Norah continued to stare out of the window and into the surprisingly bright sky. How much should she tell him about what she was feeling? She wondered. She had never told anyone that she loved them. With Clayton, it had been implied, but thinking back on it now, she realized she had never actually told him. She knew now she had never felt it.

She smiled when the Seattle skyline came into view. It was a beautiful sight. She would be grateful when she could put all the horrors of the last few years behind her and move forward with her life. Their lives, she hoped as she stole a glance at Harley. Because there wasn’t a future she pictured for herself without him in it.

She glanced at him, and her eyes widened when she saw the black SUV speeding towards them.

“Harley!” she yelled just before she heard the crunching of metal from the impact.

Everything began to move in slow motion. She felt the glass of her window shatter and heard the screeching of tires. The smell of the airbags deploying was one that she knew would be embedded in her brain.

She heard screaming and looked to Harley, but his eyes were closed. Was that terrified sound coming from her? She felt the car come to a stop and tried to release her seatbelt.

“Harley!” she yelled, and reached for him. He was slumped back in his seat, his head to the side, but she could see he was breathing. “Harley, please wake up.” Tears streamed down her face as she pushed her seatbelt away and climbed out of it.

“Norah?” he whispered, and she smiled reassuringly at him when his eyes opened slightly.

“Harley, it’s okay, I’m here.” She cradled his face in her hand. His forehead was gashed open, and she pressed the sleeve of her shirt to it.

“There you are,” a voice sounded from behind her, and she turned just in time to see two large arms reaching in and pulling at her.

“Harley!”

“Norah!” he yelled, and reached for her, but he was pinned by the steering wheel.

“Let me go!” she screamed, and used what energy she had left to kick and claw at her attacker.

“Boss won’t be happy if you aren’t in one piece, but I’m sure he wouldn’t complain about whether you are conscious or not. I suppose I could say you were hurt in the accident, huh?”

The man turned her to face him and she saw nothing but emptiness in his eyes. He was bald, and she saw a tribal tattoo climbing up the side of his neck.

“Remember me?” He smiled menacingly at her. “I can see that you do.”

“What about the cop?” another man asked from the rolled-down window of another SUV.

“He’s as good as dead,” the bald man said, and Norah looked back to the car that was already swarming with onlookers. Why wouldn’t anybody help her?

“Hel—”

“You had better not finish that sentence,” the bald man said, and clasped his hand over her mouth. “I’ll kill every single person who tries to help you. Wouldn’t want that on your conscience, now, would you?”

He shoved her into the backseat and climbed in after her.

Tears streamed down her face when she saw two men pull Harley from the car. They immediately surrounded him, and she wished she could have gotten one more look at him. Was he okay? He had to be okay!

“Oh, chill out,” the man said, and shoved a bottle of water in her hand. “Drink.”

She turned her head away from him.

“I said drink.”

“I’m not thirsty,” she said, doing her best to stop the panic attack she felt coming on.

She was no good to Harley if she lost her head. She had to find a way to get away from the men, to get back to him.

“Well, that’s a job we can cross of our list, huh?” The bald man slapped the shoulder of the driver, and they laughed. “Took us two tries, but we got her!”

Norah looked around the inside of the car for any kind of weapon, but other than the gun in the bald man’s waistband, she saw nothing. The inside was just as black as the outside, and the windows were tinted. The stench of cigarettes flooded her senses, and she saw the bald man light one.

“Want a smoke?” He laughed and then put the end in his mouth.

“Why did you take me?” she asked him. “I don’t know anything.”

“Not for me to tell you, sweetheart. Just wait, you’ll see the boss man soon enough.”

“Did Tom send you?”

The driver snorted. “That fool doesn’t run things.”

“As I said before,” the bald man started, shooting a glance at the driver, “not for us to tell you.”

Norah crossed her arms and tried to slide as far as she could away from the bald man. She wasn’t sure she would survive jumping out of a moving vehicle at their current speed, but she had to try. She reached for the door handle, prepared to throw herself, but felt her hope deflate when nothing happened.

“Good thing these cars have child safety locks on them, huh? Would hate for you to mess up that pretty face,” he said as he stroked a finger down her cheek. She saw no lust in his eyes, though, only disgust. That was something, she told herself.

“Where are you taking me?”

“You are full of questions, aren’t you? Thought that would have been beat out of you by now.” The driver laughed at the bald man’s statement. “Oh well, I suppose there’s still time for that to happen.”

“What do you mean by that?” She feared his answer, but knew that if she didn’t keep talking, she was going to find herself on the wrong end of a panic attack, and this wasn’t the time nor the place for it.

“You’ll find out soon enough.”

“Then why not just tell me now?”

The bald man snorted. “You hear her back here trying to negotiate?”

The driver let out a laugh. “You won’t get anything out of us, might as well sit back there and shut that pretty mouth of yours.”

Norah pressed her lips together and focused on trying to see where they were taking her. The windows were so dark she could hardly see out of them. She took a deep breath and did her best to steady her breathing. In and out, she thought to herself as she breathed carefully, in and out.

---

“YOU DON’T UNDERSTAND, I have to get out of here!” Harley yelled at the officers as they hauled him into an interrogation room. He had been lucky; seven stitches and a mild concussion were his only souvenirs of the accident. He knew Norah had been okay, but he wasn’t sure how long it had been since the men took her from the accident.

He was angry, and his fucking head hurt. He needed to find her. There was no telling where they had taken her, and now he was going to be stuck in jail while she was going through who the hell knew what.

The door opened behind him, and Harley crossed his arms when he saw who came through. “Zach.”

“Hey Harley.” He set files down on the desk between them and looked at his watch. “We have about three minutes, so let’s get started, shall we? You’ve made quite a mess of things, haven’t you?”

“What the hell is that supposed to mean? I was framed.”

“No need to plead your innocence to me,” his old friend, now the lieutenant of Seattle PD, said, “I know you aren’t guilty.”

“Then why the hell am I here? They have Norah McNamara. I should be out there looking for her, and you’re telling me that you brought me in knowing I was innocent?” The bands around his anger began to snap.

“Easy, Harley. You aren’t going anywhere.”

“Do you have any fucking idea who we are dealing with? What they are capable of?” Harley asked, ready to fight his way out if necessary.

He’d sparred with Zach in the past and knew he could beat him. It was the other officers surely in the hall he wasn’t so sure about.

“Actually, I do.” Zach leaned back in his chair. “It’s the whole reason we are where we are now and the same reason as to why I said what I did when I came in. You have royally fucked things up, Harley.”

“And how exactly is that?” He began to pace.

“Right around two years ago, we got a tip about what Hewitt and Hewitt was actually about. After doing some digging, we learned there were quite a few cops on his payroll. We knew about the relationship your father and he had.”

“Tom wasn’t dirty then,” Harley shot back, defensive. He wouldn’t have Zach trashing his dad’s reputation before they knew all the facts.

“Actually, he was.” Zach opened the file he had set on the desk. Pictures of Harley’s dad with Tom spilled out on the table. “Your father tried to stop him. He went in acting as if he wanted in on the action, trying to get any kind of confession so we could move in on Tom. The bastard was tipped off and sent someone into that bank, Harley.”

Harley’s jaw set as what Zach was saying sank in. “That son of a bitch killed my dad. He came to the funeral. Hugged my mother afterwards.” He threw a picture of Tom across the room and tried to steady his breathing. Now the bastard had Norah.

“There’s more.”

“Excuse me?”

“When you went after that jackass your mom was dating, the captain and I met and formed a plan. We knew Tom would reach out and offer you a job, or rather we had hoped he would. So instead of suspending you, you were fired, and we had hoped that once you learned about what was going on you would bring him to us, or at least the evidence.”

“You fucking used me?”

“And that is how you royally fucked up. We had no control over your photo being leaked to the press. Truth be told, our department had nothing to do with it. The FBI pushed it out, so were guessing the corruption goes somewhere into there as well. We’re collaborating with an agent about it now.”

“I need to get to Norah,” he said, and turned around.

“That leads me to the worst news.” Zach opened another file on the table and Harley found himself staring at Clayton Matthews. The photo was date stamped a week ago.

“That’s not possible. I watched him die, Zach.”

“He survived. Not sure how, but he did.”

Harley’s eyes widened as panic flooded his senses. Tom was one thing, but if Matthews truly was alive, then chances were that he had Norah now, and that majorly changed things.

“I really have to go.”

Zach nodded and closed his file. “Bring us Clayton and Tom. Tell us what you know and I’ll make sure you get out of here to get Miss McNamara back.”

“You’re a coward,” Harley growled at Zach.

“No, I’m just smart. His people are everywhere, Harley. I can’t take a damn piss without it being reported. Why do you think everything went down the way it did, huh? I’ll tell you why. Tom wanted you. You were fired. Shit, I bet the bastard who smacked your mom around was hired to do so for the simple fact you’d go after him. You are a pawn in a much bigger game, my friend.”

“So tell me again what it is you want me to do? Go in after them and bring the entire organization crumbling to its knees all with what, my optimism?”

“I want you to do what you do best, Harley. Find the evidence and bring it to me.”

“And Norah?”

Zach rubbed his hand over his graying hair. “I honestly am not sure what you’re expecting there. I hope you get to her in time, Harley, I really do, but this is all so much bigger than her.”

“Nothing is more important than her,” Harley growled.

Zach leaned back in his seat. “Well, I’ll be damned. You’re in love with her. That certainly changes things, doesn’t it?”

“Then we understand each other. Now let me the fuck out of here, Zach. And then I will help you.” He refused to budge. Every second was one more that she could be hurting. “Its nonnegotiable, Zach. Get me out, and once I have her I will answer all of your questions.”

“You’re saying I should trust you.”

“I want these bastards dead, Zach. Dead or in prison. You have my word I will help you.”

“All right.” Zach stood. “But you’re on your own. We have to keep quiet about this. We still don’t know who is working with Clayton.”

“Fan-fucking-tastic. Let’s go.” He started towards the door, but Zach put his hand on Harley’s chest to stop him.

“Not that easy. But I do have a plan. The men in the hall are all mine and have taken a coffee break because I’m in here. You can go out through the parking garage. Keys are in my front pocket. But you’re going to have to hit me, make it look good.”

“Not a damn problem.” Harley reared back and Zach shook his head.

“Not yet, sound’s still down for a minute, but cameras are back on in five, four, three, two, one.” Zach nodded and Harley slammed his fist into Zach’s arrogant face.

“Damn, Harley!”

“You told me to make it look good,” Harley whispered as he bent and retrieved Zach’s keys and service weapon. “Thanks, Zach. I’ll do what I can,” he whispered again.

“You fucking better after that sucker punch,” Zach muttered as Harley stood.

He peeked into the hall, and when he saw it was clear, ran towards the side exit and into the garage. He found Zach’s blue Escape parked in his spot, and he drove quickly out onto the street.

He needed to find a phone and quick. He drove quickly until he saw a row of payphones on the side of a gas station.

“Yeah?” Gerry picked up on the first ring, and Harley let out a breath of relief.

“I need you to come into the city now.”

“What’s going on?” Panic laced his voice, and Harley felt his own rising.

“They slammed into our car, Gerry. They got Norah.”

“Fuck!” Gerry yelled into the phone. “We’ll be there in an hour. Meet us at the safe house.”

Harley hung up the phone and headed for the car. He couldn’t lose faith now. He had to believe they would get Norah back.

---

“YEAH BOSS, I got her.” The bald man grinned at Norah and then turned away. Was he talking to Tom? Was he still looking for her? Why wouldn’t they all just leave her alone! Norah took a deep breath.

They had stopped, which meant Harley still had time to catch up. Norah knew he was still alive. There was no way he wasn’t.

She twisted slightly to stretch her back and felt the knife tucked into the waistband of her jeans. Of course! She had hidden it after Marissa had given it to her! Why hadn’t she thought of it before?

“I’m grabbing some food, Gio.” The man who had driven them headed for the door.

Gio nodded at him and then went back to his phone call. “Yeah, here she is.” He turned and smiled at her, showing off two gold teeth. “It’s for you, sweetheart.” He kissed at her and she shakily took the phone.

“H-Hello?”

“It’s good to hear your voice, Norah.”

Norah’s body started to shake, and her blood iced when she heard the voice on the other end of the line. It was one she would never forget.

“Clayton.”

“What’s wrong, sweetheart? You sound like you’re surprised.”

“I don’t understand—”

“You will soon enough. Everything is going to fall into place. Gio is going to bring you to me and then we will work everything else out, get your name out of the press. I was thinking we can get married next month, eh?” He laughed. “Make you forget all about that dirty cop Andrews.” He practically spit the name out.

“He’s not dirty,” Norah said, straightening. Hearing Clayton insult Harley hit her harder than any fist from him ever had.

“That’s not the story the media’s going to hear,” Clayton sneered over the phone. “Dirty cop shoots up charity banquet and kidnaps the fiancée of the organizer. Nice story, isn’t it?”

“But that’s all it is. What makes you think I would ever go along with it?”

“Because if you don’t, I will kill him. As it stands now, he will spend some time in prison, sure, but if I get my hands on him I’m going to tear him apart. Maybe make you watch while I do it. Now hand the phone back to Gio. Make sure you bring that bracelet I gave you last year, the one with the diamonds.”

“Why?” She knew exactly which one he was talking about; it had been the nicest gift he had given her, and it currently sat in her apartment. She remembered he had been angry with her for not wearing it at that last dinner.

“It looks nice on you, and for our comeback you’re going to need it.”

She held the phone out for Gio, and he snatched it quickly. Norah was under no false pretenses. Clayton wanted her dead; there was no way in hell he was going to let her live after everything. She had to decide now whether she wanted to make it easy for him or not.

The moment Gio pressed the phone back to his ear, Norah decided she was going to make it as difficult as possible. She pulled the knife out of her waistband and lifted the blade.

The blood pounding in her ears was deafening, and she could barely hear Gio laugh at something Clayton had said. She launched herself at him and grunted when she felt his elbow connect with her rib.

He outweighed her by at least eighty pounds, but she used every ounce of strength she had to plunge the knife into his throat. She was not going down without a fight. Blood spurted out as he ripped the knife out.

He threw it down and looked at her, wide-eyed. He reached for her as she stumbled backwards into the coffee table and fell on top of her. Blood continued to pour from his wound, and tears streamed down her face as she pushed him off her.

She had to get out, had to find her way back to Harley.

Norah did her best to only act and not think. She couldn’t allow herself to dwell on the fact she had just taken a man’s life. Norah grabbed Gio’s keys, gun, and her knife and started for the door.

“What the hell?” the driver said when he pushed the door open.

Norah lifted the gun to his chest and pulled the trigger. She bit back a cry when he fell, and she bolted down the stairs of the motel room.

Her fingers fumbled with the key as she tried to put it in the ignition, and as soon as she heard the engine roar to life, she threw it in drive and left the motel behind her.

She remembered all of the crime TV shows she had watched and left the car a few blocks from her apartment just in case it had a tracker. She pulled into the parking lot of an old diner and pulled the hood of her sweatshirt closer around her face. A few people looked her way, and she just did her best to continue pushing forward.

She could feel the blood on her black sweater. It was seeping through to her skin, and all she could think about was getting it off.

She had to get the blood off.