Page 80 of Fall onto me

She’s beside me now, holding her hand on my arm. She can see me, whatever she pulled down from her head had to be night vision because now, she’s working her way away from us.

He fires a shot at the sound of her feet crunching on broken cement, I can barely hear anything now, just muffled sounds.

“Drop your fucking weapon!” she screams at Barnes.

He cackles at that. “Fuck you. I’ll kill you, and then you can take the blame. I’ll have your name plastered on every news article as a dirty cop, and I’ll be the hero.”

Six red lasers slice through the air, landing on Barnes’s chest. His face is illuminated by a faint red glow. There are two on Envy, and two on the Keeper. Askena turns her light back on. “Two to my left are safe.”

“Where’s Wes?” I ask, but I’m ignored.

“Drop your fucking weapon!” one of the officers yells. Envy is crying, her entire body shaking from fear. The Keeper looks at Barnes and nods, giving up.

The moment that they round the table to grab them, Foster releases me. “Are you okay, Shadow?” he whispers, checking me over with gentle hands. One of the officers grabs his mic, muttering, “Safe.” He beeps through, and the power comes to life, igniting everything that happened in its wake.

Papers are thrown everywhere; bullet holes riddle the walls. Envy is being dragged out, throwing a tantrum like a child. TK has his head bowed, but right before he leaves, he sends us an ominous grin that says it isn’t over.

But I know now that it is. This place will be looked through with a fine-tooth comb, and every dealing will come to light. He’ll be put away for life for his crimes, how many murders did he set up throughout his career as a criminal?

He will never see the light of day again.

I nod. “Wes,” is all I can say.

Askena nods her head down, kneeling. “Found him.”

I jump out of Foster’s arms, worried that I’m about to see a dead body. He’s limp, face smooshed into the concrete like he’s in a deep sleep.

“He’s fine,” she says, grabbing his head gently to make sure there’s no bleeding. “Coming to from being knocked out, I think.”

Barnes thrashes against the restraints as they pull him out. “I helped this fucking city! I deserved a piece of it!”

Askena rolls her eyes but doesn’t take any attention away from Wes as they shove Barnes out of the room. “Hey, you okay?” she asks as he flutters his eyes.

“You’re very pretty,” he says in a daze.

“Flattered.” She smiles, calling over the other officers to check on him.

Once we’re outside, in the fresh air and away from the damp musky underbelly of the harbor, I hug Foster when he gets back from giving his statement, knowing he’s kicking himself for not seeing Barnes for who he was.

“He’s okay.” He nods his head to Wes, who is getting checked out in the back of an ambulance.

“Are you okay?” I ask.

He shrugs, pulling me closer. “I will be.”

Askena makes her way to us, and I ask a question that’s burning in my mind. We were mere moments from death down there. “How did you know we would be here?”

“Grace Parks and Cara Johnson ran to the station earlier. She noticed someone had stolen her missing blueprints for the harbor, and assumed it was you. So, we pulled the records and found the basement.”

She’s talking quietly, surely upset that they got the wrong man, which makes me realize that my father is going to be released and there’s nothing I can do about it. I could tell her every little detail of the horrors I’ve experienced, but there is no proof and therefore, no case.

“My dad’s being released,” I breathe out, letting it be known to the world. Foster rubs his hand down my back.

Detective Askena bows her head. “Yes, we messed up, and we will take full responsibility. We were adamant that we found the right man, but your mom … she was adamant you were still in danger. Mother’s intuition.”

Or she was adamant that she wanted my father home.

“Do you want us to give you a ride somewhere?”

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