"I can't stay away. I'm sorry"
I was left appalled after opening the door. He didn't even wait for me to see him properly before throwing that bomb on me. I quickly glanced around to ensure that no one was watching before pulling him inside.
"Are you crazy? " I asked exasperated, throwing my hands up in the air for exaggeration.
"I know Aella I know you told me to stay away. But what kind of man would I be if I left you alone knowing that you were in danger? "
I pinched the bridge of my nose in frustration, refusing to believe that this guy was being for real.
"A smart one. You would've been a smart man if you did what I said. A target is on my back and I don't want one on yours too. What is so hard to understand about that Mason? " I asked in genuine concern. Blindy could've seen him come in here fir all I know.
"Aella I can help you" Hs insisted, taking a step closer to me. "I couldn't sleep knowing that a woman's life is in danger when there's something I could've done to help. Let me show you something "
He walked towards my couch and sat carefully before pulling a laptop from his bag. That's when I noticed that he showed up at my apartment, and nobody but Shanae knows where I live.
"How did you find me? " I questioned with squinted eyes as I stood firmly in front of him.
He looked up from his laptop for a second then turned it around to show me. I was left shocked at what I saw. That type of software not even I understood.
"I'm a master at this stuff and I hope your not mad that I practically invaded your privacy, but I found you with this. " He explained, causing me to have a mini panic attack.
"What else did you find about me?" I asked a little too fast and snappy, completed gaining his attention.
"Nothing" He replied quickly, raising his hands in surrender. "I only searched for how to find you. I didn't want to invade your privacy anymore than I did. But come on you have to see this "
Reluctantly, I sat beside him and watched as he typed away on his laptop. I would be lying if I said I wasn't impressed.
"Here. Yesterday when I was in your car, I saw a number squiggled down on a piece of paper."
"A liscence plate number " I confirmed, remembering how much I searched for the stupid paper last night.
"Yes well I took it" He said and I growled. "And before you get mad, I assumed it had something to do with the guy that was after you, so I ran the number on my database" He added quickly.
"Well guess what computer genius, I already did that yesterday before you saw me and I already got what I needed. "
"Did you? " He challenged, making me raise an eyebrow at him. "I am not surprised that you are a tech genius but I may have something that can help you more. See right here "
He pulled up something on his screen that got me shocked. It was him, it was Blindy and all his information.
"The vehichle belongs to an Eric James. He lives a few miles out of town and-"
"He has a wife and a kid" I ended for him after reading that was on the screen. "How did you get this? The most I can do with a licence plate numbers is find where they are registered to. "
"Like a company or something? "
"Yea like a company or something if it even is registered with one. I was lucky this one was. But this is great, this will make it better" I bit my lip excitedly as I read over his file.
"I guess I have a guy to catch" I smirked victoriously as I shuffled from the couch.
"Woah you're actually going after this maniac alone? And what's your plan, you're gonna go to his house and have a chat? He doesn't look like the guy that likes to talk" Mason said with something that sounded like a protective edge to his voice.
"No Mr smart ass I am using whatever information I have on him to my advantage. It's all here; I know his weakness and I can use it to get what I want"
His face scrunched into confusion as he watched me carefully "Wait you mean his family? His kid is six Aella"
"I'm not gonna hurt them Mason, I'm no monster. But if I make a hostage situation in return for information, I think I might get something better to work with. I won't actually hurt or traumatize them. The child won't even know what's happening" I reasoned but he looked even more confused.
"Information on what? I want to help you but I don't have a clue what's going on"
I sighed, contemplating about filling him in a little or not. "This guy is a part of a 'company or something' and they do really bad things. That night when I met you at the club, he and his friends were trying to take a girl when I spotted it, I got curious and luckily I followed them out the back door. "
"Oh my gish is she okay? " He asked with the cutest eyes ever.
Wait what?
"Yes I managed to get her before they could take her. That's how Blindy got his name. Anyways I chased after them because I wanted to follow them, see if I can find where they are hiding out and eventually catch their boss. When they spotted me, Eric shot after me, and I lost them but I managed to memorize the licence plate number"
"And you found the company...or something " He concluded and I nodded in response.
I grabbed my laptop from my desk to show him what I found. I knew it wasn't as much as he found, but with both, I could actually get somewhere.
Mason is hot, smart and funny. Perfect definition of too good to be true.
"I managed to get an address to where the vehicle was registered to. I'm not sure if that's just one hide out or the main place, but it was something. I was finalizing a plan to go in, and that's when you showed up" I added, meeting his eyes this time.
"So if you manage to get information out of Eric, you'll know for sure if that's the right place and whatever info you can get on this boss " He resolved and I gave him a curt nod.
"Exactly. " I said as I got up again. "If I get him to talk then I might have a better chance at getting out if this alive. "
"Okay so what's your plan here? You go over there, threaten to kill his wife and he'll fess up? Isn't he smarter than that? " He asked as he ran his hand through his hair.
"He is smart. And that is why I have to make it believable. "
He shook his head as if trying to clear his mind before stepping closer to me. The concern that swam in his eyes warmed my cold heart, but the last thing I needed was to get attached to this guy. He already knew too much for me to disappear from his life now, but I intended to keep a distance.
"What did they do to you Aella? I'm not saying you shouldn't go for it, but I wanna know why you're risking your life like this. You don't work for the police and you're not in a gang so what is it? " He took a step closer to me and brought his hand to my neck. I literally jumped at the touch, but it was surprisingly calming.
"Those people took something from me and they do it everyday to other people. Corruption is real Mason. When you have very powerful men like whoever the boss is, the police tends to look the other way and pretend that they are helping. But I can stop them if I just find them"
"And if they are as dangerous as you say, what makes you think you can take them down alone? That's too dangerous Aella. "He tried to reason but that didn't even scratch my surface.
"I can do it. I've been getting stronger, smarter and better over the past two years. And if nobody is gonna do it, then I will. You can't talk me out of this Mason. You don't know me; you don't know what I can do" I said sternly, stepping away from his hold.
He looked conflicted, but something in him was screaming a familiar aura that I recognized too well. Determination.
"You're right, I don't know you. But I know that you can't do this alone so let me help you. I don't think going after Eric is the best move. I don't think going after his family is smart either. We don't know how crazy this guy is"
"Well he's about to find out how crazy I am" I gritted out before marching to my closet.
"What if something goes wrong huh? What if his kid gets hurt? She doesn't deserve that, she's just six"
"Well Tiffy was just-" I caught myself before I said too much and did a few breathing exercises to calm down. "Forget it. I'm going and there's nothing you can say to stop me. I won't hurt a hair on that child's head and I am not planning on bringing her anywhere close either. It's just for bait, I'm not hurting anyone" I told him truthfully, pleading with my eyes for him to believe me.
"Do you even know if the police caught him yesterday?" He asked as he helped me take grab my boots from the shelf.
"Oh trust me, he got away" I chuckled humorlessly, knowing damn well that he wasn't taken.
"And what if he calls your bluff and something goes completely wrong? " He asked, seeming like he finally gave up trying to stop me.
I simply shrugged and turned to face hhim fully.
"Then I just die"
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Please vote guys! Next chapter has a lot happening (smirk)