Chapter 60
Chapter Sixty
Emilia
Kayla!” I yell, racing down the alleyway behind the houses and cursing under my breath as I come up short.
We’ve been searching for more than half an hour.
I’ve checked every yard, cornered every person that I’ve seen, each and every one looking haunted after what happened yesterday.
At the last terrace in the row, I stick my head over the gate.
No one.
I jerk my head back, but something catches my eye. I bolt through the gate, rounding the corner of Rayden’s shed. The door hangs wide open, swaying in the breeze. Inside, his make-do, roughly sawn out cubby hole is gaping, bottles glinting in full view.
“Shit.”
Reaching in, I drag the loose plank back into place and pile Rayden’s stuff back over it, before slamming the shed door closed, the sound loud in the quiet yard.
I hear what sounds like the back door opening, but I’m already sprinting back through the gate, circling around to the street as blood roars in my ears.
“Any luck?” Sam calls as he steps out of the street across the road.
I shake my head, stopping and resting my hands on my knees, breathing heavily. “Someone’s raided Rayden’s stash, though.”
“Fuck,” he breathes out, lifting a hand and running it over his hair. “I didn’t spot anything on any of the other streets.”
“I don’t know where to go from here. She could have gone anywhere.”
Footsteps sound against the pavement, and I shoot upright, but it’s only Heidi. My hands fall back to my knees as my pulse thunders.
“Nothing by the shop,” she says, breath shaky.
Sam’s eyes sweep over the street again, as if Kayla might suddenly materialise from thin air. He looks completely lost.
“What are we going to do?” Heidi whispers, her lip quivering.
My mind churns, rifling through everything Kayla has ever told me. The three of us tore through her house first, finding it empty. Nothing out of place, except a few splatters of blood on the cream carpet in their living room.
She wouldn’t go back to Grafton House—she told me herself she has no friends there.
She hates the fields, wouldn’t be there unless she had to be. And with her husband dead, the Enforcers told Zac she could take two days of bereavement leave.
Her family home was decimated in the war. Her mum is missing.
Our school is still a half standing husk… but nothing in me believes she’d go there.
I only have one option left.
“I know how to find her,” I say. “Follow me.”
I stride down the road, adrenaline fuelling me before the others can react. My heels slam against the tarmac, and Sam and Heidi scramble to catch up.
“I have friends who have access to the CCTV in the city. They’ll help us trace Kayla’s steps,” I tell them, in no mood to keep secrets any longer.
I turn onto the next street, the lines of terrace houses silent, most of the Sector settling in for the night.
A few lights shine through the windows as the summer sun begins to set.
“The ones Claudia mentioned?” Heidi asks, voice fraught with despair. “When you were down at the train tracks?”
I just give her a quick nod in response. We head down the road, and I walk towards the familiar alleyway that cuts down beside the oak tree. We’re only a few steps from the corner when something moves at the edge of my vision.
I stop dead, Heidi slamming into my back with a groan.
The tall, blonde figure disappears around the corner, headed towards the old church, and I instantly take off down the street, running as fast as I can in my impractical boots.
“Mils,” Sam hisses behind me. They’re both hot on my tail.
Air stutters from my lungs as I round the corner at full speed and sprint towards the track for the church.
It’s the church exclusively for use by the Married Sector.
Those who have babies can christen them here, and those who fall in love can renew their vows within the rebuilt chapel.
I skid to a halt where the tarmac turns to gravel, chest heaving.
“Did you see her?” Heidi gasps, almost inaudible as she pants for breath. I guess Bridget’s brutal running regime really has helped me.
I don’t answer.
Kayla stands in the centre of the track, bedraggled and half dressed. She clutches the bottle of vodka like a lifeline, swaying as she clumsily moves one foot in front of the other. She’s slow, uncoordinated, practically zombie-like.
And stalking straight towards her is an Enforcer, State crest glinting on her uniform as her hand drifts to her hip, locking around the baton and tugging it out.
They’re the only two people on the track, and right now, Kayla’s nothing but prey.
Sam lunges forward, but I reach out, grabbing his corduroy jacket and yanking him back as hard as I can.
His bewildered eyes meet mine, attempting to pull free, but I shake my head, pointing up at the CCTV camera on the streetlight, red light blinking, lens trained on the track and the church at the end.
Something Kieran and Jordan have shown me this past month is the surveillance that Anna’s inside information and Kieran’s tech skills have allowed them to access. I know exactly where the few working cameras are, the State using each one to monitor any activity they deem to be suspicious.
Kayla staggers back as the Enforcer closes in.
And then, like a woman possessed, she lifts her arm and smashes the bottle into the wall. It shatters on impact, liquid and glass erupting around her and falling to the ground. The shatter echoes around us.
The Enforcer jerks back, immediately yelling at her.
“Mils, we need to get—” Sam is cut off mid-sentence as Kayla lunges, driving the jagged bottleneck straight into the Enforcer’s throat.
Well, fuck.
The Enforcer staggers, gargling, hands flying to her neck as blood coats her fingers, splattering onto Kayla, coating the grieving widow who doesn’t even flinch; she just stands there, watching with a hollow expression.
“Give me your hoodie,” I hiss at Sam. A strangled cry spills through Heidi’s lips, and her hands fly to her mouth.
Sam is wide eyed, gaze flicking between me and the bloody scene. “Mils—”
“Now, Sam,” I snap.
He jerks into motion, yanking off his jacket before tugging the thin, plain black jumper over his head. I snatch it from him, shoving my arms through and yanking the hood up to hide my hair and face.
“Stay here,” I order before turning and sprinting for Kayla. I reach her in seconds, roughly yanking the bloody bottleneck out of her hand. I don’t spare the Enforcer more than a fleeting glance, crumpled on the floor, her breath spluttering with blood.
I force Kayla back to the street, Sam and Heidi both staring, frozen with panic.
“What do we do?” Heidi wails.
I bite my lip, handing Kayla to Sam and looking down at the glass in my hand. It has her fingerprints. Mine too. My heart pounds against my rib cage.
I don’t have a choice. Not really.
I need to get Kayla away from here, hidden somewhere they can’t find her.
It’ll be half an hour before someone else is patrolling the area, especially if someone’s watching the cameras, and then another fifteen minutes before they’re searching for the unhinged blonde girl who stabbed one of their own to death.
I can’t leave Heidi and Sam here either; that’s out of the question.
“Follow me,” I say, steadier than I feel. “Come on!”
Heidi grabs Kayla from the other side, leading her behind me. I trail back towards the alleyway, ignoring any consequences and reminding myself that the poor, heartbroken girl behind me needs help.
“Where are we going?” Heidi’s voice is shaky as we tear down the alleyway. I don’t answer. If I open my mouth, I’ll throw up. Within minutes, the tall, boarded up Victorian house comes into view.
Heidi slows, her gaze fanning over the facade with wide eyes.
“Here,” I press the bloody bottleneck into her hands and help Sam haul Kayla around the debris. “Heidi, knock on the door seven times.”
“What?” she breathes out.
“Seven!” I repeat sharply. “Do it!”
I should open the door myself, but with Kayla swaying, her knees buckling, I’m just praying that one of the others is here right now.
Heidi steps forward on shaky legs, rapping her knuckles against the door. She jumps back as the door is hauled open from inside.
Fantastic. Out of everyone, it has to be her who’s here.
“What the fuck is this?” Anna snaps. I barge past her, Sam and Kayla still attached to me, and Heidi on my heels. “What the fuck do you think you’re doing?”
Kieran and Bridget appear in the doorway, and Kieran’s eyes nearly fall out his head at the sight. “Em?”
“I didn’t know what else to do,” I reply, as Sam pins Kayla against the kitchen counter. “She stabbed an Enforcer.”
“She did what?” Anna hisses, her emerald eyes widening.
“They’ll be hunting her down.”
“So?” Anna snaps. “We aren’t an asylum for criminals!”
“Shut up, Anna,” Bridget retorts, stepping closer. “Why did she stab them?”
“I…” I trail off.
“They killed Jace,” Heidi says softly, and realisation quickly dawns on their faces.
“She’s the wife of the guy who was killed last night?” Kieran asks.
I nod.
“Where did she stab them?”
“The neck,” I reply.
Bridget smirks. “Excellent. But I meant where? Which street?”
“Oh. The track by the church. Married Sector.”
“Shit.” Bridget grimaces. But Kieran doesn’t waste a second, beelining across the room, taking the spiral staircase two steps at a time.
“Stay with her,” I tell Heidi and Sam. “Through that door”—I gesture with my head—“there’s a sofa.”
Heidi nods, entirely pale, but I don’t wait, already chasing Bridget and Kieran. I duck my head into the small attic room. Kieran faces me, sitting in front of the small screen, Bridget standing beside him.
“How is it?” I ask.
“I’m not sure we have access to that camera,” Kieran mutters, clicking through feeds, his brow furrowed. Then, his eyes widen. “Got it.”
Bridget leans closer.
I don’t move around the desk to watch. Instead, I lean back against the wall beside the stairs, the brick cold against my spine. My lip is tugged between my teeth, gut coiled tighter than should be possible.
Maybe I didn’t do enough to conceal my identity.
They might already know that I was there. And Zac is at work, vulnerable. If they know I helped a fugitive escape, he'll pay the price.
“Wow,” Bridget breathes out before letting out a whistle. “She really got her good.”
“You can’t tell it’s you,” Kieran says, eyes still on the screen before he glances up. “You did good hiding in that hoodie.” For the first time since Kayla disappeared, my shoulders sag with relief.
“Thank fuck.” My words spill out on a long, shaky exhale.