CHAPTER TWO
Tia left Nathan and Kerry’s penthouse and made her way down to her apartment just two floors down. The apartment belonged to Nathan, so her brother-in-law was her landlord as well as her boss.
Nathan hadn’t wanted to accept any rent from her, but the poor guy had to relent after Tia threatened to move out. Kerry would never allow her baby sister to stay so far away from her. Two floors away was okay. Two blocks, or two streets away—unthinkable.
Tia sometimes wished that Kerry would stop worrying so much, but she understood Kerry’s fear. Kerry had seen Tia fading away before her very eyes, growing sicker and weaker as the days went by. It had been a terrible, terrifying time for the sisters as they clung to each other and tried their best to remain positive and optimistic even as they stared death in the face.
With a quiet sigh, Tia unlocked her front door and stepped into her apartment. She liked living on her own, having her freedom and independence.
After she was cured of her cancer, Tia was determined to live the life she had always wanted to live. She had always wanted to be a cop, so she wasted no time signing up for the police academy.
Tia remembered the first time she put on her police uniform. She had looked in the full-length mirror and a bright-eyed, eager, young policewoman had smiled back at her. She was going to make the most of this chance that she’d been given. Her niece had saved her life, so she could go out and fight crime and save more lives.
Kerry had expressed her reservations about the job, saying it was too strenuous and dangerous. But despite her own doubts and fears, Kerry still supported her. She wanted Tia to be happy.
It was only when Tia got shot that Kerry completely lost it.
Tia peeled off her clothes and stepped into the shower. She closed her eyes as the hot water pelted her back.
As she soaped herself, her fingers touched the scar on her shoulder.
Tia turned to stare at the distinct scar on her left shoulder.
It turned out that Kerry’s fears hadn’t been unfounded after all. The job was dangerous, and it had almost cost her her life. Tia had nearly been killed in the line of duty.
That scar was from a bullet wound. If she had been just a fraction of a second slower, the bullet would have found her heart.
Tia pressed her hand over her scar. She grimaced as her muscles tensed and throbbed under her fingers.
She remembered the shocking, searing pain that tore through her as the thug fired a bullet into her shoulder.
Tia squeezed her eyes shut and saw the thug’s gaunt, pallid face in her mind. He was wearing a hoodie but his face was uncovered. He had looked right at her when he shot her. He was never caught. He just disappeared. But Tia would never forget his face.
Tia opened her eyes and the fog in the shower cleared momentarily.
But she could see another fog rolling in. She recognized that gray, shadowy fog.
She had seen it so often in her nightmares.
She could never escape from this fog. It always found her.
She relived that night over and over again. She got shot, but she wished she could have saved her partner.
Tia saw her partner die that night.
She couldn’t save him, and she couldn’t save those innocent, helpless victims.
Their cries, their eyes haunted her. But she never told anyone about her nightmares. Not even Kerry. Especially not Kerry.
Tia took a deep breath and stepped into the swirling fog. The fog enveloped her, taking her back to that terrible, chilling night.
The night she got shot.