Chapter 567: The 'Bad Guys'

Mina saw movement coming from the opposite side of where she, Mills and Milo were standing, and she closed her eyes knowing exactly what the woman would have to do. Mina heard Mills sigh as she grabbed her and pressed a gun to her head. The woman kept whispering apologies, but Mina was not at all offended. She admired Mills for coming back for Milo, and she could not say she would not have done the same for Sadie.

"Mills, Mina is your friend. Don't hurt her."

"Then let us go." Mina looked at President Lee, silently pleading for him to put his own weapon down, and she was surprised when he did.

"Mills," Milo said. "You aren't thinking right now. Mina has been good to you. You don't want to hurt her." Mina could only look at the man like he was an idiot and she hoped he was acting, because even she knew that Mills was not going to hurt her.

"Drax, I want my brother, I will trade Lydia for him. President Lee, I want Mina, I will trade Gregory for her." Both men remained silent, and Mina felt someone push Mills from behind before snatching the woman's gun away. She laid her body over Mills protectively, shouting to Ellie that the woman was already hurt, and she was surprised when Ellie actually stopped. Mills did not even bother trying to get up as she clutched at her shoulder.

Mina scooped Mills into her lap and Drax opened the woman's jacket, they were both shocked by the amount of blood they saw, and Milo was so shaken that he could only pace. They knew the woman had been treating herself because they could smell the alcohol and iodine. When Drax removed the wrapping from Mills' wound, everyone around sighed out dramatically, there were no signs of infection, but based on the way Mills looked, it was not long before infection would set in.

"Don't worry, I have been taking antibiotics. Please Drax, I have already lost so much, I just want my brother back." The woman fished out a car starter and pressed a button, making the trunk of a nearby vehicle pop open.

Milo was the first to investigate followed by President Lee, who had to physically restrain the man because he immediately went to pull out his gun. Mina found herself wondering if she were the only person in the country who did not walk around armed, and then she wondered why Milo had not drawn his weapon on Ellie when he was in the perfect position to see her.

"Not here," President Lee said to Milo through gritted teeth. The man seemed not to care, so people were ordered to restrain him, which set Mills off.

"Nothing is going to happen to him," Mina promised. "President Lee has changed a little." Mills pulled off her glasses and narrowed her eyes at Mina.

"Are you okay?" Mina nodded, she was okay for now, and even though she had plans to run, she did not want to get Mills involved.

"Babe, we need to get you to a doctor."

"And ruin your party?" Mina looked up to see Mrs. Staton who had kneeled to hold Mills' hand.

"Mills, I told you to let me explain. I held this event because I knew you would show up, but I didn't want it to be like this." Mills' face took on a confused expression. "Do you really think my husband would have allowed me to find a replacement for you? I don't even want him to see you like this."

Mina found herself feeling like she was intruding on a family moment, so she backed away, and limped over to where Milo was still refusing to calm down despite being held by many people. She wanted to smack the man for acting like a child, but instead she just reminded him of why Mills' injury was reaggravated.

There was no doubt that if not for Milo, Mills would not have come back to the Staton family home, nor would she have put herself in a situation where she might have been killed. Mina could tell that Milo was angry with her for even suggesting that it was his fault his sister was hurt, but he stopped fighting, and that was her aim altogether.

Without really thinking, Mina turned to look at whatever Mills had in her trunk and was greeted by the sight of two bloody figures that made her stumble backward and fall. She just sat there, terrified by what she had seen, but even more terrified by the fact that she did not feel any sympathy or remorse. She knew the pair were not dead, because Milo would not have been trying to shoot corpses, and Mina's mind told her that it was already enough that Mills did not kill them.

"You shouldn't have looked," President Lee said as he helped her stand. "Not everyone is wrongly accused, and not everyone has a story as fantastical as yours."

"I just wasn't expecting it. Mills does not seem like… I just didn't think she-"

"Did Mills ever tell you how we met?" Mina shook her head, she knew the gist of the story, but not all of it. "She hired some of the most heinous people in her community to try to divert my attention, knowing that they would die, and when she got caught, she tried to blow me up." Mina did not like the fact that that story made her chuckle, or maybe it was the way President Lee had told it.

"She isn't in trouble, right?"

"With me, no, but with Drax, she might be." Mina's eyes went wide, and she was about to approach Drax, wanting to ask the same question, but President Lee held her back. "I don't mean it in that way. Look at them," he said, and Mina actually saw the couple she first met, not the warring pair they became.

"Why isn't she being taken to a hospital?" She asked.

"Drax has people coming here. He does not want her leaving his side again, and before you panic, not in that way either. It's just safer for her."

"But she caught the bad guys."

"We know that, but to everyone else, Mills is the bad guy." Mina could not help but to think back to the 'person A, person B' questions that Doctor Witt had asked her, and she began to over think. "Mina?" President Lee's voice sounded muffled, and she leaned against him heavily.

Already knowing what was going to happen, Mina sat on the ground.

"President Lee, I don't feel well." Mina heaved, and the man stood to the side, holding back her hair.

"Did you eat something?" Mina waved her hand around. She was not sick from something she ate; she was sick because of her own thoughts.

"It's that," she said pointing to the trunk. "You were right, I shouldn't have looked." Zane came out of nowhere with a bottle of water that Mina was more than grateful for. She stayed sitting down, because she still felt dizzy with the sudden realization that Doctor Witt was right about her.

"I hate to break up this little party, but Drax needs to get back inside," said Adir. "and he cannot be seen with Mills because we don't know if there are witnesses." Mills and Drax scoffed at the same time.

"The only witnesses are in that trunk and there are no purchases that can be traced to me." Mina's brow furrowed, and President Lee must have read her expression.

"You finance this?" he asked in a shocked whisper.

"I didn't know," Mina whispered back, making President Lee curse. The man stood, pulling her with him.

"Drax, Mills will leave with us and you and Milo will stay here. After this event, you know where to go." Mrs. Staton seemed uncomfortable with the arrangement, but she stayed quiet as she watched Milo and Drax help Mills stand.

"I don't mind Mills leaving with you, but there is no way in hell I am staying here," said Drax.