Chapter 57
HARLAN - I AM TERRIFIED
When I walked by, Remi was seated in the corner of the observation room, her arms crossed tightly, as if they were the only things keeping her upright.
She looked better than yesterday, worse than this morning. Like the gravity of it all kept shifting, and she was stuck inside it.
I didn’t expect her to trust me.
Which was why I knew I needed Ava on board.
When I had approached her, all I wanted to do was pull her in my arms, let her ground me... let me believe if only for a moment that my whole world wasn't burning up in front of me.
But that wasn't what she needed, so I stopped short and took her in before her ocean eyes locked onto mine, and the fear and pain in her eyes nearly did me in.
I couldn't hold myself back then, because maybe she did need me as much as I needed her.
I sat beside her on the bench and watched a single tear track down her cheek. "I am so sorry, baby."
Ava turned her face from the rest of the precinct and wiped her tears.
"Can I hug you... hold you?" I asked.
Her eyes shot back to mine, and so much lived in their depths. "Aren't you worried about what everyone will think? The review board is in your office."
I wrapped an arm around her and pulled her in tight beside me. She stilled for a moment and then let go of the tension, the fear... the distance between us.
"I know you said now is not the time, but it needs to be said anyway.
I love you. I love you, Ava, and I am sorry that I didn't do a better job at showing you.
I am sorry I didn't tell you the truth, give you what you needed.
But since I have met you, there has only been you, and even if you decide I am not worth it in the end, there will only ever be you.
I can explain and I will... when you are ready, when we have time. But I just needed you to know."
Her lip trembled, and I knew she was trying to be strong, so I changed the subject. "We want to move Remi somewhere safe."
Ava sighed and nuzzled into me a little more. "She's not safe here anymore, is she?"
I shook my head. Erin's departure had cleared out the worst of them, but internal affairs and outside agencies were digging deeper into her background. So was Gray.
“She’s not going to listen to me,” I said quietly. “If we’re going to get her out of here without a fight, I need you to help her see the bigger picture.”
Ava nodded once, lips drawn thin.
“She’s already losing herself, Harlan. If we make her feel caged again...”
“She won’t be caged,” I said. “She’ll be protected. Hidden. Alive.”
"Okay, Harlan, I trust you with her."
God, did she know what that meant to me? That simple statement.
I guided Ava to the observation room and opened the door.
Remi didn’t look up.
Not at first.
Then, slow and sure, she lifted her eyes and stared at me like I was interrupting something... anything, as if she wasn't sitting by herself in a cold, sterile room.
“Am I being charged with something new?” she asked, voice flat. “Or are we just playing musical chairs again with who gets to lock the door behind me?”
Ava stepped in beside me, and it sounded like the air left her lungs as she whispered, “Remi...”
“I’m fine,” she said. “And I know what this is, which is bullshit! I don’t need reassignment or reassessment or whatever legal bullshit you’re calling it now. I’ll stay here until someone actually follows the law.”
“You can’t stay here,” I said. “Not because we don’t want you to. Because I am terrified that we can’t protect you if you do.”
“Funny,” she said. “Thought that was your job.”
Ava went to respond, and I touched her elbow, "That is fair, Remi. I deserve that. I have failed you... and I am trying to do right by you now..."
“Remi,” Ava said softly, “Erin’s not done. She filed formal complaints. She named all of us. You. Me. Jack.”
Remi blinked. Just once. But it hit.
She looked at Ava for a long moment before glancing back at me.
“So what? You want me to run?”
“No,” I said. “I want you to live long enough to help take her down.”
She stood. Slowly. And stared me down, even though she was looking up at me.
“Where would I even go?”
“There are options,” I said. “People we trust. Kane’s working on a few. I could call someone I know... he has a ranch that is protected...”
“I’m not going to stay with some strange man I’ve never met,” she snapped. "Someone I don't know that I can trust."
“I didn’t mean...”
“I know what you meant. But this?” she gestured between us, the room, the precinct. “This is already too much. You think I’m just going to vanish into someone’s safehouse like I’m part of some witness relocation plan?”
“You’d have a say,” Ava cut in gently. "I think... actually, you know what. What if we reach out to previous clients... ones with connections as deep as Erin's."
Remi looked like she was struggling, "Ava, that's not why we do what we do. I don't want to abuse a relationship with a former client."
Ava growled, actually growled. "God Remi, it's like you don't see yourself like everyone else does.
You would not be abusing or taking advantage of any other shit you are coming up in that beautiful brain of yours.
.. I bet you there are so many people willing and wanting to help in any way.
Didn't that press conference prove anything to you?
You have made an impact, Remi, more than you realize.
People love you, respect you and want to help. "
Remi’s brow furrowed.
She looked around the room, as if planning to escape this conversation, and then sighed. "Who would I even ask?"
Ava smiled widely and said. “Actually... there’s a group already offering. You helped them before. A woman from the Dawnbreakers MC...”
Remi's eye grew wide, and Ava moved closer.
“You remember, Mara,” Ava continued. “Her ex put her through hell. You helped her walk away when no one else believed her. She’s in a better place now, and she told her club what you did.
Their president called me personally. Offered any kind of help you needed.
They were on a run when the press conference happened.
Said if you needed anything... to let him know.
I think you’d be safe there with them, Rem, guarded, anonymous, and under their protection.
No pressure. Just a debt they’d like to repay. ”
Remi blinked fast, lips parting.
“I remember Mara.” Her voice cracked. “She didn’t think she was worth saving.”
“You made her believe otherwise,” Ava said. “Now she wants you to know the same thing.”
I reached into my pocket and handed her the burner phone we’d prepped.
“No press. No cameras. No police logs. On record... just a medical reassignment, off the record... well, that won't matter as long as you live through this, Remi. You’ll be gone before the ink dries.”
She stared down at the phone as if it were a grenade.
Then...
“You think this’ll work?” she asked. “That Erin won’t find me? Won't retaliate against Ava.”
“No,” I said. “I think she’ll be looking the other way when you’re already gone, and even if she catches on... figures it out, she'd be starting a war she can't win.”
A knock came at the door.
Gray stepped in, a nod toward Remi. “We’ve got a route. Two unmarked SUVs. One guard. One driver, for each. We’re clear for ninety minutes.”
Ava touched Remi’s arm. “You don’t have to go forever. Just long enough to catch your breath and for us to get a shot of getting ahead of Erin instead of playing defence.”
Remi hesitated.
Then whispered, “Will Mara be there?”
“If you agree, I can see if she’ll meet you at the clubhouse,” Ava said. “Her partner, too.”
Gray cleared his throat. “The Dawnbreakers are good people. We can have one of the guys from the club escort you. You can trust them. They all know who you are.”
Remi scanned the room again and then shook her head like she couldn't believe what she was about to do.
"If I go... I am not going with an escort.
It should look like I am a club girl or old lady or something.
.. out with her man..." She looked like she was struggling when she said, "If I am going to do this. .. that will be the way."