Page 207 of The Darkest Chase

Everyone freezes.

Us, the Jacobins, the mercenaries, Xavier, Chief Bowden.

I risk another glance at Talia.

Her blue eyes have never left me the whole time.

I can feel her telling me, Do what you need to do. We’ll come out the other side, I know it.

Reinforcements then.

Finally.

Close—so close, we’ve got under a minute and they’re already scattering in a mad run. Best of all, the ringleaders can’t when we’ve got them boxed in, and now it’s our advantage. Grant, Lucas, Henri, and I swing around to face Xavier, Bowden, and the Jacobins.

Grant takes aim.

“Four against four, and you’ve lost your minions,” he grinds out. “One more minute and this place will be crawling with Raleigh police. You’re done. Let the girl go.”

“Like hell,” Xavier spits and glances over his shoulder—fuck.

I see what he’s planning.

He wants to make a break for the ship.

If he can get there using Talia as a hostage, he can vanish into the open sea.

An angry cry explodes through the chaos.

Not from Talia.

From Eustace Jacobin, just as Chief Bowden snags her arm and yanks her in close. A long bowie knife materializes in his hand, pressed to her throat.

He stares at me with his dead, soulless eyes.

The mask is truly off now.

For the first time, I see the old chief for the demon he is.

A darkness deeper than anything I ever fathomed.

“The problem,” Bowden says almost merrily, “is that you boys need evidence for a case. Information. Testimonials. And since our darling Eustace here kept everything in her pretty little skull as insurance…” She’s white-faced but stone-cold, refusing to show fear, her wizened face curled in pure disgust as Bowden taps the knife against her throat. “…slit her throat, and I ruin all your hard work. So if you want her alive, you’d best back the hell off.”

“Where does that get you?” I demand. “Kill her with four cops as witnesses, and you’ll still be arrested. You’re not getting off that easy, Chief.”

He smiles, a sickly thing. “Maybe I just want to kill her, then I’ll—oof!”

Fucking Eustace.

Not going down without a fight.

She rams her elbow into his ample gut.

“Hands off my fucking wife!” Ephraim swings his gun up toward Bowden.

Bowden tightens his grip on Eustace. It’s a messy tangle and I swing the muzzle of my M4, trying to find a clean shot until—

Until Rolf strikes first.

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