𝘚𝘈𝘗𝘗𝘏𝘐𝘙𝘌 𝘖'𝘊𝘖𝘕𝘕𝘌𝘙 - 𝘛𝘌𝘑 𝘗𝘈𝘙𝘒𝘌𝘙

ACT THIRTY FOUR

Chapter Thirty Four - The Crocodile At The Watering Hole

Brian was sat on the stairs with Dom beside him. Tej and Ramsey sat at the table with Roman and Hobbs while Letty wouldn't stop pacing.

"Anything?" Hobbs asked Little Nobody who had just come walking around the corner.

"They're gone. And DOD confirmed it was a nuclear football. She's got an emp and nuclear launch codes. I don't know what it is, but they're building towards something" Little Nobody went on "God, she gave her everything she needed!"

"Hey, watch your mouth when you talk about my sister" Brian warned as Dom put a comforting hand on his shoulder.

"Well what's to say that Sapphire isn't working with Cipher? It is your mother so isn't it like in your genes"

Brian stood up as did Tej from his seat at the table, the two men waiting for the kid to say something else but he didn't. He was already getting stares from everyone else in the room "That's what I thought"

"What about Deckard?" Hobbs asked hopefully.

"He didn't make it" Soon as Little Nobody said that, Hobbs stood up from his seat and walked towards the metal wall, punching the wall before storming off.

"Can you pull up the footage from the guy in the alley?" Letty asked Ramsey because she knew she recognised the red headed man from somewhere.

"You see him before?" Dom asked his wife.

Letty nodded "Yeah, I'm sure of it"

"Traffic cams" Ramsey smiled at Tej and he nodded before starting to type on his computer.

"I got you" A picture of the man from the alley then popped up on the screen with him holding a gun to Letty's forehead, the Latina pressed up against the wall as Dom's jaw clenched in anger.

"I knew it!" Letty exclaimed, stopping her pacing for a second "I recognise that guy. That's Connor Rhodes. I met him when I was working with Shaw's brother. He wanted us to get the Nightshade device for him"

Brian then looked up at Letty "Did Sapphire ever meet him?" The Latina shook her head in response.

Ramsey frowned "Connor Rhodes. He's also linked to somebody who I'd quite like to forget"

"Mose Jakande" Hobbs spoke as he walked back into the room while Ramsey pulled up his file on the screen "Warlord who tried to get God's Eye"

Tej rubbed his forehead as he sighed "Which means that's twice that Saph has messed up Cipher's business"

-----

"I'm disappointed in you, Sapphire. When push came to shove you were gonna let Letty just walk away with the codes" Cipher's voice rang through the speakers.

"You got the codes!"

"Rhodes got the codes" Cipher calmly replied. Too calm like something was about to happen "You made the choice to let her go. And now I have to make one of my own"

Sapphire didn't know what to say as the fear started eating away at her while Cipher's voice started getting clearer until she took another step and that's when the blonde saw her. She was in the glass room with Marcos in her arms. The lights then came on to reveal Elena tied to a chair and tape across her mouth.

"They are adorable little things, aren't they? God, I hope I don't hurt him" She whispered as Sapphire also saw Rhodes behind Elena with a smirk on his face. Like the bastard was actually enjoying this.

"Look, mom, I did exactly what you asked me to do. Don't do this" Sapphire begged for the first time she ever stepped foot on this plane.

"This is your doing"

"My doing?!" Sapphire yelled "Please don't hurt him, I'm begging you"

"I don't want you to beg! I want you to learn" She shouted.

"Learn what?!" The blonde yelled again because she was starting to lose her patience.

"I understand why you did what you did. I really do. But it was the wrong choice" She almost whispered "This is the consequence of that"

Elena started to yell as Rhodes clicked the safety off his gun and that's when it all clicked into place. It wasn't Marcos they were going to kill, it was his mother "Not my son!" Elena mumbled through the tape on her mouth as Rhodes pointer the gun to her head.

"Cipher, you sick son of a bitch! She's a mother for god sake don't you dare!" And that's when two shots rang out "NO! NO!" The sight was awful. Blood was spurted up the walls, Elena's slumped body in the chair, her nephew's cries for his mother.

All the while, Cipher had that same smug look on her face just like Rhodes before the lights went out and Cipher left with Marcos. The blonde quickly hurried to the bathroom before leaning over the toilet as she puked. She couldn't hold it in, not after seeing Elena's slumped body and the blood. That was going to haunt her nightmares for years to come.

Wiping her mouth as she leant against the stone cold bathroom wall before tying her hair up in a ponytail. God she just wanted to go home. Walking out of the bathroom and into the main room of the plane where Cipher was waiting for her with a bottle of water in her hands.

Sapphire took it and downed at least half the bottle just to get that taste of sick out her mouth "You know, everything you're feeling right now, that rage, the sense of loss. It's not real"

Sapphire ignored her and went to sit on the couch while Cipher sat on the arm across from her "It's a survival instinct wired deep into our brains to ensure continuation of species. When early man went to visit a watering hole, if they didn't watch their child they got snatched by a crocodile. Their brains would create a painful but structural memory. So it will never happen again. The idea of family that is so core with you, that rules your world, it's a biological lie. You don't have to accept it. I don't"

She kept pushing and pushing "Did you really think you could destroy two of my teams without any repercussions? I wouldn't have even looked your way if you hadn't done that. I mean, you didn't even know Dom had a kid. You can thank me for that and start doing the job I'm asking you to do"

"What to start a war?" Sapphire asked, her eyes still looking down at the floor as she took another sip of her water.

"Is that what you think I want? That's so limited. I didn't take that football to start a war anymore than I took your nephew to start a family. Taking the baby got me the codes. The codes will get me the nukes and the nukes will get what I want. . .today, tomorrow and every day after that"

"And what's that?" The blonde's voice was hardly audible as she spoke.

"Accountability. The second I fire off one of those nukes. I put the superpowers of this world on notice that when they cross the line, I'm gonna be there to hold them responsible. Because the truth is, Saph, I am the crocodile at the watering hole" She said, patting Sapphire on the back before walking over to the door "You've got one last job to do"

"Cipher" The girl called out, walking over to her "If I were you, I'd kiss my nephew every fucking night because whether you value it or not, all of this, your plane, your security, and you. . .are still on this earth because of him"