Part Twenty-Seven of the PW Timeline
A JSE Fanfic
[This is part of a complete series I wrote from July 2019 to July of 2022. Following the rescue, the group has some things to clear up with the police. Meanwhile JJ and Schneep are recovering. Everyone wonders what Anti will do next.]
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There weren’t enough chairs at the desk for all of them to sit down at once. Marvin had volunteered to stand, and though Chase said he would be willing to stand as well, Laurens told him to take the second seat. That was about thirty minutes ago. Almost forty.
They’d called the police as soon as they returned to Chase’s house. Marvin called the emergency line so they could hurry to the apartment Anti was holed up in, while Chase called Detective Nix to explain everything. Well…not everything. It was a long story, but he told the detective that Jameson and Schneep were safe. That had immediately spurred him into action, and barely twenty minutes later some cops and paramedics arrived at the house. They hadn’t even done anything except sit down and process what just happened before there was the sound of cars outside.
And now, here they were. Waiting. In the police station.
Chase couldn’t help but think that the whole station was unusually quiet. And he could have sworn that half of the officers, detectives, and various other people doing their jobs were all staring at the four of them. It made the wait seem longer than it actually was, minutes dragging on.
Until, finally, Detective Nix appeared. The four of them immediately jumped to attention. Chase sat up straight, Mina fidgeted with her sleeves, Laurens curled her hands into nervous fists, and Marvin put away his Rubix cube. Nix didn’t say anything, merely sliding into his seat on the other side of the desk. After a moment, he sighed, looked at each of them one at a time, and said, “Okay. So what did you do?”
Silence. Nobody wanted to say anything.
“I know the four of you did something.” Nix leaned forward, putting his elbows on his desk and clasping his hands together. “You didn’t say much on the phone, but with two kidnapped persons suddenly with you, and us getting an anonymous call around the same time about where their kidnapper could be, it’s not hard to put the pieces together. So, what did you do?”
A few more moments of silence. Until Mina finally broke it. “Well, ah, you see…officer. We were…in a tight situation. And so we…did…what should be done.”
Nix nodded slowly. “So, you…figured out the location of a dangerous criminal. And proceeded to break in so you could rescue your friends. And didn’t call the police.”
“We got tired of waiting!” Marvin said defensively. “Something awful was clearly happening to them, and you guys weren’t exactly helping, so—”
“Marv, please.” Chase reached out and put a hand on Marvin’s arm, stopping him. It probably wasn’t a good idea to say this in front of a detective. They were in enough trouble without that.
“I understand, you were frustrated,” Nix said in an even tone. “And scared, and worried. Anyone would be. But charging into a situation like that could’ve gotten you or your captured friends killed. It would’ve been much smarter to call us.”
“We know,” Chase said quietly. “We, um…Originally, we just set out to figure out where they could be. Wh-where he could be keeping them, you know? That’s not…not illegal. But then, when we found the place, he—Anti—called my phone, a-and he said…he threatened to hurt JJ or Schneep if we called the police. And we…we couldn’t let that happen, but we couldn’t just leave them once we knew, and…and things happened…” His voice trailed off.
“Hmm.” Nix hummed. He glanced around, meeting each of their eyes once again. Chase shifted uncomfortably and also looked at the others. Laurens and Mina looked nervous, the former more than the latter, but Marvin stood strong. If anything, the eye contact made him more uncomfortable than the heavy environment.
“Have we…done anything wrong, detective?” Laurens asked tentatively.
Nix leaned back. “I’m not obligated to tell you, but I know you mean well, so I will. You DID break into that flat, which is still illegal.”
“But what about Good Samaritans?” Mina blurted out. “There are laws for that case, yes?”
“Not officially,” Nix said. “Ah, Ms. Pfeiffer, right? Schneeplestein’s ex-wife?”
“Not ex,” Mina corrected. “There has never been a divorce.”
“Right. Well, like I said, there are no official Good Samaritan laws. Not in this country, at least. But there is…some legal precedence. For certain circumstances.” Nix sounded oddly uncertain. “Look, my advice is to get a lawyer, just in case. I don’t believe any of you will be charged with anything serious, at most you’ll get a couple fines, but you can never be too careful. Be prepared for the worst.”
Everyone nodded in unison, like bobbleheads in a car that just hit a bump. “Well, u-um…” Laurens said slowly. “Do we…need to stay here? Or can we go?”
“You can go,” Nix assured them. “Chase, you have my phone number. I’ll contact you when something comes up. And it will, make no mistake. I’ll need to talk to you about what exactly happened pretty soon. In the meantime, I’m sure you’re eager to catch up with your friends.”
Chase stood up, followed shortly by Mina. “Right. Yes. Thank you, detective,” he said. “I’ll…be waiting for that call.”
Nix nodded, and waved off the group as they headed out.
As soon as they were out of the police station, Marvin leaned closer to the others and asked quietly, “Um, aren’t they supposed to interrogate us about the rescue? Or something?”
“Yeah,” Chase replied, equally quietly. “But I think Nix is giving us an opportunity.”
Marvin blinked. “For what?”
Chase shrugged. “To see Schneep and JJ…and, probably, to make sure our story isn’t too bad.” He wasn’t sure about that second part, but his gut said it was true.
“W-well, um…” Laurens took a deep breath. “Let’s go to the hospital, then?”
“Let’s,” Chase agreed. “I’ll drive.”
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After calling Nix and having multiple police and paramedics show up at Chase’s house, the four of them had been separated from Schneep and Jameson. The paramedics had given both of them a quick check, but insisted that they go to the hospital to make sure they were alright. Jameson nodded and went along with this, but Schneep had been more than a bit nervous. “I know this is silly,” he’d whispered to Chase. “But…but what if Anti is there?”
“It’s not silly,” Chase reassured him. “I get it, really. Hmmm… Hey, Marvin? Can we borrow your phone?” Marvin, within earshot, immediately handed over his phone without a word. “Great. Here, Schneep, take his phone, and if anything happens, you can call me, alright?”
Schneep had nodded slowly. “A-alright. Marvin, I will need your…well, your password. To unlock it.”
In the forty minutes of waiting in the police station, Chase hadn’t received one call or message from Schneep. He chose to take that as a good sign. It meant there weren’t any problems, right? Schneep would have called him, right?
The hospital Schneep and Jameson were in wasn’t the one Chase was used to—the one where Jackie and Jack were staying, Southpoint General. This one was the smaller St. Dympthna’s Hospital, closer to the edge of town. It actually wasn’t too far from Silver Hills. He wondered if it had been built there for that reason.
The four of them walked right in and explained the situation to the nearest nurse. She nodded, and directed the group to a room on the second floor, which was the general ward. The nurse offered to take them there, but the group politely declined and took the stairs. They found the right place immediately.
This wasn’t a single-person room, which threw Chase off a bit. For the past year, most of his time in hospitals had been visiting Jack—and recently Jackie—who each had a room all to themselves, one of those for patients who needed an extended stay. Clearly, neither JJ or Schneep were going to be staying here for long. This room was long, holding six different beds, each with their own privacy curtain. Though despite all this extra space, there were only two people in the room.
Jameson noticed the group the moment they stepped into the room. He’d previously been staring absentmindedly towards the nearby window, looking out at the street below, but at the sound of the footsteps he immediately turned to look. And upon seeing them, he gasped. Chase! Marvin! he signed, a grin breaking out on his face. 'Over here!'
Chase waved. “Hey! It’s us! Your favorite boys!”
Marvin, who had initially frozen once JJ noticed them, broke into a run and sprinted across the room to the far end, where Jameson was sitting in a bed by the wall. “I—I—hi! You!” Though he was stammering, Marvin smiled wide. “You! I—I was—you’re—uh, hand?”
Jameson laughed. He held out his hand, and Marvin grabbed it, squeezing tight. Chase went over to join them—quickly, but not running like Marvin. “Yeah. Hi,” he said, a bit awkwardly. “I…we didn’t really get the chance to—uh—I dunno, talk? I mean, maybe we should’ve, at the house, but everything had just happened and it was a bit overwhelming. Uh…how are you doing?”
'I’m perfectly fine,' Jameson said, as Marvin adjusted his hold to his wrist so he could sign easier. 'Not a scratch on me. I don’t really know what all the fuss was about.'
“You don’t know what the—Jameson.” Chase let out a little huff of breath, equal parts fondness, exasperation, and worry. “You got kidnapped. That’s…they have to make sure you’re okay.”
'I’m fine,' Jameson repeated, a little insistently. 'I mean…physically. I don’t think I need to say anything more, and quite frankly, I don’t want to talk about that right now. I’m just…I don’t remember if I said this before, but I’m so happy to see the both of you.' His eyes were watering a bit. 'It feels like forever.'
“It really does,” Chase muttered.
But, of course, Jameson wasn’t alone here. In the bed across from him, pushed against the opposite wall, was Schneep. He hadn’t said anything when the group came into the room, though he was watching them. In his hands was Marvin’s phone, which he kept turning over.
“Hey, bro,” Chase said, walking over to stand next to Schneep’s bed. “How are you feeling?”
“I am…” Schneep took a deep breath. “I am…handling things…rather well. I think.”
“That’s good to hear.” Chase gave him a soft smile. He reached out his hand, and after a small pause to make sure Schneep was okay with it, put it on his shoulder and squeezed. “I…I’m really glad to see you again, doc.”
Schneep let out a single, short laugh. “You do not need to call me that,” he said, a bit sadly.
“Well I want to. You’ll always be ‘Doc’ in my eyes,” Chase said lightheartedly.
Marvin looked over at Schneep, too. “I…I’m really happy that you’re…yes. Yes?” He made a vague gesture with his hand, waving it in the air.
“Yes,” Schneep said, nodding. “I…thank you. Very much. I—I missed the both of you…so, so much.” He blinked, squeezing his eyes closed for a moment before opening them wide again. And he looked at the other two in the room: Laurens and Mina. The two women had been lingering some ways away, not wanting to interrupt the moment between the friends. But Schneep couldn’t ignore them. Especially not Mina.
Chase followed his gaze. “Oh. Right.” He nodded. “Uh, you guys want to talk?”
Mina cleared her throat. “Ah…Henrik. If you…would like to, as he said, talk, I…have…something to tell you. That is important. To just the two of us.”
Schneep nodded slowly. “Yes, I…I have questions.”
Chase backed away. “Okay. We’ll leave you to it, then,” he said, giving Marvin, Laurens, and Jameson a significant look. “In fact, uh, why don’t you use these handy bed curtains? Give you some privacy.”
Schneep nodded again. Chase continued to back away, and Mina squared her shoulders and walked forward. She dragged a chair over from next to one of the empty beds, setting it next to Schneep’s, then drew the curtain along its rail all the way around the bed. Finally, she sat down.
The two of them said nothing for a while, just looking at each other. After a solid thirty seconds, Mina said, “Are you alright? Uninjured?” She asked the question in German.
“I have some cuts and bruises,” Schneep said, responding in the same language. “Though that was never the problem with…him. At least…not for me. Perhaps that would have changed, if Jameson and I had been trapped there longer.” He shook his head a little, clearing it of memories and returning to the present.
“Henrik, I…I am so sorry.” Mina’s voice was quiet. “I am so sorry I have not come to see you before this. I—I was worried. After what happened in August, a-and that awful mess in December, with those videos, I thought that—I understand, now, that it was that man who did it all, who made you—”
“Anti.”
“Y-yes, Anti. I know now that it is all his fault. But at the time, I…I was scared,” Mina admitted. “I thought that…you would…do something. I-I-I should not have thought that, I should have realized, I should have had faith a-and believed there was more to this story, but I did not, because I was scared, a-a-and I let that feeling control me, I let it convince me to leave the country altogether and not come back until—”
“You sound like Marvin,” Henrik muttered.
Mina stopped, and gave a small laugh. “Well, he is the one who said I should have stayed. But I am not saying this just because of him, I realized that I…I was wrong.” She paused. “I…have to admit something, Henrik. I had an idea in my head of how…people act. People like you, I mean, with your illness. I was so, so very wrong. Those ideas made it easier to be afraid, when I should not have been.”
“Mina,” Henrik said slowly. “I know this. I have known for a while, and I…I do not blame you. It is just how the world says things should be, and you are not the only one to believe.” He looked away, towards the window, which could be partially seen through a crack in the curtains. “I will not lie, it…has hurt. Still hurts. But you are trying. I can tell.” He paused. “I think, perhaps, we tried too fast to start things again. I think we should have both taken more time to ourselves. But I…would like you to…not leave. Even if we are not together.”
“Yes, well…” Mina shifted awkwardly in the chair. “About that…time when we wanted to be together again?” She reached into her pocket and took out her wallet. “This is the important thing I have to tell you.”
Henrik’s brows drew together in confusion. He leaned over a bit as Mina fumbled to get a hold of some photographs inside. When she pulled them out, each showing a baby getting progressively older, his eyes widened. The thought hadn’t fully formed yet, but the vaguest hints of an understanding were starting to take hold.
“This is Elise,” Mina said softly. “She is…our daughter.”
“…oh.” Henrik was at a loss for words. Every one of his mental functions had suddenly ground to a halt.
“You…remember? From last year, in July?” Mina’s voice was hesitant.
Henrik nodded. “I do. I do. But…but we were being careful. How…?”
“Well.” Mina laughed dryly. “Apparently nothing is a one-hundred-percent guarantee. I-I know we discussed not having any children for a long while, but once it happened, I changed my mind. I think in part because you were missing at the time. This was before those videos, of course. And even after those, when I still thought—well, you know. Even after that, I suppose I got attached to her.”
Henrik nodded slowly. He reached out, and Mina handed him the photographs. Slowly, he looked through them, scanning every detail.
Mina continued to talk, rambling as she grew increasingly nervous. “She is a wonderful child, you know. Very smart for her age. She will be twelve months old in February. Or, ah…one year. Same thing. Has not said words, but she makes baby sounds, a-and it is very cute, in her high voice. Her last name is mine, and she was born in Dussen—you know, where my parents live. Because I-I was living with them at the time. I am sorry about leaving you out, but—”
“No, no, it makes sense,” Henrik said quietly. “I am just…” He laughed. “I-I am having trouble with this. It’s so…I don’t know. But this happened. It happened. We…had a daughter. I had a daughter. That is so—so wonderful.” His smile faded. “And also…very terrible.”
“Terrible?!” Mina couldn’t keep the shock out of her voice. “I mean, it is fine, you do not have to help raise her if you don’t want to, but—”
“It’s not that I don’t want to,” Henrik said, leaning back. “It is just terrible timing. I…would like to be there for her. I had not considered being a parent before this, there were always more important things to do, but now that I am here…I would like to be there. But I cannot. Not with…” He gestured vaguely at the hospital surroundings, indicating the whole situation. “…everything going on out there, and also, with myself. Even if he—A-Anti—was to suddenly disappear right now, I…do not have the ability to look after a child.” Tears gather in his eyes, but he refuses to acknowledge them, blinking the wetness away.
Mina nodded. “I see.” She paused for a while. “But I could not just stay silent on this. Once I had returned, and once I realized what was happening, I…I had to at least tell you. I had to present the option. For Elise…a-and for you.”
“And I thank you very much.” Henrik handed the photographs back to her, then grasped her hand and gently squeezed it. “I think…I think I will love her very much. I think I might love her already. But…it cannot work right now.”
“Of course.” Mina squeezed his hand back. “But I think you will be a great father when you are ready.”
Schneep smiled softly. “Thank you.” He took a deep breath, and looked away from her.
“Do you want to talk with your friends now?” Mina asked.
“Yes, they are probably wondering what we are talking about right now.” He switched back to English. “Assholes.”
“Heyyyy!” Chase’s voice came from beyond the curtain. “You’re not talking about us, are you?”
Mina chuckled, and stood up, pulling the bed curtain open entirely. Back in the rest of the room, Chase and Marvin had found more chairs and were sitting next to JJ’s bedside. Laurens had left the room entirely, though no sooner had Schneep noticed her absence than she returned.
'Is everything alright with you two?' JJ asked.
“Everything is fine,” Schneep said. “It was just…a bit of a shock.”
“So she told you about the kid, right?” Marvin asked. “Elise?”
Schneep nodded, though he was a bit confused. “How did you know about that?”
“Oh, uhhh…” Marvin trailed off, stalling for a bit. “Okay, so, funny story. I was being a bit of a, uhhh dick to her. So she shut me up by explaining you guys had a kid and there was this whole situation going on between you, and uhhhh…”
'Wait, you have a child?!' JJ’s shocked expression was almost comical in its intensity. 'Since when?!!'
“Since about, ah, ten months ago,” Schneep said. “Though if you are measuring it by how long I’ve known, since about five minutes ago. Oh, right, Jameson. This is Mina. You do not know her, but I might have brought her up?”
Mina waved. “It’s nice to meet you,” she said politely.
JJ nodded. 'Right. Yes, Henrik talked about you a couple times. He said he hadn’t seen you in a while.'
“Well…yes,” Mina said slowly, looking a bit ashamed. “And that is my fault.”
“Um.” Laurens cleared her throat to get the others’ attention. “So, I talked to the doctor. Jameson, you’ll be free to go around five o’clock, but they want to keep Schneep overnight.”
“And then he’ll be free to go in the morning?” Chase asked.
“Not…exactly,” Laurens said slowly. She turned to look at Schneep. “You’ll have to come back to Silver Hills with me. Because, you know, you haven’t…been cleared yet.”
“I expected as much,” Schneep nodded, taking the news in stride. “If you said nothing, I would have asked about it.”
“Are you, uh, required to be there?” Marvin asked. “I’ve sort of been accepting it, but I don’t really get it. I mean, I know it was originally a legal thing because they thought you were the killer, but now that we know what really happened, do you have to finish the…term? Or whatever it’s called to be there.”
“No, it is not a ‘legal thing’ anymore,” Schneep said calmly. “Ah, Dr. Laurens, why don’t you explain?”
“Right.” Laurens coughed again. “You see, in order to be cleared to leave Silver Hills, you have to be approved by a psychiatrist. They have to say that you’re ready to function in the wider world again. Because that’s really what it is, you know, being able to…be alright out there.”
“Oh.” Marvin blinked, and glanced at Schneep. “And you’re…not…?”
Schneep shook his head slowly, his eyes distant. “I think things were getting better. But…” He took a deep breath. “I…did not enjoy…seeing him again. I think it—it has—has—” Then he stops abruptly. It didn’t really make a difference; his meaning was clear.
Jameson’s expression darkened. He looked out the window.
“Do you think…Anti’s still out there?” Chase asked quietly.
'He’s going to be ‘out there’ until he’s locked up,' Jameson said. 'Or dead, but I doubt there’s much out there that can kill him at this point. He’s had too much practice going into dangerous places and coming out alive.' For a moment, Schneep’s face went pale. Jameson noticed, and his face softened in turn. 'I’m sorry, Henrik. I don’t mean to frighten you. I’m just…I suppose I’m just worried that he’ll do something.'
“But Anti doesn’t have anything over any of you or us anymore,” Mina jumped in. “There are no people under his control.”
“We can leave it to the police now,” Chase said. “Now that everyone’s out of danger, we don’t have to be involved.”
“I mean, I still want to kill Anti,” Marvin added. “But I’m not going to go looking for him. Unless I have to.” Everyone gave him a sharp look, and he grinned. “Which I won’t. Because guess what? That asshole has just lost his most powerful bargaining chip. He hasn’t been able to do anything without having someone there he can threaten others with. I bet he’ll be stuck now.”
“And we can protect ourselves,” Laurens added. “Ask the police if we have to. Do whatever we can to make sure we’re safe.”
Chase nodded in agreement to all of this. “It’ll work out,” he said, looking at Jameson and Schneep in turn to reassure them.
Schneep nodded. He looked uncertain, but relieved. Jameson, meanwhile, was even less convinced. But maybe they were all right. They had some convincing points. So he dropped it for now. Maybe it would be okay.
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There weren’t many cars on the motorway at this time. This was ideal—the less people there were, the less likely it was that someone would remember the description of his car. Though there was the matter of the traffic worker at the toll booth out of town. He probably got a good look. So with that in mind, Anti decided he needed to ditch this car as soon as possible and get a new one.
The sun was setting, casting long shadows through the car’s back window. Anti gripped the steering wheel tight in white-knuckled hands: the only outward sign of the seething rage he felt.
Everything had been going great. Fantastic, even! He was sure he was making progress, and that Jamie would come around soon. Then he could start taking on jobs again, maybe do some work of his own on the side, and quietly fade away from the public eye as the case went cold. But it was all ruined now.
And all because of one Chase Brody. True, there had been others involved in stealing Jameson and Schneep from him, but Brody was the one who annoyed him the most. He’d barely given that man a second thought through this whole ordeal. After all, what could he do? Brody wasn’t talented, had no stand-out qualities, and wasn’t even that interesting. Anti had done research on him, but simply didn’t care enough to go farther. And that annoyed him more than anything else.
After Brody and the others escaped his reach, his first instinct had been to follow them. Find them, take back what was his, eliminate anyone else. He almost did it. But then he forced himself to take a step back and reconsider. The risk was too great. Even if he succeeded, there was nowhere left for him to hide in the city. No more safehouses—the police had found most of them, and they would certainly find his secret apartment now. He’d be caught. And that wasn’t worth the short-term satisfaction.
He had to leave town altogether. Even though he didn’t want to. He gritted his teeth, frustrated at losing everything he’d taken years to build. Now he had to worry about finding contacts in a new city, getting a suitable location to hole up, integrating into the local underworld so that others would know not to fuck with him—it was going to be a whole ordeal. And he wouldn’t have to do this if Brody and the others hadn’t destroyed everything.
…No. He couldn’t leave forever. He couldn’t leave things unfinished. The very thought felt wrong. He would be back one day. Back to deliver consequences for their actions. Back to find what was rightfully his and take it again. Back to regain control over this spiraling situation.
This would take some time to figure out. He had to be sure nothing would go wrong.
But right now, it was too dangerous. So, Anti continued driving, until the city disappeared and the sun fell beneath the horizon.