Chapter 23 – Caprica

William

Soon after Logan left, I noticed Mr. Pearson strolling back to the room; he was still in a heated discussion with someone on the phone.

“I better not find out this has anything to do with you!” I overheard him bark through the crack in the door, before abruptly hanging up and entering the room. He sighed, seeming frustrated by the conversation he had just had.

“Everything alright?” I asked.

“All good,” I didn’t quite believe him, but to be honest, I didn’t have it in me to worry about him at that moment. I was more concerned with the currently injured people.

“I’m going to check on David,” I told him.

“Let me know how he’s doing,” James said, genuine concern for his employee marked his solemn face. He looked tired, the bags under his eyes were deeper than usual. As if on cue, he stifled a yawn. He had been here all day, and the fact that Harmoni was injured was probably adding to his stress.

Walking down to the ICU, dread washed over me at what I was about to witness. I watched as David lay in a hospital bed. He had a tube coming out of his mouth and various needles punctuating his skin.

A sinking feeling in my belly made its presence known as I watched the man I had learned to call a friend limp and motionless on his hospital bed.

I stopped a nurse to ask about his condition. My throat constricted as she gave me the details of his injuries. The bullet had missed a major artery but only by a few millimeters. He was lucky to be alive, that thought alone had a cold shiver wash over me.

She reassured me that he was stable and assured me that if anything changed, she would inform me immediately.

I guess this was as good of news as I would be getting.

My phone rang as I was about to head back to Harmoni’s hospital room. I fished out my phone from the pocket of my jacket.

“Huntz,” I answered.

“Hey, it’s Mia. I think we have a lead.”

“I’m on my way.” It was hard to leave Harmoni’s side, but there was no doubt in my mind that I needed to help figure out who these animals were and bring them to justice. Hopefully, it would also take my mind off the possible outcome of Harmoni’s injuries.

Walking up the stairs leading to HQ, I immediately went to our operations room where most of my team was gathered, already discussing certain parts of the case.

“So? What did we find out?” I asked.

Mia picked up the keyboard and started her explanation.

“The man we arrested is Carl Kelson, he’s part of the Diamond crew.”

“Isn’t the Diamond crew in New York?” I interrupted, confused by what she had just revealed.

“Yes. His partner is also from that gang. We caught sight of him in the car. He had a symbolic tattoo. We managed to track them until the highway but lost them when they went onto the back roads. We still don’t know what he is doing here,” she explained. Although she tried to hide it, her tone betrayed her frustration.

“I might have a lead on that one,” Benjamin said as he joined us. “I just finished taking the statement of the students that were in the same room as Harmoni. One thing they all have in common was that the shooter kept asking ‘Who is the son of Caprica?’ None of the kids knew what he was talking about. I think this is key to understanding the reason why they are in the city and not back in New York.”

Mia was swiftly working on her computer, no doubt trying to find out some information about this Caprica person.

“Am I the only one who thinks that this might be related to the kidnappings?” Cayden stated, raising his eyebrows as he eyed us one by one. “I mean, they are looking for a boy from that school, all the previous kidnappings were seniors from this school. All boys. Another point that makes me think that is that judging by the path the attackers took, they went nearly straight to the senior classes.”

“I’ll admit that if this is a coincidence then it’s one hell of a big one. Let’s look into that, maybe bring up the name Caprica to the kidnapped boys to see if it triggers any kind of memory,” I suggested.

“I got it!” Mia finally exclaimed excitedly. “Caprica is a legend in New York, no one knows who she or he is. What we do know, however, is that this person is the leader of a crew whose sole purpose is to destroy other gangs in the area.”

“They do this mainly by ruining their business until they go completely broke, or word on the street is they were the reasons for some major arrests in New York. It started a little more than ten years ago, yet already more than five gangs have fallen.”

Mia seemed impressed by the works of this Caprica person, and from the looks on the rest of my team’s face, she wasn’t the only one.

“No wonder the gangs are so against them,” Seth agreed.

“So could it be that they found out that Caprica had a son in this school and are now hunting him down to assure their gang’s survival?” I asked.

“Seems like it,” Freddy said. “But why the change in MO, why not continue with the kidnappings? It doesn’t make much sense,” he sighed.

“We need to figure that part out,” I agreed. It’s like every time we thought we understood them, they sent us another curveball.

“I’ve been thinking about the boys,” Jonathan spoke for the first time since I had arrived. “Each time, they aren’t killed, just badly bruised. Could it be that the boys were not the ones they were looking for but that they were used as a warning to Caprica? A way to show her that once her son was captured, his fate would be much worse.”

“I mean each kidnapping was covered on the news channels for quite some time,” Benjamin contributed. “It’s a possibility.”

“Okay, everyone, reach out to your CIs, try and figure out if any of the theories we have can be confirmed or supported. Let’s find out what their next target is before it’s too late. I want to know where they’re staying and who they’re speaking to,” I directed. “I’ll go back to the hospital and see what I can get out of the last kidnapped boy. Maybe the name Caprica will mean something to him.”

***

Harmoni

What was that annoying sound? I thought I had already changed the alarm on my phone to ‘Old town road’. I tried to reach out to shut it off, only to realize I couldn’t move. I could feel myself tense, what the fuck was happening to me? I gathered more strength in one arm. Nothing. Was I paralyzed? I forced myself to take a deep breath and exhale slowly. There had to be a rational explanation for my current lack of motor skills.

I attempted to open my eyes and managed to do it only to be blinded by the overwhelming amount of sunlight. I groaned, did I leave my curtains open again? I hated waking up to sunlight, that’s why I had installed velvet blackout curtains.

“Look who’s awake?” I heard a familiar voice say. He sounded tired, yet somewhat relieved.

I tried to open my eyes again, slowly this time. Logan was sitting there smiling widely. What was he doing in my room?

I didn’t have a blue chair in my room. Glancing around some more, I understood. This wasn’t my room, judging by the white walls, and annoying beeping machines surrounding me, I was in a hospital. My brow curved in surprise at my surroundings. What was I doing in a hospital?

“w.,” I tried to speak, but my throat was dry, realizing my discomfort Logan immediately brought a straw to my mouth. I gulped down the water greedily. I hadn’t noticed how thirsty I was until then.

Once my thirst was satisfied I tried again.

“Why am I in the hospital?” I asked, feeling my stomach drop at the lack of memory I had. His eyes went wide for a split second, surprised by my question.

“You don’t remember?”

“What should I remember?” I asked, frowning. Waking up in a hospital and not remembering why I was here in the first place was frustrating, but more importantly, it was terrifying. I could feel my heart racing in my chest, a clear warning for the approaching panic attack.

It felt like I had been robbed of my time. I thought hard. What was I missing? No matter how hard I tried, nothing came back to me, the sinking feeling in my stomach intensified.

“Let me call for the doctor,” he stood up and walked towards the door. Yet, before he had even reached the doorknob, the door flew open. I barely had time to acknowledge his presence before he hurried to my bed and grabbed me into a tight hug.

“I’m so glad you’re okay,” he said, as a tear rolled down his face. I didn’t hesitate to hug him back.