Page 49 of Pursuit of Her

"She doesn't know it's you," Eve realized suddenly. "She thinks I'm aiding an unknown vigilante."

Reagan nodded, water cascading from her hair. "Use that. Create doubt. Buy us time."

Eve stepped partially into view, her weapon visible but not aimed directly at Martinez. "This isn't what you think, Detective! I've uncovered evidence of departmental corruption. Commissioner Brooks and her husband are implicated."

Martinez advanced cautiously, flanked by officers positioning themselves across the pier's width. "That evidence was obtained illegally. Put down your weapon, Captain!"

"The evidence is already with federal authorities," Eve countered, the storm punctuating her words with another thunderous explosion. "Everything's exposed—Fairchild, Brooks, the entire network!"

Martinez hesitated, uncertainty flickering across her face despite the rain obscuring her features. "We have orders to apprehend the vigilante responsible for four murders!"

"And what about the crimes those men committed?" Eve challenged. "The women they trafficked? The evidence they destroyed? The lives they ruined?"

Lightning transformed the scene once more, revealing Martinez's conflicted expression. The momentary distraction gave Reaganthe opening she needed. She signaled to Eve, pointing toward a small boat now visible at the pier's northern edge, its engine idling beneath the storm's cacophony.

"Cover me," Reagan mouthed silently.

Eve shifted position, creating visual obstruction as Reagan began moving toward the extraction point.

"The department is compromised," Eve continued, maintaining Martinez's attention. "Brooks has been protecting her husband's network for years. The evidence can't be disputed."

"Captain Morgan, regardless of other allegations, I have a duty to apprehend a murder suspect," Martinez replied, though her advance had slowed. "Please step aside."

Reagan had nearly reached the boat when a junior officer spotted her movement. "Detective! Movement at the north end!"

Martinez's focus snapped toward Reagan's position. "Stop right there! Phoenix Ridge Police!"

The pier descended into chaos as officers moved to intercept. Eve used their momentary distraction to relocate, positioning herself between Reagan and the approaching officers. Rain hammered down with renewed intensity, visibility reduced to mere feet between lightning flashes.

"Eve, go!" Reagan called, now at the boat but unwilling to leave without her. "There's still time!"

Eve moved backward, maintaining cover while closing distance to Reagan. Martinez and her officers advanced cautiously, spreading in standard formation despite the weather conditions.

"Captain Morgan, this is your final warning," Martinez shouted through the downpour. "Stand down or wewillfire!"

Lightning struck a nearby mooring post, the explosion of energy and sound momentarily disorienting everyone on the pier. In that electric moment, Eve made her decision. She turned, preparing to join Reagan at the extraction point, to leave behind the department that had protected corruption while punishing those who sought to expose it.

As she turned, a sharp crack split the air—distinct from thunder, unmistakable to any officer.

Gunfire.

Eve's tactical training registered details in fragmented clarity: the muzzle flash from a junior officer's weapon, the bullet's trajectory, the space she occupied directly in its path.

Then movement beside her—Reagan appearing as if materialized from the storm itself, her body intercepting the space between Eve and the incoming round.

A decision made in less than a heartbeat. A sacrifice.

Eve watched in horrified slow-motion as the impact threw Reagan backward, her body arching with the force of the bullet's entry. For one suspended moment, Reagan remained upright, their eyes meeting across rain-soaked space—shock, pain, and something like acceptance in her gaze.

Then she fell.

Not onto the pier's wooden planking, but backward over the edge and into the churning harbor waters below.

"REAGAN!" Eve's scream tore from her throat, raw and primal, as lightning once again illuminated the space where Reagan had stood moments before.

Only empty air remained, rain falling through vacancy, the ocean's dark surface swallowing any trace of her presence.

Without hesitation, Eve dove into the icy water.

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