The Brokens

10

10

Manu pressed his foot harder into the gas pedal. He was now going 10 miles above the speed limit, but he didn’t care. For a second, he glanced behind him- the car was still there. A couple miles back he had noticed that he had a tail. Now it was holding nothing back, chasing him at a similar speed. Something about the car was odd though. Manu had noticed that it wasn’t driving too far above the speed limit. It was a rather expensive car, so it probably could have cut him off, yet it hadn't. It was as if it was trying not to draw attention to itself, which was probably the case. So, Manu didn’t think it was police, and them made him so damn scared.

There seem to defining moments in our lives. Whether it’s when a soldier fires his last shot before he is shot down from the battlefield, or when a writer presses send on an unreleased document. In this case, Manu firmly believed that this would be his defining moment, and he had no idea what to do. He couldn’t get caught, because they were going to kill him. He couldn’t go to the police station, because it was common knowledge that most of them were corrupt. Could he run? No, they would catch up when he ran out of gas. Could he surrender? No, once again, they would kill him. Finally, Manu made a decision. He would probably regret it, but it was his best bet.

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Manu parked the car abruptly, not bothering to take the keys out of the ignition as he bolted to the door. He glanced back to see the tailing car nearing. Manu slammed the door behind him and ran up to the doorman.

“Elizabeth LeCruz. Where is her apartment?” he asked, out of breath. The doorman looked flustered, but glanced down at a paper, and then looked back up at Manu.

“11-c.” he said quickly. Manu nodded and jammed his finger into the call-elevator button. Thankfully, the doors pulled themselves open quickly.

“Duck behind your desk.” Manu said as he frantically pushed the close-door button. Just as the doors closed, the tailing car pulled into the parking lot. In a moment, Manu arrived on the eleventh floor. He ran out of the elevator and to the door marked ‘c.’ Manu knocked on the door rapidly, not caring about the ruckus he was making. He heard pattering footsteps, and then the door opened.

“What?”

“I’m Nicolettes’ boyfriend and I know the whole thing that she’s paying you to do. Look the NKTR really want me and they were tailing me and-and I didn’t know where to go and I-”

“You brought them to my apartment! Are you insane? Get the hell in here!” she yelled and slammed the door behind her. She ran over to her desk and pulled something out of a drawer. Manu’s eyes caught the shine of a gun, which she tucked into her belt.

“We’ve gotta go. I don’t care what your deal is but we gotta go.” she said quickly. She threw open the door, dragging Manu behind her. Beth could only assume that they were going floor to floor searching for him. Beth looked around for a moment, and then found their escape route.

“God, now I’m gonna be on that friggin gang’s friggin hit list.” she muttered as she eyed the fire escape. Thank god for old apartment buildings.

“This way, come on.” she said and pulled open the window. Thankfully, it looked like their was only one tail, and they were inside the building. The two precariously made their way down the fire escaping, adrenaline pulsing through their veins. Finally, they dropped down onto the pavement. Beth pulled her keys out of her pocket and unlocked her car. Sure, it wasn’t top tier, but it still got good mileage.

“Get in.” she demanded. Manu obeyed without a second thought and Beth pulled the car out quickly. As she decided where to head, Beth suddenly realized she barely had any idea who this kid was.

“Wait, so why do they want you?” she asked. Manu hesitated. Perhaps Beth had gotten herself involved with the wrong person.

“I um, I was driving home from school one day when this officer pulled me over for no reason. When he gave me the ticket, there was a note on the back. It said- it said um-” Manu hesitated, “it said that they had my mom and I would have to help kidnap Marie.” Beth looked at him in shock.

“What!?” she exclaimed, her pulse quickening.

“I know, but I had no choice! So, I told Marie that this route to her house was faster than another one so that she’d take it and then I followed her and I told them where she was and- and I did it okay!” Manu exclaimed. Beth realized what she had to do.

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Beth rushed into the police precinct, still dragging Manu behind her. Most of the officers stood up from whatever they were doing to stare at her.

“Someone call Detective Wilson and Investigator Mathews. Tell them it’s Beth and I just got a key witness.” she rushed, out of breath. Most of the officers furrowed their eyebrows, while a few other’s hands levitated to their side-arms as they noticed the gun tucked into her waistband. Finally, some cadet rushed into an office and came out with the two. Chenny looked at Beth with raised eyebrows.

“You got a permit for that gun, Beth? Is it registered?” he asked. Beth scoffed.

“You’ve got to be kidding me. If you haven’t noticed Chenny, I’m kind of in a hurry here!”

“Sorry. What is it?” he asked. Beth pushed Manu forward.

“This kid was being chased by the NKTR and kind of came to my apartment.But that’s not why I’m here.”

“Then why?” asked Daniel. Chenny looked at her questioningly.

“Because right here, we have our inside man.”