“Hold it! We’re going in the right direction. See?” I pointed directly in front of me at the unmarked car. The faint outline of Sawyer’s head could be seen planted against the window.

Theo squinted his eyes and leaned forward. “You sure that’s him?”

The car zoomed in and out of the left and right lanes, frantically weaving ahead of us. “That’s them,” Matthew cried out. “Keep on them, Marcus!”

I felt my foot slam against the pedal, but the engine puttered three times before turning off completely. I slammed the key in the opposite direction before turning it again. Nothing. “Son of a bitch! Don’t do this to me right now. Please don’t do this to me.”

Theo opened the door when the car rolled to a halt. “I’ll get out and push,” Theo said.

I watched as Fulton’s car sped off into the distance, out of sight, but burned into my mind forever. “We lost them,” I whispered, feeling the cold betrayal of defeat drain all of the energy from my body.

“Dammit!” Theo kicked the back of his bumper clean off, crunching the edges with his heel like a savage animal. Before any of us could react, he opened the hood and lowered the top half of his body inside.

“Marcus, I’m going to need you to rev the engine for me! Can you do that?” Theo asked.

“Got it!”

I turned the key and quickly heard the engine struggle to purr on its own. “Come on, come on.” I gritted my teeth and worked my heel into the pedal while subtly flicking my wrist every few seconds.

I kept the motion going, but I was starting to lose hope. I glanced back at Matthew and shook my head. “Don’t give up,” he said.

“I don’t know what I can do,” I said.

Matthew jumped into the front seat and leaned over me, grabbing my hand. “Give it a few seconds,” he said. “Let it rest.”

Leaning out of the window, I saw Theo shut the hood. “Try it now,” he said.

Matthew jumped in the back seat as I turned the key and felt the tilt of the car’s engine push us forward awkwardly. “Here we go!” I hit the ceiling with my palm.

Despite sputtering out for a few seconds, the car found its rhythm and shot down the freeway. “How will you find them?” Matthew asked.

“I won’t need to find them,” I said. “I already know where they are.”

A look of astonishment fell on Matthew’s face. “Where?”

“Pottersville. Schroon Lake, to be exact.”

Theo’s jaw hung open. “How in the hell…”

“It’s a long story. Just hold on,” I said.

Fulton wanted to end up in Pottersville. My hunch was that he was there, waiting for me in the rain. I’d give him the chance to stay there if he’d like.

When I pulled off of the freeway, I followed the signs but kept my lights off. I drove until I saw Fulton’s car parked in the darkness, close to the entrance into the woods. “There it is,” Theo said.

“You guys stay here,” I said. “I can’t have you hurt.”

“Bullshit,” Matthew said. He reached into his pocket and pulled out a small blade. “If he touches my brother, I’m going to cut off his—”

“Hey, I’m serious,” I said. “Theo, I’m counting on you to watch him.”

Theo locked the doors. “Look, kid. There’s no way in hell I’m going out into those woods with you,” he said.

“Well, I am going.” Matthew flipped the knife back into the palm of his hand and furrowed it inside his pocket. He unlocked the door and pushed it open.

“Fucking shit,” I hissed, jumping out of the car.

Running after him, I took his arm and slowed his pace. “If you’re coming with, you better follow my lead,” I said.

Reaching on the side of my utility belt, I grabbed the taser and placed it in the palm of his hands. “And you better ditch that knife. You won’t stand a chance against a pistol.”

Matthew stared at the large shock device in his hands. “Whoa,” he whispered.

As we entered those woods, I noticed the footprints in the mud. “Look. There, next to that tree,” I said. “Let’s follow those tracks. They couldn’t have gone too far.”

But as we walked, we heard a loud crack ring out across the woods. I knew the sound as a Glock 19 handgun. Reaching to grab the pistol from my holster, I made sure I was armed and ready to shoot.

“I’m going in,” I whispered. “Keep back and stay ready. If you see an in, you take it.”

Matthew nodded and pressed the safety down on the taser. “Got it.”

I ran through the forest until I reached the top of a large hill. From there, I could see the docks. A thick fog was slowly encasing the area, shrouding the neighboring avenues of travel. Ducking down, I scanned the horizon until I saw Sawyer, soaking wet and covered in mud, jogging across the deck. It didn’t look like he had been shot, but he was injured.

My heart ached, and my body turned rigid. I gripped my palms around the butt of my pistol, scanning the woods, left and right. Turning around, I motioned to Matthew that I could see Sawyer.

The intensity in Sawyer’s eyes was visible, and it quickly showed me how important it was to stay out of the way. Whoever was pursuing him would show up soon. All I had to do was wait.

I lowered my body down the hill and followed until I saw Sawyer stop directly in front of a man I saw nearly everyday. He was a man who steered me wrong for more than a decade, a man who would have done anything to keep his power.

This time, it didn’t look like he’d be keeping anything going in the long term. Underneath his trench coat, chief Flegenheimer bore a substantial wound. Leaking onto the deck, his blood was forming a small pattern below him.

In the near distance, Fulton walked through the fog. Steadily, he raised his gun at the back of Sawyer’s head and cocked it, ready to kill. Without question, I ran in the direction, releasing my weapon from restrain.

I took a deep breath and aimed at the target. I had Fulton’s head locked in the crosshairs. My fingers pressed firmly against the trigger of my gun. One loud crack rang out, another directly after.

Both Sawyer and Fulton fell to the dock’s ground, but Sawyer quickly stood back on his feet, clutching his right arm against his chest. Breathing intensely, he let out a defiant scream.

Sawyer ran toward the chief, driving his head into the center of his ribcage until both of their bodies disappeared into the flowing water below.

“No!” I cried.

I jumped into the ice-cold water where a struggle started to ensue. In Sawyer’s hand was a sawed-off shotgun, but the chief was pulling his head into the water.

“Chief Flegenheimer, you are under arrest!”

Unable to get a good aim on him, I shot three times into the air. It was too hard to see, but I knew that I could swim faster than them, especially the chief, who was no doubt dying. I dove into the water and started swimming in their direction.

No more than fifty meters out, I found their flailing bodies. I reached toward the chief’s police tactical boots and pulled him under, throwing my weight downward. Grabbing onto my shirt, I saw the last of his fury burn out as his breath started to pass.

I could have let him die down there, but I didn’t. I brought him back to the surface and watched him drift away.

“Marcus, my arm. It’s dislocated. I can’t swim.” Sawyer kicked onto my back, but his weight was pulling me under. I tried to get a read on where the dock was, but the fog covered the entire area. I couldn’t see a damn thing.

“Just let me go,” he said. “You won’t make it out with me weighing you down.”

“I’m not going to leave you, dammit,” I said.

Dragging his body a few feet, I felt my breath give out. My heart was racing too fast. I started to sink, and I couldn’t keep my lips above water.

“Marcus,” Sawyer whispered.

“Don’t. We’re going to make it!” I screamed.

“Marcus. You’re going to make it, and you’re going to go on to do such wonderful things.”

But something approaching stopped me from worrying. “Sawyer, look…”

In the distance was a large boat with police sirens. As it floated through the fog, it let out a loud siren of a warning. A man in a black suit was standing in the front, holding a megaphone in front of him. “Federal Bureau of Investigation!”

“We’re right here!” I called out.

It all happened at once. The boat slowed down to pick us up as a team of medics stood ready on the deck. We were saved.