Chapter 7
We reached the hospital in twelve minutes.
Sirens blaring.
Tires screeching.
I ran through the emergency room doors.
Heart hammering.
The security guard at the nurse's station looked up, startled.
"Room 417," I shouted. "Is my mother okay?"
He nodded quickly.
"She's fine, ma'am. No one's been up there."
I didn't slow down.
Took the stairs two at a time.
Fourth floor.
Turned the corner.
Two uniformed officers stood outside my mother's room.
They tensed when they saw me coming.
"Ma'am—"
"Anyone been here?" I demanded.
"Nobody. We've been here the whole time."
I pushed past them.
Into the room.
Mom was sitting up in bed.
Reading a magazine.
She looked up, surprised.
"Clara? What's wrong?"
I closed the door.
Leaned against it.
Tried to catch my breath.
"Nothing's wrong. I just... I wanted to make sure you were okay."
She studied my face.
She knew me too well.
"Something happened."
I sat down beside her bed.
"Brooke is missing. Landry made bail."
Mom's magazine slipped from her hands.
"Oh God."
"They won't get near you," I said quickly. "There are two officers outside. Torres is arranging for more."
"This hospital is the safest place in Westbridge right now."
She reached out.
Took my hand.
Her good hand.
"Clara... what if they come for you?"
I squeezed her fingers.
"They won't get the chance."
But the fear was there.
Real and sharp.
Brooke was desperate.
Landry was ruined.
Desperate people did desperate things.
And they both knew exactly who to blame for their downfall.
Me.
Torres came in an hour later.
His face grim.
"Landry's disappeared too."
"No one's seen him since he posted bail."
"His house is empty. His car is gone."
"APB is out statewide. But if they're working together..."
He didn't need to finish.
Two people who knew the system.
Who knew how to hide.
How to disappear.
"They're not going to run," I said.
"What?"
"People like Brooke and Landry don't run. They fight."
"They think if they can eliminate the witnesses... eliminate me... they can make all of this go away."
"Landry still has friends on the force. People who owe him favors."
"If something happens to me and Mom... who's left to press charges?"
Torres nodded slowly.
He knew I was right.
"I'll quadruple security here. And I'm assigning you a protective detail."
I started to object.
"Don't," he said. "This isn't negotiable."
"Not with your job. Not with your life."
He was right.
I knew he was right.
That night, I slept in the chair beside my mother's bed.
The officers outside the door never moved.
But sleep wouldn't come.
I kept replaying everything.
The call at 2:27 a.m.
The precinct.
Landry's face.
Brooke's cold eyes.
Arthur's silence.
And now this.
Two dangerous people on the loose.
Both wanting me dead.
Around 3:00 a.m., my phone buzzed.
A text.
From an unknown number.
It contained only three words.
You started this.
I stared at the screen.
My blood ran cold.
Then another text came through.
Same number.
We'll finish it.
I stood up.
Walked to the window.
The hospital parking lot was dark.
Quiet.
But somewhere out there...
They were watching.
Waiting.
The next morning, Chen came to the hospital.
She brought coffee.
And bad news.
"The DA is getting nervous," she said.
"Says without Brooke and Landry in custody, the case is stalled."
"He's talking about offering them a deal."
I felt my temper rise.
"A deal?"
"For what? Assaulting my mother? Twenty years of corruption? Multiple cases of domestic violence that Landry buried?"
"Clara, I know. But the DA is worried about what happens if this goes to trial and they're acquitted."
"Landry still has influence. There are judges who owe him favors."
"He's scared."
"Of what? Looking weak?"
"Of losing."
I stood up.
Paced the room.
"Then we don't give him the option of losing."
"We build a case so strong, so overwhelming, that even Landry's judge friends can't ignore it."
"We get every victim. Every witness. Every document."
"We bury them in evidence."
Chen watched me.
Then she smiled.
"That's what I thought you'd say."
She pulled a file from her bag.
"Torres found something else. In Landry's financial records."
"Regular payments. Every month for the last three years. To a private investigator."
"Why would Landry need a PI?"
"Not Landry. Brooke."
"The payments came from her account. Landry just facilitated them."
"She was investigating Arthur."
I blinked.
"Arthur?"
"His emails. His phone records. His location. Every minute of every day."
"She had him under total surveillance."
"And... she was investigating you too."
That stopped me.
"Me?"
"For the last six months. She's been digging into your career. Your cases. Your personal life."
"She was looking for something. Anything she could use against you."
I thought about Brooke at the precinct.
The way she'd looked at me.
She hadn't just been angry.
She'd been preparing.
Studying me.
Looking for weaknesses.
"She knew exactly who I was," I said quietly.
"Before I even walked through that door."
"She knew my title. Knew what I did."
"That's why Landry was so quick to cover everything up. She told him who I was. And they both knew if I got involved..."
"They were finished," Chen finished.
"So they decided to brazen it out. Arrest your mother. Hope I'd back down."
"But I didn't."
"No. You didn't."
The pieces were all fitting together now.
Every move Brooke had made.
Every lie.
Every threat.
It had all been calculated.
She'd known exactly what she was doing.
And she'd almost gotten away with it.
Almost.
"Chen, I need you to do something for me."
"Name it."
"Leak a story. To the press. Anonymous source."
"Tell them about the investigation. About Landry. About the corruption."
"Don't mention Brooke by name. Don't mention my mother."
"Just Landry. And the system he built."
Chen raised an eyebrow.
"Why?"
"Because Brooke and Landry are hiding together. And right now, they think they're in control."
"They think if they stay quiet, this will all blow over."
"I want to change that."
"I want Landry to see his whole life's work being torn apart in the press."
"I want him to get angry. To get desperate."
"Desperate people make mistakes."
Chen thought about it.
Then nodded.
"It'll be on the news by tonight."
She stood up to leave.
Then paused.
"Clara? Be careful."
"I always am."
She left.
I looked at my mother.
She'd been listening.
"Clara... what are you doing?"
I walked back to the bed.
Sat down.
"I'm drawing them out, Mom."
May you like
"They think they're the hunters. That we're the prey."
"I'm going to show them they're wrong."
