5

The silence that lurked in the streets of The Grave District was enough to make Carmens skin crawl. There was something about it that seemed so unearthly that Carmen almost felt scared to speak and disturb the suffocating silence. The quiet always reminded her that this place had seen so much death and violence. Maybe the silence was a way of honoring those who had fallen? She was far enough into the zone and from the barriers that there was almost no noise coming from the main streets.

Carmen had finished packing up most of Ainsleys belongings and bringing them to her mother's attic nearly an hour ago. She left immediately after to get to The Grave District in time to meet Carston. She was now sitting in her parked car on the side of one of the many abandoned streets as she waited for any sign of her friend.

Her thoughts drifted to Ainsley, they often did on days where she was reminded of her most. It mostly happened on December 3rd, their birthday, or on March 27th, the anniversary of Ainsleys disappearance. However, her mind wandered to Ainsley due to her cleaning out her twins room. Carmen couldn't count on one hand the amount of times where she had come across an item that reminded her of an old memory that they shared and started crying all over again. The hole in her chest, that had been there ever since Ainsley left, was burning with the realization that by boxing up Ainsleys belongings: they were making it permanent that she wouldn't be coming home. Carmen never thought the day would come, she thought that her mother would always hold onto hope, just like she had. But she was wrong. The second her mother asked her to take on this task, Carmen knew that she was the only one who believed Ainsley was still out there somewhere. Then again, no one could feel it, sense it, the same way that Carmen could.

The sudden revving of an engine made Carmen jump a bit in her seat. She quickly turned to see a black jeep that she recognized as Carstons pulling up beside her. She instantly turned off her car and got out of her vehicle just in time for a familiar figure to exit the parked jeep as well. Carmen groaned quietly in annoyance when she saw the one and only: Paris, give her a glare upon closing the door. Niylah soon climbed out of the backseat and offered a sympathetic smile to Carmen.

The animosity between Carmen and Paris was no secret. It was why Carston tried to keep them away from eachother at all times. Carmen knew that the loyalty Paris had for Carston ran deep, and while she respected it, she couldn't help but get frustrated when Paris got so defensive because of her mistrust in Carmen.

"Carmen," Paris greeted her, not bothering to hide the bite in the tone.

Carmen gave her a smile that she knew would irritate her. "Paris, I didn't realize you were coming."

"Oh, I wasn't supposed to even know." She folded her arms over her chest and tilted her head. "Luckily, Niylah can't keep a secret to save her life."

Niylah opened her mouth to say something and quickly snapped it shut when Carston got out of the drivers side and crossed over to the side of the jeep where they all stood. He was wearing a black t-shirt and his usual necklace with a key dangling from the chain.

"You weren't supposed to know because neither of you can act professional around each other." Carston put a cigarette in his mouth and lit it. He took a drag from it before blowing the smoke out of his mouth while he spoke the next sentence, "Keep the cat fights to a minimum, okay? We're here on business."

Paris shot him an incredulous look and turned to face him. "Business that doesn't even have anything to do with you. Why are you cleaning up after her?"

"Wow, Paris, it's almost like I'm right here," Carmen snapped.

"Chill out." Niylah looked back and forth between the two girls. "Both of you. Marcus needs to know this is serious, he's not going to take it seriously if he sees you two fighting. So put on your big girl pants and pretend to tolerate eachother."

Carston nodded in agreement and Carmen rolled her eyes. Paris simply flipped her hair over her shoulder. Her golden eyes were burning holes into Carmen. Her hair was styled into cornrows and had a few strands pulled back from her face, her skin tone was a few shades darker than Niylahs, whose was a deep golden tone, and she was drop dead gorgeous. Carmen had wanted to tell Paris on several occasions that she thought she looked great but Paris would sooner try to break Carmens nose than accept a compliment from her. Niylah agreed with Carmen that Paris was one of the prettiest girls that either of them had seen. She also said that if the two girls hadn't clashed so much, she could see them being friends. Carmen only laughed at this, Paris didn't trust Carmen as far as she could throw her. Carmen wanted to be understanding, she knew that Paris only worried for Carston, but at the end of the day, they've known each other long enough that Paris should know by now that Carmen would never try to hurt Carston or his reputation.

All 4 of them heard the sound of a car approaching the street they were on and instantly straightened with alert.

Carmen recognized Marcus's car pulling up to park in front of the jeep and her tiny car.

He got out of the car and walked to the front, holding a black duffel bag in hand. There were few street lights that weren't completely broken and they casted a shadow over Marcus's face. His bleached, shoulder length hair reflected the light against his golden skin. His eyes caught Carmens and something uneasy settled in her stomach. The expression on his face wasn't terrified compared to their encounter yesterday. It was almost.. nervous? He didn't keep his eyes trained on her long as he glanced to Carston who was leaning against the jeep as he blew smoke from his mouth.

"Did you bring it?" he asked Marcus.

Marcus nodded and began to bend over to set the duffel bag at their feet.

"All of it?" Carmen emphasized.

Marcus froze and met her eyes once more before nodding slowly. "Yes."

He finally let the bag fall with a thud and Paris was the first to walk forward to grab it. She picked it up, noting the few steps that he took back from her.

Carston took another drag from his cigarette. "Don't move. We're gonna make sure it's not counterfeit again."

Marcus kept his hands at his sides and he stared at the pavement of the road. Even as Carston and Niylah began removing the stacks of money from the bag to insert it into their portable counterfeit detecting machine that they'd now moved to the hood of the jeep, Carmen couldn't take her eyes from him.

Something was definitely off.

She didn't know what, but there was something in the way he stood, the way he refused to make eye contact with them, that made Carmen not want to move a muscle. But after a few minutes of Carston and Niylah running the machine, she finally did to steal a glance at Carston who seemed to notice the different energy that radiated from Marcus, who was chewing on the inside of his cheek. He was watching Marcus with narrowed eyes and looked to Carmen and she nodded in a silent agreement that she'd noticed it too.

Carston reverted his attention back to the money before breaking the silence, "You're quiet tonight, Marcus. Usually you've got quite a mouthful of things to say."

Marcus shot his eyes up to Carstons back at this sentence and that was when Carmen noticed the gleam from the street light above him casted across his face, enhancing the sweat that was gleaming across his forehead. Her stomach dropped and she took a step back slowly and stealthily. Every instinct in her body was saying to run, he wasn't scared, he was nervous and acting off. It wasn't normal, even for him. She knew to read these types of behaviors in her clients, it was a big indicator of people she wanted to avoid. Typically people who showed this type of behavior had no intention but trouble.

Paris noticed Carmens second step back and parted her lips to ask what was wrong when Marcus spoke up.

"I'm good," The trembling of his tone drew everyone's attention. Niylah flipped off the machine.

"You sure?" Paris asked.

He didn't answer and Carmen shuffled back another step, this finally drew his eyes to hers, causing Carmen to stop dead in her tracks. Marcus swallowed hard and inhaled sharply.

"It's a lot of money, Carmen," he said slowly.

Silence hung in the air for a moment. "What is?" she asked.

"It's nothing personal," Marcus responded, not answering the question. His hand inched behind him, not necessarily slow but not fast enough that no one got a chance to notice the movement. "This is just business."

That was when he pulled his hand back to the front to reveal a black object in his hand.

A gun.

"Sorry, Carmen," he began lifting the gun. Lifting it in her direction, and aiming for her head.

Carmens eyes went wide and she barely had time to react, but Carston was the first to move.

All in one motion, he leapt in her direction, placing himself between her and Paris before giving Carmen a hard shove that sent her straight to the ground. And a shot sounded off from Marcus's gun.

The bullet had missed Carmens head by inches. It would've landed it's target if Carston hadn't pushed her out of the way.

Instantly, Carston, Niylah, and Paris drew their own guns on him and began firing. Carmens hands flew to her ears to block out the noise of the popping coming from their chambers.

Carmen squeezed her eyes shut.

She didn't want to see it.

The shots stopped only a couple seconds after her eyes had closed, and silence filled the air.

"What the fuck?!" Niylah suddenly exclaimed.

Carmen felt a hand on her arm, pulling her hands from her ears and she opened her eyes to see Carston kneeling over her, his eyes wide and alert. "Are you hurt?"

She shook her head and allowed him to haul her to her feet. Carmen looked to where Marcus once stood, only to find him now lying on the ground in a pool of his own blood. His once white shirt was now riddled with bullet holes and dark red liquid oozed from the wounds. Paris walked over and knelt down beside him, her two fingers pressing against his neck. Everyone already knew the answer, even when she looked to the three of them and shook her head. He was dead.

Niylah holstered her gun and threw her hands in the air. "Once again, what the fuck?!"

"Does anyone wanna explain what just happened?" Carston scratched his head, his bright green hair a bit darker in this light.

Paris rose from the ground and motioned to Carmen. "Does she want to?"

Carmen gave her an incredulous look. "What are you talking about?"

"He was trying to kill you, Carmen. You're gonna tell me that you don't know why?"

"Yes, actually, because I don't."

"All the money that he gave you was real." Niylah looked to the small machine on the hood and placed her hands on her hips before turning to Carmen. "I don't get it. Why would he give you the real sixty grand just to try and kill you?"

"He said something about it not being personal, just business." Carston noted as he stared at Marcus's lifeless body on the cement.

Someone was bound to have heard all of the gunshots. But even if someone called the police, no one would arrive to respond to the call until the middle of the night. The cops always avoided this place as much as possible.

"He had a reason." Paris sighed.

"Yeah well, I wanna know what it was," he replied.

Carmens hands were shaking and she couldn't stop repeating his sentences in her head. It's a lot of money... It's nothing personal, this is just business.

Was he talking about the 60 grand being a lot of money? That was basically pocket change for Marcus, that's half the reason Carmen was pissed when he gave her counterfeit. She knew he could come up with it. Her mind was racing.

Carston placed a hand on her shoulder and she turned her head towards him, his eyes were flooded with concern. "Are you alright?"

She took a deep breath and looked to Marcus's body only feet before her and shook her head. "I've dealt with people trying to screw me over before, but not with them trying to kill me." She could still hear the sound of the gun when it went off, and she was thanking whatever power she could for Carstons quick reactions.

"I hate to beat a dead horse, Carmen," his voice drew her attention back to him and he lifted a shoulder in a half shrug. "But this is what I deal with on a daily basis. Danger is bound to catch up, it always does. That's why you need a team."

Usually Carmen would roll her eyes or give off a list of reasons as to how she's careful to avoid dangerous situations, but this time was different. She hadn't felt this kind of fear in a long time, maybe never, not the kind that paled her skin and made her limbs tremble quite the way this interaction did. Maybe he was right? Maybe she finally needed to find a few people to help her with this? She didn't trust easily, and she hated meeting new people, but was her stubbornness really worth her life?

When she didn't respond, Niylah sighed and approached the body. "We need to take care of this."

Carmen arched her eyebrow. "Take care of it?"

She craned her head over her shoulder at Carmen and pressed her lips into a hard line and Carmen instantly understood.

"Oh..."

"Get the tarp from the back," Carston ordered Paris. "Make sure you pick up your shell casings, the last thing we need is this tracing back to us."

The fact that Carston came prepared reminded Carmen exactly how many times he has had to deal with this type of situation and that he knew how to clean up any evidence.

"There's no cameras in The Grave District," Paris said as she walked to the back of the jeep and opened the hatch. "So we don't need to worry about that. Any witnesses arent stupid enough to snitch, so we should be fine."

Carmen watched as they hauled the tarp from the back and stretched it out before the body. When the three of them knelt down and began trying to roll his body into the tarp, Carmen tried to walk over to help. However, Carston took one look at her shaking hands and motioned for her not to. She shoved her hands into her jacket pockets and waited for them to finish putting Marcus into the back. Her stomach turned so violently that she had to hold her breath to keep from vomiting onto the pavement. When all was said and done, Niylah and Paris began discussing the ways that they could get past the security at the dock where they would load the body onto the boat and drive out to the middle of nowhere and get rid of it.

Carmen squeezed her fists and felt her nails biting into her palms but the pain distracted her from the nausea. Carston shoved all of the money into the bag and handed it to Carmen.

"It's not your fault, Carmen."

She blinked and swallowed hard as she nodded. "I know that."

"He was going to kill you, it was you or him. Try not to forget that, okay?"

"I won't."

Carmen knew what he was doing, he was trying to convince her that it wasn't her doing before the guilt set in. But, that was too late, Carmen was already running through the images of Marcus's face in her mind; both alive and dead.

Carston offered her a hug before getting back into his jeep with the other two girls and driving away, leaving Carmen standing in the street, with a bag full of cash, beside a pool of blood.

**

8:57 had rolled around and Carmen was waiting in the alley outside the back of the abandoned pharmacy. Her hands hadn't stopped shaking but she kept her hands shoved in her pockets. The last thing that she needed was for this buyer to think she was acting suspicious. She needed to calm down before then. Even though it had been over an hour, the events that had taken place with Marcus still made her heart race. It didn't matter how many times she closed her eyes or tried to focus on other thoughts, she could still hear the sound of the gunshots and she could still see his body lying on the pavement.

Carmen had been in her fair share of deals gone wrong, but none of them had ever resulted in death, until now.

The sound of footsteps coming from outside the alley had caught her attention and she stiffened as she waited to see who it was.

Carmen watched as a tall male figure rounded the corner. The first thing she took in was his blonde hair and skin that was almost as pale as hers, even from the distance between them, she could see his piercing blue eyes. These eyes were locked on hers, he nodded at her in a greeting type of manner. She unfolded her arms and lifted her hand in a wave.

"I take it you're Carmen?" he asked as he stopped a few feet in front of her.

Carmen nodded. "What's your name?"

"Luke," he responded.

"Luke," she repeated back to him slowly.

He nodded back with an arched eyebrow.

Carmen shifted her weight. "So, Luke, why exactly are you wanting to buy my product today?"

Luke shoved his hands in his pockets and shrugged. "Your chip can read messages on other phones even if they're deleted. I have a feeling my girlfriend is cheating on me and I want to know for sure."

The laugh that almost escaped Carmens mouth was being held in by her holding her breath. In all of her years of selling items on the black market she has never once heard a reason like that.

"Really?"

Luke nodded.

Carmen scoffed. "That's probably the least malicious reason I've ever heard."

"I'm not really a malicious person," Luke said.

"Good to know. Anyway, did you bring the money?"

He then reached into his back pocket and pulled out a folded up, very thick, envelope and handed it to Carmen. She took it and opened it to see a large stack of money stuffed inside. It seemed like it was real so after counting a few bills, Carmen finally shoved the envelope into her back pocket and removed a small black box from that same pocket. Inside it contained the chip wrapped in a protective plastic and a slip of paper with a code of numbers and letters written on it. She handed it to Luke who examined the contents inside.

"As soon as you put it into your phone, it will reboot into a program that I designed to only be activated with that chip. You have to put in that specific sequence on the paper in order to get into it. Then, you just need to put in your girlfriends number and it will bring up any message she's ever sent from that number." Carmen smirked. "But, next time I suggest couples therapy instead."

The corners of Lukes mouth turned up in a smile and he put the box into his back pocket. "Thanks."

"No problem. If you need anything else you know how to find me." She smiled.

"Actually," he started. "There is one thing."

Carmen raised an eyebrow in question, but her face went slack when she peered over Lukes shoulder and saw two more people enter the alley. One was a girl whose skin was as pale as Lukes, eyes were as blue and her hair was as bright blonde as his as well. Her blonde hair was pulled back into a ponytail and she wore a black zip-up jacket and dark blue jeans.

Beside this girl, stood another guy who was a few inches shorter than Luke. He had dirty blonde hair, but his skin was a bit more tan than Lukes was and he wore a jean jacket with a white t-shirt beneath, as well as distressed jeans.

The two came to a halt beside Luke and Carmens eyes shot to him, rage engulfing her veins.

At first she thought it was a robbery. They would jump her and take the money that Luke gave her back and run off with the chip.

But, as soon as Luke reached into the back pocket of his jeans and pulled out his wallet, Carmen's stomach dropped and she wished that they would've been here to steal her money. However, that wasn't the case.

Luke opened his wallet and held it up so she could see it, clipped to the inside of the leather was a badge.

Cops.

"CIA," Luke said. "You're under arrest."

Carmen froze, she didn't know what to do.

Then she heard a jingle of metal and looked at the guy standing beside Luke to see he had just pulled out handcuffs. Carmen shook her head.

She gazed at all three of them and took a step back. "Like hell."

Then she turned and ran.

"She's running!" Carmen heard one of them yell as she leapt over trash cans and other garbage that was strewn across the alley ground. The alley had two entry ways and Carmen planned to take the second one on the opposite end of the pharmacy. She ran fast, the sound of Luke and the other two running after her echoed the street. She pushed her body to run faster and once she cleared the exit, she veered a sharp right in order to get out of the alley and entered a second abandoned street that she now cornered herself in. There was the sound of slipping and a crash of metal behind her. Somebody cursed in response to it, but Carmen couldn't risk looking behind her to see what had happened.

"How is she so fast?" Luke yelled.

Carmen assessed her surroundings. This street was a dead end and the only thing at the end of it was an abandoned apartment building. It was in the middle of the renovations when it closed down completely and became a part of the many untouched buildings in The Grave District. There were fire escapes on the back of the building and Carmen noticed the dumpster that was located right beneath one.

She reached the apartment building at the end of the street and nearly didn't get a chance to stop herself running full speed before she reached the dumpster. She instantly pressed on the rusty, metal lid and pushed herself up onto the top. This gave her a split second to glance over her shoulder to see exactly how far the three agents were behind her.

They were far enough that Carmen could have a small chance at getting away, but not far enough away that she could stop to risk looking back again. She needed to move.

Carmen turned back to the apartment building and saw the ladder to the first fire escape was thankfully pulled out. She grabbed hold and felt the rust that coated the metal beneath her fingers, the possibility of tetanus popped up in her mind but the only thing she could do was climb the ladder and hoist herself onto the first level. The slapping of feet against concrete grew closer and she knew that she didn't have much time to get away, so she began running up the stairs of the fire escapes that connected story to story.

"Circle around the front and cut her off!" A feminine voice shouted.

Carmen didn't bother to look behind her to see who had split off from the three of them, she knew that she couldn't climb directly to the roof, she'd be trapped so she stopped going up the steps at the third story and entered the apartment building through a broken window.

She took in the sight around her, the floor was completely clear, whoever had tried renovating the building had knocked out all of the walls and only left the support beams standing. She had a direct view through out the entire floor of the third story. There were dusty, old sheets that whipped in the wind that entered due to a large window that had been completely shattered on the side of the building. She tried running for the only walls that hadn't been knocked out, and that was the emergency stairwell. The door was closed and she rushed to it, the noise of metal clacking behind her alerted her that the agents had made their way onto the fire escape and were closer than she thought. Carmen grabbed hold of the door knob to the stairwell and gave it a jiggle. Her heart dropped when she found that the door was locked.

"Shit!" she yelped in panic.

There wasn't another way out. At least, not a safe one. Carmen looked to her left, across the third floor, and stared at the double window that was gone from the wall, leaving a gaping hole.

She hurried over to the hole to assess any chance of her escaping through there. There was nothing. Just the roof of another building connecting to the apartment. This roof was only to a one story building.

Carmen had taken too long, her trouble with the door being locked and her taking the extra few seconds to look out the window had given the agents all the time they needed to catch up to her. Carmen heard the shuffle of feet behind her and spun around, breathing hard. Her lungs had burned.

The blonde girl and the boy with dirty blonde hair had come to a halt when they saw her standing beside the open window.

The boys eyes went wide and the blonde girl held up a hand. "Carmen," she said while panting hard. "Hold on a second."

It became perfectly clear in the moment to Carmen what kind of position she was in. Even if she outran these agents, they would have a warrant out for her arrest in the morning. They would interrogate everyone she knew, her mother would learn the truth about what she does. She would never forgive Carmen for being involved in this lifestyle. Carmens mind was racing and she instantly thought of all the offshore accounts full of money that she had acquired over the years. If she could get out of the city tonight, she could have enough time to pay her way out of the country and escape. The idea of the run seemed a hell of a lot more appealing than the guarantee of jail time.

Carmen glanced over her shoulder, taking one look at the roof top outside the window. A two story drop.

There was only one way out.

She looked back to the agents and noticed that they hadn't moved, the blonde girl kept her hand up as if doing so would keep Carmens feet glued to the spot that she stood.

"Sorry," Carmen said softly.

Carmen watched as her blue eyes grew wide.

Carmen spun around and leapt out of the window.

"Carmen!" The girl screeched.

Carmens fall was longer than she anticipated and she forced herself to keep her eyes open as she grew closer to the roof.

Her feet slammed onto the concrete, a scream escaped her when a lightning like pain shot from her heels to her thighs in both legs, and she instantly fell to her knees and rolled to her side.

She squeezed her eyes shut, biting back more crys of pain that tried to escape. After realizing that she couldn't wait for the pain to subside for too long, she rolled onto all fours and pushed herself to her feet. All her muscles in her legs protested but she pushed herself to look around the empty rooftop. She spotted two large metal rods sticking straight up from the side of the building and hurried to it. Just as she hoped, it was a ladder that led from the rooftop to the alley way. She might've had some time to get away and to her car before Luke managed to get to the front of the building like he'd been told to in order to cut her off.

She climbed down the ladder, sharp pain shot down her legs with each step down the pegs but she forced herself to ignore it. Her feet touched pavement and she ran for the front of the building, it was on the main road and she knew that she had a chance to get to her car from here. Especially since the two agents in the third floor had to climb all the way down the fire escape once again to catch up to her.

Right when she made it out of the alley and onto the sidewalk, the sound of a car skidding to a stop caused her to stumble in order to stop herself. A large white van slammed on its breaks right in front of her, cutting her off, and the door on the side had already slid open before it even got a chance to stop completely. Before Carmen knew it, a foot had suddenly landed itself, hard, into her abdomen and sent her falling back onto the concrete. The kick had been right at her rib cage and knocked any remaining air from her lungs. She groaned as she struggled to breathe and rolled to her side in a coughing fit. The next thing Carmen heard was a long whistle as well as the sound of a car door shutting.

Even though she couldn't breathe properly and fought to get air in, she still tried to rise from the sidewalk and attempt to run away. This was cut short when a hand on her forearm pulled her back and she spun around to see the boy with dirty blond hair had a hold on her. This close to him, she caught a scent of his cologne and she looked up to see his bright green eyes staring back at her. Instantly, she fought to pull her arm away but he was much stronger than her and Carmen couldn't do anything as he slapped one handcuff onto the wrist of the arm he had a hold of.

As soon as that cuff locked around her, hope dismissed itself from her body and she knew that she had failed.

He turned her around and grabbed her other arm to handcuff that one as well. She wanted to struggle, but there was no point. She couldn't get away now.

Carmen was breathing hard and sweat beaded across her forehead. She looked over her shoulder to see who exactly had opened the van door to kick her in order to slow her down. She spotted a girl with hair as dark as hers pulled into a side braid climb out, brown eyes met hers and the girl shrugged. "I didn't want to have to do that."

This girl had dark honey toned skin and was wearing an outfit similar to the girl with blonde hair, except she was wearing a long sleeve black shirt instead of a jacket.

Speaking of the blonde girl, she sped out of the alley and came to a stop when she saw that Carmen had been apprehended. "Thank God," she panted as she bent over and placed her hands on her knees while she tried to catch her breath. "I thought you were never gonna grab her."

Luke appeared from behind the van breathing just as hard as the other girl and leaned his weight against the vehicle. He raised his hands above him and folded them behind his head. "Thanks, Colton."

"You're welcome." Colton slightly loosened his grip on Carmens arms. "Maybe if you hadn't slipped and fell on your ass, you could've grabbed her."

Luke closed his eyes. "Shut up."

The brunette beside Luke laughed. "You tripped?"

Luke opened his eyes and scowled at her before removing one hand from behind his head to raise his middle finger at her. "You know what, Santana, I'd love for you to actually participate in a chase one of these days."

"I'm the one who stopped her. So, if anything you should be thanking me." Santana crossed her arms.

"It's not a competition." A deep voice from behind both Carmen and Colton said. They both peered over their shoulders and watched as another boy crossed over from the front of the van to their side. He was clearly the one who had been driving. His hair was black, like Carmens, and he wore a dark grey shirt and black jeans. He approached Carmen and Colton and looked down at her.

He had the same shade of green eyes that Colton did, but the look in them was enough to make Carmen want to shrink back. She hated being intimidated. He looked her up and down before reverting his eyes to Colton. "The only thing that matters is that we got her."

Carmen folded her hands into fists and her nails dug into her palms.

The blonde girl spoke up, "I can't believe you jumped off a freaking building."

Santana raised her eyebrows. "Did she actually?"

The girl nodded in response. "Colton jumped too."

It hadn't dawned on Carmen that they might jump out after her. That must be how Colton managed to catch up to her so fast.

The boy with black hair shot an incredulous look at Colton. "Are you stupid?"

"What?" Colton asked. "No one warned us she was a damn track star. We would've lost her."

The boy rolled his eyes and reached into his back pocket and pulled out a black bandana.

His eyes went to Carmen once more. "You don't get to see the rest of this."

"What," Carmen didn't finish her sentence before he folded the bandana and wrapped it around her head, covering her eyes completely.

Fear laced her veins. "Take it off!" she exclaimed and jerked in Coltons grip.

"No can do," Colton's voice replied.

She tried to shake her head in order to wiggle the bandana out of her eyesight but it had been tied tightly in the back.

"Get her in the van," Santana said.

The moment that Colton began ushering a blindfolded Carmen into the van, she realized exactly how deep of shit she was in.