Come Back

“Yes.” A voice from the open doorway startles both of us and I whirl around. “Be a good girl, Sasha Cherlin, and put the gun down.” I look back at Sasha and she has not put the gun down, but she’s not pointing it at me anymore, either. “Do you remember me?” the man asks her. He’s blond, tan, looks like that surfer guy I propositioned to make James jealous when we first met last week.

Sasha nods. “I know who you are. And if you come any closer, I’ll shoot you.”

“Awww, the little girl is all grown up.”

Sasha growls at his patronizing tone.

“Well.” The blond man moves two steps close to me, but steers clear of Sasha. And then he drags his gaze from her and directs it at me. “Harper Tate. We have not had the pleasure. I’m Number One. And you, I’m sorry to say”—he smiles then, and that is the most evil smile I’ve ever seen—“belong to me.”

I recoil at his words. “I don’t think so.”

“We had a deal.”

“We did not have a deal,” I half snort, feeling more confident. Who the hell is this guy?

“Not you and I, dear. Tet. Tet and I had a deal.”

My stomach turns over. A gut-wrenching ache engulfs my heart. I have never felt such an emotional force internally as I do now. It almost knocks me over, that’s how hard this betrayal hits me.

“And it involved that little card you have there.”

I look down at the SD card I’m still holding between my fingertips. My out. The only thing I’ve been living for all year was this card and the promise that Nick would come back and get me. We’re gonna save everyone. We’re gonna make everything right again.

I look back up at the man called One and shake my head. “You can’t have it, I don’t care who promised you. I won’t—”

He’s got me by the throat before I can finish, the inner crook of his elbow a crushing force against my windpipe. I forget everything. Everything! My hands are clutching at his arm, trying to pry it away as my vision begins to black out. And then I hear Sasha scream, a sharp prick to my inner arm, and… nothing.

Chapter Thirty-Seven - James

“One,” I yell, as Harper’s body goes limp in his arms. She’s got a red streak around her neck, like she was strangled. “If you—”

“Don’t come any closer, Tet. She’s out from the asphyxiation, but she’s drugged too. It was a big dose. She needs an antagonist stat.”

Fuck. “I will f**king kill you. I will f**king—”

He holds up the SD card in his hand and a wave of defeat washes over me. “I’m leaving, she can stay,” he says, lowering Harper to the ground. “Because it was Nicola I always wanted, Tet. And before you get all big brother on me, you should know, this was her idea.” He smiles as I internalize what he just said.

The betrayal sinks in. The set up sinks in.

“You think I’m lying? I’ll send you proof when we’re safely away.” And then he nods his head at Sasha. “That useless kid over there is also your problem. The Admiral gave you an order, so I imagine you’ll know what to do with her to get back into his good graces once he learns of this coup.”

Sasha is actually pointing her gun at him, but the shock in her eyes renders her helpless.

“I’m leaving, and if you’re smart, you’ll go get your naloxone and save the Admiral’s daughter, because Nicola doesn’t need saving, Tet. She’s right where she wants to be.” He grins. “With me.”

“She’s turning blue, James,” Sasha says in a voice that should not be that calm.

“Better go get it, Tet. She’ll be dead in a minute or less.”

I bolt back into the hallway, take the steps three at a time and crash through the door that leads outside. I practically tear the gate off the hinges and slam into the garage door as I key in the numbers to open it up and get to the first-aid kit in the Hummer. I punch in the wrong code and get a red flashing light, it cycles through a mandatory waiting sequence before I can try again, and I force myself to breathe deeply as my shaky finger presses each number correctly. The door slides up and I drop to the ground and shimmy underneath as it rises. I open the cargo area and then the tub where the first-aid kit is stored.

I grab the naloxone rescue pen and retreat at a full run back to Harper’s apartment. When I get there, Sasha is kneeling down next to Harper, shaking her and calling her name over and over again. “She’s dead! She’s dead!”

No. I push Sasha out of the way and stab Harper with the pen, then press the plunger. I check her pulse. So weak. So very, very weak. I lean down on her chest and hold my breath as I listen for hers. Nothing.

Sasha is screaming now, hysterical. But my world goes silent and I only see Harp. “Lionfish,” I whisper in her ear as I position her neck for rescue breathing. “Lionfish, you’re not getting out of here that easy.” I hold her nose, cover her mouth with mine, and breathe.

I breathe into her. I place a hand on her chest to make sure her lungs are inflating. I do this over and over again.

Sasha is crying.

Harper is not breathing on her own, but that’s OK.

I’m breathing for her.

That’s all I hear. My lungs drawing in air, then her lungs taking it from me. It’s a comforting rhythm that calms me down. A minute passes. Then two. Her heart is beating and that’s all that matters. As long as I breathe for her, her heart beats. As long as her heart beats, she’s alive. Three minutes pass, then four, and five.