Worth The Wait

“Damn, it’s dark out here,”

Monica whispered to herself as she walked down the narrow street connecting to Washington.

She was about 60 seconds away from the old church where Rami was supposed to meet her. But the closer she got, the worse her gut felt—this whole thing was starting to seem like a bad idea. Still, it was too late to turn back now.

She hadn’t talked to Crystal in a couple of days, so when her phone buzzed in her pocket, she was happily surprised to see Crystal’s name light up her screen.

“Hey girl, just checking in on you. You good?”

Monica quickly typed back,

“Yea girl I’m good, just chillin. Thanks for checking.”

She wanted to say more—so much more—but she had to stay focused.

Just as she slipped her phone back into her pocket, a harsh beam of headlights flared behind her, cutting through the dark like a warning. She froze.

She was standing in the alleyway between the old church and a rundown pub. Slowly, she turned to face the lights, momentarily blinded. Her heartbeat jumped.

Trying to stay calm, she squinted as the headlights finally cut off.

A car door slammed.

Footsteps followed.

A tall, broad figure was approaching—his silhouette slowly revealing itself under the one flickering streetlight to her left.

Rami.

He looked every bit like a detective—but also, he looked scary as hell.

Monica swallowed hard, forcing herself not to flinch as he got closer.

“Detective Rami?” she asked, her voice steady but unsure.

“Yeah. And you are?”

“I’m the woman you spoke wi—”

“Yeah, yeah. I figured that much. What’s your name?” he snapped, cutting her off.

He was clearly irritated.

“Oh. Right… I’m Monica,” she said, her voice shaking now.

Everything about this felt wrong.

Her phone vibrated again. A call. It buzzed against her leg, persistent.

Then—another sound.

Footsteps. Behind her.

Before she could react, Rami lunged forward and grabbed both her wrists, locking cold handcuffs around them with a swift, practiced motion.

“Wait, what—?!”

But she didn’t even get the sentence out.

Within seconds, someone grabbed her from behind, yanking her head back and shoving a black cloth bag over her face.

“LET ME GO! What the fuck are you doing?!” she screamed, struggling.

“Let me GO!”

She barely got the words out before Rami grabbed her arm and jammed the barrel of a gun into her ribs.

“Shut the fuck up and walk,” he growled through gritted teeth.

Monica felt the cold steel pressing through her thin white tank top and immediately went still.

They didn’t walk far.

She heard the sliding door of a van creak open. Panic surged through her as tears welled up. She was crying now—silently, hopelessly.

They shoved her inside. She fell hard to her knees.

Still handcuffed, she couldn’t catch herself, and tumbled onto her side.

Her phone slid from her back pocket and hit the van floor.

Rami scooped it up, climbed in behind her, and slammed the door shut.

He sat down beside her as the van pulled away.

Her phone began to vibrate again.

Crystal.

“Well, well, well,” Rami said darkly.

“Looks like we’ve got a caller on the line. Got plans tonight, Ms. Monica?”

“What?! What are you talking about? Why are you doing this?! Can you take the bag off my head—I can’t breathe!”

“One thing at a time, ma’am,” he said mockingly.

“First, you’re gonna give me the code to your phone. I’ll be asking the questions from here on out. You’re a sneaky little bitch, and I’m not too fond of that. Now—

the code.”

“Listen, Detective, I don’t know what you think is going on, but you’ve got it all wrong. I’m not trying to trick you—I’m trying to help you!”

Rami let out a single laugh.

**“Help me? Help me? Listen, until you called me, I had all my shit together. I didn’t need any damn help.

But now—now you’re gonna help me.

You’re gonna tell me everything.

How you know Crystal.

How you know I talked to her.

And everything you know about that damn warehouse.”**

The van slowed down. Monica heard the crunch of gravel under the tires. Her body tensed.

More tears slipped from beneath the bag.

Her phone buzzed again.

Crystal. Again.

Regret slammed into her like a wave.

She should’ve told Crystal where she was going.

She should’ve never tried to manipulate the situation between her and her man.

And now…

Now she realized—maybe Rami was right.

Maybe she was a sneaky little bitch