Page 52 of Cold Mercy

I force myself to turn around and start walking, hands jammed deep in my pockets. Still replaying the last few minutes over and over like some pathetic loser who doesn’t know how to leave the game while he still has a chance.

I can barely walk away, when I hear it. Her gasp, and then a choked scream.

I don’t think even for a second. Even if I knew this was a trap set specifically for me, I’d still go in. I have no weapon, just my hands and the certainty that I won’t stop. I sprint back into the house, heart hammering so hard it feels like it might crack my ribs. The moment I cross the threshold, the world tilts.

Sophia is being forced into a chair in the living room.

Though her brow is split open and her lip is smeared with blood, her chest rises and falls not with fear, but with a sharp, blistering fury. Behind her stands Elijah Sterling.

He towers over the chair like he owns the room. Long coat, immaculate posture, that calm, smug expression that says he’s never once believed consequences apply to him. My blood turns to acid. Of all fucking people. I know him, and he knows me. Not as Thomas Reed from IT. He knows me as Detective Thomas Collins.

This is it. The moment everything detonates. The moment she learns who I really am. I take a step forward, but something slams into me from the side before I can take another.

Lucas Ward, of course. Sterling’s right hand, or as I prefer to think of him, his loyal attack dog.

I hit the wall hard enough to see white, but adrenaline shreds the pain before it can register. I grab his arm, twist it past the point of mercy, and drive him down, while his gun comes free in my hand. A second later I’m hauling him upright, dragging him with me as I step into the living room, pressing his own gun to his head.

Sterling’s mouth curves into a slow smile.

“Thomas. What a surprise.”

Sophia’s eyes widen at his tone. Sterling tilts his head toward her, his voice soft and cruel.

“Your side chick has… interesting taste.”

I want to shoot him just for that. I press the gun harder into Ward’s skull.

“Let her go.”

Sterling laughs under his breath.

“Relax. If I wanted her dead, Thomas, she’d already be bleeding out on that floor.” His eyes flick to Sophia. “I actually brought her a present. Call it professional courtesy. Considering what you do for a living, it might help you too.”

My heart stutters.

“What do you want from her?” I snarl.

He lifts a folder from a side table and tosses it casually.

“Want? From her? Don’t insult me, Thomas.”

He turns to Sophia, his expression almost pitying.

“These are the answers you’ve been so desperate for, sweetheart. Yes, your pathetic fiancé worked for us, and he owed us. A lot.” His smile sharpens. “Mercer had a talent for borrowing things he couldn’t pay back.”

She sucks in a sharp breath. Her jaw locks, a tear slides down her cheek, not from sadness, but from rage. Sterling steps closer, eyes ice-cold.

“Oh, and I almost forgot! His death? Not on us. So stop sniffing around my people like a goddamn rat. Do it again, and I will rip you open and feed you to your adorable friends. No second chances from me.”

For a split second, I’m absolutely certain I’m going to pull the trigger. I don’t think about prison, about my badge. I want to put him on the floor and keep shooting long after the gun clicks empty. I want to erase him so thoroughly that no one ever speaks his name without lowering their voice.

He bursts into manic laughter.

“Enjoy the evidence, and have a lovely evening.”

He walks past me, pausing just inches away.

“I’ll make sure you watch when I kill her,” he whispers.