Forgetting Billions | ✓

27 | Forgetting Risks

JASMINE NEVER thought her world would crumble over one note. Over one person. It always seemed like SS was no more than a bad dream, no more than some teenager in over their head. All talk and no action.

It was when they threatened an innocent twelve-year-old girl that Jasmine understood exactly what they were capable of and just how far they were willing to go. But she wouldn't cry. She wouldn't shed a tear as long as she still had a chance to save Karina. Crying would mean she was gone. Crying would mean that SS had won.

"We need to get the gun. I don't know where Karina is, but we're going to find out soon. SS likes to show off the damage they created. They want us watching their biggest plot yet. They'll wait for us."

Shayan kicked the engine into reverse and pulled out of the police department. "We're going to find her. I won't stop looking until we do."

"Neither will I," Jasmine said, her face stony and unmoving. "I'm calling my mother back. She needs to know what's going on."

He nodded and kept his eyes on the road, unable to speak anymore. Their energy was knocked out of them with one ill-fated message.

Aishwarya picked up the phone on the first ring. "Jasmine?" she asked. "Is Karina with you?"

"Mom, she's not. We think someone took her."

"How? She was in her room the whole time," her mother explained, confusion lacing her voice.

Jasmine exchanged a look with Shayan before sighing. "There's a way into the house. Shayan, Selena, and Evan used to sneak into my room by climbing up the side of the house until they got to the balcony."

"Are you kidding me, Jasmine? You mean to tell me that you've made it that much easier for the wrong people to enter our houses? God, I knew you were involved in this. Everything always comes back to you."

"Mom...," Jasmine began when her mother cut her off again.

Aishwarya's words were colder than ice. "Now's not the time. Do you know where she is?"

"No, we're waiting to be notified of an address. Where's Baba?"

"He's out driving with Aditya, searching for Karina. What do you mean by notified? Do you have a connection to the person who did this? Come clean, Jasmine."

Jasmine revealed everything that had happened during the past few months, from the first SS message to Selena giving her the gun the day before. She went over how Bianca and Shayan have an idea as to who was hurting them and how every rule she has broken thus far has been to make sure this person did not do something like this.

She admitted that she had failed.

Aishwarya was stunned silent. When she spoke again, it was with the eerily quiet voice that made Jasmine wish she had never said anything to begin with. "I will get the gun. You said it's in your drawer, correct?"

"Yes, in the silver purse. Please be careful."

Aishwarya ignored her comment. "I want you and Shayan to wait for the message. Don't go anywhere. Park at a gas station, sit at a coffee shop, whatever you have to do. I do not want you moving until I tell you so. When you get the address, inform me and I will meet you there."

"We'll wait for your green light, Mama. I won't make this worse," Jasmine whispered as Shayan pulled the truck into a Walmart parking lot. He slipped his hand into hers and squeezed it and Jasmine was never more thankful for him than at this moment. She interlaced their fingers together.

"You know, if you had told me earlier, I might have been able to clean up this mess before it got worse. I'm a criminal defendant, for God's sake! I have more connections and knowledge with law enforcement and illegal behaviors than Maria ever will. I could've helped you and you still trusted her over me." Her mother scoffed, trying to hide the disappointment and hurt that was crawling through her skin. "But I will try to salvage whatever is left now."