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“You brought me in knowing full well what I’m like. You’re family. I go with you,” he declares and I nod in agreement.

“I need a full work up of his penthouse, blueprints, all of it. We’ll talk to Emilia and see if she can add anything. She knows the layout and the location of the safe. We’ll go in after the survival retreat. Tom won’t be there, so it’ll be safe to talk to her.”

“Yeah, I see a lot of talking happening over a whole weekend without any interruptions…”

I roll my eyes at him. The idea of being alone with her for a whole weekend has crossed my mind. I’d be lying if I said it hadn’t.

“Just get me the blueprints, Cy.” I sigh, rubbing the bridge of my nose, headache incoming.

“Yes, Sergeant!” He salutes me and walks towards the door when the chief barges in without an invitation. I suppose you don’t need one being the chief of police.

“Hunter.” He nods and turns towards Cyrus. “You’re dismissed.”

“Actually chief, anything you have to say to me, you can say in front of my second in command,” I announce. There is only so much patience I have, and it’s being tested. He allowed his daughters to be abused. He has been drowning in his own grief for far too long, to be an excuse. Not anymore. I give respect where it’s earned.

“Fine, Tom, get in here!” he shouts and in comes Tom. Oh, this should be good.

EMILIA

“What the fuck do you mean you won’t take it off. Take it off, Em!” Cass shouts.

Cara called him after I received the texts from Tom. I really wish she hadn’t. I have a headache already, running off three hours of sleep at the most.

“I can’t take it off Cass. I think he gets notified if I do, and it’s not worth the pain I’ll have to take when I have to put it back on!” I shout back.

Cass growls in pure rage and swings at the wall, punching a hole straight through Cara’s living room wall.

“What is it with men and punching holes through walls?” Cara screams.

“Shit, I’m sorry. I’ll fix it, I promise.” Cass’s chest is heaving and he interlocks his hands behind his head. He’s been getting more out of control recently. I know he feels helpless. It’s not his fault, it’s mine.

“You better, Cass!” Cara threatens.

Everyone is on edge. There is no reprieve from anything, just when I think things might slow down, they don’t. Something new always comes into the mix, threatening my sanity.

“Listen, we have the survival retreat this weekend. Tom won’t be there. We can all come up with some sort of plan. Maybe we can finally end this.” The doubt creeping in every word. I don’t want to be negative; I want to believe this could be possible. A future where I’m free, my friends aren’t at risk, maybe a future with Kade, even though we haven’t spoken since the alcove.

“I don’t want anyone mentioning the ring to Kade. I’m already trying to stop him from killing Tom, this will send him over the edge.” I explain. If I tell him, there will be no stopping him. He wouldn’t even cover his tracks I know that much.

“Let him kill him!” Cass spits out. “Hell, I’d do it if I was confident it wouldn’t come back on you.”

“Can we please go to work? We’ll talk more later, alright. I’ve got a massive headache.” I rub my temple hoping it’s enough to ease the pressure but it won’t go away. I need to see him, but part of me is screaming to distance myself from him. I just need a distraction. Hopefully I can get through a whole day at work without seeing Tom. I wouldn’t even mind a scene guard somewhere today. I can sit by myself and read my book. Wishful thinking…it always disappoints.

KADE

Ican’t believe what I’m hearing. I’m convinced someone is getting back at me for some wrongdoing in a past life.

“I think it would be beneficial for all units to participate in the survival retreat. It will build team relations and boost morale.” Chief Hale explains. This isn’t his idea; this is the slimy bastard behind him talking. He can’t be away from Emilia. The fucker is a leach.

“With all due respect Sir, the retreat has never been about morale and team relations. It’s about training, making sure the unit is strong, and ensuring tactics are being followed.” I argue.

“All the better then. It’ll be good to see all my units being tested. Every single one should be strong, if anything it’ll show me the weaker units, the ones I have to involve myself with.” He announces. Like he actually cares about any of his units and not about the flask in his jacket pocket. His hand hovering and twitching over it every chance he gets.

“My unit is superior in every way. The others won’t keep up, it’ll slow us down,” I argue, looking over at Tom, daring a reply.

“I’m sure we’ll manage just fine,” Tom retorts. The chief looks between both of us.

“Let me make this clear, I do not want this to be about units competing. I want you to work together. Split everyone up, make sure you’re all working together, not against each other. I want to see if there are any individuals that aren’t compatible with the force,” he explains.