CHAPTER 16: SAVING JESS

"NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOoooooooooooooo..."

I jolted from my sleep and bolted up, gasping for breath. Shit. It was just a dream. Damn. Shit. Damn. Shit. I couldn't help it. I just sat there on my bed, cursing away. I wiped my brow. My body was bathed in cold sweat and I realised I was shaking all over. I wrapped the comforter around me even though I didn't feel that cold. It just felt more...comforting. I buried my face into my hands. The dream kept repeating in my head. Especially the part when Hung yeh pulled the trigger. I started to shake again. Nothing must happen to Jess. Nothing must happen to Jess. Please god, please let her be safe. This dream cannot be an omen. No, that's just superstitious rubbish. No, this dream is NOT an omen. I will not believe that. Nothing of that sort will happen. I had to make sure.

I looked at the clock next to me. 5am. Another 5 hours before I meet Hung yeh again. I laid back down to try and get back to sleep. It was futile. All I did was stare at the ceiling. I couldn't close my eyes because everytime I did, I saw Hung yeh with his gun at Jess' head. There was no way I could get back to sleep.

Flipping the covers off me, I got out of bed. Maybe a glass of hot milk will do me some good. I plodded to the kitchen and opened the fridge. Damn. We're out of milk. I slammed the door in frustration causing the bottles inside to 'clink-clank' as they knocked against each other. Damn. I hated all this waiting. Yet there was nothing I could do but that - wait.

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I sat outside on the balcony, watching that great big ball of flame slowly rise behind the hills, filling the sky with a light orange hue. I had been reminiscing about my times with Jess. Times that brought a smile to my lips, laughter to my heart and tears to my eyes. The memories of these times burned deep witin me. These were the memories that had been etched into my soul. They were a part of my life. Jess was...no, Jess IS a part of my life. If...no! What was wrong with me? There would be no 'if'. When...yes, when. When I get Jess out of this mess, I was going to tell her. I had to. I didn't want to think about the consequences anymore. The events of these past few days made me realise just how precious Jess was to me. I couldn't live without her. No, it was more like I didn't want to live without her. I had delayed too long in telling her. My cowardice, my fear that I would lose her now gave way to an imposing thought of having wasted all that time, all those years. Whether or not she would accept me was a question I no longer wanted to ponder. What mattered was how I felt for her. It was time. Time to do what I had been afraid to do all these years. I had to tell her I love her. I wanted to and nothing would stop me from doing so.

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I stared out the car window as we zoomed towards where Hung yeh had informed us to meet him. Jordan was driving. There was a scowl on his face. We had earlier argued about this meeting. As usual, Jordan wanted to take the necessary precautions - to have our men on stand-by, so that they could strike if anything went wrong. I refused. Maybe my dream was a fore-warning. If it was, I wasn't about to let it happen. I couldn't let it happen. Visions of Jess covered in blood kept flashing in my head. It was a horrible reminder of what could transpire if I didn't take heed of my dream. There would be no fight, no stand-off. We get Jess back and we leave. That was it. All I wanted was Jess to be safe. Alive and safe.

Panther and Ah Fei were in the back seat, silent the whole time. I knew they weren't too happy with my decision too but whatever Jordan did, they did. They were loyal to him. Jordan drove on, his eyes glued to the road ahead. He had nothing more to say to me.

We pulled up in front of a warehouse and I was the first one out of the car. I wanted to get this over and done with. Shit. That sounded too much like my dream. No. It cannot. What happened there cannot happen here. I won't allow it. Panther and Ah Fei followed behind Jordan and me as we walked into the warehouse. Jordan was clutching the briefcase with the documents I had brought for Hung yeh in exchange for Jess.

The cocky bastard was standing there with an irritating grin on his face. Jess was next to him, bound and gagged. I breathed a sigh of relief at the sight of her. At least she looked unhurt. Her eyes were a mixture of fear and incomprehension as she looked at me.

"Terri, you're here," Hung yeh smirked.

Of course I'm here, you dumb ass. Can't you see me standing in front of you, shithead. I forced a smile at him.

"I've got the stuff you wanted," I said. "Now let her go." I pointed towards Jess.

Hung yeh chuckled. "The documents first."

"Not until she's by my side," I retorted stubbornly.

Hung yeh glared at me but signalled to one of his goons to bring Jess over anyway. I nodded at Jordan to hand the briefcase over to Hung yeh's man who passed Jess to us in return. I frantically undid her gag.

"Terri, what's going on? What are you involved in?" she asked as I got to work on the ropes that were binding her.

"Oh Jess, I'm so glad you're safe," I cried as I threw my arms around her in a hug. "I'll explain everything later. Let's get out of here first."

Suddenly I heard sirens from afar. They got louder and louder as if approaching where we were. Shit. Cops. They were a problem we didn't need. What the @$&% were they doing here?

"Cops!" Hung yeh yelled. "@$%& you, Terri. You set me up!"

No. No. No. This can't be true. My dream unfolded before me as I watched in horror as Hung yeh drew his gun and pointed it straight at Jess' back.