Chapter 5

"It's fine, Chloe; these assholes think they will get away with hurting you, but that is not going to happen."

A friend of Joey's noticed something the other guys had not known, the guy with the gun had a dollar sign tattooed on his neck.

Tom, "let it go;" Jimmy had known that Joey came from a rural area with gangsters.

Joey's upbringing was not easy, having a drug addict of a father.

The tattoo was more than just an ordinary tattoo; it was a rank, "these guys have been in and out of prison, and the dollar sign was a ranking of twenty-six.

The number twenty-six was high ranking amongst other prisoners, indicating they do not fear returning to prison.

The guy with the tattoo, who was six feet grabbed Jimmy and pushed him to the window, then removed his gun.

The train stopped by the next station, and people ran out as the train reached a standstill.

"Hey, man, let him go." Said Joey; the other two men, surprisingly, also had guns; Joey had noticed the tattoo of the other two guys; one was a rapist and the other a killer.

The two men pointed their guns at Jimmy's friends; "empty your pockets," said the killer, "come on, man, it does not have to be this way," said one of Joey's friends. Without hesitation, the guy on the left shot their friend in the leg, "does it look like we are joking right now? Hand over your stuff."

Chloe had never seen someone get shot at close range before; as she screamed, the rapist gripped his hands around her throat and started to choke her; she bit into his wrist to break free; as he called, he hit her unconscious with the elbow.

At that moment, five armed cops ran to the train door, aiming their weapons at the three guys. The swat team came afterward, emptying the station. "Drop your weapons and let the kids go," commanded the cop as the man then laughed out loud and pointed the gun at the cops holding Jimmy as a shield, "if you want to take me, you would have to kill me," the swat team then pushed in front of the cops, standing in a steady pose, as they had their lasers on their guns aimed at the man's head.

Joey's friend was lying on the ground holding his leg, as he had lost a lot of blood. He became pale; the swat immediately noticed his injury, and they insisted they lower their weapons; it had become evident the swat had taken over.

There was no getting out of this; the other two men raised their guns, aiming at the swat, "we have a clear shot; take him out." As the swat opened fire on the one guy in the chest, he fell; if Jimmy had known this would be the outcome, he would have found an alternative method to dealing with this.

No people were dying. "Jimmy had tried to break free, as the man grabbed him around his neck, choking him and holding him in front of the swat and police as a shield, "we are leaving here, and you will get us a chopper and ten million in the next hour."

Agent Voss is taking over, and he arrives at the train station; he has over two decades of experience negotiating with criminal minds and immediately recognizes the tattoo on their bodies.

The number twenty-eight was the highest ranking, and the twenty-seven marked the number for a killer who shot Agent Voss. Thankfully he was wearing a bulletproof vest when the number gang shot at him.

He insisted that in this time frame, the amount of money they requested couldn't be made; you would have to give us more time.

"You have two hours,” said the twenty-eight.

"Please be reasonable; we need at least twenty-four hours; the banks won't have the kind of cash."

“Well, that is not our problem;” Chloe slowly started to gain consciousness as the officer told her to stay down.

The negotiator maintained eye contact with the twenty-eight; okay, we will have it in two hours; do not do anything stupid. "I can't promise, don't be too long;” Jimmy hit the guy on his side using his elbow, and the guy opened fire and shot Jimmy in the back. The swat raced over and nailed both the men to the ground.

Rushing to Jimmy's aid, he was dead; there was no pulse as Chloe crawled over to Jimmy; the cops pushed her away as the paramedics checked for signs of life and shook their heads, his dead.

Chloe sat on the train floor in tears; everything had happened so suddenly, yet every second of what had happened felt so long.

Chloe was shaking; as she looked around, there were cops everywhere; Joey was in shock as they were removed from the crime scene.

They saw Jimmy's body being put in a body bag when just a few moments ago, they were talking and joking.

Joey sat in the ambulance as the paramedics shined a small light on his eyes; he then realized he had to tell Jimmy's family.

Joey was dating Jimmy's sister Claudia; Joey took his phone from his pocket and scrolled down to her name.

Hesitantly he clicked on her name, and after a few seconds, he pressed the call button.

"Hey baby, I thought you guys were at the game, is everything okay?"

The words couldn't escape his mouth as he opened; words couldn't come out; instead, tears rolled down his cheek.

"You are scaring me, is everything okay, and why do I hear sirens around you?"

" It's your brother,” he gulped.

"What about Jimmy? Is he okay?"

"He was shot."

Mom and Joey heard Claudia yelling on the other end of the phone.

"Yes, honey?"

"Jimmy was shot."

"Honey, what are you saying."

"He was shot mommy Claudia cried hysterically."

Pass me the phone, honey, "Joey, is this you?"

"Yes, mam."

"What sick game is this of yours?"

"It's not a game, mam."

The mother heard sirens around; “where are you guys now?” She was in disbelief, "Is my son at the hospital? What hospital is he in? Tell him I am on my way.”

Joey shook his head as he couldn't find the courage to tell her that her son was dead; Negotiator Voss then looked at him and walked up to him; he saw Claudia on the phone. Claudia, he said curiously, “is that family of agent Voss?” then paused, “is that family of Jimmy."

Jimmy nodded his head; agent Voss took the phone, "Hello, who is this?” The lady on the other end said, "Hello, Mam, this is agent Voss. Can I please come and see you?"

"Why is my son in trouble?"

Jimmy's mother was a church-going community leader.

Jimmy's father entered the room; Jimmy's dad was an average construction worker and family man.

"Honey, why are you and Claudia crying?” He then reached for the phone; as his wife was speechless and handed him the phone, he looked at the name with a frown, Joey? "What is happening?"

“It is not Joey, Sir; I am agent Voss; I am afraid I have some unfortunate news relating to your som. May I come and see you?” Jimmy's dad gulped as he breathed in more profoundly, “is my son okay?”

"Sir, I am afraid not. Would you and your wife mind coming down to the station?"

"Yes, of course, we are on our way;” Claudia was close to her brother, hearing her brother was shot and he could be dead in the tone Joey said; tears ran down her cheeks as she tried to control her emotion.

"Come, honey, we have to go." Jimmy's mother felt something was not okay. She was dreading the worst; as she sat in the window up at the sky, she was suddenly calm and looked over at her husband; “I am sure he's just in trouble like every other teenager these days; he will be okay, right?”

Her husband looked at her and had not answered; he had known it had to be serious, Jimmy was not a kid to get in trouble, and he had a bright future ahead of him.

Let's go, honey. Claudia, who was in her blue jeans and black leather Jacket with her red hair loosely hung down her shoulders, looked over at her dad, " I am also coming."

"No, honey, you should stay here in case he gets home, and there is no one to lock open."

Her dad knew what to expect at the station and couldn't bear to let his daughter hear the news they were about to receive; it had started getting dark as Jimmy and his parents left the house. Claudia kept on buzzing Joey's phone; everything still felt unreal.

The friend shot in the leg was unconscious and rushed to intensive care.

This has been the worst day of Chloe’s life. It's a day that left a scar on everyone's heart.