Chapter 27
Tessa
The turnout is quiet.
Too quiet.
Gravel crunches under the tires as we pull in, trees closing in around the road like they’re listening.
I step out with Ace beside me, the air cool and sharp in my lungs.
This feels different.
Not like running.
Not like hiding.
Like stepping into something on purpose.
Blaze stays by the truck, laptop open. Trigger disappears toward the treeline. Beast lingers close—silent, watchful.
“Remember,” Ace says quietly, “you don’t have to say anything you don’t want to.”
I nod.
“I want to.”
Because this—
This is mine.
A car approaches.
Slow.
Stops a few yards away.
A man steps out.
Mid-thirties. Uniform. Hands visible.
“Cole?” Ace calls.
“Yeah.”
He looks at me.
Recognition. I went to school with him.
Guilt.
“I’m sorry,” he says.
The words hit, but they don’t break me.
“Show us what you brought,” Ace says.
Cole nods, pulling a small drive from his pocket.
“Dispatch logs,” he says. “Original entries before they were altered. Reynolds logs in at 21:14. Crash call comes in at 21:22.”
Eight minutes.
My chest tightens.
“He was there,” I whisper.
“Yes,” Cole says. “And there’s more.”
He hands the drive over.
“Maintenance records for that county vehicle,” he continues. “Damage reported the next morning. Logged as ‘animal strike.’”
My stomach turns.
“Animal,” I repeat.
Ace’s voice goes cold. “They wrote her off like roadkill.”
Cole swallows. “I didn’t know. Not then.”
I meet his eyes.
“But you do now.”
“Yes.”
“Then say it,” I tell him.
His jaw tightens.
“Sheriff Daniel Reynolds was on scene before the crash was reported,” he says. “And the vehicle that caused the collision was a county car under his control.”
The words hang in the air.
Heavy.
Real.
“Good,” Ace says. “You’ll say that again—on record.”
Cole nods. “I will.”
A branch snaps in the distance.
Everyone goes still.
Trigger’s voice cuts low through the comm in Ace’s ear. “Two vehicles incoming. Fast.”
Of course.
Ace doesn’t even look surprised.
“Positions,” he says.
Beast shifts, placing himself between me and the road. Blaze snaps the laptop shut, moving to the truck.
Cole’s eyes widen. “I didn’t bring anyone.”
“We know,” Ace says.
Engines growl closer.
My pulse spikes.
But I don’t freeze.
Not this time.
I step closer to Ace instead.
“I’m not leaving,” I say.
He glances at me.
A beat.
Then a nod.
“Stay with me.”
Always.
The vehicles burst into the turnout.
Different from before.
More organized.
Doors open.
Men step out.
This time—
They’re careful.
Measured.
Weapons low but ready.
A man in a suit steps forward.
Not Daniel.
But close enough.
“Ms. Bloom,” he says. “You’re making this very difficult.”
I almost laugh.
“Yeah,” I say. “I’ve heard that before.”
He smiles thinly.
“We can still resolve this.”
“No,” I say. “We can’t.”
His eyes flick to Ace.
“You’re escalating a situation that could have been handled quietly.”
Ace doesn’t move.
“Too late.”
The man’s gaze hardens.
“Then we proceed differently.”
He lifts a hand—
And in that second, everything snaps tight.
Trigger’s voice: “Now.”
Ace moves.
Fast.
Controlled.
Blaze guns the engine.
Beast shifts, blocking me as Ace pulls me back toward the truck.
Cole hesitates—
Then runs with us.
Doors slam.
Tires spin.
We tear out of the turnout as one of the men shouts behind us.
A crack echoes—
Gunfire.
My breath catches.
But we’re already moving.
Fast.
Gone.
I grip the seat, heart pounding—
But not with fear.
Not anymore.
With something else.
Something stronger.
Because this time—
They didn’t stop me.
They didn’t silence me.
They didn’t win.
I look at Ace.
He meets my gaze.
And I know—
We’re close.
Really close.