Crystal's POV

Jackson carefully and quietly managed to untangle himself from me and get out from under the desk. I watched as he brushed a hand down his suit, smoothing it out. He held a hand up to me, silently telling me to stay where I was.

My father's attention must have been on the door that swung shut and locked itself. I could hear him messing with the door handle and swearing to himself when he couldn't get it open.

Jackson, I noticed, took a seat in my father's chair behind the desk while my father's back was turned. Jackson reached out and began messing with something on the desk.

"I'm curious," Jackson said loudly so he could be heard over the alarm that was still blaring. "how exactly were you expecting this to go?"

I couldn't see my father's expression, but I would have given anything to. I really wanted to see his expression at seeing Jackson sitting in his chair.

"Now how on earth did you get in here?" I heard my father ask. I heard his footsteps as he walked up to the other end of the desk.

"Your wife let me in," Jackson said and I noticed he leaned back in the chair and drummed his fingers on the armrest. "Lovely woman," He continued. "Except for her taste in men . . . and of course what kind mother allows their child to be tortured while she sips wine in the other room?" Jackson shrugged. "I suppose you really don't have good taste in women either."

My father must have made some sort of move. Probably to reach for a weapon, because Jackson made a move of his own.

I didn't know where he got it from. Didn't even know he had it, but suddenly there was a gun in his hand and he was holding it in his lap, leveled at my father.

"I really wouldn't," Jackson said coldly. He jerked the gun at my father. "Back up."

Jackson pushed to his feet, all the while keeping his gaze on my father. Kept the gun leveled at him at all times and I realized, that the way in which Jackson held the gun, the way he handled it, was like it was an extension of himself.

He may claim not to like guns but I could tell from his mannerisms that he was very familiar with using one.

"The FBI are on their way," Jackson said. "Should be here any minute now and they have everything they need to bring you down." Jackson walked around the desk and out of my sight. "You're going to take a nice long nap until they arrive," Jackson said.

I could hear my father laugh. "Yeah?" He questioned. "And makes you so sure of that?"

I could hear the smile in Jackson's voice as he spoke again. "Because you backed up a little too close to the door."

Whatever happened next, whatever my father was going to say, was cut off. There was a thud as something hit the ground.

"You can come out now," Jackson said and I assumed he was speaking to me.

I crawled out from under the desk and used it to pull myself to my feet.

Noah was standing in the now open doorway, a tablet in one hand, the cattle prod in the other.

I looked disapprovingly at Jackson. "You brought the kid here?" I questioned him.

"The kid," Jackson said hotly. "Locked me in my own car until I agreed to let him come along."

I looked to Noah who just shrugged.

"Most cars have Bluetooth connections now. Which makes them ridiculously easy to hack," He said simply. He looked me over, concern in his eyes. "Are you alright?"

I smiled at him. "I'll be fine, kid."

Jackson I noticed, was handcuffing my father's hands behind his back and tying his legs together with a computer cord.

"I wasn't lying when I said the FBI was on their way," Jackson said. "I'm sure your father won't mind sitting tight until they arrive."

"You called the FBI?" I asked him.

Jackson shrugged. "I may or may not have threatened Agent North."

"By may or may not," Noah said as he stared down at his tablet. "He means he totally did."

Jackson shot Noah a glare. He picked up the gun he'd set on the desk and stuck it into a shoulder holster under his jacket.

"And here I thought you didn't like guns," I said.

Jackson stared down at my father. "For him, I made an exception."

"You looked awfully comfortable with that thing," I said.

"I said I didn't like them. I never said I didn't know how to use one." He turned to Noah and jerked his head in the direction of the window. "The window, Noah."

"You are just full of surprises today," I muttered.

Noah nodded and tapped at something on his tablet screen.

The lock on the window that had previously clicked shut when the security lockdown had been initiated, suddenly clicked open once again.

Jackson grabbed hold of the edge of the window and pulled it open. Noah closed the door to the office room.

"I lost track of Branson," Noah said as he swiped across the tablet screen. "So you might want to keep your eyes open."

"Darn," Jackson said. "And here I was going to let you direct me out of here blindfolded."

Noah shot Jackson a look that said he was less than amused.

Jackson climbed out the window and then motioned for me to do the same. As I came upon the edge of the window, he held out his arms. I swatted them away.

Jackson let out a sigh. "I'm trying to keep you from jostling yourself too much."

"I can do it by myself."

"Very well."

"Wait," I heard Noah say from behind me. And before I could turn around to see what he wanted, I felt his hands on my shoulder and then a quick, sharp pressure.

I let out a shout of pain as my shoulder was pushed back into place. I swore at him and tears pooled in my eyes.

"Noah!" Jackson shouted and the look on his face was murderous.

I turned to look at Noah with a glare of my own and he just shrugged, not at all bothered by it.

"Her shoulder's back in place," He said simply. "It'll still hurt, but at least you can use it better now."

"A warning would have been nice," I hissed between clenched teeth. I squeezed my eyes shut, still trying to ignore the pain.

"You wouldn't have trusted me to actually know how to do that."

"How do you know how to do that?"

Noah just shrugged and then motioned for me to get moving out the window so he could follow.

I did allow Jackson to help me through the window. Only because my shoulder was now throbbing more than before.

"So close," A voice said and my heart sped up as I was suddenly grabbed and pulled away from Jackson. "Yet so far." She held me pressed up against her, a knife at my throat.

Jackson, I noticed, made a motion for Noah to drop down out of sight, still in the office room before turning to her. He shoved his hands in his pockets and watched her with a deathly calm expression on his face. "I wouldn't, if I were you, Sarah Smith," He said coldly.

I could hear the smile in her voice. "So you know my name."

"I know much more than that," Jackson said as he took a step toward her. She pressed the knife harder into my neck. Jackson stopped, his hands clenching into fists. "Let her go," He said.

"No," Sarah replied. "Not unless you walk away and leave Kurt alone."

Jackson narrowed his eyes at her. "If I walk away," He said. "it's going to be with her."

"See," Sarah replied as she moved the knife tauntingly back and forth over my neck. "that doesn't work for me. If I let you walk away with her, then there's nothing stopping you from coming after Kurt again."

"What do you care if I go after him?" Jackson asked her. "I'm not coming after you."

She laughed. "I can see that look in your eyes, Jackson Storm," She said. "there's no way you just let me walk away from all of this, not anymore."

Jackson made a move like he was straightening out his jacket. I knew he was really trying to pull his gun.

Sarah seemed to realize that too because this time there was the sting of pain as she pressed her knife hard enough into my neck to draw blood. "Take it out of the holster, and toss it to the side," She told him.

Jackson's jaw clenched in anger but he did what she asked. He removed the gun and tossed it away. Then he locked eyes with me and then looked to the gun and then back to me.

He wanted me to make a move to get it, I realized. However, I didn't have an opening. He knew that which meant he was going to give me one.

I nodded as discreetly as I could.

He looked back to Sarah. "I take it you've already somehow informed Kurt of our whereabouts?"

She nodded.

Jackson shrugged. "Well, then I guess it's well and truly game over." He crossed his arms over his chest. "Such a shame. I was having such fun."

I could feel her tense in suspicion, but still, her hold did not let up. The knife did not falter.

"You wouldn't happen to have a phone on you by any chance?" Jackson asked her. "I would like to make a few phone calls before my inevitable demise."

She was silent as she watched him, probably trying to figure out exactly what he was planning.

I was wondering that too. Since I didn't have a clue where he was going with this.

"Your silence is answer enough," Jackson suddenly said. "If you didn't have one you would have just answered the question."

"Now why would you want to know whether or not I had a phone on me?"

Jackson shrugged. "I didn't want to know," He said. "I was just told to ask you."

"What's that black thing in your ear?" She suddenly asked him.

"Pardon?" Jackson questioned, pretending he hadn't heard her.

"The black thing in your ear," She repeated. "What is it?"

He touched the earbud in his ear. "Oh this," He said like he'd just had the biggest realization ever. "Well, it's an earbud. It allows me to . . . communicate."

"And who are you communicating with."

Jackson clapped his hands together. "Well, you see, I have this rebellious teenage genius with a computer and way too much time on his hands."

His words had some kind of effect on her. Like she'd dealt with hackers before because she immediately loosened her grip on me in favor of reaching for the phone in her pocket.

I took the opportunity to pull myself from her grasp, twisting the knife out of her hand for good measure while I was at it. I immediately went for the gun, though she didn't even seem to care.

She was too focused on the phone. She pulled it from her pocket and threw it, just as it exploded.

Jackson moved to stand in front of me, motioning for me to keep the gun when I tried to hand it to him. He watched her cautiously as he stood between her and me, slowly motioning for me to move away.

She stared at the remains of the phone and let out a sigh like she was disappointed. "This is why I don't typically carry phones," She muttered before turning her attention to Jackson, completely unbothered by the fact that she'd just lost her hostage and nearly got some chunks of her blown off.

"Well played," She said as she looked at him.

Jackson looked at her. "Any chance I can just bribe you to walk away?"

She slowly shook her head.

Jackson let out a sigh. "Thought not. Perhaps we can talk this out. Any chance of that?" He questioned.

Again, she just shook her head.

"Any chance of just letting us walk away now?"

She tilted her head at him. "Would you really just walk away?"

Jackson looked at her. "Answer me this first," He said. He looked briefly over his shoulder at me. "What part did you play?" He asked her.

She glanced at me before pulling another knife from her waistband and twirling it around for him to see, a sly smile on her face. "I like the knives," She said. "but dislocating her shoulder was fun too."

He blew out an angry breath. "No," He said firmly. "to your question."

She nodded with a smile. "How good of a fighter are you, Jackson Storm?" She asked him, the glint of a challenge in her eyes.

He locked eyes with her. "How badly do you want to find out?"

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