Page 64 of Not This Time

Most people put their best foot forward on the internet.

Then again, most on the internet acted like narcissists in her opinion. She'd never been much one for social media.

Besides, there was something in his eyes... in that smile.

It seemed genuinely inauthentic.

Even as she considered this and began to close the lid of Ethan's laptop, a sudden sound reported through the precinct.

Ethan hesitated. "What was that?"

But Rachel was already moving fast. "Gunshots!" she yelled as she flung open the door to the interrogation room and broke into a dead sprint.

As if echoing her footsteps, more gunshots pierced the air outside the police station, shattering the silence that had enveloped the cramped hall.

The cacophony of commotion outside the cramped room intensified, the discordant symphony of shouts and hurried footsteps punctuated by distant screams. Rachel's heart raced in her chest.

She scanned the space ahead of her. The few cops remaining on office night shift were taking cover behind overturned desks, facing the windows that looked out at the parking lot.

She spotted spiderweb cracks along the windows, then heard another salvo of gunfire.

More bullets impacted the bullet-proof glass.

Rachel ducked behind a wall, pulling Ethan down with her.

She heard shouting coming through the sealed door, and harsh laughter. A slurred voice shouted something incoherent, and there was a brief lull in the gunfire.

Across from her, she spotted an officer behind a desk with his handgun clutched between trembling fingers.

He was shaking so badly, he dropped his gun.

Rachel's own fingers tightened around her gun, the grip firm. Her eyes locked onto Ethan's for a brief moment as she checked her ammunition, a silent acknowledgement passing between them. With a swift, practiced motion, she slid the magazine into place and racked the slide, chambering a round.

"Ready?" she asked, her voice betraying no hint of fear, only grim determination.

Ethan hesitated. "Wait, what? No--stay down!" he snapped. "We don't know who it is."

"Yes, we do," she shot back. "It's Jeb."

Ethan stared at her.

"Jeb Clark<" she said a bit more emphatically.

"It... what... how do you know that?"

"I saw him," she said. "Through the door."

"In the split second you had?"

He gaped at her.

"It's dark outside!"

She shrugged. "I have good eyesight."

"Apparently," he muttered.

Rachel was now peering around the edge of cover, looking through the door out into the dark night.

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