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“Youshot me?”
He’s bleeding out, I thought calmly.He’s probably going to die.
“Fuck,” Braves Cap cursed, pacing back and forth now. He ran his free hand through his hair, and for a second I thought he would try to pull a clump out. “It wasn’t supposed to go like this.”
“Everything is all right,” I said, patting the air to calm him down. “I’ll do whatever you say. I’ll drop every pass. You’re in control.”
“I know. I am. You’ll do what you’re told.” He looked like he was about to bolt, but then stopped with a jerk. He let out a laugh, half-crazed, and began shaking his head. “No. Can’t do that, now. Everything’s changed.”
“What’s changed?” I asked. I was keenly aware that we were in a public park, and that the police might arrive at any moment.
Braves Cap suddenly relaxed, like he had been injected with morphine. A calm acceptance seemed to come over him as he looked at me, the gun still at his side. “I told you too much. Ran my fucking mouth.”
The hairs on the back of my neck went stiff. “What? You didn’t tell me anything.”
“Brock Schulz,” he replied. “You said my son’s name. You know who I am. As soon as I leave, you’re going straight to the police.”
“No!” I said, sensing that I was begging for my life. “I promise I won’t. I’ll still do what you ask in the game. There’s no need…”
“It’s too late,” he said definitively. He nodded, as if he had convinced himself. “It’s over.”
My last thought was of Cazzie as he raised the gun and fired.
28
Cazzie
I stared at Luke’s empty room, paralyzed with shock for a moment. When it finally wore off, I ran back to the kitchen and re-read the note that had been taped to the door.
Cazzie,
I can’t stop thinking about what you told me. How you love me. I needed to hear that, more than you know. It made me realize I love you, too. Truly. More than anyone I have ever been with, and my certainty has been growing every day. Which is why I have to do this. I can’t stand by and watch you get threatened. I have to take action.
If anything happens to me, then I’m sorry. It’s not your fault. You were an amazing bodyguard, and friend, until the end. But now it’s my turn to keep you safe, by any means necessary.
I love you Caz,
-Luke August
I was a maelstrom of confusing feelings as I read the words again. I was thrilled, and relieved, and frenzied, and panicked, and terrified. What was Luke doing? I dreaded the answer.
He thinks he might die tonight. That was the only explanation for the second paragraph in his note. He was putting himself in danger.
Even though it was hopeless, I tried calling him. It went straight to voicemail. I resisted the urge to throw my phone against the wall and searched around for what to do. Should I call the police? They could probably put out an APB for his car, if it wasn’t too late. It hadn’t beenthatlong since we said goodnight. Less than half an hour. I cursed myself for not being more proactive with his safety. I had considered putting a tracking chip on his car when I first arrived, but after he had resisted the phone app—
The phone app. Find My Friends.I made him turn that on months ago!
I scrambled to open the app on my phone and hoped he hadn’t stubbornly disabled it. The loading icon spun for five seconds, but it felt like five minutes. Then his name appeared, with a red X next to it and the message:No live location.
“Shit!”
But there was another button,last reported location. I clicked that, and the map immediately filled the screen. A translucent circle appeared over a section of green terrain. Brigham Young Park. That was close by!
Moving by instinct rather than thought, I threw on the closest pair of sneakers. I was still wearing my pajamas, sweatpants and a T-shirt, but I didn’t have time to change. I didn’t know how much time I had at all, and I was terrified that I was already too late. But I had time to run into my bedroom and retrieve the lockbox from underneath my bed, my fingers hastily punching in the code.
My Beretta M9 lay inside. I’d brought it with me when I was first sent on this assignment, but hadn’t deigned to tell Luke, especially after he suggested that I start carrying a gun to better protect him. I was grateful for it now, and quickly loaded a standard 15-round magazine.
I shoved it into my coat pocket and left the apartment at a sprint, taking the stairs two at a time. I burst out into the cold street and turned right, then sprinted down the road. The patrol car assigned to watch the apartment was gone. Of course it fucking was. I slowed down long enough to call the detective assigned to Luke’s case. He didn’t answer, so I left a voicemail telling him to meet me at the park.
