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She'd been made.
"Shit," she muttered, and then sprinted for the door with the other woman still saying something after her. Jade couldn't make out the words, but she knew they didn't matter. All she cared about was getting back to the station. Getting to Derrick.
Getting the hell out of Dodge.
Revving her engine, she bolted from the parking lot at top speed, zig zagging into a side street she hoped the guys wouldn't think to check. She had five minutes at the most before they found her.
Just five minutes.
She reached for her radio, knowing she should call the station, but in her panic she dialed the only number she could think of.
"Detective Archer," his gruff voice sounded over the line.
"Derrick, it's Jade."
"Jade where the hell did you go? I got to the office and—"
"There's no time." She breathed, checking her rear-view mirror just as a black Lincoln pulled out behind her.
Double shit.
"Look, you were right. Zac was the guy. He's the mole."
"How do you know?"
"Because he's currently trying to kill me." The sound of a car backfiring and then a loud metallic plunk let her know that guns had been drawn and the gasket just above her tire had caught gunfire.
"Jesus," she muttered. In all her time as a detective, she'd never once been in a firefight. With a shaking hand she fumbled for her sidearm and cocked it, hoping to God she wouldn't need to use it.
She already had more than enough blood on her hands.
"Oh my God, Jade, tell me where you are."
"I'm on the corner of Onaowahu and Crescent. They're in pursuit and guns have been drawn."
"Hang tight. I'll be there as soon as I can. Stay on the phone if you can okay?" There was a sound of rustling behind him and she could hear the other detectives yelling for him in the background, probably wondering where he was off to in such a hurry.
"I don't want you to come. If I'd only listened this would have been different. We could have gotten him. If you come here your life is on the line."
"I know that, Jade." His answer was quiet compared to the rumble of his car starting.
"But I—" Another bullet ricocheted off her side-view mirror, splintering the glass into little crystals that flew toward the street. She caught her breath then glanced behind her again. One man was hanging out of the sunroof, his aim poised on her.
She turned suddenly, hoping to catch them off their guard, but the confusion lasted all of one minute.
"I can't lose you." She choked the words out, but they still didn't feel like enough. She needed him to understand. It was one thing to be responsible for Crystal, but to lose him too after everything that had happened...
She couldn't even begin to think about how destroyed she would be. How impossibly devastated.
"You won't lose me."
"You can't promise me that!" Another shot rang on the other side of the car, just above her tire. She pulled the wheel as hard as she could and turned into oncoming traffic. Horns blared from every direction, but she turned on her siren and raced down the street all the same, careering from one lane to the next to avoid civilians.
"Don't be so selfish," Derrick shot back and for a moment she didn't know what to say.
"What?" was all she could manage.
"You feel like you can't lose me. Imagine how I'd feel if I lost you. I'm not going to leave that to chance." As if out of nowhere, another car pulled into the street and began shooting at the man in the Lincoln, catching him in his right shoulder.
