Fox had grown tired of just watching Vale and was about to go over to talk with the man when the captain took off running. It was like old times, and they were working together again. Fox hurriedly asked Moressa to look after Genesis, then took off running, trying to catch up to Vale.
However, he had a more challenging time catching up to the other man and was a lot slower than usual for a couple of reasons—he had to be careful of his heart and had just given birth. The other was Vale’s legs seemed much longer than he remembered.
Fox followed Vale into the woods and lost sight of him for a couple of minutes. He was about to give up and head back to the park, a bit disappointed he hadn’t been able to help Vale, but stopped when he heard a painful howl coming not far from where he was standing. Fox ran in that direction and made it to Vale’s location just as the captain pulled the trigger, killing the man in front of him.
“It’s not what you think,” Vale told him.
“Not what I think! You just shot an unarmed man.”
Fox’s mind was going a mile a second on how he could help Vale out of the situation they were in at that moment. He was a witness to the crime but knew he couldn’t testify against Vale.
“Crevan, listen to me, that man is n—”
“I’ll help you,” Fox said, cutting Vale off.
“What? Help me with what?”
“Hide the body,” Fox answered as if he wasn’t straightforward enough with what he meant. “I’ll help you hide the body, but you have to tell me why you decided to kill a man in cold blood after we’re done. Now let’s clean up the scene quickly.”
Fox looked at Vale, who was staring at him either in shock or horror. He couldn’t decipher what the man was thinking. But Fox didn’t care. He was going to protect Vale at all cost.
“Come on, let’s not sit here gawking at each other. We need to get started.” Fox went to step around Vale, but the other man stopped him.
“I appreciate that you want to help me hide the body, but you don’t need to do that.” Vale sighed. “Listen to me...forget what you’ve just seen and just go back to the celebration. Once I’ve taken care of everything, I will come and find you and explain everything.”
“But what…”
“No buts, Crevan. Like I said, go back. I’ll come fi—”
Vale didn’t get to finish his words. Fox watched in horror as the man Vale had shot in the head stood up. In a flash, he was behind Vale with a hand around his neck. Fox wasn’t sure how the man moved so fast or how he could see when his eyes were dyed red from the blood streaming down his face. The wide blood-stained grin made him look like a deranged demon.
Vale grabbed the man’s hand, causing Fox to look away from his face, and gasped when he saw the long pointed blade sticking out of the captain’s chest soaking through his uniform.
“Next time, McBain heir. Don’t bring a gun to a sword fight.”
The man pulled the sword from Vale’s body, causing him to howl in heartbreaking pain. Vale grabbed his chest and fell to his knees, titling to the side and falling over.
“No!”
Fox pulled himself out of his daze and rushed to Vale’s side, rolling him over on his back. Vale’s face was pale, and his lips were turning blue.
“Vale, come on. Open your eyes,” Fox growled, touching the man’s cheeks that had gone completely cold. Vale was unresponsive, so Fox leaned down, placing his cheek close to the man’s lips to feel if he was still breathing. Vale’s breathing was faint, but the good thing was he was still alive.
Fox ripped Vale’s shirt open and saw he wasn’t wearing a vest. The wound in his chest was bleeding profusely, and he could only imagine that it was the same with his back. Fox’s mind was a bit frazzled, and he was trying to keep it together. Pulling on his experience as a cop, Fox quickly shrugged off his coat and lifted Vale’s shoulder, stuffing it underneath his body, praying to every deity he wasn’t hurting the man more. He took off one of the sweaters he was wearing, putting it on Vale's chest wound, applying a small amount of pressure, and reached for his cellphone with the other calling emergency dispatch.
“Officer down!” he yelled the second the line was picked up. “I repeat, officer down with a stab wound to the chest and back—through-and-through. The officer is not responding, and his breathing is faint.”
“What’s your location?” Dispatch asked.
“We’re in the woods, west of the park. Hurry, he’s dying!”
Fox threw his phone down and pressed a bit harder on the wound, hoping he wouldn’t make the bleeding worse. Vale’s complexion grew paler, and his lips turned utterly blue. Fox checked Vale’s pulse that was growing weaker by the second. Tears clouded Fox’s vision, hating that he might have to face the truth and Vale would die before he got the chance to love him.
“You can’t leave me, Alistaire Vale.” Fox’s lips trembled not from the cold but in fear. “I never gave you permission to die.” He rested his forehead on Vale’s shoulder. “Please, baby. Don’t leave me because I came back—I came back for you.”
Fox wasn’t sure how many minutes had passed since he’d call the dispatch but looked up when he heard a wolf’s howl. The creature breaks the treeline, coming to stand a few feet away. Seconds later, paramedics rushed past the wolf, which turned into a human and ran over to him and Vale. The paramedics gently moved Fox out of the way, and everything was a blur as he watched them working on Vale.
“Ox...Fo...Fox, look at me.”
