“You’re serious.”
“You think I’m not?”
For a moment, the silence stretched razor thin.
Then she moved. Slow. Deliberate. Slapped her badge onto the table hard enough to make it skid. Then she unholstered her gun and, without breaking eye contact with me, pointed the barrel in Remi’s direction before sliding it onto the table with a soft scrape of metal.
Message received.
Bishop did the same, too close to Remi, leaning just a fraction too far into her space before stepping back. My hand went to mine in response.
Another message.
Erin brushed past me on her way out, close enough that her perfume and venom stuck to my skin. She stopped in the doorway, turned just enough to let the words cut.
“You’re going to regret taking her side.”
I didn’t give her the satisfaction of answering.
When the door shut behind her, the air shifted.
I exhaled, rougher than I meant to.
“You okay?” I asked.
Remi didn’t answer.
“Remi…”
Still nothing.
I dragged the empty chair out and sat across from her. Up close, she looked even worse, wrists scraped, dark circles under her eyes, bruises blooming down her jaw. The jumpsuit hung loose on her frame like it belonged to someone else.
She kept staring past me, into some place I couldn’t see.
"You were supposed to have a guard. What happened to Reid?"
She swallowed roughly and then finally answered, "She scared him away, figured he'd come get you soon enough."
“I will make sure Gray always has an eye on you,” I said, leaning forward. “He says you scare him more than the rest of us combined.”
That earned me a twitch at the corner of her mouth.
Small victory.
“He’s good,” she muttered. “Quiet. But smart. Doesn’t miss much.”
“You trust him?”
“I don’t trust anyone in a badge right now,” she said flatly. “But I like him better than most.”
I nodded. “Ava thinks Erin’s vendetta started before she ever met me. Wants us to dig into the early days of the clinic, first few months, maybe the first year. She thinks the answer’s there.”
Remi leaned back, staring at the ceiling like it might give her strength.
“I didn’t think of it before,” she said finally, her voice gone soft, distant. “Didn’t think it was important.”
I waited.
