Page 54 of Broken Omega

I can feel it. I can’t stop it.

My purse drops from my arm.

I crash to my knees, and slump over onto my side.

The last thing I see before I lose consciousness is the bright white license plate of the car.

It’s from Colvindale.

FROST

It’s another chaotic night in Cressidan City when the call to end all others comes through. Three possibly fatally injured persons found outside Goldcrest Omega Academy. No signs of life, but apparently the caller refused to get close enough to check for vitals. Could be a dangerous one.

Police are being dispatched to the scene, and the suspect may still be armed and at large in the area.

“Holy fucking shit,” River mutters, clearly listening in to the radio from the back of the ambulance.

Donnie’s lips curve into a smile at my side. His bright blue eyes light up as he looks at me.

I nod at him, and he tells the dispatcher we’re on the way. We’re only a few minutes out.

“Belt up,” I call back to River. “And get ready to be the driver on the way back.”

I catch a glimpse of our newest recruit as I glance in the rear view. River’s big, brown eyes are wide with shock that he tries to cover up quickly. He runs a hand through his thick, dark hair, pushing it back from his face as he stares back at me in the mirror.

“Um, what?” River murmurs, a second before I hit the siren and move out from the parking bay.

“Good call,” Donnie tells me.

It’s the only call in this situation, and I don’t like it one little bit.

River shocked us both when he said he wanted to do what we did.

I expected him to wash out of the training, to find out this job wasn’t his thing.

After everything he’s been through, I didn’t want this for him.

Donnie and I are used to the big city shitshow. We’re used to junkies and assholes and thieves. We know how to evaluate risk, and we can handle ourselves under fire.

River’s still a kid. He can’t even legally hit up bars for another month.

The desire to keep him safe from the big, bad world is strong, and it’s never going to going away.

I don’t like that he didn’t wash out of training. I don’t like that he’s a month into on-the-job training and he’s doing okay. None of that sits right with me.

He’s not supposed to be here. We can’t keep him protected once he’s past his probationary period.

What the fuck are we supposed to do once he’s partnered up with some random idiot?

Donnie whistles tunelessly as I drive, as if we’re on a leisurely trip or something.

I frown at him, and he stops, shrugging back at me.

He barely knows how to exist without making noise. Case in point when he starts tapping the dash instead of whistling. I watch the road, trying to tune him out.

Two cop cars turn onto the rural road that leads to the academy just as it comes into view.

“Well, this is pretty high up on the list of places I thought I’d never see,” Donnie murmurs as I slow down before stopping close to one of two fire trucks.

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