Page 1 of The Dark Side
Chapter one
Shootout
“Crap.”Joliebentdownto pick up her keys again. Items fell from her arms, and another curse followed as she balanced a gallon of milk, a box of tampons, a cute pair of flip-flops, and a box of ice cream bars in her arms. The line was five-people deep, with only one slow cashier. She hoped the crowd would have died by this time, but it was a Saturday in Downtown Tampa. People didn’t sleep till at least three or four in the morning.
It was her fault for coming so late. If she could sleep, she could have avoided spending money she didn’t have, but she was new to city life, and the constant loud sirens and cars from her window gave her anxiety.
Jolie looked at her stuff again, determining what she could put on the gum shelf. The flip-flops weren’t necessary, but she’d been eyeing them all week, waiting for payday. Though tomorrow was Friday, her pay hit at midnight. She sighed again, to the annoyance of the man before her. She felt his glare in the mirror tilted on the ceiling. Jolie pretended not to notice, simply so she didn’t have to see herself in the mirror. Brown hair in a messy bun, black-rimmed glasses, panda pajamas, and fluffy panda slippers—this was what she usually wore to the drugstore beneath her apartment. No one should expect anything better.
The door chimed, and a five-year-old girl wearing a sparkly pink dress ran through the door, followed by two men in tuxedos. It was nearly one in the morning on a school night.
Why the heck isn’t that little girl in bed?
“Oh, man.” Jolie dropped her head back. She forgot Tylenol. Abandoning the line depressed her, and for a minute, she believed she didn’t need it, but a cramp rolled around her uterus, and she nearly caved in pain. She sighed once more, if only to poke at the man in front of her, before she left the line of hell.
Turning down the candy aisle, Jolie spotted the little girl picking different treats.Alone. Some parents didn’t understand how easy it was to steal kids. As a teacher of kindergarteners, this fear was a constant reminder on flyers in the break room andStranger Dangerposters in random sections of her elementary.
How could her parents leave her by herself?
Jolie could only smile as she passed her, hoping for a wave. She was a beautiful little girl, with curly blonde hair, but the child was in deep concentration, picking between lollipops and chocolate. Life would be a happy place, if only her decisions were so light.
Jolie stuck her keys in her pocket before she grabbed a red bottle with her two fingers. Her hip was out, and her stomach extended, keeping all the items somehow placed just right so her things didn’t tumble to the floor.
Jolie heard loud shouting, but everyone in the city was always shouting.
A violent firecracker shocked her, and everything dropped out of her arms as she turned. Screams, cries, and another terrible crack sounded one after the other. As items exploded around her, she only then realized it was gunshots. Jolie dropped to the floor in terror, crawling, searching for somewhere to hide.
The little girl crying caught her attention. She saw the child curling up on the floor as bullets blew items off the shelf. Jolie crawled on her hands and knees across the aisle in mindless desperation, barreling toward her balled, screaming form. She wrapped her up, and the girl’s small arms and legs encircled her, not caring that she was a stranger. Jolie clenched her blonde curls, whispering in her ear, “It’s okay, baby. I got you. You’re okay. Shh…” She kicked all the candy off the shelf and buried herself in it. There was no real hiding place, but it made her feel better. The gunfire continued, but Jolie kept her attention only on the child as they trembled in each other’s arms. “My name is Jolie. What’s your name?”
Every bullet made her jump. “You know how to sing ‘Let It Go’?” She whispered the song into the child’s ear while clenching her eyes, begging for the horrible spray of bullets to end.
Then, it went silent.
Jolie could hear her own heartbeat. No one moved. No one dared. Random items fell off broken shelves, and soft whimpering from other customers filled the silence.
“Helina!” a man sounded over the chaos.
The little girl flinched, and Jolie wondered, “Are you Helina?” The little girl nodded.
“Helina!”
“I have her!” Jolie shouted back.
“Who—” Footsteps crunched on torn candy wrappers and a broken bag of pretzels. One of the men dressed in a tuxedo leaned down, holding onto the shelf with one hand while his other arm tucked into his chest. Blood dripped on the floor from his elbow. He had blue eyes, black hair, and a thick face. He spoke in Russian, and the little girl shook her head.
“Is it safe?” Jolie questioned.
The man reached down, and tentatively, she latched onto it, holding tight to the little girl who wouldn’t let her go. He lifted her with ease, steadying her when her knees weakened.
“What happened?” Jolie fixed her messed glasses and disheveled hair.
The stranger looked her over, touching her hip. Jolie hadn’t even known she got hurt, but she brushed it off. The man rested a hand on the back of Helina, but the little girl only clenched Jolie harder. “She doesn’t want to let go.”
The man questioned with a thick Russian accent, “Can you watch her for a minute?”
Jolie nodded mindlessly. The stranger stepped away, calling, “Gil? You alive?”
Jolie followed behind him, stepping over broken items on the floor. She was glad she couldn’t pay attention to the damage. She was pretty sure there was a body not too far away. “Close your eyes,” she told Helina, but she was beginning to doubt the girl understood English.