Under Arrest

Chapter Twenty

Lucas was in the locker room, pulling on his gear when Joseph came rushing in.

"We're green."

He quickly buckled his belt around his waist before following Joseph out to their unmarked car. Joseph drove the car and Lucas pulled out his phone, sending an 'I love you' text. He wasn't expecting a response since it was three in the morning, but smiled when he saw she responded.

"I've never seen you smile like that." Joseph joked.

"Yeah, I'm just hoping we can finish this tonight." Lucas admitted.

It wasn't long before they were parked just outside the gate of a dock warehouse. It was abandoned, but clearly being used as a hiding site, judging by the men guarding the outside. They got out and crept to the nearby surveillance van.

"What's the update?" Lucas asked as he closed the door, taking a seat.

They had a man on the inside with a mic and hacked into the dock cameras to see on the inside the best they could.

"Trey is pulling up soon. He's taking a boat out, don't know where so we need to keep that boat from leaving the harbor." One of the other officers stated.

They were all dressed in plain clothing to avoid being spotted.

"He's here." One of the officers stated as they watched two blacked out SUVs pull into the dock. They watched as the guards opened the doors of the warehouse, letting the cars through, before closing them.

They listened as they talked. They couldn't hear much, but waited until their mole gave the signal. After what felt like forever, the mole did three coughs before asking one of the gang members if they had a cough drop. Cough was the signal.

They climbed out of the van and met up with other officers, going the back way of the warehouse. They crept behind the warehouse until they got to the opening. They signaled the officers on the other side before jumping out.

"Freeze!"

Some of the men stayed put while others tried to run, but the warehouse was surrounded and they were quickly stopped outside. Unexpectedly, several of the gang members pulled out their guns and began shooting. The officers ducked for cover as they returned fire.

Lucas peeked around the crates he was hiding behind to see Trey making a run for it. He didn't hesitate to follow. Trey left the warehouse and made his way to a maze of shipping containers. Trey noticed Lucas following and fired two shots in his direction. Lucas used the containers as a shield while staying close behind Trey. Trey came to a stop when he hit a dead end.

"It's over, Trey!" Lucas yelled as he aimed his gun at him. "Give up! Go to jail and take your loss."

"You mean like the loss you're going to be taking when I get your girl from New York." Trey smirked.

Lucas glared at him. "What do you want with her? She did nothing to you."

"Actually, she got my brother killed. I told him to leave that bitch, but you know how lil siblings are, they don't listen to shit." Trey smirked. "Let's just say, she's collateral."

Lucas wanted to punch the smirk off his face. "Well, you won't get that today. Drop the gun and make this easy."

Trey didn't respond. Instead, he pulled his trigger. Lucas let out a scream at he was hit in the stomach, pulling his trigger twice. As he went down, he saw Trey fall back. He heard his name being called until darkness took over.

~~

Ashanti's leg nervously shook as she stared out of the window. It was almost eight in the morning and she was in the car with Elena and Lucas's family, heading back to Maryland. It was around four in the morning when Nate called her saying that he had been shot. She didn't hesitate to wake Catherine and Joseph and they wasted no time getting on the road.

Nate didn't go into details other than saying that he was in surgery and it was serious. His father drove as quickly and as safely as he could, but it still felt like he wasn't going fast enough. They stopped at a gas station and Ashanti went inside to grab something to a bottled water for the baby's formula.

As she was standing in line, she looked up at the tv that was on a news station. It was a woman reporter.

"We are just on the outskirts of the inner harbor docks where police took down a drug ring that is ran by leader Trey Williams. From what we know, there was a gunfire exchange between police and gang members that ended with one dead and one officer in the hospital. It is unclear of what the officer's injuries are but we do know that all gang members have been taken into custody..."

Ashanti felt her stomach turn, knowing that officer is Lucas. She quickly paid for the water before running back to the car. Catherine prayed the entire ride. All the way until they pulled up to the hospital. When they got there, there were police and media everywhere.

They got to one of the entrances of the garage and parked inside. As they went in, Ashanti saw Nate talking to a detective.

"Nate!" Ashanti called as she walked over to him, giving him a hug. "Where is he?"

"He's out of surgery, Ashanti, but he's in a coma. He lost a lot of blood and we lost him on the way here, the doctors managed to get him back."

Her heart broke when she heard that at some point, he died. "Can we go see him?"

Nate nodded. They followed Nate to the room where they had Lucas. When they walked in, the tears that she had been holding in escaped at the sight before her. Lucas was in the bed with a tube down his throat. Catherine and Lilian both began to cry. Ashanti took Elena from Catherine's arms and passed her to Nate.

"Can you please take her outside?" She asked with pleading eyes.

"Yeah, I got her. We'll be at the nurse's station." He said before leaving the room.

Ashanti walked over and stood in the space next to Catherine that was closest to Lucas. He looked like he was sleeping and the only thing she could heard were the monitors beeping. That was the only thing telling her that he was alive.

"It's all my fault..." she muttered.

"Don't you dare say that, Ashanti." Catherine argued. "This is not your fault and Lucas would not be happy hearing you say that. Now, everyone, hold hands..."

They all listened. Ashanti used her left hand to grab Lucas's and grabbed Catherine's hand with her right. Catherine reached across Lucas to hold hands with the John. John held hands with Lilian and Lilian held Lucas's other hand with her free one.

They bowed their heads, but Ashanti stared at Lucas. She couldn't take her eyes away from him.

~~

It's been three days since Lucas was shot and he still hasn't woken up. The doctors said his body's went through a lot of stress from being shot, losing blood, dying, and then coming back to life. Ashanti has barely left his side. Between Lucas's family and her family, they would always come to the hospital to check in.

The only time Ashanti left his side was to sit with baby Elena in the hallway. Even though she was still young, Ashanti didn't want the memory of her daughter seeing her father like that in her memories. Otherwise, Elena stayed with her parents.

Trey died at the scene when Lucas shot him and that took a lot of weight off of Ashanti's shoulders. She was sitting at Lucas's bedside, holding his hand, talking to him. The doctor said that it might help him wake up.

She was humming a song to him when suddenly, the heart monitor flatlined. It took only seconds for nurses to flood into the room and she began ushered out into the hall. She couldn't do anything other than cry as they brought in the crash cart. The door closed and she turned, burying her face into the arms of the burst holding her.