Case File 93

Case File Name:
Find A Fucking Way.

♤Chapter Ninety-Three♤

"Yeah, so logically there's a couple of choices here," Pierre's voice echoed in my head.

"And we'll figure this all out," I heard Elena say.

"Could I get these Lucky Charms?" Vic suddenly asked.

"Bro, not the time," I heard Mav tell him, "But maybe after... could we get those?" he asked.

"Help yourself to anything," Elena immediately told them, "Lena what are you thinking?"

I glanced away from the wall I had zoned off into, blinking a few times as I met Elena's dark eyes, "I think we need to find Gia," I said, my voice more monotone than I preferred it to be.

But I couldn't force the emotion behind it.

Not after sleeping a night away from Tazmin.

Luckily, everyone stayed over at Elena and Pierre's house—the cover piles still occupied the living room we all slept in together.

And even if my back fucking hurts, I still would've preferred that instead of sleeping entirely alone.

I swear after we stayed up till close to midnight discussing options—I nearly passed out.

Mostly because I didn't sleep at all the night prior since we began planning the wedding as soon as Tazmin received Roman's text.

Now it's the next morning, and it's officially been close to ten hours since Tazmin has been arrested.

Luckily, Roman reached out and said that they can keep her there until tomorrow morning which is another twelve hours added to our timer.

I suddenly glanced over when a phone began ringing.

Specifically, Pierre's.

Which he immediately grabbed to read the caller ID.

"It's the Attorney General," Pierre said, backing out of the room as he eyed the ringing phone.

And I swear I sent off a silent prayer that he could help us.

The Attorney General is one of the only people above the FBI.

He's the one who could get this case dropped without having to actually provide an explanation.

That's how much power he holds.

"I'm going to go find Gia," I determined, standing from the breakfast bar as both of the twins focused on pouring their cereal.

Elena instinctively took a step toward me, "I'm not sure that's a good idea, Gia is unpredictable right now and—"

"She's our only backup plan," I cut Elena short as I adjusted the white tank top and matching flare pants I wore, "Mav and Vic can check her house, I'll go to the hospital, and you and Pierre can figure out the Attorney General," I told them all.

Vic nodded as he chewed his cereal, "We got her house, Lena," he assured me.

"And we'll handle the Attorney General," Elena said, her dark eyes trailing my face for a moment, "Or maybe one of us should go with you—"

"I got donuts and coffee!" I suddenly heard my best friend call out.

Which immediately made the twins put down their bowls of cereal, meeting Marie halfway to take the coffees and donuts from her hands.

"I appreciate you," Vic told her, briefly kissing her lips before walking over to Mav who had already opened the box of donuts.

I pursed my lips when Elena gave me a knowing look, openly glancing between me and Marie.

Which made a reluctant sigh fall from my lips, "Marie you're with me," I said, knowing how badly Elena wanted me to be safe.

Marie tilted her head, "I am? What are we doing?" she asked.

"Going to the hospital to see if Gia's there," I said as I grabbed the keys to the G-Wagon.

Tazmin's G-Wagon.

But I didn't want to drive anything else here yesterday.

"Let's go then," Marie said, following behind me as we exited the house.

And as soon as we were out in the G-Wagon, I made sure to text the twins in a group chat to keep me posted on anything.

A part of me felt a little concerned if they found Gia first because they might actually kill her.

Which is something I definitely wanted.

But unfortunately right now isn't the time.

We're already in deep waters and if Gia suddenly shows up dead after giving up information it could make Tazmin look worse.

So I specified to them both that they couldn't kill her.

Not yet at least.

Even if the idea of killing her in the most inhumane way possible crossed my mind a few times on the way over to the hospital, especially with all the traffic occupying the highway.

It felt almost necessary to kill Gia after what she had done.

My instincts regarding Tazmin practically screamed at me to just grab the gun that I knew was in the dash and off Gia.

But I'm smarter than that.

Tazmin made sure I was smarter than that and she's counting on me.

Gia is also battling something with the entire stillbirth situation, and I'm hoping if we get her parents to tell her then she'll realize this was all wrong. 

And considering I'm not entirely involved in that situation, the idea of me telling her myself felt wrong.

I also don't want to reveal something like that without permission first. 

"Does she have an office or something?" Marie asked as we quickly walked through the hospital.

If Gia is here then she could look at the cameras and see we're here—so we need to move fast.

"Yeah, she could also be scanning someone right now too," I said, sharply turning down the hallway with Marie by my side.

"I really hope there's a way she can fix what she did," Marie sighed as we approached the one door that I anticipated opening.

"I'll make her find a fucking way, trust me," I mumbled as we stopped by the door labeled with a plaque that had Gia's full name.

And luckily the handle twisted, indicating it wasn't locked.

My eyes immediately trailed the office as soon as we entered it.

The file cabinets, the view of downtown Miami, the large desk that—

Gia was ransacking?

She was packing everything in her desk into the large purse that sat on top of it.

At least until I quickly approached her before she could process it—and pressed one of the drawers shut on her fingers.

Which instantly made a gasp followed by a grunt fall from Gia's lips as she tugged the drawer open and pulled her hand away.

So maybe I am madder than I realized. 

"I really feel like your mom should've spanked you more as a child," I said, meeting her dark eyes that stared up at me with nothing but irritation, "Or would you have liked that? You're really fucking psychotic so I wouldn't know."

Gia stood from her chair, "Just leave Lena—none of this involves you," she said, opening the other drawer to her desk with her unbruised hand.

"Oh, but I'm pretty sure it fucking does," I said, casually sliding my left hand across her desk.

And the large diamond that always captured every ounce of light—immediately caught Gia's dark eyes.

"That's a shame for you," Gia had the audacity to say, packing more of the files into her purse, "She's never going to get out."

I forced a tight smile, "Don't be so sure," I said.

"Yeah your parents will make sure she does," Marie suddenly added in.

I hummed in agreement, "And then all of this would've been for nothing," I told Gia, staring down into her dark eyes.

That didn't hold an ounce of remorse.

"I had to do what was necessary—the road with you was a dead end," Gia determined as she slid one more file into her purse.

That I immediately knocked off the desk, spilling everything in her purse out onto the floor.

And before Gia had time to display irritation, I grabbed her shoulders and pushed her back against the nearest wall.

"Really Lena?" Gia said, practically smiling in my fucking face, "What are you going to do? Kill me?" she asked, putting the idea of murder past me.

But of course, the one fucking time it mattered I couldn't actually kill her.

"You're going to fix this Gia," I said, digging my nails into her arms and gripping her tighter against the window, "I don't know how but you better march your ass down to the FBI offices and fix it."

Gia's smile only widened, "Yeah, that's not happening," she said, firmly pushing me away.

But I only planted my feet firmer against the floors, holding her in place as my own anger nearly swallowed me whole.

I didn't even have to think it through—my hand naturally let one of her arms go.

And back slapped her across her face.

Which easily earned a grunt from Gia as the loud slap echoed throughout the silent room.

And as soon as Gia reached her free hand up, I could suddenly feel Marie's presence beside me, pinning Gia's other arm back down.

"I can't kill you but I can hurt you, Gia," I said, raising a brow as I eyed her face, "So what's it going to be?"

Gia narrowed her eyes at me, the side of her face quickly growing red from my previous slap, "Whatever," she mumbled, tugging against our hold, "I can go down there but there isn't a guarantee of anything."

I hummed tightly, "You better make it a fucking guarantee," I said, tugging her away from the window so we could walk out of the room together.

And I refused to let go of her—especially knowing how unpredictable she can be.

"Grab my purse," Gia said, motioning to her purse on the floor, "It has important files that can help," she added. 

Marie nodded, letting go of Gia's arm that I quickly grabbed to hold in place as my best friend picked up her purse.

At least until Gia suddenly head-butted me.

Which immediately earned a grunt from me, blinking a few times as I desperately tried to hold her arms.

But considering how off guard her actions caught me, Gia was able to slip one of her arms from my hold.

And reach behind her back—where she pulled a gun from her waistband.

Which made me instinctively let her go and take a step back.

Even Marie halted her motions with the purse on the floor, holding her hands up as Gia held the gun with crazy brown eyes that glanced between us.

"I can't have you guys following me and I need that purse," Gia said as she unlocked the safety on the gun.

Which immediately made my eyes widen.

Especially when she aimed it down at Marie.

I took a protective step forward—gasping as soon as the gun went off.

But the loudness of the gun was masked by Marie's gutted scream, reaching for her stomach as she slid down onto the ground completely.

"It's either me or her, Lena—your choice," Gia said as she reached down to grab her purse now filled with the files again.

Meanwhile, I had already kneeled by Marie's side, pressing a hand to her already bleeding stomach.

"We're in a hospital—you're good, you're going to be okay," I assured Marie with tears growing so heavy in my eyes.

I glanced over to the door, watching as Gia tugged it open and ran out—firmly shutting it back behind her.

"Marie I need you to put pressure on this so I can go get someone," I told my best friend who gasped with each painful breath.

"I got it," Marie forced out, slowly reaching her hand up to her stomach and planting it over her wound oozing blood.

And almost immediately I sprung up from my seated position, running towards the door that I immediately tugged open.

But I didn't even have to go far to find someone.

There were already a couple of nurses walking down the hallway in confusion—clearly hearing the previously loud gunshot.

"We need help in here!" I yelled out, motioning them over, which immediately made the nurses' walking fade into a full-on run.

And luckily I was able to get them both in the room in no time—watching as one tended to Marie and the other paged more help.

I stayed by Marie's side through it all.

Aside from when they had to extract the bullet and stitch her up.

By the time the twins both made it to the hospital through the three o'clock traffic, Marie was thankfully okay, sitting in bed off intense painkillers.

"Fuck the FBI, I'm deadass about to kill her," Vic said as he analyzed Marie's wound under the covers.

"Yeah we'll find a way to cover it up or something," Mav added, agreeing entirely with Vic.

But I could only shake my head at the idea, about to counter their statements.

Until Tazmin's parents walked into the hospital room.

But they weren't alone.

A dark-skinned man with a buzz cut walked in behind them—wearing a crisp suit and oozing power.

The Attorney General.

"Lena Azhari," the man spoke to me first, a smile growing on his once serious face, "I've heard a lot about you," he said, reaching his hand out for me.

I smiled as I briefly shook his hand, "You as well, Attorney General Wilson," I said as we let go of each other's hands.

"Call me Trent," he said as Pierre closed the door to the hospital room, "It's nice to meet all of you," he said, glancing over to the twins who were once focused on a sleeping Marie, "I hopped on a flight from D.C as soon as Pierre mentioned a favor."

I unconsciously stepped closer to him, "A favor that you can fulfill?" I asked almost anxiously.

I just want to get Tazmin out of there.

I need to get her out of there. 

Trent nodded once, "Easily—I mean there are a variety of reasons why I can authorize these charges dropped," he said, which immediately made me let out a deep relieved breath along with the twins, glancing down when tears annoyingly burned in my eyes.

All I could do was thank god repeatedly, feeling so beyond thankful that my wife would be okay.

"Mrs. Moretti is linked to numerous classified operations that could come to light with a trial, which would make moving forward with this problematic for the government," Trent explained as he adjusted his crisp blazer, "She's also a powerful inside source and funds a good amount to government operations."

I let out an even deeper sigh, suddenly sitting down on the couch to process that this would really be okay.

Elena also sat down beside me, pulling me into her side for reassurance.

"All of this aside, I can get the charges dropped regardless—I just have to meet with the FBI later to discuss it," Trent told us all, not concerned whatsoever by the outcome of all this.

"Thank you so much," I forced out, quickly wiping under my eyes as I lifted my head.

Trent only shook his head, "Anything for Pierre—he always had my back when it got hard," he said, nudging Pierre who smiled.

"We still appreciate you," Pierre told him.

"For real," Vic said as Mav nodded a few times in agreement.

Which earned a respectful nod from Trent, who briefly shook Pierre's hand.

"I'll keep you all posted after the meeting," Trent told us, now backing out of the room.

I nodded a few times, suddenly reaching for my phone to call my sister.

Both she and Zane had carried on the same with Nadia today, but I knew they would want updates on the news.

And even the idea of telling them that Tazmin would be okay was enough to make more tears burn in my eyes.

I've never felt so fucking thankful for anything before.

"She's going to be good now," Elena assured me as soon as I buried my face in my hands, dropping my phone in my lap as I truly processed what happened.

I had been stuck in go-mode and now it was finally calm.

Now the loudness had faded into nothing but a beautiful silence.

"She's good now," I forced out in a whisper as I naturally leaned into Elena who was trying to help soothe me.