Chapter 26: Dex
The streets were flooded with protesters and it got so bad that the cars could no longer move through the crowd. The police tried to move them out of the street but every time they approached a brawl would ensue. In fact, I started to think we weren’t even safe inside the car anymore. I looked out the window at the droves of people holding their fists and signs in the air, chanting for their freedom and rights. I remembered watching protests like these on the television from home and thinking about how brave these people were for standing up for their rights. Now all I could think about was how dangerous they and the police had made it for everyone else in the city. Smoke bombs were going off all over the place and I could hear the faint rumble of gunshots in the distance. If it were this bad this far from the hotel, I could only imagine what it was like in the center of it all. Casey and Seth must be absolutely terrified being holed up in the hotel, hearing everything going on around them. I had to imagine them still in that room, I couldn’t even begin to think about anything bad happening to them.
I watched as Mateo leaned forward to the driver and whispered something in his ear before returning to the seat in front of me. He looked up and motioned to the seat belt so I reached over and quickly fastened it around me. The car took a quick left turn down the empty street and began to speed up. I looked at Mateo, confused as to where we were going.
“What’s going on? The hotel is in the other direction,” I said. “We have to get to them.”
“I know,” Mateo said with a serious tone. “The streets are completely blocked. The further we go the more violent it is going to get. The videos show that the protesters have pushed into the hotel and the cops are already engaging anyone on the streets. We will never get there if we keep going in that direction. We are going to the closest airfield, you can charter a helicopter from there. With any luck and your deep pockets, we can get to the top of the hotel faster than we could run down through that crowd.”
“What if they don’t have any helicopters? My pilot is stuck right now as everyone is fleeing the city,” I explained.
“This is a small carrier,” he explained. “It’s mostly used by militia and military. There should be plenty. And if not, we will go from there. Right now, this is our only choice.”
Maybe he was right, maybe going through that mess was the worst thing we could possibly do. If the other guards hadn’t even made it there yet, it would be hours before we could get to Casey. Hours in which anything could go wrong and hours that would pass while my wife and child sat terrified inside the suite, waiting for someone to help them. And what if something happened? What if they needed help and we didn’t try to get there any faster? I could never live with myself if I made the wrong decision and it cost me my family. That was something that I couldn’t even start to imagine, a fear so deep that my mind refused to let me think about it. So, seeing as Mateo had been through situations like this before and he knew the area, I decided that going along with whatever he thought was best was the right thing to do at that moment.
I nodded my head and looked out as we sped through the streets and out of the city. Right on the edge of the metropolis was a small airfield with older helicopters parked in the tall grasses. As we approached the gate, Mateo rolled down his window and nodded at the guard. The man with the large gun peered into the car and stared at me suspiciously. Mateo spoke to him quietly and they opened the gates for us. When we approached the small shack at the front, Mateo and I jumped out and hurried inside. He spoke to the man for me since I didn’t speak fluent Spanish, relaying my requests and offering to pay double when he seemed uneasy. As soon as the money was offered, he shook his head and yelled to the pilot in the background. We watched as he jogged out to the helicopter and began preparing it for flight. It was obvious that the owner had told him to make haste as he threw the contents of the chopper on the ground and readied it as fast as his hands could move. I handed over the cash to the owner and raced after Mateo, jumping in the chopper and buckling in. They pushed headphones on me so I could hear them talk and I held on tightly as the blades began to turn above us.
As the helicopter took to the air and moved into the city, I could see the droves of people moving toward the hotel. There were thousands of them carrying signs and protesting the political division within their worlds but all I could think about was Casey and Seth trapped in the top of the hotel. I had spent my entire life emboldened by the fact that I was a lone wolf, capable of any and everything on my own. My independence had been the most important aspect of my life but now, as I flew toward fate, I realized that independence meant nothing to me. I no longer felt like a lone wolf but instead like the alpha, protecting his family, keeping them close, and making sure they were safe. I wanted to have Casey and Seth by my side for the rest of my life where I could always ensure their safety. They were the only things in my life that I cared about anymore, even beyond the company and way beyond my independence. In all reality, this situation was the first time I had ever felt completely dependent on someone else to lead me in the right direction. I threw my boldness to the wind, as I didn’t want to make the wrong choice and have the consequences affect those dearest and closest to me.
We circled around the block and hovered over top of the hotel. I could see people spilling out onto the rooftop, waving their signs and tending to their injuries. The place was swarming with protesters running from the police and they had broken through the stairwell blockades that lead straight past the suites that Casey and Seth were in. My heart was beating heavily in my chest as we touched down, immediately jumping from the helicopter and making our way toward the door. I turned back to Mateo as he listened to his earpiece, nodding. He grabbed my arm and pulled me close, yelling loudly over the crowds and sound of the helicopter behind us.
“The other guys are on their way,” he yelled. “Let’s get to the suite and try to get them out.”
I nodded my head and pushed my way through the crowd of people and into the stairwell. The place was packed full of people, some injured, some hiding, but all in a chaotic state. I took a deep breath realizing that the only thing standing between me and my family were these people and though I felt for them and their plight, they were the enemy in my eyes. I pushed forward, breaking through the crowd, pushing people out of the way, and stopping for only a moment as I wrestled past those who wanted to heckle us. Mateo was behind me keeping the path clear as I shoved and pushed one step at a time. As I hit the landing where the door to the suites sat wide open, a man in a ski mask jumped in front of me. He squared up in front of the door not wanting to let me by. At that moment, Casey and Seth’s faces flashed through my mind and I ran forward plowing into the guy and rolling through the doorway. I stood up and reared back, punching him in the jaw and pushing him into Mateo.
The guy stumbled backward, grabbing his face and trying to get his footing. He looked up at me, anger flashing in his eyes, but before he could come back at me, my bodyguard grabbed him by the shoulder. The guy spun around and looked up slowly, standing a good foot and half shorter than the guard. Mateo shook his head at the man and watched as he put his hands up and ran back into the stairwell. I couldn’t help but chuckle at the reaction he had, though I didn’t blame him since my bodyguard stood at about seven feet tall and was wider than three of me put together. It was kind of strange to think this giant man was so calm and collected in times like these. He nodded his head toward the suite door and I looked, letting out a deep breath as I noticed that the door was still there strong and secure. I reached into my pocket and pulled out the card, hoping the security systems were still intact. As I swiped the card and turned the handle, I smiled, pushing the door open and peering inside. I turned back to Mateo.
“Stay here, protect the door until the others get here,” I said. “I’m going to grab them and we can get out of here.”
He nodded his head and turned his back to me, crossing his arms and standing guard as people flooded from one emergency exit to another. I crept into the apartment wanting to be safe in my approach in case anyone had gotten in and was holding my wife and child in a dangerous manner. I looked around the living room but it was empty. I hurried into our room but nothing was there except our half-packed luggage. Slowly, I turned the corner and looked into Seth’s room but again, the place was empty. Immediately, dread filled my stomach as I walked over to the glass and looked down at the drawings Seth had done. His crayons were still all over the floor and his picture wasn’t finished.
“Casey,” I yelled in panic. “Casey where are you?”
I looked around the room for any sign of where they might have gone. Everything was just as I had left it before we went to lunch. There was no sign of a struggle, no panicked exit, nothing. As my eyes moved across the space, they landed on the bathroom door, which was closed. The light was shining through the crack underneath it so I ran over and started pounding on the door. After pounding for a moment, I stopped and listened, trying to figure out whether they were in there or not. I didn’t hear a single sound so I jiggled the doorknob and started pounding again. Either they were in there and hurt, or they were so scared they didn’t know what to do. Just the thought of them being alone and hurt sent panic through me and I pounded harder against the door. Exhausted, I let my arms hit my sides and I leaned my forehead against the door. Maybe they weren’t in there at all.
I turned to go get the guard, thinking he could take the door right off the hinges. As I stepped forward, I heard a whimper that echoed into a scream coming from the inside of the bathroom. It was Casey and she was absolutely terrified, her scream showing something was not right at all.