivors. I snuck up to the masked man who was pointing a gun to his face now.
"What is your father's name?" he asked Derek.
Strange question but I had the answer.
"The gun that threatens to blast your brains" I replied pointing my gun at his head.
Derek snatched his gun in an instant.
"Cuff him, Derek."

The man was eerily quiet even when Derek removed his mask. He needed to be restrained before he gets some idea and we need to leave to court before any backup of his, arrives.
Before Derek could cuff him, he made a swift turn right to my face but did not make any attempt to fight me. Both of us stared as though the world around us had stopped.