Page 59 of The Lies We Believe

Each of his shuddering breaths rocked through me, slowly unmooring the control I had over my emotions. In my line of work, I had to remain detached, compartmentalize my emotions while retaining empathy, but seeing someone you loved hurt so much made it almost impossible.

“D-don’t m-make promises you c-can’t k-keep.”

“I would—” The doorbell rang, drawing our attention. “Let me get that,” I said, setting River down on the couch and pulling a blanket over him. Shadow jumped up and curled himself into a little black ball behind River’s legs where he had them tucked up on the couch.

“Morning,” Joelle greeted cheerfully when I opened the door. Her smile quickly fell when she saw my face. “What’s happened?”

“River’s had some bad news, but I’m sure he’ll want to talk it through with you.”

“Of course.” She gave me a facsimile of a smile as I motioned her inside and made her way over to River.

“Would you like a coffee before I head out, Joelle?”

“If you’ve got some made, sure. If not, I’ll take some water.”

“Sure.”

Once I’d made them both a coffee and set a couple of bottles of water on the coffee table, I kissed River goodbye. Joelle was fully aware of our relationship, even if she didn’t approve. I refused to temper my love for River around her. I wanted to reassure him at every turn, so he wouldn’t allow his intrusive thoughts to creep in and twist our reality until it was something dark and depraved. He’d had enough of that in his lifetime. I wanted to be his safe harbour.

Holding his face in my hands, I brushed my thumb over his bottom lip. “I can stay if you want me to.”

Blinking through bleary eyes, River shook his head. “N-no. Joelle is here. Sh-she’ll take care of me until you…” His voice fractured and broke, and my heart stalled as emotion stained his face. When would the hits stop coming so he could truly heal and find peace?

“If you’re sure?” I whispered and ghosted my lips over his forehead.

“I am.”

His strength astounded me. This was the second friend he lost, and even though neither of us had said what this meant, we knew. Dahlia wasn’t giving up, and time was running out. We had to take her down before she took us out. With the stakes as high as they were, I would do anything to make that reality come to fruition as soon as possible.

“I’ll be back as soon as I can.” I squeezed his shoulder before I stepped back and headed to the garage. With a final glance over my shoulder, I saw Joelle hand River a box of Kleenex.

She mouthed, “I’ve got him.” I nodded and headed through the door.

My bike rumbled to life beneath me as I waited for the garage doors to open. The bright sun that had streamed through the blinds earlier was hidden by thick gray clouds, as if the world was mourning another innocent life lost on the battlefield of this underground war that raged unseen by the general population.

The blacktop fell away as I weaved through the downtown traffic, and before I knew it, I was pulling into the station’s parking lot. Montoya leaned against the wall by the back entrance, her right foot resting against the wall as she spun the squad keys around on her finger.

“Be quick. We need to move before the press arrives on the scene.” I nodded in acknowledgement and headed to the lockerroom to grab my vest. Luckily for me, everyone was preoccupied and focused on their own tasks, so I was in and out in a couple of minutes. It gave me enough time to focus on the job and stow my worries about River away. Joelle would take care of him and would call me if he needed me.

I pushed the door open and Montoya jumped to attention and fell into step beside me. “What do we know about this one?” I asked and held my hand out for the keys.

She deposited them in my hand before running a hand over her slicked-back hair and let loose an exhale. “Davis was out on patrol with one of the rookies, and a call came over the radio about a fire. They were the first ones on the scene.”

Suspicion weaved its way through my mind. Ever since River told me about Davis, my mind hadn’t been able to let go of it. I watched everything he did under a microscope. I just needed to trust my gut, see it through, and get to the bottom of his betrayal.

“Why do I get the feeling you’re not telling me everything?” I yanked my door open and slipped behind the wheel and buckled in. I checked to make sure Montoya had clipped her seatbelt in and raised my brow, waiting for her to give me the full details.

“You’re not wrong. I’m not sure I can believe it until I see it for myself.”

“That makes no sense,” I muttered as I started the engine and pulled out of the parking space and headed to the exit. “Where to?”

As Montoya relayed the address to me, a sense of déjà vu struck, but I shook it off. We merged into the traffic and hit every red light, making her chuckle as my frustration grew. A few minutes passed before my brain finally caught on to the errant thought that had struck when she mentioned the address.

My eyes widened, and I gasped as we hit another red light. “That was the property we raided the other day? But wasn’t Davis’s patrol route on the other side of town?”

“It was,” Montoya confirmed. “Interesting how it’s suddenly nothing but smouldering rubble, and our vic was one of the guys that came in with River. And Davis just happened to be there as it went up in flames?” She glanced over at me, wariness shining in her eyes. “Davis said there was more at the scene, but he wanted to talk to you in person.”

That little bit of information piqued my interest. “Any idea what he meant by that?”

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