She rubbed the edge of her wrist, like pulling the memory forward cost her something.
"A few months after we opened the clinic, a client came in. Bruised badly. Scared out of her mind. Said her husband nearly killed her after she caught him cheating.”
“What stands out?” I asked.
“She stayed with us for weeks,” Remi said slowly. “Used a fake name. I’d have to pull her file, but… Rachel. I think she went by Rachel something. Said it wasn’t the first time he’d hit her. Said her family had been trying to pull her out for years. She wouldn’t go public, something about him being too connected. Powerful. That pressing charges would ruin her and wouldn’t stick anyway. But she kept coming back. We worked on a plan to move her out of state.”
“And then?”
“One day… she just stopped showing up.”
A cold weight settled in my gut.
“She ever tell you who he was?” I asked.
Remi shook her head. “No. But she was scared of him in a way you don’t forget. Told me once that if anything ever happened to her, I should forget her name. Forget everything.” She swallowed hard, voice barely audible. “Because people like him don’t leave loose ends.”
My jaw locked.
It fit. Too perfectly.
The pressure building around us. Erin’s scorched-earth obsession. This wasn’t just about optics or politics anymore. It was personal.
I didn’t have time to say it out loud before Reid burst into the room, face flushed, breath ragged.
“Chief... there’s something you need to see. Now.”
I looked at Remi.
She lifted a brow like she was daring me to leave her here.
I turned back to Reid. “What is it?”
He hesitated just long enough to make my chest tighten.
“You’re going to want to see this yourself.”
CHAPTER 55
AVA - THE FIRST MONSTER
The precinct smelled like stale coffee and something heavy... like smoke. Not real smoke, just the kind that lingered after too many tempers had flared in the same place for too long.
Jack and I stepped inside and immediately knew something was wrong.
There was a hum in the air. Low and sharp. Like tension coiled just beneath the floorboards. Officers lingered in corners they usually moved through. Conversations halted when we passed. And at the center of it, like a rot spreading, stood Erin Voss.
She had her arms crossed, jaw tight, posture defiant. Bishop stood at her side, mirroring her stance, like her personal bodyguard.
“I want to know why the hell Remi Carter is still being held at this precinct without charges filed or her day in court,” Jack demanded, his voice cutting through the static like a blade.
Heads turned.
“Because she’s a flight risk and a danger to this department,” Erin snapped before anyone else could speak. “And frankly, your presence here reeks of impropriety, Counsellor. You’re the reason we’re in this mess. Why we can't move the prisoner!”
That bitch...
Jack took a step forward, shoulders squared. “Don’t mistake the noise you spew for truth, Sergeant Voss. You forged reports, interfered with evidence, and violated protocol. I could have you cuffed right now.”
