Stolen Heart

Chapter 25

Lana could feel Jack's anger simmering on the whole ride over to the jail. He wouldn't even look at her. She was in shock herself. She couldn't believe what they had just done. What she had just pushed them to do.

The jail was very small, with only three cells facing a desk. The officers took Lana's purse and put her in one cell and Jack in the one next to hers. The third cell was empty. As soon as the handcuffs came off, Lana broke down in tears. She was trying to hold them back the whole car ride over, but being there, in a jail cell, in a foreign country, was overwhelming.

Jack sat down on the bench inside his cell with hands over his face. For the next hour, they both didn't say a word. The only sounds made were Lana's soft sniffles and an occasional cough from the guard.

Lana was startled when Jack broke the silence. "What in the hell were you thinking, Lana?"

She looked up from her bench and saw a look she had never seen before from Jack. He was angry. Very angry. "What?" she said softly.

"You heard me. What in the hell were you thinking? I've done stupid shit, but I mean, that idea just takes the cake."

She felt a knife just go through her gut. "Okay, Jack. It's not like you didn't have an option. You could have not done it if you didn't want to!" Her voice was rising, and the heat was starting to bubble up inside her.

"Yeah, and just left you to do it alone? And be here alone?" Jack quickly snapped back.

"What was I supposed to do? It didn't seem like we were getting anywhere with that woman."

Now Jack was yelling. "We could have found other ways, Lana! We could have tried finding the owner and talking to them!"

"I'm done planning, Jack! I'm done with this full-on chase for that stupid box!"

Jack stayed silent, finding his words, but Lana continued, "Jack, you know what? We wouldn't even be in this mess if it wasn't for your stupid idea!"

"Oh my God, not this again."

"Hell yes. Yes, this again!"

"How many times do I have to apologize for that? Okay, whoop-de-freaking-do, I stole some shit from a Goodwill. I donated money back, not to mention I didn't get caught for it."

"Not just any shit, Jack! My shit! You stole my shit! You stole something that belonged to me and could've turned my life around."

"Lana! We don't even know that! We don't even know what was in the box! Did you even shake it to see if you could hear anything in it? Well, I spoke with Jeremy, and, news flash, doesn't sound like there is! Jeremy said he would swear on his life that he didn't think there was anything in that box when he picked it up for his mom."

"Don't say that." Lana stood up and grabbed the bars in between her and Jack.

Jack stood up facing Lana and grabbed the bars near her hands. He leaned down toward her. "Say what? That all your grandma left you was an empty box?"

"You're an asshole."

"And you're a coward."

"Excuse me?" Lana felt the veins coming out of her forehead.

"Well, at least you used to be a coward. Now you're just plain—"

"Don't you dare finish that sentence." Lana's grip tightened on the bars, and she felt steam coming out of her ears. "Jack, you know what? You're not just an asshole, you're also a hypocrite."

"Okay, yeah, whatever. How am I a hypocrite?"

"You were the one that pushed me! That pushed the so-called coward to do new things, to try new things. I guess I learn by example."

"No, no, no! Don't you put this on me! You were the one who wanted to steal the box today! You were the one who, what was it you said? 'Jack, I'm doing this!'"

"And where do you think I learned that from?"

"Hey!" Both Lana and Jack jumped as soon as the guard chimed in. "No yelling. Please keep peace."

Jack and Lana looked at each other. Lana hadn't noticed that their faces were just an inch away from each other, separated only by the bars they were gripping. Their breaths mixed as they continued to look at each other. Lana glanced down at Jack's mouth and noticed him do the same to hers despite the fury they were both exuding. As much as she was angry, the energy between them could light up a village.

Jack took a deep breath in. He continued to look straight at Lana and spoke more softly. "Listen, let's just try whatever we can to get out of here and talk about things later."

"Yeah, easy for you to say," mumbled Lana. She didn't exactly mean for Jack to hear her but wasn't surprised when he did.

"What's that supposed to mean?"

Lana should've just dropped it, but she felt in that instant she wasn't done. She didn't want to talk about it later. "Jack, everything is so easy for you. Your life is so easy. You can just pay your way out of things! Literally, you probably didn't bat an eye at the possibility you could've gone to jail when robbing the Goodwill because you could've found a way to pay yourself out of that one. You want to buy the box back, oh, here's casually a thousand dollars in exchange. No big deal. You don't get it! I just can't do those things. This right now means much more for me than you!"

"Listen, Lana, I worked hard to get where I am, and I'm not going to be insulted for that. Okay, I get it, you may have started at a different place than me, but my life wasn't all rainbows and butterflies. And no, I did not think I could just pay my way out of the legal system. It has repercussions for me too! I could lose my job!"

Lana still didn't think he got it, like really got what she had to go through in life, but she was done arguing. She let go of the bars and sat back down on the bench. She was hungry, she had to use the restroom, and the jail cell smelled terrible. She couldn't think.

Jack let go of the bars and started to pace around his cell. He stopped and faced Lana when she spoke. "Jack, I think when we get out of here, I'm going to head straight for the airport and try to get on the next flight to the States. I would suggest you don't follow me right away and wait to take the next one. Or the one on Friday that's scheduled. Do whatever, I don't care. Just don't take the same flight as me."

"Fine."

"Fine," said Lana as she wrapped her arms around herself. She couldn't stand being in a fight with Jack and felt sick to her stomach. She wanted to be home in her bed. She wanted to be at her mom's place, watching Gilmore Girls. She wanted to be with Chloe, shopping at a farmer's market. She wanted to be anywhere but here.

After about an hour of silence, the door squeaked open and Lana and Jana looked up. A guard came in, and he opened up both of their cells. He told them to follow him, and Lana glanced at Jack, who shrugged his shoulders.

Lana asked the guard, "Excuse me, where are you taking us?"

The guard stopped in front of a door in the hallway and gestured for them to go in. "You have a visitor."

***

Always so hard writing these types of chapters. Thanks for reading, please hit the vote button if you're interested to read on. ♥️