Page 84 of Cops and Robbers

Metallic blood seeped across her tongue as she bit her lip. The ache helped hold her tears at bay. But as Sid went to shut the door, cutting her out of their life, she was thrown back to the moment she abandoned Naomi. That split second when she chose not to stay and fight for her, and she just—she couldn’t do it again. The need to fight roared like an inferno in her chest. She yanked out her flat-edged lock-picking tool and before Sid could finish deadbolting the door, she jammed the pick between the frame and the lock, twisted the knob, and shoved. Sid stumbled back a step as she burst into the entryway.

“Fucking hell…” Sid muttered, crowding close as if he wanted to push her back out.

Lewis gazed up from the glass he was drying, startled.

Squeezing the lock pick in a tight fist, she said, “If this is it—then fine. I’ll just say what I need to say.” Her voice echoed in the chamberlike bar. Raz stopped but didn’t turn toward her. “I fucked up. I should have trusted you all from the beginning, but I—“ The sting of her tears was too much to hold, and one streaked hotly down her cheek before she wiped it away. “That doesn’t matter. I’m sorry. I was a coward for not trusting you.” She gazed at Sid, Lewis, then at Raz’s back—wanting to convey that to all of them and wishing Caige was there as well. “And because of me Matsuda still has the LRAD replica, Naomi is gone, and now Caige—” Her voice broke, unable to get his name out, but she took a deep breath and powered on, tears running down her face. “That’s on me. And I understand if you can never forgive me. But I wanted to say I’m sorry and thank you.”

She hinged at the waist, bowing in respect the best way she knew how. Then she backed out the door, not wanting to see their faces. Her blurred gaze would have made that impossible anyway. Fighting against the hitch in her breath, she turned and ran for the parking garage. Pushing the grief aside, she jogged up the steps, knowing she had left her vehicle there.

Her motorcycle was parked where she remembered it to be. When she slid the helmet on, tears streaked down her cheeks. The bike’s metal seeped coldness into her clothing as she straddled it. With a turn of the key, the motorcycle revved to life, and she released a calming breath.

Get out of here. You can do it.

Her helmet was too hot against her face, the visor fogging with every breath. With a frustrated cry, she tore the helmet off and threw it. As the plastic cracked off the cement wall, she revved her engine. Anti-fog my ass. She drove to the gate of the parking garage and didn’t slow down.

“Hey,” the guard shouted as she jumped the bike onto the sidewalk beside the gate. Landing on the road, she peeled out into the busy intersection. A car horn blared behind her.

Fuck you, too.

She raced through the streets. In and out of vehicles. Splitting lanes and running red lights. With each desperate maneuver, her heart squeezed tighter and tighter until she could barely breathe.

After planning and waiting fifty years to rescue Naomi, Kate had lost her best friend, the only person she had considered family. It was worth it. It was supposed to be worth it, but—

Now I’ve lost you, too. Her blurred gaze kept swimming with tears.

A view of choppy water touched the horizon. She hopped onto the curb and drove down a wide sidewalk.

“What the hell,” a man yelled.

A dog barked vigorously.

That night at the lake really was our last goodbye.

She wobbled. Her back tire caught on gravel, and she fell over. Pain shot down her side from elbow to calf. Sparks flew as metal scraped against the cement. She released the bike, and it crashed into rocks along the shore as she rolled to a stop. With her lungs burning for air, she kicked her bike and screamed.

“It’s as clear as it’s going to get,” June, Kate’s young contact on Chicago’s streets, said into the phone line.

“You sure?” Kate asked, leaving her hotel room a few blocks from the Dusted Tuck. Three days had passed since she’d broken down at the lake, and she was still trying to verify Caige was okay. Raz…as much as she hated to admit it…was a casualty she had expected. But she couldn’t stomach it if Caige…

She had to make sure he was all right.

Sid left yesterday and Raz…

“The cop left twenty minutes ago. The owner is heading to the garage…and he just pulled the ambulance out of the back.”

She still didn’t understand why Lewis had an ambulance in his underground garage. But that didn’t matter. What mattered was that June had spotted a room with a medical setup on the fifth floor of the bar building.

She knew Caige wasn’t dead, but she needed to see him before she could do anything else.

“Good job.” Kate flew down the steps to the parking garage, limping as her knee gave a twinge. “Thank you.”

“Where’s the meet for my dough? I need to get back to my pod before the kids fight again.”

Just like any kid on the street, June only wanted her payment. Kate didn’t mind helping the girl out. She had been more than helpful during her research on the Wet’n-Wilder art show.

“Check the soles of the shoes I gave you.”

Shuffling echoed across the line. “Seriously? I’ve had the cash on me this whole time?”