CHAPTER 47
HARLAN - WHAT THE CAT DRAGGED IN
The station didn’t feel like mine anymore.
Every corner reeked of betrayal, and I could no longer ignore it. Every officer who passed me in the hall looked too long or not at all. Loyalty wasn’t silent anymore; it was gone.
And she was sitting at Erin’s desk, staring straight at me like she could see every lie I hadn’t even spoken yet.
Remi Carter.
Wrist-deep in the booking process. No handcuffs now, not since I’d taken them off myself, but still a prisoner in every way that mattered. Her cardigan was gone, her belt too. Shoes in a tray beside her. Hair tied back with something too small to be comfortable. And a plain, gray jumpsuit folded in her lap that she hadn’t changed into yet.
She hadn’t said a single word since we walked through the precinct doors.
Not to the intake officer.
Not to the sergeant who barked questions about her belongings.
Not even to me.
She just sat there, elbows on Erin’s desk like she fucking owned it, chin raised, eyes hollow.
And she glared at me.
Like she knew exactly what I’d given up when I cuffed her.
Like she knew it broke me.
Like she didn’t care anymore.
Erin leaned back in her chair beside her, sipping from a stainless-steel travel mug like this was just another fucking Thursday.
“Well, well,” she said with a shit-eating grin. “That look right there. With the texts and that little threat she made to you back at the clinic… Wecan tack on a few more charges for that, Chief. Threatening an officer? Obstruction? How creative do we want to get?”
Remi didn’t react. She didn’t speak.
She just tilted her head and raised one eyebrow likeyou showed her our texts? You showed her my warnings? This is the side you chose? Okay then. Fucker.
My jaw clenched so tight I felt something crack.
Before I could respond, the front entrance buzzed open, and the air shifted.
Gray stepped through the door.
Not Kane. Not the devil I was used to.
But a ghost.
He moved like silence had shaped him. Lean frame, black shirt, black boots. A streak of gray at his temple was the only hint that time had touched him at all. His eyes scanned the room like he was memorizing every face, every threat, every angle of exit. The kind of man you sent when you didn’t want someone to come back.
And right now, he was mine.
“Detective Grayson Vance,” I said loud enough for everyone to hear. “From a neighbouring precinct. He’ll be working with us for the next few weeks for audit purposes. Full clearance.”
Erin turned just slightly. “Didn’t know we were sharing jurisdiction now.”
“We are,” I said, already tired of her voice.
