Chapter Thirty Six

Chapter 36

"We may have found Ava Valerian," Jay's words pierced through the air, halting Jemima in her tracks. She slowly turned to face him, her suitcase falling to the ground with a gentle thud as she faced Jay squarely.

"What!" Jemima voiced her disbelief in a whisper as he took deliberate steps towards Jay just to be sure she heard right.

"I said we may have found Ava Valerian, your sister," Jay reiterated his words carefully, locking eyes with Jemima.

Dimitri's soft groans, still reeling from the pain of Jay's punch earlier, caused Jemima to momentarily avert her gaze towards him. She watched as Vanessa gently adjusted the ice pack on his face and refocused her attention back to Jay.

"How?" Jemima inquired, folding her hands across her chest as she skeptically stared at him. Jemima had been looking for Ava and her parents for so long so that she could finally give them the retribution they deserved but all her search was fruitless and now Jay was telling her that he had found her?

"Vance Wokowski might have kidnapped someone that fit the description of Ava, according to eyewitnesses of course," Jay announced, causing Jemima to exhaled slowly.

"And you think that someone might be Ava? Why didn't no one tell me?" Jemima asked, raking her fingers through her hair.

"I can't say for sure but according to the blueprint given to me by Godfather, " Jay declared, heading to the Emergency unit and Jemima followed suit. She cast a wearied glance at Vanessa and they momentarily locked eyes.

"We should join them," Vanessa muttered, helping Dimitri up. The swelling around his jaw had reduced and he was feeling slights better.

"I agree," Dimitri acquiesced, following Jay and Jemima into the Emergency unit.

Upon entering the emergency unit, Jay opened a drawer and grabbed a piece of blue print, accompanied with some blurry photos.

"When did you get in contact with godfather for him to downscale the intricacies of the mission to you?" Jemima questioned as her brows raised with curiosity.

"He told me about the mission before you did, I requested for him not to tell you right away," Jay replied, not looking up from the blueprint he was setting up against the board.

"When did you have the time to collect the blueprint?" Jemima queried, her mind reeling with so many questions as she tried to grasp what was happening.

"You're not with me everyday of every hour right?" Jay answered simply as he grabbed a flash drive from the cabinet and gave it to Dimitri to insert it into the computer so its contents could be displayed on the big screen.

Dimitri hesitated as his anger from earlier simmered through to the surface, causing Jay to notice but ignore regardless.

"Come on Dimitri," Vanessa's voice resonated throughout the room, piercing the tense ambiance in the room. Dimitri hesitantly collected the flash drive from Jay and began to set it up.

Jemima, feeling guilty about her outburst towards Vanessa earlier, walked up to her gently, the sound of her heels clacking against the tiled floor echoed throughout the room.

"Vanessa?" Jemima called out softly, causing Vanessa's head to snap towards her. Vanessa cast a pointed glance towards Jemima.

"I'm out of you hair Jem, do whatever makes you happy and leave me alone," Vanessa retorted in a whisper, turning to walk out on Jemima but Jemima grabbed her by the arm, abruptly halting Vanessa in her tracks. Vanessa gazed at her arm where Jemima held her firmly in place and raised her head to glance at Jemima.

"What do you want?" Vanessa asked, cashing Dimitri to snap his heads towards them. Jemima let go of her arm and raised both hands in the air, indicating that she means no harm.

"I just wanted to apologize for my actions and words earlier," Jemima muttered, swallowing her pride as she glanced at Vanessa. The expression on Vanessa's gaze softened a bit and Jemima exhaled softly.

"Go on," Vanessa urged her, anticipating the apology from Jemima but Jemima furrowed her brows in confusion.

"What do you mean go on?" Jemima queried, bewilderment lacing her expression as she stared incredulously and Vanessa

"You wanted to apologize, so do it!" Vanessa exclaimed, walking towards Jemima menacingly. Jemima straightened her stance and towered over Vanessa by an inch.

"But I have," Jemima insisted, exasperation growing inside her as she shut her eyes momentarily, willing for the tempest of emotions with her body to calm down.

"Ladies! That's enough!" Jay's voiced pierced through the palpable tension, causing Dimitri to stand up and walk towards him.

"Don't tell them to stop. Your egotistical girlfriend owes my girlfriend an apology!" Dimitri lamented, his voice tinged with fury as he glared at Jay.

"Excuse me! Who are you calling egotistical?" Jemima queried as annoyance simmered within her.

"He called you egotistical because that's what you are; self centered and thinks the world revolves around you and your trauma!" Vanessa snapped, eliciting a gasp from Jemima.

"Control your chatty girlfriend who can't seem to decipher when to talk and when not to talk!" Jemima warned Dimitri, her eyes ablaze with fury.

"Don't you dare talk about my woman like that," Dimitri warned, glaring at Jemima indignantly.

"What are you going to do? Take another beating from me?" Jay taunted, stepping in front of Jemima in an attempt to shield her from the wrath of Dimitri. Dimitri mirrored his actions, stepping in front of Vanessa to shield her from the brawl that was about the ensue.

Palpable tension filled the atmosphere as each of the men locked eyes with each other, their muscles becoming tense as they both waited for the other to strike first.

Suddenly, the incessant beeping from the monitor snapped everyone’s attention towards the big screen. Dimitri quickly rushed towards it, hovering his cursor around the screen as he typed away on the monitor.

“What’s going on?” Jemima queried as she squinted her eyes, trying to get a better look at the big screen.

“It’s like some sort of puzzle that’s connected to the information on the flash drive,” Dimitri answered, zooming into the screen at where the red dot was blinking.

“Well what does the information on the flash drive say?” Jay questioned, looking expectantly at Dimitri.

“Right here is where we have Vance Wokowski…” Dimitri explained, pausing in between to play the video that appeared. Just like the incident at the restaurant, the tape was blurry.

“It’s blurry!” Jemima stated in exasperation as her fingers raked through her hair.

“Don’t you guys see that this is similar to the incident that happened at the restaurant the other day?” Vanessa voiced out, a tinge of reason lacing her tone.

“Play the video again,” Jemima demanded curtly as she placed her chin on her palm in contemplation.

“Right there, pause it!” Jemima ordered, pointing over to an image ok the screen.

“There it is again! The plate number of the car that had the crescent shape on it instead of numbers,” Jemima announced, drawing their attention to it. Jemima had not only a keen sense of observation but a keen sight as well.

“So is this his Mode of Operation?” Vanessa inquired, eliciting a soft sigh from Jemima.

“It could be but the issue is how do we target him?” Jay asked, directing his question to Dimitri who kept mute and just typed away at his computer.

“Checking with our sources in London, they confirmed that he was in London up until a few hours ago that is why I received this notification,” Dimitri explained, pointing his index finger at the red dot blinking away on the screen.

“Where is it coming from?” Jemima asked, folding her hands beneath her bosom as she waited for Dimitri to give her a response.

“That’s what I’m trying to get. The signal is still very faint but I’m pulling up all the coordinates so I can get a concrete location,” Dimitri stated, focusing his attention on the keyboard.

“Come have a look Jem,” Jay urged, directing Jemima towards the pictures. He handed it to her and she gently scrolled through it.

“These pictures were taking when Vance raided a restaurant in London. They are pretty blurry but you’ve got a keen sense of sight so I’m sure you can decipher her,” Jay stated, subtly mentioning Ava, Jemima’s sister.

Jemima stared at the pictures intently, tracing her fingers through each one.

“I’ve got a location!” Dimitri declared, causing Jemima to drop the photos in a haste and rush over to his side.

“Where?” Jay quizzed, anticipating a response from Dimitri. The silence in the air was thick with mystery as they all awaited for a response.

“I can’t tell exactly, the coordinates is changing too fast. It says Vance is at Fordham!” Dimitri announced, raising his head to look at Jay and Jemima wondering if that rang a bell for any of them.

“What if we record it and play it slowly then gather all the coordinates we are able to get in sixty seconds? That way we can pick out the locations it has been in,” Vanessa suggested, eliciting a nod of agreement from Jay.

“Do it!” Jemima mentioned, causing Dimitri to swing into action. Each of them were gripped by apprehension as they tried to unravel the next piece of the mystery.

“Okay Got it,” Dimitri’s voice pierced through the thick tension. He played the recordings of the changing coordinate and wrote down the names of the places he could get.

“Okay we have Tremont, Fordham, Dumbo…”

“Fuck!” Jemima exclaimed, interrupting Dimitri and causing all heads to snap at her.

“What’s the matter?” Jay asked.

“I know where Vance is,” Jemima replied, her gaze shifting from each other.

“Well, where?” Vanessa asked eagerly.

“New York.”