I Made a Promise

Chapter 34

~Daniel's POV~
"Hey babe?" I called out to Sky. I looked up, but didn't see her there.
"What the hell?" I said. Liz looked around and didn't see her either. Which was weird because she won't even be 10 ft away from me without me in her sight.

"Sky? Skylar?" I called out. Just seeing if she was in the other aisle, but I didn't get a response back.
Liz and I both looked at each other.
Liz and I left the cart in the aisle we were in and split up.

We both looked around the store.
"Sky? Skylar?" I called out.
I was looking everywhere and I couldn't find her.
"Hey you found her yet?" I heard Liz in my radio.
"Not yet." I said.

I walked around for probably 5 minutes before I saw something.
I saw a man walking out the store. He looked just like Thompson. But before I could follow him to see, my radio went off.

"Hey, I found her. By the home decor." I heard Liz.
I went to the home decor section and found Liz with Sky. Sky was on the floor, crying, and Liz was next to her, trying to calm her down.

"Hey, what happened?" I asked.
"I... saw him...he's here in the store..." Sky buried her face in my shoulder.
I looked at Liz.
"Are you sure?" I asked Sky. She nodded her head.

"Did he see you?" Liz asked her.
Sky shook her head. She got her face out of my shoulder and I wiped her tears.
"No, I started walking away and ended up here..." she said.

"Look, look... it's ok... I think I saw him walking out of the store before Liz called me over." I told her.
She looked at me.
"Really?" She asked me.

I nodded my head.
"Come on, let's just get the clothes and get out of here..." Liz said.
I helped Sky up and we went back to the clothes.

"Ok.. so, I really don't think you should wear a hoodie. Since it's the middle of August... what if we get you a shirt similar to the sweater shirt that's in the photo?" Liz asked Sky.

Skylar looked at the photo.
"I mean... that would be better.. who knows how long we're gonna be out there for waiting for that guy?" Sky said.
"Yea exactly. Let's just find a grey t-shirt." I said.

We found a shirt, and some purple off-brand converses.
"I can make my makeup pretty similar to that using the makeup I have in my purse. And then the braids are easy, I wear that hairstyle like every 2 days." Sky said.

We bought everything and left the store. Once we got back to the district, Skylar got the outfit on. She did her make up and hair and by that time, it was already almost noon.

~Skylar's POV~
I got ready in the outfit. It was very similar to what I wore that day. But I needed up putting my hair down and with some curls because I needed to hide the earpiece.
Everyone was in the main area, talking about what we were gonna do.

"Ok, we're all gonna be undercover. Julia and I will be in a car right by you guys. Daniel, you will be a bystander. Just talking on the phone. Liz, you'll be a runner. Kyle, you'll be a bin man. Jason and Henry, you'll both be customers in the hardware store. Garret, you'll be waiting at the bus stop a few feet from the store. And Skylar, you'll be walking around the street where the hardware store is. Walking up and down the street. Listening to music. And occasionally sit on the bench outside the hardware store. Now everyone will be wearing a wire, an earpiece, and a tracker. Nick will be in the car with Julia and I listening in on everything. The wires will allow us to hear you guys, the ear piece vise versa. And the tracker... just incase of anything." Diego explained.

Daniel knocked one of the wooden desks when he heard his father mention the last part.
"We'll head over to the scene in just about an hour. Right now everyone will prepare and get set up." Julia said.

Everyone got ready and we got all the wires, earpieces, and trackers set up. By that time, we had to leave.
Daniel, Liz, Kyle, Garret and I drove in one car, and everyone else was in another.
Daniel was driving and I was in the passenger.

I had this pit in my stomach the whole ride. I was beyond terrified at this point. I didn't want to do this. I don't want to face or even see this guy again. I was shaking and playing around in my hands the whole time. I could see that Daniel noticed.

Once we parked about a block away from the hardware store, Daniel looked at me, then at Liz and Garret in the back seat.
"Hey, would you guys mind giving us a minute?" Daniel asked them.
"Yea, sure thing." Liz said. They both got out.

Daniel looked at me.
"Are you ok?" He grabbed my hand and asked me.
I looked at him and I didn't know what to say.
"I don't know... I'm scared..." I said.
"Don't worry. You have the earpiece. And we're around you. Looking out... nothing will happen to you..." Daniel told me.

My hands were shaking and he could feel them.
"It's ok... listen... we're all here for you... don't worry..." he told me.
I took a deep breath and nodded my head.
"Just, listen to some music, walk around, and just breathe..." he told me, handing me my phone, headphones, and giving me a kiss.

"What if... we don't catch him now?" I asked him.
"Don't talk like that.... But... if we don't. There's an abandoned gas station he said he would be at tomorrow night...." He told me.
I nodded my head.
"Let's get into positions, it's 1:15." We we're Diego in our earpiece.

"You ready?" Daniel asked me.
I nodded my head.
"I guess..." I said.
We switched on our wires and trackers and got into positions.

I put my headphones in, my earpiece was hidden in behind my ear, and my hair was covering it. I debated on actually listening to music, because I wanted to be aware of my surroundings. I put on the spatial audio on my headphones and put on some music. The music was on very low volume though.

I walked up to a certain part on the street, crossed it. Walked down on the other side, crossed it again, and repeated.
"Hey Skylar. Slow down your walk a bit." I heard Liz.
I realized I was walking a bit fast and slowed down.

I looked at my watch, it was already 2.
"It's 2 o'clock already..." I said.
"He'll come soon." I heard Nick say.
"Yea, don't stress.." I heard Daniel say.
"Easy for you to say." I whispered under by breath.

After about 15 minutes later, I heard some hard breathing in my earpiece.
"Yo, who's breathing like that?" I heard Kyle laugh.
"Can it, Kyle, I've been running for over an hour." I heard Liz say.
I chuckled under my breath.

-another 5 minutes later-
I was walking towards the hardware store, when I noticed Thompson. I just stopped in my tracks and my stopped breathing.
"Skylar relax. Just keep walking, and don't try to hide yourself." I heard Kyle. I saw him just about 30 feet from me.

Thompson was on the other side of the street. About 100feet from the hardware store. I was about 50.
I kept walking towards the store. I didn't look at him, but I didn't try to find myself. I looked on the other side of the street, away from him.

I could see in my peripheral vision that he saw me.
"Sky, he saw you and is now following you. Just keep walking. Take a different route. We'll follow you." I heard Daniel said.
That made my heart skip a beat. This guy is behind me now.

🌻🌻🌻🌻🌻