"He is pretty hard to shake off."
Lock's brows were knitted together ever since they had turned into this unknown small neighbourhood. His hands wandered to the buttons, moved up and down around the steering, adjusted the mirrors, opened the window and closed it countless times. Yet, when Sia talked, he did not respond to Sia's comment. This time was no different. As soon as she said it, the sedan took a tight corner uphill. The driver was far too expert.
Sia suggested, "would it be better if we loose him on the highway?"
Lock's chin went up and down in confirmation and his hand shifted to non existent gears, pressing his back into the seat as he stepped on the accelerator. Sia held her belt with one hand and the overhead handle with the other. The car behind them sped up as well. Suddenly, Lock turned into a random alley and sped through. That thing was about as wide as three people, barely enough for a car. The sedan had no problem turning right after them, as it followed.
At this point it was pretty obvious. Sia wondered, "what is he trying to do?"
"It's not like we will lead him somewhere, nor is he approaching. Is he trying to intimidate us, or trying to keep us from going to the hospital? Why is he following us so obviously?"
Lock looked at her, a first in the last 30 minutes, eyes wide, the cut on his nose had already healed, leaving a white line.
"Aria. There is only Mo in there with Aria. If, for some reason, they distract Mo…"
He didn't finish. The first thing he spoke was about Aria. Sia couldn't even grit her teeth. At the end of the alley, he took a sharp right turn, almost clipping the back end against a building and rushed ahead.
"Highway or hospital?" she asked.
"Hospital." Lock's first priority was Aria. Of course Aria was his sister, adoptive, but sister. Sia told herself.
Lock pressed on the break, as the light ahead, turned straight red from green, instead of a yellow. Sia's grip tightened on the handle as they stopped just short of the crossing.
"Look out."
Lock's hand moved fast and the car reversed in full speed. Sia's vision swam, unable to comprehend what was happening, before their car rammed into the sedan behind them. Sia's eyes met their follower, smiling, pleased.
Then, a large vehicle rammed into their bonnet. The jerk in Sia's neck was a sharp warm pain that traveled up in a straight line. She understood what the sedan was doing. It was leading them into an accident.
When Lock came to his senses, his mind was running a mile a minute. Not just Sia's, but Aria's life was in danger too. Whoever was behind Sia's life wanted to silence Aria to quieten the witness. They must know that the girls talked to the police. They didn't know the girls switched places.
The car had not toppled, the large van had ran off after smashing them into a sidewalk. He looked at Sia. The trailing car had stopped and the driver was getting off. Lock jumped off his own car and called Sia. "Call the police. Hurry."
Thankfully Aria had a sturdy body. Sia was shaking her head, trying to orient herself. He had no time for that. Aria might know how to fight but Sia didn't. He couldn't expect her to fight alongside. He didn't need her to fight alongside. He circled the car around and paused. The trailing guy stepped back. The man had not expected him to survive, or at least, still be walking. His eyes shot past to look at Sia.
A few cars were beginning to stop, people rolled down their windows, to look. Lock screamed, "call the police."
The other guy stepped back but Lock gave him no retreat. He closed the gap and pushed him into the smashed bonnet. If The jagged edge, cut through the man's side. Lock wanted to pull back but the man had caught his arms and threw him sideways. Lock jumped with the momentum and braced for the impact. Just as his own leg cut against the jagged car hull, a fist connected with his head. He had no time to feel pain or dizzy. He kicked the man's legs, while used his other hand for an undercut.
He put all his weight in that one punch. The man staggered back and blood spilled from the corner of his mouth. Lock gave him no time to recover, going for a second and a third undercut.
Sia struggled with her seatbelt, wiggling out of the upper part and wriggling out from the lower part. Meanwhile her phone rang on the side. She had yet not managed to free herself when the call went through.
"What's your emergency?"
"Someone rammed into us on the intersection. They are fighting. My car is in an accident."
"Mam. Can you tell us which intersection?"
Sia gave them the name and cut the line, cutting any further questioning. She dialed Mo and finally escaped her seat. Outside, Lock and the other guy were fighting, or rather, Lock had punched his black and blue but the other guy was no less. Blood matted the side of Lock's head. The same blood was on his open door. Sia climbed out of it as Mo picked up.
"Hello?"
"I am sending you the location. Send the police here. Someone was following us, then they led us into an accident. We are fine but Lock is fighting. I don't know how long he can keep the guy here before the police arrives."
"Okay." Mo barely got it out before she cut the line and shared the address. She hadn't yet tried to step out when she felt a hand around her mouth and knife on the back of her neck.
"Don't move." The voice behind her was heavy. The hand around her mouth was thick.
The sirens rang in the distance. Sia nodded but the man's hand did not leave her, it slid down to her throat.
Sia whispered through the pressure. "The police will be here. If you kill me the intersection cameras will catch you. You can only run before they come. At best you will be charged with taking money. That's much smaller than being charged for murder or intended murder. With that, even the one who gave you money will not be able to help you. How can you be sure, they will not threaten you to go to jail, or not kill you to silence you. Unless the job is not done, you are still useful. Or if you will, work for me and I can pay you better."
Sia could see the flashing lights, the car in the distance. They had to park away because of the jam. People had come out, they were recording, focused on Lock. The only person who looked at her was Lock himself. She tried to warn him not to come closer. He understood but he looked too often.
"You talk too much." with that Sia felt a sharp pain in the back of her neck. For a moment, it was nothing, then it began to sting.
The police was rushing towards them now. Some of them had noticed the car on the sidewalk, noticed her as she swayed. Two of them caught the guy Lock was fighting. When one of them went towards Lock, he ran, came for her.
Sia's eyes widened, fear crawled up in her chest, the forced calm disappeared. The hand on her neck was gone. Sia threw herself forward, into the car with all her might. Her head hit the top ledge but she forced herself out. When she twisted, something sailed past her head. Metal against metal hit behind her and it clattered to the floor. The guy's eyes widened. It was a big man, small eyes, unsettled look, and unkempt facial hair over fair skin. Sia felt like she had seen him before.
The man turned around and ran through the crowd. The crowd parted in screams. The police gave chase. Lock wrenched open the other door. The knife clattered.
"Are you okay?"
Sia felt like the moment hadn't caught up to her. When it did, she didn't know if she was okay. The police caught up to him. While one of them caught Lock, the other realised the situation and helped her out. The other police, let Lock go, who took her arm and helped her climb out.
"There is blood on your neck."
Sia raised her hand and touched the back of her neck. It stung. When she looked at her neck. It was all blood. Lock's hands raised, one reaching for her neck while other reaching for her hand, yet, neither of them touched her. He hovered without doing anything.
Sia had the urge to fake a faint just so he'd catch her. Instead, she said, "turns out it takes a bloody neck for you to talk to me."
Lock smiled slightly, "I have never met someone that unshakable."
"Is that admiration I hear?"
"Annoyance."
Sia smiled and felt better when he smiled back. He sure did care about Aria a lot.
Aria.
Sia wanted to dial Mo as she talked to Lock, "If this was a ploy to get us distracted, someone could have targeted the hospital."
Lock nodded, but his eyes rolled over and his body swayed.
Sia ended up catching him only to find something squelching under her hand.
She tuned to the closest police guy and called, "he is bleeding."
Everything happened in a rush then. Sia's heart encircled in guilt. If not for her, Lock and Aria wouldn't be in danger.
The ambulance arrived, it took them to the closest hospital, the police rode with them. When the ambulenace stopped at the large doors of the hospital, slight relief washed over her suppressed anxiety. Mo met up with her. "I left her with her brother."
Clearly, Mo wasn't the kind to think that clamour in the east meant attack in the west. Mo wasn't even the type to think before acting. He was the kind to act first think later. Clearly something must have happened for him to think of Aria's safety first. If he had to think of Aria's safety, she was in more danger than she had suspected. Even the memory loss couldn't keep her safe. Just what had they stumbled into?
Sia frowned, "did something happen?"
"A fake nurse with an unknown injection. The police and whatnot. It's been tense since this morning."
In that moment Sia realised the urgency of getting her body back. The guilt of putting someone though life and death was far bigger than her momentary happiness of freedom.
The nurse rushed out. Mo asked, "how is he?"
"He fainted due to excessive loss of blood. The doctor is tending to him now. Please wait." she said in passing, her voice fading as she moved on to instruct the nurse behind the counter.
The emergency room wasn't too full but it wasn't an operating theatre either. The curtains were drawn and a few patients in other beds looked curiously.
Sia just hoped they'd be able to help him.
Silence fell between them for over an hour. Eventually, another nurse came through the curtains. Mo stepped forward, more anxious than her. The nurse said, "the doctor is coming."
The doctor followed right after and met with them two. "You are…?"
"His friends." Sia said.
"He is better. Just lost too much blood. As you might understand, we will have to inform the police."
Mo nodded, "we brought the police. It's a running case."
The doctor reassured answered them more readily, "He is sleeping right now. There is no danger. He might feel dizzy when he wakes up. Let him have water and I will give the rest of the instructions to the nurse."
Mo asked, "when can we discharge him?"
The doctor considered it. "Can't say right now. We will observe him for 24 hours first."
Sia thanked the doctor while Mo went to see Lock. Sia followed him. She pulled his sheets to a comfortable position, adjusted his shirt and whipped the sweat from his forehead. His usually moving hands were still and white on his side.
Sia tucked them in.
"He will be fine."
Sia shook her head, "we need to find what they think we know. And I want to go back to that kidnapping site again."
"Why?" Mo's voice rose an octave.
Sia hung her head. "We should try to change back as soon as possible. I can't put their lives in danger unnecessarily."
Mo didn't contradict her.