Page 75 of Cops and Robbers

In a typical bell shape like those on church towers, the polished surface looked made out of darkened aluminum, as if a shadow cast upon it had stolen its shininess. Demonic etchings crisscrossed all over its surface, and it appeared as if thousands of nails had been half hammered into the surface. The video she’d watched on Raz’s computer hadn’t provided the same detail as standing next to it did, nor the ominous air that stroked darkly against her skin. A wired thumper poised beside it, ready to strike if given a radioed signal. Kate shivered.

Naomi. I’m so sorry…

As Raz rounded the shelving behind her, the container dropped with a thud, pulling Kate’s arm down with it.

“What the fuck?” Raz whispered.

Kate raced to Naomi and ripped off the sticky connections to the batteries.

“Kate.” Raz’s voice shook as he walked toward her. “Who is this?”

“It’s Midnight,” Caige said.

Kate whipped around. When did he get here? A blank expression masked Caige’s emotions, but his eyes burned with too much to read when they met hers.

Raz stepped back. “Why is she like this?”

Jumping to the monitors, Kate turned them off. Her brain latched onto the task instead of the emotion clawing up her throat as she admitted, “Naomi is like me—a Fallen. Matsuda is using her”—she pointed to the batteries—“torturing her to do what he wants while she’s stuck in her spirit form.”

“Naomi? Your Naomi? I thought he killed her?” Raz asked. “How did you know?”

She closed her eyes against the truth, not wanting to voice it aloud.

“Kate,” Raz said, voice heated. “How did you know?”

“Because I’m the reason she’s here.” Kate sucked in a shaky breath. “Matsuda knew she was a Fallen and where her human body was because of me. After he trapped her outside in her spirit form, instead of helping her back then, I ran.”

Disbelief and disgust washed over his expression—pinched brows and puckered lips, a direct blow to Kate’s heart. He walked away, looking anywhere but at her.

He stopped and whirled back. “Where’s the LRAD replica?”

“I didn’t find it on the submarine,” Caige said.

She swallowed, the truth lying thickly in her throat. “Listen…”

“This is fucking unreal,” Raz said. “You used us. Used me so you could save someone you don’t know anymore.

“It’s not like—” She stopped and sucked in a breath. “I can explain later.”

“Why should we help you?” he asked.

Fear strangling her, she choked out, “We can still destroy the original Bell. Matsuda moved the LRAD replica to another location that Naomi will either know or can find. She can get closer to Matsuda and has the desire to take him down. But she can’t if he has her body.”

“She has a point,” Caige said. “Midnight is Matsuda’s weak spot.”

“You’d trust Midnight?” Raz asked. “She murdered Lukas.”

“I know. But look at her.” Caige waved a hand toward her. “If someone kept my body strapped like a circuit board, I’d kill him.”

Bile rose to Kate’s mouth and she closed her eyes against the reality of Naomi’s condition. “We don’t have time for this. You’re either going to help me or you’re not.”

Raz’s jaw locked—the betrayal in his eyes hard to swallow

Caige stepped forward. “What’s the plan?”

Yes. She knew she could count on Caige’s practical thinking. “After we take out the medical equipment, I will sandwich with her and the Bell in the coffin’s bottom.”

It was the only way to leave the sub undetected since Sajani was supposed to stay on her rounds.