“Am I being charged with something new?” she asked, voice flat. “Or are we just playing musical chairs again with who gets to lock the door behind me?”
Ava stepped in beside me, and it sounded like the air left her lungs as she whispered, “Remi...”
“I’m fine,” she said. “And I know what this is, which is bullshit! I don’t need reassignment or reassessment or whatever legal bullshityou’re calling it now. I’ll stay here until someone actually follows the law.”
“You can’t stay here,” I said. “Not because we don’t want you to. Because I am terrified that we can’t protect you if you do.”
“Funny,” she said. “Thought that was your job.”
Ava went to respond, and I touched her elbow, "That is fair, Remi. I deserve that. I have failed you... and I am trying to do right by you now..."
“Remi,” Ava said softly, “Erin’s not done. She filed formal complaints. She named all of us. You. Me. Jack.”
Remi blinked. Just once. But it hit.
She looked at Ava for a long moment before glancing back at me.
“So what? You want me to run?”
“No,” I said. “I want you to live long enough to help take her down.”
She stood. Slowly. And stared me down, even though she was looking up at me.
“Where would I even go?”
“There are options,” I said. “People we trust. Kane’s working on a few. I could call someone I know... he has a ranch that is protected...”
“I’m not going to stay with some strange man I’ve never met,” she snapped. "Someone I don't know that I can trust."
“I didn’t mean...”
“I know what you meant. But this?” she gestured between us, the room, the precinct. “This is already too much. You think I’m just going to vanish into someone’s safehouse like I’m part of some witness relocation plan?”
“You’d have a say,” Ava cut in gently. "I think... actually, you know what. What if we reach out to previous clients... ones with connections as deep as Erin's."
Remi looked like she was struggling, "Ava, that's not why we do what we do. I don't want to abuse a relationship with a former client."
Ava growled, actually growled. "God Remi, it's like you don't see yourself like everyone else does. You would not be abusing or taking advantage of any other shit you are coming up in that beautiful brain of yours... I bet you there are so many people willing and wanting tohelp in any way. Didn't that press conference prove anything to you? You have made an impact, Remi, more than you realize. People love you, respect you and want to help."
Remi’s brow furrowed.
She looked around the room, as if planning to escape this conversation, and then sighed. "Who would I even ask?"
Ava smiled widely and said. “Actually... there’s a group already offering. You helped them before. A woman from the Dawnbreakers MC...”
Remi's eye grew wide, and Ava moved closer.
“You remember, Mara,” Ava continued. “Her ex put her through hell. You helped her walk away when no one else believed her. She’s in a better place now, and she told her club what you did. Their president called me personally. Offered any kind of help you needed. They were on a run when the press conference happened. Said if you needed anything... to let him know. I think you’d be safe there with them, Rem, guarded, anonymous, and under their protection. No pressure. Just a debt they’d like to repay.”
Remi blinked fast, lips parting.
“I remember Mara.” Her voice cracked. “She didn’t think she was worth saving.”
“You made her believe otherwise,” Ava said. “Now she wants you to know the same thing.”
I reached into my pocket and handed her the burner phone we’d prepped.
“No press. No cameras. No police logs. On record... just a medical reassignment, off the record... well, that won't matter as long as you live through this, Remi. You’ll be gone before the ink dries.”
