It had been days since I’d last seen Nathan Hale in person, and yet I couldn’t stop seeing him in my dreams.
My guilt-inspired nightmares no longer just involved my dead mother and sister. Now I saw Nathan with them too, the back of his head missing, brain exposed from a gunshot wound I might have prevented if I’d just stuck around.
“Are you happy?” he would ask me every time I closed my eyes for more than a few minutes. “Did you save yourself, detective?”
I’m the only one I actually can save, I thought as I slipped into the driver’s seat of my police cruiser. I normally drove a less obvious vehicle, but today, I was acting as part of the escort crew moving Nathan to his final destination before the trial began. It was a hotel downtown right near the courthouse with much nicer accommodations than the Peachtree Overlook had to offer, and probably better than the next safe house they’d moved him to after I’d left. At least he’d get one night in a comfortable bed out of this.
“Hey, Marco,” I called out through my open door, referring to the officer coming around the side of the building. My eyes almost immediately fell to his hand as he tried to stuff a white envelope into his pocket. I knew exactly what that was. Every cop did. There was a team of reporters just around the corner, and they would pay cash for the right kind of information for their next big story. A few bills in a plain white and everybody ate just a little better at night.
He stopped dead in his tracks and looked at me with the faintest flicker of fear. I frowned. “Marco—you’ve been talking to the press? We’re about to move a witness. What the hell did you tell them? If you put this move in jeopardy, I swear…”
The flicker died out. “Relax. I… uh…” he said, then held his finger to his lips. “I just spilled a little sugar for the nine o’clock news, that’s all. It was nothing serious though. Nothing about the witness... I swear.”
I nodded and watched as he walked back into the station through the revolving door. I knew a lot of cops were hard-up for cash these days, and I tried not to judge, though I thought talking to the press usually did more harm than good. There was a part of me that wondered what little police secret he’d just sold, but I supposed I could just wait a few days to see it on the front page. Journalists no longer cared about integrity—they were paid to sell headlines. I was sure we’d hear all about it in the next department meeting, and I couldn’t say what annoyed me more: the fact that Marco had sold us out, or knowing that I’d have to hear the Captain bitch about it.
But why did I care? Even if Marco told the press about Nathaniel Hale, maybe he deserved it. Nathan’s reputation was no longer any of my business. I wouldn’t out him for the secret he’d told me, as I could only imagine how that would detract from the prosecution’s case, but I also wouldn’t worry about whether or not he walked out of that courtroom looking like a saint. Everybody wanted the scoop on who was testifying against Mr. Wallace, and if that meant Marco could afford a few new pairs of shoes for his daughter, I wasn’t going to get in the way.
Still, I couldn’t help but shift uneasily as I thought about the witness transfer that was taking place today. It wasn’t just the bulky Kevlar vest making me uncomfortable. There’d be plenty of cops around to protect Nathan, but what if it wasn’t enough? What if he got hurt and couldn’t testify? What if he got hurt period? Wallace wasn’t known for being kind to witnesses. I was angry with Nathan, sure, and even more angry at myself for thinking that billionaire asshole could ever change his stripes, but I didn’t want anything bad to happen to him, either.
I convinced myself that was all it was—a healthy, professional obligation to an innocent—as I turned the key and listened as the cruiser stuttered to life. I put on my shades to block out the glare of the sun as another officer hurried out of the station’s doors.
This was a guy I didn’t recognize. Cutbacks meant forced retirement for some of the old guard, but this guy didn’t look like a rookie. Something about him—maybe the way he walked, or the scar on his face—set off warning bells. I was about to get out of the car when I saw him shake hands with Officer Kimball, a man I did know pretty well. From the expression on Kimball’s face, there was nothing to worry about.
You’re being paranoid, I told myself, letting out a breath to get rid of the jitters coursing through me. The department’s done everything right. You’ve made some mistakes, but getting out of there was the right move. You probably saved Nathan’s life, and you definitely saved your career.
Somehow, that didn’t feel like enough. It didn’t quell the part inside me that wanted to be part of his life, not just the woman who’d made it possible for him to have a shot at living it.
How could I ever be with a man so out of touch with reality? I thought to myself. There was no way I commit myself to someone who put his selfish needs above everyone else’s.
Maybe you should’ve given him more than seventy-two hours to change his entire personality. I took a moment to try and silence the little voice in my head as I shut my door and put my cruiser in reverse. Maybe you weren’t being entirely fair.
That wasn’t an issue I could contend with today. That was something that could be dealt with later after the transfer was complete. Until then, I needed to focus on keeping Nathan alive and putting Peter Wallace’s sorry ass away for good, and then maybe finding the guy who’d waltzed into Nathan’s mansion with a gas can and four groupies ready to kill me to get their way.
“Sounds like a plan,” I muttered out loud, blasting my A/C as I followed the other cruisers onto the highway.
There was no rush today. We were making good time, and Nathan was secure with two officers at the safe house. In fact, we’d been ordered to keep our lights and sirens off so as not to announce the fact that we were picking up the most valuable witness this trial had to offer. No need to broadcast our intent to any unsavory characters that might be waiting for the opportune moment to strike.
What happened next went against all of that wisdom. Kimball’s cruiser turned on his lights, broke left into the emergency lane, and took off ahead of us. I felt the hairs on my nape stand up.
Something isn’t right.
I picked up my radio. “Kimball,” I said, tuning into his frequency. “What’s up, man? I thought we were coasting, K.”
A voice crackled through the speaker. It was Kimball, but he didn’t sound like himself. “Change of plans. Captain Pierce’s orders.”
I frowned, waiting on him to end transmission. “K” was what we said to let the other officer know we were done speaking. It was simple protocol, and protocol was something Kimball always followed without question. As the seconds passed in silence, I felt a twinge of fear rising inside me.
“Really? I didn’t hear anything about that, K,” I said into the CB.
“It’s no big deal,” Kimball assured me over the crackling radio. “Captain Pierce’s orders. They want the transfer to happen now.”
No “K.” No “over.”
“Ten-four, K.”
I still couldn’t shake the feeling like something didn’t quite add up, though, and as minutes passed, that sense of impending doom rose up my spine, breathing on the back of my neck like some dark and lethal menace until I couldn’t take it anymore. Call it a detective’s intuition, call it my own personal bullshit detector, but I had to be sure.
I pressed the accelerator down, sweeping into the emergency lane. Kimball was nowhere in sight as I dialed the Captain’s direct line on my cell. If something was going on I couldn’t risk sending a message out over the radio.
“Captain Pierce.”
“Captain, it’s Detective Williams,” I said, carefully hugging the side of the highway. “I just talked with Officer Kimball. They took off ahead of us with the lights and sirens on. Said they were headed up to the safe house early on your orders.” I paused, trying to think of some excuse for prying. “…should I help?”
The captain was quiet for a moment. In that silence, I read his thoughts loud and clear, but my stomach still lurched when he finally voiced them. “I didn’t send them, Detective, and I didn’t assign any rookies to escort Mr. Hale to the hotel.”
My blood ran cold. I hung up immediately and got back on my radio. “All units, we have a possible breach of security at the safe house. I repeat, a possible breach of security at the safe house.” I flipped on my lights and sirens and hit the gas as hard as I could. “Officer Kimball may have been compromised. He’s got a five-minute head start. Full speed ahead, K.”
But just as the other cars lit up around me, I saw Kimball’s cruiser coming down the opposite side of the highway, lights off but doing at least ninety. There were bullet holes along the side and one of the taillights was shot out.
“Shit!” I snarled, turning the wheel hard into the grassy median and spraying dirt and grass all over the road.
The cruiser bounced over the ditch and scraped hard on the incline. The back end tried to fishtail, but I got everything back under control as I forced the old tired crown vic up over the shoulder and onto the road. Her engine screamed as I put my weight on the gas, shifting gears until I was hitting a cool ninety-five miles an hour, dodging between the four lanes of traffic.
“Car nineteen in pursuit,” I reported over my radio, shifting again as the single taillight of Kimball’s car came into view. “Got ‘em in my sights.” I squinted past the sun glaring off the tinted back window. “Witness is in the car. I repeat, they have the witness, K.”
“Ten-four, car nineteen,” dispatch replied in that even tone of voice they all had down to a science. “Can you see his condition, K?”
“Negative, but he’s alive. K.”
I could see Nathan moving in the back seat, but I had no idea why. They could’ve just killed him at the safe house. My heart thudded so hard I was sure it would crack my ribs. “I need backup, K.”
“Sending units. What’s your position, K?”
“Headed southbound. Just passed mile marker one-twelve approaching the mid-town exit. K.”
Please don’t turn, please don’t turn, I prayed. If they got off there, it’d put us in the traffic-heavy streets filled with civilians, and dispatch would order me to back off.
But they probably knew that, which was exactly why they swerved at the last second and barreled straight down the exit ramp into the warehouse district.
Motherfuckers!
I cut off at least three other cars crossing lanes to follow and narrowly missed clipping the exit sign as I took the same path. Kimball’s cruiser was nosing past the truck stopped at the light, and I took the shoulder to get behind him, hoping to cut him off before he blew the intersection.
“Suspects took the mid-town exit. Car nineteen still in pursuit, K.”
“Halt pursuit, car nineteen,” dispatch predictably ordered. “Civilian concentration is too high, K.”
I shook my head, hot tears burning the corners of my eyes. Goddammit, they weren’t going to walk away from this. Not again.
Peter Wallace had killed enough people. I wasn’t going to let him add Nathan to that list.
“Negative, dispatch. Car nineteen still in pursuit. We’re eastbound on Fontaine Boulevard. Requesting backup, K.”
The dispatcher sounded a little rattled now, as though they weren’t sure how to respond to resistance. “Car nineteen, halt pursuit—”
“Negative,” I repeated. “Send backup, K.”
And then, lowering the volume down to a dull chatter, I watched as Kimball’s cruiser surged into the intersection and followed suit.
It was harder for both our cars to maneuver here. Sure, they’d slowed me down, but they weren’t faring much better. Fontaine was busy this time of day, and traffic tended to bottleneck up ahead at the Carthage intersection. The only advantage either of us had was that we were in police cruisers, and the lights and sirens were enough to convince most cars to move out of the way.
“C’mon!” I shouted at a teenage girl who froze when she saw my lights. She hesitated, trying to figure out which way to go. “Get the fuck out of the way!”
Up ahead, Kimball’s car was making steady progress toward the red light. It wasn’t going to stop. I was going to have to take more drastic measures.
I rammed the front of the girl’s car, pushing her aside as she screamed and dropped her hands from the wheel. I’d barely dented her bumper, but the way she acted, you’d think I’d driven her off a cliff. I shook my head and made eye contact with her as I passed, letting her know that she was a fucking idiot as I made my way through the sea of other cars smart enough to part for a police vehicle.
Kimball—or whoever was driving—wasn’t making any use of the turn signals. When they changed course suddenly on Carthage Avenue, taking out a fire hydrant as they jumped the curb onto the sidewalk, I almost side-swiped a delivery truck trying to follow them.
Jesus, I thought, watching bystanders scramble to avoid the cruiser hurtling down the sidewalk to bypass the traffic. This was bad. Really bad. And I was going to need a miracle to keep up.
“Southbound on Carthage, K,” I yelled into the radio as I weaved through the cars desperately trying to get out of my way. It wasn’t easy, given how narrow the lanes were.
“10-4, car nineteen. Chopper inbound. Please halt pursuit, K,” dispatch answered. I could hear the tension and pleading in the operator’s tone now, but I still had no intention of listening.
I wasn’t going to let Nathan die. And that was exactly what would happen if I gave up and let them take him away.
I should’ve never left you, I thought as I kept my eyes on the figure in the backseat of Kimball’s cruiser. There was no doubt in my mind that it was Nathan. I thought of how terrified he must be. I’m so sorry.
I’d let him down, just like I’d done to Jenny. I had turned my back on him when he had needed me the most, all because I didn’t want to admit the truth about myself. Even after all this time, I couldn’t embrace my feelings for him. I’d loved and desired that man since the first time I laid eyes on him… But this wasn’t over. Like Nathan had said, I couldn’t change the past, but I could sure as hell alter the future.
Another idiot driver pulled over the wrong way, but this time it happened in front of Kimball’s cruiser. It gave me just enough time to catch up, and soon I was bumper-to-bumper with the renegade cop car ahead of me.
I tried to remember the training I’d received as a traffic cop. I needed to get him off the road, and fast. But how the hell was I supposed to do that with so many other cars in the way?
Backup hadn’t arrived. There was no one to throw down any stop sticks, no one to help me herd the cruiser out of traffic or cut it off. I was utterly alone, and unless I could get ahead of them somehow, I was screwed.
Then I realized where we were, and where they were headed. He was trying to outrun me into the warehouse district, where no doubt the Paddies were waiting. If I let them make a right here, they’d be well on their way.
But if I pushed them left…
I whipped into the right lane, then back hard to the left, slamming into the side of Kimball’s cruiser and pushing him through the intersection. With oncoming traffic headed right at us, he had no choice but to turn left toward the bridge instead of right toward the warehouses. I was right behind them, already unfastening my holster as I laid eyes on what I was hoping for.
The bridge was up. A transport vessel not unlike the ones Wallace had used to ship his girls was passing through toward the open ocean. There was no escape except back the way they’d came, and there was no way I was letting them get through me.
Kimball’s cruiser skidded to a halt. I turned my own car sideways, blocking him from making a U-turn and coming back around. Then I exited my vehicle and took aim at the driver, the supposed rookie I’d seen exiting the station. Kimball was nowhere to be seen.
I pushed any thoughts about what had happened to him out of my mind as I lowered my finger onto the trigger. “Out!” I screamed so loud I thought I’d ruptured my throat. “Out of the car! Now!”
The perp unbuckled his seatbelt and opened his door. This was too easy…
“Hands up!” I ordered, approaching him around the front of my car. “Do it now!”
He obeyed, falling to his knees before I’d even told him to. He must’ve known the drill.
“Lock your hands behind your head and put your face on the ground!” I barked, getting closer to my target. He was helpless and prone, both of which were good things. He couldn’t have been anything more than a lackey for the real threat, but thankfully, they were back the other way waiting on a delivery that would never come.
I looked up when Nathan opened the back door. I saw him peek around, his eyes wide, his face pale.
“Sandra,” he breathed. “Jesus Christ.”
“Stay in the car,” I told him, pulling my cuffs out of my belt and snapping them onto the perp’s wrists. I’d never heard such a satisfying sound in my whole life. I pulled him up and brought him back to the car, intent on getting Nathan out before anything else happened.
“Get down!” Nathan shouted suddenly.
Another sound cut through the air, and something hot whizzed by my face. Glass shattered and I dropped like a stone, the man with the scar falling limp against me. He’d taken the bullet meant for me.
Scrambling, I pushed myself up just over the driver’s seat of the ruined cruiser, reaching out and gripping the radio transmitter.
“Shots fired!” I screamed into the radio. I could feel something wet and warm dripping down my cheek, but I had much bigger problems. Gunfire was still pelting the car, obliterating the back window.
The window was attached to the back door.
The back door Nathan had been shielding himself behind…
“No!” I hissed, keeping low as I headed for what I was sure was a body. A thousand possibilities raced through my mind, none of them good. Was Nathan dead? Was he injured? How bad was it? Where had he been hit? Had they won?
But as I came around the side of the door, there was no blood, only glass fragments I did my best not to kneel on.
“Nathan!” I cried. He was lying across the backseat, hands over his ears to block out the continued gunfire from the other side of the street.
He had listened to me, and it had saved his life.
I positioned myself behind the door and peeked up through the broken glass. Just behind my cruiser, two black town cars were blocking traffic. Men were shielding themselves behind them, men I instantly recognized, and one who stood out in particular.
The Paddies were here, and so was the man I had the misfortune of meeting in Nathan’s mansion: Francis O’Rourke.
I stared right into his beady, snake-like eyes as he reloaded a pistol and raised it to fire again. I ducked out of the way of the hail of bullets, covering my ears from the sound. I thanked my lucky stars they were using low caliber hand guns and not something bigger. The car stood a chance at stopping a stream of nine millimeter slugs, but it would melt under fire from anything bigger.
I grabbed Nathan’s pant leg and pulled him down beside me. The windshield exploded, sending shards of glass after us. “Move,” I told him, pushing him toward the back of the car. “Keep down!”
He did as he was told, keeping low as he moved behind the trunk. I waited for the gunfire to die down before popping around the side of the door, setting my sights on the men flanking Francis out in the open.
Pop, pop, pop.
Three shots, one man down. I didn’t relish it, but I did feel relieved. That was just one more asshole who wouldn’t be firing at me anytime soon.
I couldn’t hold my position. The cruiser door could only take so much. I joined Nathan around the back of Kimball’s car, resting my back against the bumper as I asked him: “Where’s the other officer? Where’s Kimball?”
Nathan regarded me grimly. “Dead. All of them are.”
I nodded. I’d figured as much. I remembered Marco coming around the corner with that envelope in his hand, the fear in his eyes when I’d seen him. He was in on it, I was sure. But what about Kimball? Had he died a hero, or a pawn?
The gunfire let up again and I swung around the side with a clear shot at the man on Francis’ left. I fired twice this time and saw him go down, blood spraying from his shoulder. It wouldn’t put him entirely out of the game, but it’d have to do.
“Detective Williams!” I heard O’Rourke crow from beyond the cruiser. He sounded closer somehow. “How nice to see you again.”
“Backup’s on its way,” I warned him through gritted teeth. “They’ll be here any second.”
“Not with that traffic,” he answered. I rose up, firing in his direction. I was blind this time, shooting where I assumed he was, but I missed by a country mile. He’d moved forward and behind my car, leaving his men behind. I imagined that said a lot about him.
“That’s ten shots, detective. My guess is you’ve got one left.”
I closed my eyes. He was right. That last barrage had been a Hail Mary, a desperate attempt to keep O’Rourke at bay or take him out. But I’d failed.
I always failed.
I looked at Nathan. He was staring at the street, at the glass surrounding him. I put my hand on his.
“Hey. Hey, look at me,” I said, and he raised his gaze. “We’re okay. We’re gonna be okay.”
He looked into my eyes. Then he smiled.
“Yeah,” he said. “We are.”
He raised my hand to his lips, kissing my knuckles softly. And then he stood even as I grabbed at his shirt, trying desperately to pull him back down.
“Goddammit, Nathan! No!”
“Here I am!” Nathan said, hands up above his hand as he side-stepped out of my reach and around the side of the car. “Shoot me. Just leave Detective Williams alone.”
“For fuck’s sakes!” I hissed, pushing myself up to stand. I laid my hand right into a patch of glass and screamed as it bit into me, driving shards deep into my palm. Safety glass, my ass!
I had to stop him. I had to save him. Backup wouldn’t arrive in time for any of that.
I pushed myself up with my other hand, switched my gun to my left, and rose up just as the sound of a gunshot reached my ears. Three or four rounds followed from O’Rourke’s glock. Nathan fell backward even as I stood, giving me the perfect shot.
One bullet left… The asshole just shot Nathan…
I was going to have to fire left-handed. My right was mangled by glass and practically useless. I didn’t have time to think or strategize. I had to pull the trigger. Now.
I pressed my right hand up under the stock to steady it, ignoring the white-hot agony that flooded all the way into my shoulder. Then I blew out a breath and pulled the trigger, my eyes never leaving Francis’ baby blues, not even for a second.
That was how I knew how this would end: when I saw how surprised he looked.
The gun clattered onto the asphalt as Francis went down from a neat entrance wound to the chest. I dropped my own gun as I fell next to Nathan’s body, my hands clawing at his shirt and ignoring all the pain that was shooting from my palm.
“Sandra,” Nathan coughed, opening his eyes. “You’re bleeding. Are you okay?”
I nodded as I stared at him, tugging at his shirt. The dark vest peeked out from under his stylish button-up. “Oh, thank God…” I whispered. “You idiot. You colossal idiot…”
“You know, nobody tells you how fucking bad it hurts to get shot in one of these things.”
“What if he shot you in the head?” I replied, tears pouring out of my eyes.
“Would you still love me if I wasn’t quite as beautiful?” Nathan replied, offering up a faint smile.
I nodded mutely, meeting his gaze. “I saved you,” I whispered. It was the only thing I could think of, the only thing I knew to say.
As sirens approached form around the corner, Nathan grinned. He nodded and pulled me into his arms.
“I owe you one,” he replied, holding onto me as I swayed in shock.
The cavalry was here. I could see the blue and red lights flashing around us, hear the squeals of ambulances and the steady beating of a chopper above us.
None of it compared to the comfort Nathan’s arms brought me. We held each other, and the world fell away.