Chapter Twenty-Eight Grayson
Chapter Twenty-Eight
Grayson
The scene was ruined before I even stepped out of the car.
Yellow tape blocked off areas in front of Violet’s house, people congregated right outside that line, and the cruiser sat at the curb, gutted and gaping. The oppressive sight of drying blood was visible even from where I sat in my vehicle.
Two tarp-covered shapes lay on the front lawn. I clenched my jaw until it ached.
“Fuck,” I murmured. Two dead officers killed in broad daylight only feet from Violet’s front door. I stared at all the people filling the sidewalks, their mouths slack-jawed, their phones lifted high as they recorded the scene.
Blue and red lights from the cruisers parked all around the street pinged off everything they touched. And then I saw Violet standing in her doorway, her friend Harper right beside her, looking scared as fuck.
Matt was in front of the two women, his face angrily animated. That motherfucker. He was such an arrogant prick. I was out of my car and moving toward them right away.
“Jesus Christ,” Matt snapped. “You left? We answer a call that two of our own have been slaughtered in your front yard because they were here to watch you, and you fucking leave after calling 911?”
Violet flinched, and I growled in annoyance.
“Dispatch says you disconnected mid-call. Do you have any idea how that looks?” Matt kept battering her with questions.
“She was terrified!” Harper cut in, sharp as a blade. “You saw what happened here.” Harper swung her arm out to where the two officers’ corpses were. “You think anyone would’ve sat in that house waiting for their turn?”
Matt didn’t even blink at Harper. His fury was for Violet alone. “You jeopardized the investigation. You abandoned the scene. I should put you in fucking cuffs right now.”
I tasted blood when I bit the inside of my cheek.
Her voice stuttered and sounded small when she said, “I’m so sorry.” Tears streamed down her cheeks, and she wiped them away. “I was scared.”
Matt stepped in close, looming, his voice dropping low enough I couldn’t hear the words. But I saw what it did to her. Saw Violet go still, like something inside her froze solid. That was enough.
“Back the fuck off, Agent.” I cut through the uniforms with a fury I rarely felt. I loosened my tie, feeling the tightness around my throat. All I saw was Violet.
Her head lifted, and her eyes found mine. I swear I felt the ground shift under me. For a second everything around me went silent—the cops, their loud voices, the crowd . . . all of it faded away until it was just Violet.
Matt straightened and turned to look at me, his eyes narrowed. “This doesn’t concern you, Iverson. This isn’t your investigation. It’s fucking mine.” Matt pointed to Violet. “She left the scene,” he said again.
“I know.” My voice was flat and hard, like steel. “But we don’t handle shit this way.” I flicked a glance to Harper and Violet. “You two. Out on the porch.”
I put a hand at the small of Violet’s back, steady pressure, guiding. She was unsteady, like her legs were seconds away from going out from under her. Every muscle in me was primed to catch her if she folded.
Matt cursed something nasty as I followed the women out to the front porch—away from the taped-off interior crime scene.
Once there, I exhaled, but everything felt fucking wrong.
The metallic scent of blood filled the air.
Forensics were scouring her home, everything they touched potential evidence.
There were numbered placards on the floor by the back door where broken glass lay, and more in the kitchen.
This was the second time they’d been in Violet’s home in just days, and I knew that had to be fucking with her.
I steered Violet to a chair on the porch and crouched in front of her, close enough to feel the frantic rush of her breath. “Hey, baby,” I whispered. “Breathe.” I pressed two fingers to the inside of her wrist. Her pulse raced, frantic under her skin. “In for four. Hold. Out for seven.”
Her chest rose, hitched, fell. After long moments, she finally calmed.
“I tried calling you,” she breathed out.
“I know. I’m sorry. I couldn’t answer,” I told her, my voice quiet.
“It was a briefing lockdown. No phones, no exceptions.” I saw suspicion flicker in her eyes, paranoia gnawing at her.
I understood, but I hated seeing it directed my way.
She wanted to believe me, but the world had gutted her trust.
I leaned closer, low enough for only her to hear. “I won’t let anyone hurt you.”
“You did the right thing going to Harper,” I said, even if legally it had been the wrong route to take. “But running from a scene—it makes you both a target and a suspect.” I wouldn’t lie to her, but I tried to soften the truth.
She flinched. I hated that I was the one to cut her like this with my words.
Harper pulled out a chair and sat beside Violet. “That agent is a real dick,” she said under her breath. “I give him two minutes before he’s back in here to make her the villain again. You want me here or gone?”
“Here,” Violet whispered quickly, before I could open my mouth. “Don’t leave me.”
Her desperation lodged sharply in my chest.
Harper nodded. “I’m not going anywhere. Don’t worry. This is so fucked up.”
As if she’d summoned him, Agent Matt’s shadow darkened the doorway again, but Agent Landry was now beside him. Matt didn’t waste time before he started in once more, but at least he kept his tone more even and the volume less aggressive.
“Okay, listen. You abandoned a live crime scene. Dispatch called you twice. You didn’t answer. That’s on record.” His glare cut to me, and I saw something akin to compassion flicker over his face. “She’s unstable, Iverson. And you know it.”
I stood before I thought about it. Put my body between him and Violet.
“You don’t get to decide what she is. She’s had to deal with unrelenting trauma.
Of course she’d be scared fucking shitless.
” I wanted to put him through the wall. Instead, I held my ground.
“You want to write this up and use it against her, that’s on you.
I can’t stop that. But you don’t get to bury her because you don’t like how real terror looks on a victim.
And that’s what Violet is. She’s a victim. ”
Landry clicked her pen, her voice soft in comparison. “Ms. Santos, can you clarify where you went after leaving?”
I looked at Violet and saw her grip the edge of her chair hard enough her knuckles turned white.
“Harper’s,” she whispered. “They broke in—shattered glass, tried the doors. I fought one off, but I thought I heard them again inside Harper’s house, saying my name.” She swallowed audibly.
Landry wrote something on her damn notepad. Matt muttered “convenient” under his breath. I crouched back down beside Violet, ignoring them both.
“I feel like I’m losing my mind,” she murmured and rubbed her temples.
“You’re not crazy,” I told her, voice firm. Her gaze locked on mine. She looked so damn haunted, but beautiful in her vulnerability. And I knew, with a clarity that felt like acid in my veins, that if anyone hurt her, I’d cut them from belly to throat and watch them bleed out.
“Chain of custody,” Landry murmured, already holding out a bag. “We’ll need her phone.”
Violet hesitated for only a second, but then handed over the cell.
“We’ll need a full statement on the timeline of events after you disconnected from 911.”
Violet nodded. “Of course. Whatever you need.”
Matt loomed closer again. “If you pull another stunt like this, Ms. Santos, there will be serious legal repercussions.”
I rose to my full height. “Are you threatening to arrest a victim?” My voice dropped low. “Do it. But I can guarantee you won’t like what happens next.” For a moment it looked like he wanted to test me. His jaw flexed. Then he muttered something under his breath and stalked back toward the hall.
When I faced Violet and Harper again, both women looked surprised. Harper whistled under her breath and chuckled, and Violet gave me a small, sad smile as she mouthed, “Thank you.”
Eventually the crowd thinned out, and Harper squeezed Violet’s shoulder. The house hummed with the loud silence left over from dealing with hard shit. Violet slumped in her chair, looking utterly exhausted. I cupped her face, tilting it until her eyes found mine.
“You’re not alone,” I said. “Not while I’m breathing.” Her lips twitched in another smile, and she nodded once. But I could still see so much unease reflected at me.
In that moment, with the horrors painting the streets literal red, I knew this wasn’t about rules or procedures anymore. It was about survival.
And that meant keeping Violet safe, no matter who I had to betray, fight, or even kill.