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Dorn glanced over at us, and at the man in the bathrobe, then toward the stairs leading up, where who knew how many people were listening.
“We’d rather do it over at the station.” Dorn reached for Sebastian, and in a blink Sebastian lunged at him, slamming the much bigger Dorn back against the staircase wall behind him. I flinched and Selma screamed. Almost instantly, Dorn got Sebastian in a headlock and wrestled him face-first to the floor. Liam craned his neck past me to get a better look at the action.
“That
was a bad idea,” Dorn said in Sebastian’s ear. “Now you’re under arrest for assaulting a police officer.” I heard the cuffs click around his wrists without ever seeing Dorn take them off his belt. The guy was good.
“Sebastian!” Selma cried. “Are you okay?”
“Get the girl,” Dorn growled at Joaquin as he dragged Sebastian to his feet. His face was red and his cheeks quivered. He was angry, maybe even embarrassed, that Sebastian had gotten the better of him, even for that one second.
More doors opened and a crowd started to gather. Joaquin made a move toward Selma, but she flinched back. I grabbed his arm.
“Let me try,” I said.
He raised his hands. “All yours.”
I took a deep breath and approached Selma. Without her brother by her side, she looked scared. Angry, but also scared. She eyed me cautiously, and I turned my palms out in an apologetic way.
“Look, if you just come with us willingly, everything will be fine,” I said. As long as you aren’t the one who hauled my family off to hell, I added silently.
“Yeah, right. Your ape of a cop just mauled my brother,” she snapped.
“Your brother attacked a police officer,” I shot back, frustration niggling at my nerves. “But if you agree to answer our questions, I’m sure they’ll let him off with a warning.”
Selma leaned out of the apartment doorway when she heard the police car’s door slam. Her hand covered her mouth. I could see how much she wanted to be with him, and recalled from my flashes of Sebastian’s life the depth of emotion they felt toward each other.
“Do you want to go with your brother, or do you want to stay here?” I asked. “Alone.”
“I’ll come,” she snapped, grabbing her bag from just inside. “You got any lawyers in this town?”
I shot a glance at Bea, Liam, and Krista as Selma stormed out the door. The twins were not about to make anything easy.
“You guys good?” Joaquin asked as Dorn loaded Selma into the backseat of his car next to her brother. Bea, Krista, Liam, and I were supposed to stay behind to search the Tses’ room for more coins, or anything else suspicious.
I glanced back at the apartment. “We’ll get it done as fast as we—”
Suddenly, a crackle of static cut me off. Grantz’s voice boomed through the speakers on our walkie-talkies.
“Be advised, Pete Sweeney has been located. We’re transporting him to the station now. Over.”
My eyes widened as I looked at Joaquin. “He’s alive.”
“This is a good thing, right?” Liam said.
I zipped up my jacket. “I’m going over there.”
“I’ll come with you,” Joaquin offered.
“No. No way.” Dorn was standing in the doorway now, practically filling up the space. “I need you and Fisher here with me.”
“It’s okay. I can go by myself,” I said.
“No. You can’t. Nobody goes anywhere alone anymore, remember?” Joaquin said, briefly cupping my face with his hand. I felt everyone staring at us—at that brief moment of intimacy—and my skin burned.
“I’ll go!” Krista and Liam offered at once.
“You,” Joaquin said, pointing at Liam. “You go with Rory. Bea and Krista, search the room.”
