His Hidden Treasure (Completed)

Twenty-Two

Things have been going smoothly dare I say it, even though Esposito was still MIA. It was in the back of our minds for now as I did the counselling sessions with the teens to help retrieve any useful information while also helping them deal with their trauma.

Each session was a delicate dance between asking the right questions and not pushing too hard, and every time I walked out of one I felt like I was carrying a piece of their pain away with me. Their stories were horrifying, laced with fear, confusion, and guilt that they shouldn't have had to bear.

The days passed in this manner. My days were filled with counseling sessions, debriefings with the team and endless bouts of paperwork that came with it. We spent our evenings going over the facts we had gathered, trying to piece together Esposito's movements before he disappeared.

In the midst of it all, Dante and Elsa were working tirelessly on building a stronger case against Esposito for when we eventually caught up to him. The man had become an enigma; a ghost that seemed to lurk just outside our reach.

"Alright, I'm headed home." I stood, stretching my sore limbs from all the sitting for the day.

"Same, we'll try again tomorrow," Stella mimicked me, as we grabbed our things from our respective offices and headed to the parking garage.

"Night Nila," Andrea called out and I waved at him, as Stella and I walked to our vehicles.

"So, are you ever going to tell us who the new guy is in your life?" Stella inquired and I froze in my steps.

"What are you talking about?" I did my best to fake cluelessness but Stella just laughed.

"Well, it has to be a guy. You're happier lately, more talkative and even staying on field even though Dante is back. No one goes through such drastic changes unless there's some reason for it," she explained and I felt relieved.

Shaking off her doubts with a small laugh, I resumed my walk, unlocking the car. "There's no new guy Stella. I'm just happier. After what happened to Dante, I just realized that I should open up more and that's what I'm doing." Stella let out a 'hmph' but didn't press further.

"Well, whatever the reason, I like it. It suits you." She opened the door to her vehicle when a gunshot rang in my ear. I whirled around, my gun already in my hand.

"Stella!" I cried out, but the parking garage had fallen eerily silent. My heart stopped as I saw a figure sprawled next to her SUV. Stella was on her side, clutching her side. Her face was pale, but she was conscious. Another shot rang, aimed at us again, and I took cover behind the door of my vehicle. "Talk to me Stella," I hissed, scanning the deserted garage for any sign of the shooter.

Radioing in for an ambulance and backup to HQ, I looked for the best way to get to Stella. With my gun clutched tightly in my hand, I sprinted low and fast between cars towards Stella's SUV. A stray bullet ricocheted off one of the vehicles nearby. I shot back in the direction of the shooter. My heart pounded a frantic rhythm against my ribs but I forced myself to remain calm.

"Stella," I called softly as I reached her side, assessing the wound quickly, "It's going to be okay." The blood seeping through her fingers was a concerning sight; she'd been hit in the lower abdomen.

She nodded weakly, leaning back against the tire of her vehicle as she continued to apply pressure on her wound. "Just a scratch," she gasped, attempting to muster a brave smile but ending up grimacing in pain instead.

I pressed my jacket against the wound to staunch the bleeding. "Backup's on the way." The distant wail of sirens brought some relief, but it didn't completely erase the gnawing fear inside me. I needed to get the shooter to let help arrive, but moving Stella wasn't an option until medics arrived.