Chapter 44
AVA - CAUTIONARY TALE
It happened on a Thursday in April.
After what seemed light endless days of scrambling to keep up, to figure out what Erin's end goal was... Keep our head above water.
It was mid-morning, and there was a beautiful cloudless sky.
The kind of day that felt too calm to be real.
The kind of day that made us think that we would be ok.
We were reviewing intake reports, mine on one side of the desk, Remi’s on the other, talking about whether we could afford another part-time intake worker.
If we could use some of the extra grant income to take over the space next door and turn it into an overflow for the clinic when the shelters were full.
Remi was making her second cup of coffee. I was debating yogurt or a granola bar.
Nothing about it felt like a before.
Until the glass shattered.
I didn’t even register the noise at first. The crash of the front door giving way. The sound of boots slamming into hardwood. Someone shouting, “CLEAR!”
Not until I saw the red dots sweep across the floor, one landing right across Remi’s chest.
“What the...” I started, then froze as the wall behind her filled with tactical gear, rifles, and bulletproof vests stamped with POLICE.
Patients screamed.
A young mother with a baby dropped to her knees, shielding the infant with her body.
Another client bolted for the hallway and was shoved down, face-first, into the floor.
I stood. Arms raised on instinct. “What is happening?”
“Step away from the desk!” a voice barked. Male. Harsh.
And then came her voice.
Calm. Cold. Precise.
“I’ll take it from here.”
Sergeant Erin Voss stepped into the center of the chaos like she was walking a goddamn runway. No helmet. No vest. Just a badge clipped to her hip and that smug, lipsticked smile.
“Sinclair,” she said, eyeing me like I was a stain. “Congratulations. You’ve officially become a criminal liability.”
My stomach turned.
“I want a lawyer.”
“You’re not under arrest. Yet.”
“Cut the shit, Erin, if you aren't here to arrest me, then get the fuck out of my clinic.”
She waved a search warrant in the air like a trophy.
“Legally sanctioned. We have probable cause, financial misconduct, grant fraud, and trafficking ties. You’ve been operating as a shadow transit hub for undocumented victims. Falsified paperwork.
Laundered donations. Even fabricated client logs to pad your numbers. ”
Every word sliced deeper than the last.
I couldn’t speak.
Because I couldn’t breathe.
And then I stepped forward. Hands still raised. “If you think I’m going to let you destroy this place, you better cuff me now and drag me out.”
Remi’s voice came from behind me.
Calm. Final. Unshakable.
“No.”
I turned, already shaking. “Remi…”
She stepped forward, placing herself between me and the nearest officer like she was made of steel.
“It was me,” she said. “I filed the reports. I handled the books. The patient logs. The money. Take me.”
“Remi, don’t...” My voice cracked. The first tear slid free, and I hated it. Hated that I was falling apart while she stood there like a warrior.
“She had nothing to do with this,” she said, locking eyes with Erin. “You want someone to pin this on? Pin it on me.”
Erin’s brow lifted. “Now that’s interesting. You’re admitting guilt?”
“I’m admitting responsibility,” Remi shot back. “There’s a difference.”
The officers looked to Erin.
She nodded. “Take her.”
“No.” I lunged. “Don’t you fucking touch her...”
A gun was aimed in my direction.
Remi held up a hand. “It’s okay, Ava.”
“No, it’s not!” My voice was hitting a pitch I didn’t recognize. “You didn’t do this! We didn’t... this isn’t...!”
“No,” she said, eyes locked on mine. “But I can survive it.”
The doors opened again. More noise. More chaos.
And this time… it was Harlan.
His eyes swept the scene, the overturned chairs, the terrified patients, the drawn guns. Then me.
And then her.
He moved forward. Expression unreadable.
Erin smiled like the devil in lipstick. “Perfect timing, Chief. Our suspect already confessed.”
“She’s not a suspect,” I snapped. “And she didn’t confess shit, you fucking liar. She’s taking the fall for me... a fall you orchestrated, Voss.”
Remi turned to him. “Go ahead, Chief. You came all this way.”
He hesitated.
Just a beat.
And then he stepped forward and pulled the cuffs from his belt.
“No.” I whispered it. Begged it.
I couldn’t breathe. Couldn’t blink.
Remi didn’t flinch. Didn’t break.
And Harlan didn’t look at me.
He looked at her.
And he cuffed her wrists.
The room went dead silent.
Then Remi looked up at him, calm, searing, and said, “Didn’t know when you said you had my back, you meant you’d be standing there cuffing me.”
And I watched Harlan recoil like he had been shot.
They led her toward the door.
I tried to follow, but I couldn’t reach her.
A wounded sound tore from my throat as I screamed her name.
And all I could do was hope someone, anyone, knew this wasn’t justice. This wasn’t the truth. This wasn’t how our story was supposed to end.
But in the eyes of the law?
We weren’t just rebels.
We weren't the good guys.
We were a cautionary tale.
We were the villains.
I stood there, shaking, while Harlan read Remi her rights. While she stared at him like she’d never forgive him. Like she couldn’t believe he’d do it himself.
I watched him put her in the back of the car.
Watched him walk away without looking back.
And something inside me cracked down the center.
I wanted to collapse. To scream until my voice shattered.
But patients were crying in the waiting room.
There were children still hiding behind chairs.
And someone had to hold the fucking line.
I walked back into the clinic, blood pounding in my ears. Found my phone and dialled the only person I trusted.
“Jack,” I said when he answered.
“Ava?”
My voice broke. “It’s bad. It’s Erin. She arrested Remi.” I swallowed hard. “We need help.”