Chapter 7 - THE POLICE STATION BELONGED TO THEM
Police headquarters was full of cops.
That made it worse.
I walked through the front doors alone with the locket around my neck and the ledger hidden under my coat.
Eli had argued until his face turned red.
Agent Pike had threatened to arrest me.
I went anyway.
A desk officer looked up.
“Maya Reed?”
My stomach tightened.
“Yes.”
“Detective Sloane is expecting you.”
Of course he was.
The elevator took me to the fifth floor.
Every person I passed looked normal.
That was the terrifying part.
Coffee cups. Paperwork. Bad fluorescent lights.
How many were bought?
How many were scared?
How many had no idea?
Sloane waited in an interrogation room.
Tessa was not there.
I stopped in the doorway.
“Where is she?”
“Safe.”
“You hit her.”
“I didn’t.”
“You let someone.”
“That’s a fair complaint.”
He pointed to the chair.
I stayed standing.
“Give me the key,” he said.
“Give me Tessa.”
“You think this is a trade?”
“Yes.”
He smiled.
“It’s an interview.”
The door locked behind me.
I pulled the ledger from my coat and held it up.
“Then let’s talk.”
For the first time, Sloane looked nervous.
“Where did you get that?”
“Box 317.”
“You opened it?”
“Are you scared, Detective?”
He stood.
“That book is older than both of us. You don’t understand what’s in it.”
“Names of people you own.”
“Names of people keeping the city from tearing itself apart.”
I stared at him.
“That’s what you tell yourself?”
“That’s what I know.”
A fire alarm suddenly started blaring.
Sloane looked toward the ceiling.
I smiled.
“What did you do?”
“I came alone.”
His eyes narrowed.
“I didn’t say nobody followed me.”
The lights went out.
The door burst open.
Eli grabbed Sloane and drove him into the wall.
Agent Pike appeared behind him with her weapon up.
“FBI! Hands where I can see them!”
Three detectives at the far end of the hall drew guns.
At us.
Pike swore.
“Wrong hands.”
We ran.
Bullets tore through glass partitions.
Pike fired back while Eli pulled me toward the emergency stairs.
“Where’s Tessa?” I yelled.
Pike shouted, “Basement transport garage!”
We took the stairs three at a time.
In the garage, a black van was already moving.
I saw Tessa through the rear window.
“Tess!”
She kicked the glass.
Eli sprinted toward a parked cruiser, smashed the driver’s window, and climbed in.
“Really?” I said.
“Complain later.”
Pike got in the back.
We chased the van through the underground ramp.
Sloane’s men followed in two unmarked cars.
Eli rammed the van at the first intersection.
Metal screamed.
The van spun into a light pole.
I jumped out before the cruiser stopped.
“Tessa!”
I tore open the rear door.
She fell into my arms, crying.
For three seconds, the world narrowed to her shaking body.
Then she whispered in my ear.
“Maya, don’t react.”
I froze.
“They put something in my coat.”
“What?”
“A tracker?”
She shook her head.
“A bomb.”
A red light blinked under her collar.
And the timer read 11:58.
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