Chapter 59
HARLAN - I COULD LIE
The engines faded until they were nothing but memory, but the weight of them stayed heavy in my chest. I watched the road long after the Dawnbreakers disappeared with Remi.
But she didn’t turn around. She rode away like she meant it. Like she was ready to fight for herself, even if none of us were prepared to let her go.
Gray moved toward Jack’s SUV, murmuring something low enough I couldn’t catch. Jack didn’t answer right away. He just stood there, arms crossed tight, eyes still fixed on the spot where we last saw her.
They stayed like that. Gray, quiet and steady, Jack was a fuse waiting to burn.
I didn’t blame him. I felt the same.
Ava shifted beside me; her arms wrapped around herself. She hadn’t moved since Remi left. I could feel the tension in her shoulders, the static in the air between us. The kind of silence that wasn’t peace, just a pause. Grief in the shape of stillness.
“I don’t like this,” she said finally, voice raw.
“Neither do I.”
“She’s not safe,” she whispered.
“She’s safer now than she was here.” I looked at her. “And she’s not alone. You made sure of that.”
She let out a bitter breath. “She shouldn’t have had to ride away on the back of some stranger’s bike to survive.”
“No,” I agreed. “But she did. And she did it because she trusted you, us, that this is what was best. How we could keep everyone safe.”
A beat passed. Then another.
And I didn’t want to wait anymore.
“You should come with me,” I said. “Stay. Just for a little while.”
Her brows pulled in, and she let out a tired sigh. “Harlan...”
“I’m not asking you to disappear,” I cut in.
“I just… I have a place. My dad had a cabin up north. It’s quiet.
Off-grid enough, we can regroup. Figure out what we’ve got, what we’re still missing.
I think after this shit show, Internal Affairs is going to take over the precinct.
.. to make sure I am clear before moving forward with any action against Erin or the others. ”
Ava hesitated, eyes flicking back toward Jack and Gray like she was checking if she was needed.
“They’ll be fine,” I said. “They can come with us, pool our resources... the four of us working together.”
She didn’t answer, not right away.
So, I stepped in closer. Dropped my voice.
“I could lie,” I said. “Say it’s safer. And it is. Hell, I could tell you it’s strategic. That having you with me gives us more time to think. But the truth?”
I looked her straight in the eye.
“I just want you close. I need you close.”
Her breath caught, lashes fluttering like she wasn’t sure what to do with that kind of honesty from me.
“I know I fucked up,” I said, my voice lower now. “I know I hurt you. I’ve said things I can’t take back and made calls I never should’ve made. And I can’t change any of that. But I can change what I do next. And I want the next thing I do to be choosing you.”
Ava’s jaw tensed like she was bracing for more pain.
“I love you,” I said.
Not a whisper. Not a performance. Just the truth.
“The kind of love that doesn’t want you behind a locked door or on the other end of a crisis. I want you beside me, Ava. Through the mess. Through the fight. Through all of it.”
Her lips parted like she might say something, might tell me it was too late.
But then her hand found mine.
And for the first time in weeks, I felt something that didn’t taste like regret.
I felt settled, anchored, and at home.
“I’m still furious with you,” she said softly. “Still hurt.”
“I know.”
“And if you ever try to shut me out again...”
“I won’t.”
She stared at me for a long moment, like she was trying to decide if I was worth betting on again.
Then she leaned in and rested her forehead against my chest.
“I’ll come,” she whispered. “But not because you asked. Because I want to. Because I believe in her. In us. And I’m not done fighting.”
I wrapped my arms around her, pulled her close, breathed her in like maybe she could hold me together.
“We’re not done,” I murmured. “Any of us.”
Behind us, the wind shifted. Jack glanced up. Gray was typing away at his phone.
And I knew, whatever Erin Voss had planned next, whatever war was still coming, we’d face it together.
Because for the first time since this nightmare began…
We weren’t scattered.
We were a team.
And I had Ava by my side.
Jack joined us a moment later, his voice low but steady. “We’ll take my SUV. Ava, you’ll ride with me and Gray. We’ve got a few hours before anyone catches wind of anything.”
Ava nodded, pulling back from my chest. Her expression was sharper now. Steeled.
“We’ll meet you there,” she said.
“I’ll grab what I need from my place and head straight there,” I said. “It’s off-grid. No neighbours, but it’s secure.”
Jack raised a brow. “We talking cabin-in-the-woods secure or bunker secure?”
“Cabin,” I said. “Old place my dad used to use for hunting. Remote enough, we won’t draw attention. There’s a fire road turnoff past mile marker sixty-two, take that, keep right at the fork. You’ll hit a clearing with a metal gate. It should be open.”
Jack nodded. “We’ll meet you there.”
He didn’t argue. Just turned, motioning for Gray to load up. Ava gave my hand one last squeeze before walking off toward them.
I watched her go.
Then I squared my shoulders and turned back toward the station.
It was time.
Inside, the air was thick, as if everyone was holding their breath, waiting to see how the day would unfold. I didn’t have to wait long. The county administrator was standing outside my office, flanked by two men from Internal Affairs, dressed in sharp suits and ready to make their move.
He didn’t ask me to go into my office.
“You know why we’re here,” he said.
I nodded. “I figured.”
“Given the recent events and the scrutiny on this precinct, we’re going to ask you to step down until the investigation is complete.”
“Am I being charged with anything?”
“No. But the optics...”
“Right,” I cut in. “The optics.”
The IA guy on the left stepped forward, arms crossed. “Are you running an independent operation outside the bounds of your official role, Chief?”
I let out a soft laugh. “You’re asking now?”
He stiffened.
I shook my head. “You didn’t show up when Erin Voss was burying reports, threatening witnesses, and turning this entire department into her personal chessboard.
You didn’t blink when her power grabs put lives at risk.
But now, now that someone pushed back, got the press involved.
.. now you’re here? When I sent back-ups of my files, I had on her. .. that didn't seem to be a concern.”
They said nothing. Just shifted uncomfortably.
“Tell me,” I asked, “if this whole mess had blown up in the media before I made a single move, would you be standing here asking me to step down? Would you have shown up at all?”
More silence.
“I didn’t think so.”
I reached for my belt and unclipped my badge. Held it for a moment. It had weight, not just the metal, but also the years, the choices, and the pride that came before the rot.
Then I handed it over.
“Maybe it’s not just my department that needs to be cleaned out.”
I didn’t wait for a reply.
I turned and walked out.