The Twenty Year Itch

Part 13: A Rock

It was the scariest thing I ever witnessed.

"Sir, are you alright?" An officer asks as he comes into my home. My head is pounding and as I look around, I find Willow whimpering as she tries to get up.

"Wills..." I can barely breathe. I can barely see. The world around me is hazy and in the back of my mind- I just want to know everything will be okay.

"Tom? Are you alright? I'm officer Diaz. Do you know where you are. Leaning if against the front wall- I look down at my hands that are cover in blood and cut up from pieces of glass being stuck in them.

"Wills..." She whines and an officer behind Diaz goes over to her. When he bends down to examine her, he touches her side and she cries out loudly. "Stop!"

"Should we call it back in?" The officer by Willow asks.

"Not yet. Go take a look around." He gets up from Willow and makes his way around my house.

"What happened Tom?" The officer asks again and puts gloves on.

"Guy in black...all black..." My lungs are burning horribly. "Mask...he threw...he..."

"Hmm...so you didn't see his face?"

"No...."

"Do you remember the car?"

"Black...suburban..." My head dogs over and Diaz nods a couple of times.

"Diaz." The other Officer says and Diaz gets up and walks to where the other one called him. Looking down at my front, there's a good amount of blood on my shirt. What? Why is it there?

I don't remember.

I don't know...what...what happened.

When they re-emerge- Diaz comes over to me and kneels, taking his hand and putting it in my hair and tilting my head back with a hard jerk.

"What's this?" He asks as he holds up one of Emma's shoes.

"It's..." I feel lost and sick.

"Focus, Tom. Who's shoe is this?" He asks again and tugs my hair harder.

"My...Em...ma's..." Diaz looks at the other guy, who shakes his head.

"Where is Emma?" He asks, his voice growing deeper and the closer I look- the more I realize that their uniforms don't really resemble the LA police uniforms.

"Who....who are you...." I ask and he looks at me a his dark brown eyes catching the sun from my front shattered window.

"A friendly reminder that you should leave Emma alone." What?

"L...Le...Leo..."

"That's right. He wants you to know that if you continue seeing her- that it's gonna be more than your house and your dog that's gonna take damage." The other officer presses down hard on Willows obvious broken leg- causing her to squeal and cry in pain.

"Stop it....stop..."

"Have you attention now, Pal? You're going to tell Emma to go home to Leo and that you never want to see her again."

"She...she won't..." Taking his hand- he presses hard against my gut where the blood is. It hurts horribly and I gasp out in pain.

"You're a great actor. I'm sure you can be convincing."

"Wh...why....are..."

"Leo plans on marrying Emma and you're not going to get in the way of that."

"Diaz- the phone." The other fake officer hands him an all black burner phone- I assume- and he takes it.

"Yeah- got him right here. Yeah...okay. Here- he wants to talk to you." He holds the phone up to my ear and I hear Leo on the other side of it.