Chapter 5
Paula didn't seem surprised by the piece of information, or atleast she pretended not to be.
The only time her sister does something selfish is the time when her husband needed her the most.
"There is still hope," Paula whispered.
"No, there isn't."
Paula stared at her sister.
"Amiyah, why do I feel like you don't even want to try fixing your relation with him?"
Amiyah gazed at the golden ring around her finger.
"Maybe I'm tired, Paula.
Maybe I don't have a reason to fight anymore,"
Amiyah sat in school hallway, reading the districts magazine lying around.
She was waiting for Alfredo and his class to return from their fieldtrip to the aquarium.
Few other parents and grandparents were waiting for their kids as well.
Sadly, Jacob Merritt, Julia's father wasn't among them.
Amiyah had been wanting to apologize to him for Devin's rude behavior.
She took a deep breathe in, the school smelled of mold and rotten meat.
It took Amiyah all her willpower to not gag at the smell.
She looked around the compact hallway, the upholstered chairs and medals and trophies siting in the dusty cases.They really didn't clean this place, did they?
"Hello?" Amiyah's gaze met dull grey eyes.
The school principal was hovering over her petite figure.
She shifted awkwardly in seat before standing up.
"Good evening, Mr. Oliver."
"How are you, Amiyah?" He held out his hand for her to shake.
She took his sweaty hand and gave it a firm shake.
Travis Oliver was a chubby, old man with pepper grey and black hair.
He had a friendly demeanor, the kind that made anyone feel right at home.
"I'm fine.
The weather's been quite chill for spring, hasn't it?"
Travis nodded in agreement.
"It has.
So how's Alfredo?
The last time you came to my office you were quite worried about him," It was true.
She was fiercely protective of him.
So when Alfredo came home, crying that his teacher had yelled at him, all hell broke loose.
"The homeroom teacher's actions were justified, I suppose.
I mean Alfredo can be a really naughty sometimes.
He shouldn't have dumped paint on that small girl."
The sides of his eyes crinkled as he laughed.
"What is a child that isn't mischievous?
Your husband must have a hard time with him.
He works for the police, doesn't he?"
Amiyah wondered how he knew about her husband.
Then shook off her doubt, thinking that he was the principal.
After all they have access to that sort of information.
"Yah, he's a detective."
Something flashed in his eyes, a tad bit of unease which he quickly concealed with a jaggery sweet smile.
"Well, I know who to call if we have trouble."
❁ ❁ ❁
Devin was having trouble.
Nothing was adding up.
The principal was a suspicious character.
Why was he visiting the school website over a fifty times a day?
No man in the world took his job so seriously.
Clicking on the Maple Grove Elementary website, he scrolled through the page.
It seemed like a pretty dull website.
Maybe on the surface, maybe there was something hiding beneath.
Devin rung up the IT department.
Vicente also known as lazy ass, answered.
"Ello?"
Devin contemplated if he should ask him for help or not.
Considering how slow he was, it was better if Devin did the work himself.
"Vince, bring over the Tech servers and encryptors."
"Planning to hack some account, sir?"
"Yup."
"Well, it's better if you come to the IT department and use our computers.
They have a better processors than the ones at your office,"
Like Devin had said, Vicente was a lazy ass.
❁ ❁ ❁
After an hour going through various interference and codes, Devin finally hacked into the principal's school e-mail account.
His suspicion had been true.
The principal had been using the school website.
He e-mailed his fellow partners the time of the meeting on the school website and then encoded a chatting system to the school website.
After each chat session, the chat system was removed.
There was no better way to hold extremist group meeting than that.
No-one was going to doubt a school's website.
Devin opened the latest mail received on the Travis's account.
Mαʀᴄн ₅﹐₂₀₁₅
Mιѕѕιᴏɴ Rᴇʟᴇαѕᴇ вᴇɢιɴѕ.
ᴇɴᴅ ᴏғ Adlιтᴇм
"Adlitem?" Devin thought out loud.
"What is that?"
"Spelt backwards.
Oldest trick in the book." Vicente who was munching away on a mayo sandwich, muttered through his open mouth.
"A-m-l-i-y-a-h.
Spells Amiyah." Vicente wiped the salad from his mouth.
"Amiyah, who's that?"
Devin's eyes widened.
"That's my wife."
He shot up in his chair.
"Vince, call the police.
Red alert at the Elementary school."
She was going to be the bait for Mission Release.
Devin had to get there before anything happened to her.
If anyone lay a single finger on her, Devin was going to make sure they never see daylight again.
❁ ❁ ❁
Speeding at 120 miles an hour, Devin arrived at the Elementary school.
All was quite.
He brought out his gun and walked into the school.
In center of the hall, stood a crazed Travis with a revolver pointed straight at Amiyah.
Amiyah was on her knees.
Not a trace of fear in her eyes.
Devin was the one who had fear captured in his eyes.
For Devin, it was one those moments where he was having a hard time breathing.
Amiyah in her pale yellow dress sat on the brown carpet while a small huddle of terrified parents stood behind her.
The kids were probably still in the bus. Devin knew the police must have reached out to them by now.
Travis dug the cold metal deeper into Amiyah's neck.
"If I were you, I'd put that gun down."
Devin smirked.
Yes, he had the guts to do so when his wife was in mortal danger.
"Sadly, you aren't me."
Amiyah's light gaze watched Devin with a certain dullness.
It was as if she didn't care if he saved her or not.
Somehow that pained Devin.
Did she not have a reason to live?
"Travis," Devin focused his eyes on the old man.
"What exactly are your demands?"
"We'll talk about demands when you put down your weapons." Unwillingly, Devin placed the gun on the ground.
"Now shall we?"
Travis smirked, the old man that seemed friendly moments ago now had a sinister aura surrounding him.
"You shouldn't be asking me.
Mr. Devin, being one the highest paid detective of this area, you should have the answer by now."
"Mission release.
What is that about?" Devin eyes darted in different directions.
Travis's left arm was snaked around Amiyah's shoulders and his right hand was on the gun.
Any sudden move Devin made would take seconds for Travis to respond to.
The parents standing behind could sneak up on Travis but that would be too dangerous.
Someone had to make the first move.
"Just as it sounds," Travis grinned.
"Release our prisoners,"
Devin focused his stare on Travis.
"And who exactly are your prisoners?
"Vance Russo, Kaison Mullins, Corbin Hutchinson." These men were imprisoned for attempt to murder the senator ofWinslow.
Devin felt like an idiot for not putting these piece together earlier.
The school principal, Travis Oliver, was part of theCinder,an anti-government group.
His experience at the prison center and then he after his PhD, he went missing- all had been pointing at this.
In December of 2013, the attack on the Senator had taken place, the same time he had gone missing.
Devin stared at him blankly.
No-way was the government was going to release them.
Not until it came to the very last.
"That won't happen,"
A glint of anger sparked in Travis's eyes.
"Then this will happen." He pressed his fingers into Amiyah's shoulders.
She nearly yelped out of pain but bit her bottom lips till it began bleeding.
A single drop of blood dripped down her lips.
Devin balled his hands into his fist, veins in appearing on the surface of his skin.
Desperation was all he felt right now.
He wanted to whisk Amiyah away from here, to a place where they used to be together.
Safe and sound.
Away from the eyes of the judgmental world, away from the harsh realities of their broken lives.
After their philosophy II class, Devin walked along Amiyah.
The college halls were glittering with Christmas decorations.
They stood in the student lounge where a gigantic Christmas tree had been placed.
The student government club members were decorating the tree in blues and silvers.
Devin belonged to a family of atheist.
He was always amazed by the beauty of religion, never having the chance to explore it himself.
Victor Tran,who was leaning against the highest step of the ladder, dropped a silver garland from above.
The garlands tore into tiny, silver sparks from the sharp pine needles.
They filled Amiyah's hair who began laughing uncontrollably.
Devin glared at Victor.
He had feeling that he had done it on purpose.
After all he had a massive crush on Amiyah.
"Watch it, will you?" Devin shouted at him.