The cadets gulped in unison and scattered. Sapphire closed the door again and secured the latch. She crossed her arms once more and leaned against the door.
Lyssa covered herself with her pants. Sapphire rolled her eyes. Diana inhaled to speak, but Sapphire raised her hand, silencing her.
“Listen, ladies. I don’t care how madly in love you are, or whatever you get up to in your free time. But the thing is, you need to keep your personal crap to yourselves. Which means keeping it bottled up until you’re out of sight, out of mind. Got it?”
Lyssa shook her head. “I want a new roommate.” Diana turned sharply, genuinely surprised at her extreme request.
“Denied.”
“Then I want my own room.”
“Denied.”
Lyssa stood up and started to put on her pants. “Then I quit.”
“Denied. You done?”
“You can’t make me stay.” She slid her other leg into her pants and wiggled her hips until she could zip up and fasten the button. Diana felt sick to her stomach at the sight of Lyssa preparing to leave her, forever.
Sapphire gave her a thin smile. She produced a small black canister and raised it to eye level. “DT-45. I’m not kidding. I wanted to accidentally use it on Griggs, but you’ll do in a pinch.”
Lyssa sat down hard on the bed. “Fine.”
Sapphire lowered the canister but didn’t put it away. “So. What seems to be the problem, here?”
Diana and Lyssa looked at her, then at each other, then gave their side of the story in unison. Sapphire squeezed her eyes shut and raised her free hand to shush them. “One at a time. Jesus. I could have snuck out on patrol for this. Okay, you, lady. What’s going on?” She pointed to Lyssa.
Lyssa folded her arms. “She’s a liar.”
“Ah…” she cleared her throat. “I am not!” Diana folded her arms.
Sapphire raised the canister again. “What did I just say about one at a time? You’ll get your turn when I’m done with her.”
“Yes, ma’am.” Diana looked down at her knees.
Lyssa pointed an accusing finger at Diana. “See? She acts like she’s normal, but she’s some kind of hillbilly or something.”
Sapphire cocked her head and lowered the canister. “Really. That’s amazing. I didn’t know that having a twang meant you have three eyes and a tail. And if her accent is news to you, you’re not very observant. It fades in and out all the time.”
Diana looked up, stunned. “It most certainly does not.” She did her best Alexa Charlevoix impression, under the circumstances.
“Um, yeah, it does. I don’t get why you don’t just talk naturally. Lots of people are from rural areas. It’s not a big deal.”
“I can’t believe anything she says anymore. If she’s lying about this, then what else?” Lyssa gave Sapphire a hard stare. “Like, maybe you got her naked for more than just a uniform fitting.”
Sapphire returned her stare, putting her hand on her hip for extra oomph. “Naked. Really. Is that what she told you?”
Lyssa looked down. “Okay, not naked.” She looked up again, with fury in her eyes. “Not at first, anyway.”
“Not ever. I take it there’s some kind of trust issues situation here, which frankly doesn’t surprise me. You and your stupid soaps.”
Both women looked at her, surprised. They said in unison, “They’re not stupid.”
Sapphire smiled. “There, see? One thing you two can agree on. Okay, soap fans. Let’s sort this out. Diana, were you deceiving Lyssa about anything? Talk it out.” She slipped the canister into her front pocket.
Tears welled up in Diana’s eyes, as she looked at Lyssa. She truly did love her and hoped she felt the same way. But her heart ached at how easily Lyssa threatened to walk away without a second thought. Yes, she had bad relationships before. But trust issues went both ways. How could she truly believe she loved her back and was as committed to her in return? Especially after Gabe was so quick to walk away from his so-called oath of honor?
“I was sent here to start a new life. Mabel wanted better for me. My father abandoned me at a restaurant. He left me with just a suitcase and three dollars. Mabel took me in, got me a job, and let me stay with her. She taught me a lot. She was…” she fought a swelling lump in her throat, “the mother I never had.” She wiped away a tear with her knuckle, and she looked up at Sapphire. “I talk different now because I want to be different. Better. Better than him.”
Lyssa’s face softened, and she crossed the gap to sit beside her. She rubbed her back and pulled her close. “I’m so, so sorry. I… didn’t know.” Hot tears streamed down Diana’s cheeks.
Sapphire rolled her eyes. “Well, there’s a solid relationship.” She stepped into the bathroom and returned with a wad of toilet paper. She handed it to Diana like it was used. Diana blew her nose and thanked her.
“Don’t mention it. Seriously, I was never here, and this never happened. I need you two to figure out how this is going to work. I’m no relationship expert, but flying off the handle and storming out is no substitute for sitting down and being honest with each other.”
The girls nodded. “Thank you, Sapphire. You’re a good friend.” Lyssa wiped her cheek.
“No, I’m not. I just don’t want your crap ruining things for the rest of us. Not sure if you noticed, but women don’t get the best end of the deal here. There are far fewer of us than there are of them. Stuff like this is going to make this a boy’s club, and you’ll only have yourselves to blame.” She flicked the privacy latch aside and pulled the door open. She paused and turned to the women.
“Next time, I’ll just spray your asses and save time. Seriously, this stuff is nasty.” She patted her front pocket and grinned. “I can’t wait to try it.”
Diana and Lyssa spent hours in their room, holding each other close, whispering apologies to each other and swearing to make things right.
Diana enjoyed the feeling of Lyssa pressed against her. She liked her scent, her wild hair that usually ended up in a ponytail because she couldn’t manage it any other way, and the way her pudgy hand fit into her own when her slender fingers wrapped around it. Lyssa’s head pressed under Diana’s chin, and she wanted to stay like that forever.
For her sins, a knock came at the door. Lyssa moaned and snuggled against her.
The knock was more insistent. Sapphire’s voice was barely audible through the door. “Open up already. Wait, I mean, if you’re dressed.”
Lyssa gasped, and Diana grudgingly let her go. She padded to the door and opened it a crack. “What’s going on?”
“Let me in, and I’ll tell you. I’m not having this conversation out in the hall.”
Lyssa opened the door just long enough to let Sapphire in, and she looked around and looked visibly relieved that both women were dressed, and she hadn’t interrupted anything she didn’t care to know about. Lyssa closed the door and flicked the privacy latch. “Okay, tell us.”
“You didn’t hear this from me, but I think your father just checked in at St. Mark’s. A man was admitted about a half hour ago with a wound to his arm. No ID, and he’s not much for answering questions. Sound familiar?”
Diana and Lyssa exchanged excited glances. “So, what do we do now?”
Sapphire gave her a wry smile. “I’m just support staff. I don’t go out on runs. But if there was an officer around that could make the arrest, maybe she could do that.”
Diana’s jaw dropped, then her shoulders drooped. “I can’t do this alone.”
Lyssa stepped forward. “I’m coming too.”
Sapphire snorted. “Like hell, you will. No badge, no gun, what are you going to do, ask him nicely to turn himself in?”
Diana put her arm around Lyssa. “She’s coming with me. I need a partner, don’t I? Officer Milton is dead.”
Sapphire smiled and pulled her jacket open to reveal her uniform, complete with badge and holster. “I’m driving.” She turned to Lyssa. “What’s your contributi
on?”
She looked down, then looked up with a twinkle in her eye. “A willingness to learn. And various duties as assigned.”
Sapphire sighed. “Fine. You two are practically inseparable anyway, which is more of a liability than you realize. But I figure you’ll probably stow away in my trunk if I say no, so, get dressed and meet me in five minutes. Side lot.”
Lyssa looked around for her cadet uniform, and Sapphire waved her off. “Not you. No badge yet. We might need somebody undercover. Wear whatever you’d usually put on if you went to the hospital late at night.”
When she left, Diana scrambled to put on her uniform. She fastened her belt and checked her sidearm. It was fully loaded, with two extra magazines, safety on. She slid the gun back into the holster and snapped the safety strap in place. She checked her collar in the mirror and tugged at the tips. She took a deep breath and stared into the mirror. “It’s either you or him. You’ve got this.”
Lyssa pulled her pony holder out and swished her hair around. She smudged her eyelids, and was the picture of a concerned visitor, wearing a hodge-podge of clothing collected from the floor. Diana made a face, and Lyssa laughed. “What? Isn’t this convincing?”
“Is he gonna make it?”
Lyssa brushed off Diana’s shoulders. “No, he isn’t.”
Sapphire leaned against a car, but it wasn’t the Optimus Five. It looked barely operable, with rust patches and missing hubcaps. Lyssa pointed to the car, and Sapphire shrugged. “The less attention we attract going in, the better.”
The three of them sat down in the ratty vehicle, and Sapphire turned a key to activate the car. It made a harsh grinding noise, followed by a cacophony of roaring and whining sounds.
Lyssa rolled her eyes. “Oh yeah, real stealth.”
“Have you been to St. Mark’s?”
“No, why?”
“Trust me, we’ll blend right in.” The engine coughed and wheezed, then halted. Sapphire swore and cranked the ignition while pumping the gas pedal a few times.
CHAPTER 35
As St. Mark’s Trauma Center came into view through the grimy windshield, Diana noticed the neighborhood quality steadily deteriorating. Arbor Day hadn’t directly affected the area, and yet, the buildings showed scorching around many of the windows since boarded up with notices posted to them warning the building was condemned. The trauma center itself stood like a white beacon against a backdrop of squalor. Her hand slid closer to her holster.
As they pulled into the emergency room parking lot, Diana saw her father’s truck. She had Sapphire pull up behind it, and she confirmed the missing license plate and bullet holes in the back window. “He’s here,” she announced.
Sapphire nodded and drove along in search of an ideal parking place. As they got further away from the emergency room entrance, Diana grew concerned. “Don’t we want to go in that way? My Da—I mean, father is in there.”
Sapphire smirked. “That’s right, he’s in there. Maybe we don’t walk straight into the lion’s den.”
A loud roar sounded across the parking lot. Lyssa jumped in her seat, and the three laughed at the coincidence. They saw very few late-model vehicles in the lot. Diana assumed someone started their car, and the engine noise provided the scare. From the corner of her eye, she saw a truck back up with its lights off. She breathed a sigh of relief that no lions were prowling the parking lot.
Sapphire found a spot in the rear of the lot and shoved the gear shifter into Reverse. The car sputtered and conked out. “We might be walking back.”
“Or, we might be taking a truck instead,” Diana said with a wink.
Sapphire looked up in her rear-view mirror, and her eyes widened as the roar of an engine drew closer. “What the literal fu—”
The girls bent forward in unison as their car was rammed from behind. Sapphire sat up and brushed her hair out of her eyes. She cranked the ignition and pumped the gas pedal twice. Diana looked over her shoulder and saw a man readying a long rifle. He was backlit by a lamppost, but she knew who he was. He’d set the trap straight out of the Good Book, and she didn’t consider it as a possibility. She winced at the realization and beat herself up for not taking his advice sooner and reviewed the material, this time with the benefit of an expanded vocabulary—and a dictionary.
The engine squealed as the ignition fired, and Sapphire pressed down on the gas pedal. Diana’s father swore and tossed the rifle into the truck. Seconds later, he was following them out of the trauma center parking lot. Diana bit her lip. If he had the Good Book memorized, why did he want it back so badly? Unless… there was another artifact.
Lyssa gripped Diana’s headrest and leaned forward. “Are you sure we can outrun him? This thing barely got us to St. Mark’s as it is.”
The truck roared once more, and the women jostled around as he rammed the back of the car again. A new noise sounded behind them as the rusted bumper dragged on the street, sending a shower of sparks flying in their wake. That made Diana’s father back off. She wondered if the truck was a fire hazard, and how they could use that to their advantage.
“Hang on. I’ve got a few moves I can use on him. This turn’s going to be tight, brace yourselves.”
She took a right turn without slowing down, and Lyssa slammed into the back door on the driver’s side. “Ow!” She rubbed her head and struggled to sit up.
Sapphire blew a crop of hair out of her eyes as she clutched the steering wheel. “I said to hang on. Going left this time. You get hurt, that’s your problem.”
Lyssa grabbed a headrest as Sapphire steered hard into the turn. A spray of sparks shot behind them, but the truck continued its pursuit. They were stuck on a straight road, and as Diana came to that realization, the truck roared. She pressed her hands to the dashboard and waited for the next collision. The car rocked chaotically as the truck made contact, then fell away in a sudden stop. The bumper had fallen off and punctured the truck’s tires on the driver’s side.
Diana looked over her shoulder and pumped her fist as her father jumped out of the truck and readied his rifle. “That did it! Turn anywhere, right now.”
Sapphire looked over at her, looking perplexed. “What for? I lost him, didn’t I?”
Something exploded in the rear of the car. Sapphire fought to keep control of the vehicle, and it conked out beside a boarded-up tenement. She swore again and cranked the ignition. Diana slapped her hand. “It’s no use. We’ve got to run.”
“Run? No way. We can get lots farther in this rust bucket. Come on, turn over, already.” She pumped the gas pedal three times.
Lyssa patted her shoulder. “Um, how come the street is crooked?” She pointed out the back window. Diana’s father stood in the middle of the street, roughly fifty feet away, reloading the rifle. Diana opened her door and looked back. “Uh, Sapph? We’ve got a flat.” She quickly slammed her door.
“Son of a bitch!” Sapphire slapped the steering wheel and ran her fingers through her hair. “Okay, guess we’re hoofing it. Let’s get to cover.”
Lyssa reached forward and patted her shoulder. “Hey, I’m the only one without a gun. How am I supposed to defend myself if something happens?”
Sapphire frowned and sighed. She struggled with her front pocket until she produced the canister of pepper spray and handed it to Lyssa. “I hope you don’t need it. I want to use it. But, you’re right. You need something just in case. Little piece of advice,” she said, smirking, “point it away from you. And us.”
“Got it.” Lyssa palmed the canister.
Diana’s father slid the bolt forward on his rifle and locked it into position. He took a few steps forward, then stopped. He raised the rifle and took aim. Diana yelped and ordered Sapphire and Lyssa to duck as far down as they could.
A gunshot sounded, and the sound of metal striking metal clanged from the rear of the car. Sapphire looked over at Diana as she rested her head against the driver’s seat. “What was that?”
Diana raised her head and
sniffed. Gasoline fumes tickled her nostrils. She remembered her father’s guiding principle: Do with one bullet what other shooters do with ten.
“Get out of the car. Run, now!” She pushed her door open.
The women scrambled from the car and dived onto a dirt patch beside the tenement. Another bullet ricocheted behind the car and ignited a pool of gasoline. The car erupted into flames. Diana rolled onto her side and looked at Lyssa fearfully. Lyssa’s eyes flickered as she looked at the blaze. She leaned forward and pecked Diana on the cheek. “You’re a life-saver.”
Diana smiled. “Just doing my job.”
Sapphire stood and dusted off her pant legs with her bare hands. “Get a room. Literally. Come on, he’ll pick us off one by one if we don’t get inside.”
Lyssa stood up and looked at the condemned building. “In there? You sure it’s safe?”
Sapphire waved them on. “How the hell would I know?”
The women ran around the back of the building and pulled a dented metal door open. The inside of the building was almost pitch black, but after they took a moment to let their eyes adjust, they began to see where light was poking through the boarded-up windows. Sapphire pulled Diana away from the back door, and Lyssa was dragged along by Diana.
“Um, should we really be sticking together like this? I feel like he could drop us with one shot.” Lyssa broke free of Diana’s grip and pressed her back against the wall.
Sapphire nodded. “You’re right. We need to split up. Whoever gets a clean shot at him, take it. Just… don’t die, okay? I have enough messes to clean up, daily.” With that, she crept down the hall to the right of the back entrance. Diana and Lyssa shrugged at each other and walked as quietly as they could down the hall and turned the corner.
Diana rattled a doorknob to an apartment unit, and the door opened inward. An acrid smell wafted from the entryway, and she fanned her nose. “Maybe not this one,” she whispered to Lyssa, who pinched her nose shut, nodding.
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