Southern Bouquet

Failed

"You can go work on your paperwork now. I'll take it from here."

The officer began to argue but Wade pulled a badge out of his back pocket and showed the officer. The officer nodded and left the room, closing the door behind him. Wade turned and leaned against the wall looking at Jake.

"What the hell, Wade?" Jake asked confused.

"Hi, Jake."

"You mind telling me what's going on here?" Jake demanded as he shifted in his seat.

"Mr. Jensen here is in the FBI." The attorney answered for Wade.

Jake's facial expressions changed from surprise to confusion, to anger. He sat back against the chair and crossed his arms.

"You mean to tell me this entire time you've been FBI?" He asked.

Wade nodded.

"So, when you leave for the road...?" Jake left the question open expecting Wade to fill in the rest.

Wade sighed, pushing himself against the wall as he stood straight. He motioned up to the camera and a few seconds later a guy dressed in office attire wheeled in another chair. Wade placed it next to the attorney and sat down.

"I was leaving on cases. That's why I was never gone the same days or same amount of time each time I left." He answered.

Jake was quiet as he processed what just unfolded in front of him.

"So, if you're FBI, why weren't you using your resources to find the girls?" Jake asked anger coming back.

"I was, Jake! Do you truly think it takes that long to pull up searches on Google? I sent a text to my team first telling them what was going on and opened that search to be able to show you something. But my contacts were the ones giving me the information as it came in. I wasn't finding anything on the internet."

"So, you knew Daisy wasn't at the address we were given, that's why you skipped it and drove to that abandoned butcher house." Jake said as more of a statement than a question.

"Yes." Wade confirmed.

"Why did you hide the fact you work for the FBI from me?" Jake was trying to piece his entire friendship with Wade together. Trying to remember anything that should have been obvious.

"I didn't hide it. We just never talked about it. When we started hanging out you told me about owning the diner. I told you I travel for work. You asked what I did. I told you at the time I didn't want to talk about it. Ever since then all you'd ask me was how work was. I'd tell you it was boring and that was that. I figured if you were truly curious, you'd ask." Wade shrugged as he sat back in his chair, crossing his arms.

Jake stared at him for a minute, processing what he just learned. He rubbed both of his temples with the palms of his hands and looked up.

"So, what now? Why am I being detained?"

"Because you were at the crime scene. I was detained until they ran my background and learned that I was working with my team to find the girls. As for you..." he trailed off glancing over to the attorney.

"You shot Anthony."

"He tortured and killed Daisy and May!" Jake yelled pounding his fists on the table.

"Six times, Jake. You shot him six times." The attorney stated.

"And? I'd do it again!" Jake shot back.

"Look," Wade started, leaning forward as he rested his arms on the table. "You're not the only one upset about the girls. But before anything else can be done, since Anthony is dead, you have to be counseled. Because instead of stopping after the headshot, you emptied the clip. My bosses view that as unstable actions."

"Unstable?! Try raging mad! I knew what the fuck I was doing. I was avenging their deaths. I was making sure he didn't take anyone else's lives!"

The attorney rested his head in his hand with frustration. He made more notes and then looked up at Jake.

"You have to stop saying things like that. They will only be used against you. So, with that being said, until I can pull some strings, I'm sorry but you'll be held in a holding cell."

Jake jumped up from his seat and leaned forward on the table. "I thought I wasn't being charged with anything, suit?!" He glared at the attorney.

"The name is Michael Grey. You're not. But by law, they can hold you for up to 24 hours without charging you with anything. And considering this situation, they will hold you until the final second." Michael replied as he slid his notepad back into his bag and standing up.

"I am leaving here and going straight back to the warehouse with Wade. We are going to get you out of here. You just have to keep your cool." And with that, he left the room leaving the door open.

Wade stood and walked around to Jake's side.

"I have to take you to holding. Are you going to fight me like you were with the officers?"

Jake rolled his eyes and motioned for him to lead the way.

"Actually, I have to be guiding you." He said gently grabbing his elbow.

Jake sighed but didn't resist. As they were walking down a long hall, Wade whispered,

"I'm getting you out of this. I'd have done the same thing if it were me with the gun."

Jake looked at him knowingly and nodded. They reached a door at the end of the hall. Wade was buzzed in and walked Jake to a well-lit room that only consisted of a metal bed and metal toilet. Nothing to separate the two for privacy.  Jake walked in willingly and turned to face Wade.

"I failed, Wade. I failed at saving them." He said brokenly.

He walked over to the metal bed and sat down resting his head in his hands. Wade looked at his friend a moment longer, taking in the broken state he was in. He shut the door and heard the bolts slide into the wall, securely locking the door. He dug in his pocket and retrieved his phone. Flipping through his contact he found Cooper and tapped the call button.

"Wade... I thought we agreed to never contact one another again." The man on the other end stated.

Wade said one word. "Aeliana."

There was silence on the other end for a moment and then Cooper said,

"Tell me what I need to do."