One Wild Night

"What about the lords of the cartel? Were you able to get them? All of them?" Jade asked, holding her breath as she placed a hand on the left part of her chest, which felt like her heart was about to shoot out from it.

"Yes. They were four. Two amongst them are dead. They were gunned down while trying to escape. One is in the hospital, and the last one is in our custody," the person on the other end of the phone informed her, and Jade's breath came in a whoosh of relief.

"That's great. I'm so glad this is almost over," Jade said happily as she let herself collapse on the bed. Now she didn't have to worry about anything or keep looking over her shoulders.

"It's not over. Don't let your guard down. By the way, they were supposed to be five. One of them is missing," he said, referring to Cassidy.

"Oh, yeah! That's true. I suppose he was not present at the meeting?" Jade asked, pretending not to know about Cassidy's disappearance.

"I'm not sure. We will question them about it and find out what we can."

"By the way, how bad is Jero's wound?" Jade asked curiously.

"Very bad. The doctor says he is likely not going to make it. Although Jero is unconscious at the moment, I asked the men guarding his room to grant you access to see him when you arrive. I will text you the location of the hospital. Thanks for your hard work. You made this arrest possible," the man said before hanging up.

"OH MY GOD!" Jade screamed when the magnitude of what she had just achieved occurred to her, and she dropped her phone on the bedstand and jumped on her bed happily.

Candace, who had just stepped out of her bedroom and was heading to Jade's room to find out if she had heard anything about the arrest, quickly rushed into Jade's bedroom to see what was wrong when she heard Jade's scream.

"Is everything alright?" Candace asked in alarm, and Jade jumped off the bed as she rushed to lift Candace off the ground, despite the fact that Candace was a bit bigger than she was.

"I DID IT! I MADE IT HAPPEN!" She repeated over and over again as she embraced Candace and spun her around.

"What did you do? Have they arrested them?" Candace asked, reasoning that was the reason for Jade's excitement.

"Oh, my God, Candace! I need a drink! I need to celebrate! We need to celebrate!" Jade said as she quickly let go of Candace and rushed out of the bedroom to the bar.

"What is going on, Jade?" Candace asked as she followed her into the living room.

"Give me a moment," Jade said as she took out two wine glasses and poured some wine into them before handing a glass to Candace.

"Cheers to the end of the legion cartel," she said, raising her glass in a toast, and Candace clinked glasses with her, "And to Jero's end," Jade added, making Candace's heart skip a beat as she watched Jade raise her glass to her lips.

Candace didn't sip from the wine. She followed Jade to the living room, and they both sat on the couch while her eyes remained fixed on Jade as she waited patiently for Jade to tell her what she was talking about.

"How much longer do I have to wait before you start talking? What exactly happened? And what about Jero?" Candace asked impatiently when she noticed that Jade was deliberately keeping her waiting.

"The operation was successful. Jero was injured, so he's at the hospital. I heard it is serious, and he might not make it. He is unconscious at the moment and currently at the ICU," Jade summarized with a brilliant smile, and Candace raised a brow.

"Jero? Unconscious?" She asked doubtfully, and Jade bobbed her head as she raised her glass to her lips again.

"I don't think I can believe that until I see for myself," Candace said with a shake of her head.

It definitely couldn't be that easy for her. Life had never been easy for her. She always had to work extra hard to get things done. So how was she expected to believe that Jero, who had made her spend most of the night tossing and turning on her bed as she tried to come up with a plan on how to get rid of him, was lying unconscious in a critical condition?

Jade gave her a nod, "Sure. Why don't you go in and get ready so we can go pay him a visit, and then you see for yourself?" Jade suggested with a happy smile.

"Alright. I'll join you shortly," Candace said as she gulped down the entire content of her glass before heading for her bedroom, and Jade did the same.

An hour later, Jade pulled her car into the parking lot of the hospital whose address the policeman from earlier had texted her, "Are you ready?" Jade asked as she turned to Candace, who was staring ahead of her.

Candace took a deep breath before giving her a nod, "Yeah. I think so," Candace said, and they both got out of the car.

Once they walked into the hospital, they received directions to Jero's room, and Jade led the way there. Candace stopped walking abruptly when she saw the two policemen guarding the door, and Jade reached for her hand.

"It's okay. They will let us in, don't worry," Jade assured her, before smiling at the policemen.

"I believe you've been informed of my visit? I'm Jade Hank, and I'm here to see Jero," Jade said politely, and both men looked her over before shifting their gaze to Candace.

Unlike Jade who was formally dressed in a corporate suit pant, Candace was casually dressed in a black sleeveless bodysuit which was tucked into a pair of jeans trousers, and a matching jean jacket.

"We will have to pat her down before she goes in with you," one of the men said, and Jade glanced at Candace who seemed to stiffen the moment they said it.

"Of course. I'm sure it's the protocol. You can pat me down too, but you are both male, and I'm not comfortable with that. Is there a female officer around who can pat us down instead?" Jade asked, and both men exchanged a look before shaking their head.

"Then do you mind if I pat her down while you watch? And she can do the same to me," Jade asked, and one of the men shrugged.

"Go ahead," he said, and immediately Jade stepped towards Candace and took her handbag from her.

Jade handed both their handbags to one of the men to search, before she moved her hands over Candace's body. She paused for only a second when her hands brushed something hard which was tucked into the back pocket of her trouser. She continued patting her down like she didn't feel anything, and when she was done she looked at the men.

"Done. You can search me now," Jade told Candace, but they shook their head.

"That won't be necessary. We were informed of your visit," one of the officers assured her, and Jade gave them a polite smile as she took her bag from them.

"Thank you for your service," Jade said as the men stepped away from the door to grant the entrance.

Immediately they both walked into the room and Jade shut the door behind them, she grabbed Candace's hand and dragged her to into bathroom, and stretched out her hand to her.

She didn't need to say a word for Candace to know that she was furious, "It's for self-defense. I wasn't going to hurt him," Candace said defensively as she reached behind her and handed the pocket knife to Jade.

"Seriously? After everything I told you? Why would you need a knife to defend yourself against an unconscious man?" Jade asked, sounding more disappointed than angry as she threw the pocket knife into her handbag.

Although she wanted to yell, but she couldn't because she didn't want to draw the attention of the officers to them, but her eyes passed the message to Candace.

"I wasn't going to hurt him. I have no reason to lie to you. If you know Jero the way I do, then you'd understand the need I'm so cautious," Candace said quietly before walking out of the bathroom and approaching the bed where Jero was lying with an oxygen mask over his nose. Apart from temple which was wrapped with a bandage, his body and face was bruised and he looked like he had taken a serious beating.

As she looked down at his unconscious form she remembered how they had met, and how she had been fooled by his act into falling for him without really knowing who and what he was.

Her blood boiled with anger when her previous resentments resurfaced as some memories came back to her. She remembered how he had refused her breastfeeding Jamal. He said her body was his, and she had done her bit by giving birth to Jamal, and so he should be fed with formula for infants. The couple of times he caught her breastfeeding Jamal, he had taken her baby away from her for days as punishment.

She remembered how he had obsessed over her and abused her verbally and emotionally while he abused Andy physically and stole all the money they worked for leaving them penniless and solely dependent on him.

Her body trembled with anger, and tears dropped from her eyes when she remembered how he sold Andy to men for money. How he beat her and locked her up whenever she refused to sleep with the men. She remembered how Andy often came back in torn clothes with bruises on her face.

Seeing how the bastard now lay unconscious, Candace silently prayed that he would never wake up. Even though such a death was too good for a bastard like him, she hoped he would die so that neither her nor Jamal and Andy would have to face him again.

Jade watched as Candace's body trembled with emotion she didn't understand, and putting her anger aside for a moment, she stepped towards Candace and embraced her, "It's alright. He can't hurt you again," Jade murmured softly as she patted her back.

"I want him dead, Jade. For Andy's sake, I want him dead," Candace cried as Jade continued to pat her back.

"Can...dace," Jero called in a muffled whisper when he opened his eyes and he saw her standing by his bedside.

Hearing the sound, both ladies turned to look at him, and Candace took a step back while Jade took a step forward, "You're awake. I should call the doctor," Jade said as she turned to leave, but Jero raised a hand to stop her.

"No," he said breathlessly as he reached for the oxygen mask and pulled it away from his face so they could hear him.

"Excuse us. I... want to... speak with her... alone," Jero said slowly before replacing the mask, but Jade shook her head.

"No. That won't happen. Whatever you want to say to her, say it in front of me," Jade said stubbornly as she dragged one of the seats beside the bed to the window.

Seeing that he didn't have a choice, Jero lifted the oxygen mask again, "Thanks for agreeing to see me," he told her slowly and replaced the mask.

"What do you want?" Candace asked impatiently.

"I wanted to see you one last time to say I'm sorry," Jero said and took a deep breath.

"If that's all you wanted to say, I will leave now," Candace said, not interested in his apology.

"How is Jamal? Did you bring his photograph?" He asked before she could leave.

"He is fine," Candace said coldly, and dug into her handbag for the picture of Jamal she had brought with her on Jade's request.

"Although you don't deserve this, but I will let you keep it," Candace said as she dropped the picture on the bed.

Jero picked it up and looked at it for some time before staring at her, "Thanks. He has your stubborn gold curls," Jero observed as he looked at the picture, and Jade who was listening to their conversation took a closer look at Candace and something seemed to click in her head.

"I was hoping you would visit me, but you never did. I left you a package with Bill," he said and quickly replaced the mask when he started gasping for breath.

"What?" She asked with a frown.

"You will find out what it is when you see it. I was working on it before I was arrested. I was going to surprise you. I love you, Candace. I'm sorry I didn't know the right way to expess it," Jero said, and Candace's frown deepened.

Of course she knew that he loved her, but this wasn't the meeting she had been expecting. It seemed like something was wrong with him, "Is everything okay?" She asked hesitantly, and he smiled weakly.

"Don't worry about me. Try to be happy. I want you to be happy. You can leave now," Jero said to her before turning to Jade.

"Take her away."