Chapter 72
AVA - I’M RIGHT HERE
The smoke parted like a curtain, and hell walked through it.
I knew that voice.
Erin.
I turned slowly, heart hammering as she stepped out of the haze with Bishop beside her. Both armed. Both smiling like wolves who’d already tasted blood.
Behind them, five more shadows emerged, fanning out in a loose circle around me and Harlan. I felt his body tense beside mine, and I heard the barely contained growl in his breath. His hand flexed near his gun, but we both knew we were outnumbered.
“Look what we have here,” Erin said, voice syrupy and cold, “The disgraced cop and his little charity case. God, you’re even filthier in person.”
She tilted her head, eyes gleaming as she circled, gun trained between us. “No comms. No backup. No one is coming to save you.”
A rumble sounded in the distance, faint and low. A storm? Thunder? Engines? The ground almost seemed to hum beneath my feet.
Erin paused, glancing toward the sound. Then smiled wider. “Whatever that is, it’ll be too late.”
Harlan stepped forward slightly. “You want me? Fine. You have me. But let her go.”
“No,” I whispered it before I could stop myself. “No, you don’t get to trade me like some fragile thing, Harlan. I will not leave you.”
He turned to me, desperate. “Ava...”
Erin chuckled, cutting him off. “While I love a good romantic suspense... what woman doesn’t?” She motioned toward Bishop. “But I am sick and tired of the Ava show. So, this is how it’s going to go down. You’re going to get on your knees and die quietly.”
“Harlan will never get on his knees for you,” I snapped, my voice low and razor-sharp.
Erin laughed, full and venomous. “That’s right, Ava... it was me who was on my knees for him. Over and over and over again. He couldn’t get enough.”
I rolled my eyes. “This petty jealous ex bullshit is getting old, Voss. He doesn’t want you.
He never did. You weren’t even good enough to keep.
And while we’re at it, what the fuck is wrong with you?
You’re a female officer. In a position of power.
A chance to actually make a difference..
. to be a role model to younger generations. ”
She scoffed, twirling her gun lazily. I flicked a glance at Harlan. His eyes moved, scanning, calculating, and tracking threats. He was trying to find an opening. I just had to keep her talking.
“Not every woman wants to be Mother Teresa,” Erin sneered. “You live a miserable life, Ava. You scrape by, you suffer, and you act like it makes you some kind of martyr. I live my life exactly how I want to, and I fucking love it. Almost as much as I love fucking.”
The men around her chuckled.
“Oh, I bet,” I shot back. “I know all about the married abusive men you like to take to bed, Voss.”
Her eyes flared, just for a second, but I saw it. A hit. And I kept going.
“You really thought you could hide it all? The threats, the cases you buried, the victims you silenced, the women you let suffer while you climbed the ranks on your back. You’re done.”
She took a step forward, jaw clenched.
“It’s all out there,” I said, louder now. “The records. The victims. The internal memos. Right now, everyone will be reading up on alllll of your transgressions... everyone knows what a vile, desperate bitch you are.”
The smile dropped from her face.
I didn't even have a chance to blink.
And then she moved.
Her fist slammed into my stomach before I could react.
Pain detonated through my core. My knees hit the dirt. Breath vanished. Fire bloomed behind my eyes.
Harlan surged forward. “Ava!” But Bishop raised his weapon fast, shoving it against Harlan’s chest.
“Ah-ah,” Bishop warned. “One more step and we paint the trees with her brains.”
Harlan froze, shaking with rage. His eyes locked on me as I tried to lift my head.
I couldn’t speak. Could barely breathe.
But then I saw it. Movement.
Beyond Erin. Beyond the tight ring of men.
A figure stepped from the smoke.
Gray.
Relief spread in my chest like a flame, a flicker of hope...
Then it extinguished.
Because he wasn’t alone.
A man followed close behind, rifle aimed at the back of Gray’s head. His hands were up. Blood streaked the side of his face, his expression blank with barely concealed pain.
“No,” I breathed, trembling. “No, no, no...”
Erin clapped her hands together like she was watching the grand finale. “The gang’s all here!” she sing-songed. “Wait... Where’s Remi? Still in hiding with her little gang? Or did she finally run out of people willing to die for her?”
Please... stay gone, Remi. Let them think you’re dead. Let them forget you.
In that moment, I felt sorry for Voss, for not understanding the kind of found family, the kind of love you would willingly lay your life down for.
I took a deep, steadying breath, breathing through the pain in my body.
This was it...
A stillness settled in the air.
A quiet too heavy to be natural.
Then, from the smoke behind them... “I’m right here, bitch.”