He shoved her, hard.
She stumbled back. Hit the wall. Cracked her shoulder against the trim with a sound I’ll never forget.
Something in me snapped.
I grabbed the nearest thing I could, an old floor lamp, and swung. He caught the edge of it across the ribs and stumbled.
I looked at Remi, and she was already starting to stand. “Don’t worry about me, get her out. I’ll keep him distracted.”
I moved towards the bathroom, still clutching my phone.
He got back up and stumbled toward me, but then Remi was on him. She jumped on his back and was working her arm under his chin.
“Go, Ava,” she snapped. “Get. Her. Out.”
I took a step, and he raged. Started spinning and then threw himself into the wall. I felt the air leave Remi’s lungs. Heard the whistle. I picked up a broken piece of the lamp and waved it at him like a blade.
“Get out!” I screamed. “Get out or I will fucking end you.”
He lunged once more, then stopped, hearing sirens in the distance.
Coward.
He spat at the ground and stormed past us, out the broken front door.
I didn’t watch him go. I dropped the makeshift weapon and turned to Remi.
She was slumped against the wall, hand pressed to her shoulder, face pale, breaths laboured.
“Shit,” I whispered, kneeling. “Remi, I’m so sorry...”
“I’m fine,” she said through gritted teeth. “Get to Annalise.”
I nodded and pushed further into the apartment.
Annalise was still in the bathroom. Dents evident in the barely-there door.
“Hey,” I said gently. “It’s me. You can open the door. You’re safe now. He’s gone.”
The door opened, and she flung herself into my arms. She sobbed once and collapsed into me. We tumbled to the floor, and I held her until the cops arrived.
And when I walked back into the hallway, I found Erin standing there, gun on her hip, badge on her belt, and a fucking smirk twinkling in her eyes.
She didn’t say a word.
But I saw it.
I wanted to scream at her, but this time I kept quiet as I followed the medics carrying Remi on a stretcher. And helped Annalise to the second ambulance waiting to take her in to get checked out... to validate the “extreme use of force” that Remi and I had used to get to her in her apartment.
And I wondered how many more girls would scream into silence before this town finally admitted the whole damn thing needed to burn.
CHAPTER 32
HARLAN - DON'T GIVE UP ON ME YET
Hospitals always smelled like bleach and regret.
I hated that I knew the way to the ER without asking. Hated that I recognized two of the nurses, and they recognized me. Not because we were friends, but because I was the man who kept showing up after the damage was already done. The man who carried too many names home in files instead of flesh.
