19. Jake

Jake pumped his legs as fast as they would move him. He had never been an athlete at school and wasn't exactly track material even now if his running form was anything to go by.

But Jake's running technique didn't matter.

What mattered was that Jake had managed to escape the clutches of the man chasing him through the park. It was fortunate for Jake that he had his two best friends with him…

‘Guys, I wouldn't have got away without you two causing a diversion,' Jake said, a tear rolling down his cheek as the three friends cowered together down a side alley a block away from the park. ‘I… I… I think he might have fucked me up really bad if he'd caught me.'

Lyle and Tommy exchanged a worried look. Both of them could see just how upset Jake was. This wasn't an easy situation to deal with, and that would be putting it mildly.

‘You don't know that,' Lyle said. ‘If it's one thing I've learned from being a journalist is that there's always more to every story than first appears.'

‘True, but we just had to get Jake outta there,' Tommy said. ‘Even if the man wasn't going to hurt Jake, he was definitely bad news.'

Jake began to cry again. He knew that his friends were trying to put a positive spin on the situation, and he really did appreciate how they had helped him avert the grasp of the creep in the park.

But what Jake needed was something else.

Or rather… someone else.

However, before Jake could even think about getting in touch with Damian, the stranger from the park appeared at the entrance to the alleyway.

‘Run!' Lyle cried. ‘We'll hold him off for as long as we can. Just run like the fucking wind!'

‘Run run run run,' Tommy exclaimed, joining hands with Lyle to block the man's direct route to Jake.

‘Thank you,' Jake said, flinging himself up onto his feet and sprinting away like his life depended on it.

As Jake ran down toward the exit at the other end of the alley, something dawned on him. Jake didn't have his friends for protection now. He was all on his own…

* * *

Jake eventually allowed himself to slow down and bring his exhausted body to a standstill. He didn't know how he managed to run so hard for so long, but Jake was now several blocks further away and tucked up in the corner booth of a small new pop-up coffee spot.

‘Are you okay, kid?' the barista said as he delivered a pumpkin spice latte over to Jake. ‘Have this one on the house. And don't tell my manager but I've put a little extra syrup in there too…'

Jake nodded in appreciation and even managed a little smile. The kindhearted barista winked and walked away to leave Jake alone with his thoughts.

I need to call Damian.

He'll know what to do. He's my…

But what if he's still mad at me?

However, the idea of contacting Damian was a moot point. Jake searched for his cellphone, but it was nowhere to be seen.

‘It must have fallen out when I was running…' Jake murmured, his voice low and his heart sinking even further. ‘What the hell am I going to do?'

Jake could feel the tears welling up in his eyes again. Even though him and Damian weren't exactly on the best of terms at that current moment, he had banked everything on being able to send Damian a message or give him a call.

Jake was scared.

In fact, Jake couldn't remember a time in his life where he had felt so hopelessly powerless. It wasn't a nice feeling. As grateful as Jake was to Lyle and Tommy for helping him escape, Jake didn't know what to do next. This wasn't Lyle and Tommy's doing though.

The more Jake thought about it, the more he began to feel that this was all Damian's fault…

Stupid mafia…

Dumb Damian not taking me seriously and listening to me…

He freakin' sucks. I should have stolen way more from him.

It might have been the caffeine that was suddenly overpowering his senses, but Jake decided that if his association to Damian meant that he was no longer safe in the city, then there was only one answer. It might just be time to leave the city and make a fresh start somewhere else.

Jake needed the kind of place where the mafia and all their guns, murders, and dramas didn't even get a mention in day-to-day life. Jake wanted to be able to live his life and do his thing without the threat of death hanging over him.

Right in that moment, the idea of moving somewhere else seemed highly appealing. In fact, the prospect was almost too good to resist.

With that in mind, Jake sipped on his latte and began to make a rough plan of what he would do. First, he would head back to his place and pack a small bag. It would be essentials only – not that Jake had too many luxuries to consider either way.

Then, once he was packed, Jake would head to the Central Station and jump on the first train out of the city. It didn't matter where it was heading, it was simply to get him out of New York City and away from all the drama.

Once he was sufficiently far enough away, Jake would then find an internet café and message Lyle and Tommy to let them know he was okay.

After that? Well, Jake decided that he could think about that at the time.

All that mattered now was leaving New York and all his troubles behind…

With the café's soft jazz playing in the background and the extra-sweet pumpkin spice latte hitting the right spot, Jake momentarily forgot his troubles. With a new start on the horizon, hopefully dramatic days like this would be a thing of the past.

Running away from problems and quitting when things got tough was something that had plague Jake throughout his life. But, as far as Jake was concerned, it was definitely the right thing to do this time – and no one was going to persuade him otherwise.

Not even his so-called mafia protector.

* * *

Jake arrived back at his apartment and even though he knew he should get straight into packing his bag, he decided to mess the place up so that it looked like he had been robbed. That way, if the creep following him turned up at the apartment, he might get spooked.

As Jake went about turning the couch over and tossing the cushions, he felt a wave of sadness come over him. Sure, it wasn't a luxury apartment or even his forever home. But it was still his place, and he had plenty of good times there.

But it was time to move on to new pastures.

‘Okay, now it's time to open the drawers and make this place look like some serious bandits have rolled through,' Jake said.

But before Jake could follow through, he felt a shiver down his spine. Without looking up, Jake could sense another presence in the room with him.

‘Look at me, freak,' the voice said, a cruel and mocking tone that made Jake shudder.

‘W-w-w-who are you?' Jake replied, his voice trembling. ‘What are you doing here? Who let you in?'

Jake looked at the man and awaited his reply. The man had a shaved head and cold ocean-blue eyes. But what was most shocking about the man was his size. He must have been 6'10" and had a huge physique that was practically bursting out of his suit.

‘The name's Connor. But you can call me Mr. Reed,' the man said, taking a drag on his cigarette and blowing a thick cloud of horrible smoke into the room. ‘I'm guessing by the look of pathetic fear on your face that you've heard all about me. Well, that makes this a lot easier then.'

‘N-n-n-no, I don't know who you are,' Jake lied, desperately trying to figure a way to cut and run. ‘Damian never told me anything.'

‘Oh dear. Not a very good liar are you?' Connor snarled. ‘And I don't like liars. Especially stupid kitchen boy liars. Don't make this any harder for yourself than you need to.'

Jake didn't know what to do.

Jake was trapped. And he was totally at Connor Reed's mercy. There was no way out of this. Unless he could somehow make a dash for the door…

Come on, just do it.

I can't beat him. He's too big and scary.

Run! Run, run, run and keep running…

But it seemed like Jake's thoughts were being transmitted directly to Connor. With a horribly smug look on his face, Connor pointed at the apartment door.

‘Try it. Just you fucking try it,' Connor said. ‘I've got two men in the corridor. Another two in the lobby. Go on, give it a go…'

Jake began to cry tears of rage and frustration. The situation was hopeless. But if Jake thought that things couldn't get any worse, he was wrong.

‘Now you understand the situation, I'll explain a little more,' Connor said, moving his huge frame over toward a terrified Jake. ‘You will be my very special bait. Damian will be told in no uncertain terms that unless he sacrifices himself for you, then you will be filled with enough bullets to down an entire army. How does that sound?'

‘Noooo!' Jake cried. ‘Please! No!'

‘Shut your mouth!' Connor said, grabbing Jake by his arm. ‘Be a good boy for me. If you behave I might just let you go… once I've sent Damian Sorrento right back down to hell that is.'

Jake quietly nodded and tried as hard as he could not to start crying again.

Everything had gone so wrong. Jake didn't know what to think or whether he would even live to see another day.

But most of all, what Jake wanted was to see Damian again, and hope above all hopes that it wouldn't be for the last time…