Page 50 of The Raven
Not yet.
Not when there was one more thing I needed to take care of.
I would have taken care of it earlier, but things had turned crazy in the daysthatfollowed Grim’s death, and I spent much of my time at the station, going over everythingthathad happened. Well, as much as I could without sounding like I was going stir-crazy.
It transpiredthatNick wasn’t a rookie detective after all. He’d beenundercover, working on behalf of Internal Affairs. The events of Halloween one year ago hadn’t gone unnoticed, particularly due to my involvement.
When IA started looking closer at Brenner, they foundthathe wasn’tjustturning a blind eye to the Vipers’ criminal activity, but he was takingpayments from them to destroy evidence and alter accounts to make sure they were never linked to their crimes.
I didn’t know Nick was IA when he put me in handcuffs and drove me away.Butthatnight, I took a chance on him and told himeverything,including how, by some miracle, Raven was back to earn her justice.
Of course, Nick didn’t believe me about a ghost being responsible for themurders, but he also knew I wasn’t involved. He may not have believed me about Raven, but he heard my desperation to get to her before it was too late.
He let me go before we arrived at the station, telling methatit was on thebasisthatmy arrest warrant had been obtained unlawfully; Brenner had lied to the judge.
If he hadn’t let me go, I wasn’t sure what would have become of Raven, not when I saw the dead bird lying on the ground in the den, and the fury with which Grim choked Raven.
The investigation into the Vipers’ murders was still ongoing; the theoryfloating around the station wasthata vigilante had taken it upon themselves to deal with Grim and his boys.
In a way, they weren’t wrong. But, they thought the vigilante was a trainedkiller, how else would he - they couldn’t possibly consider a woman was responsible - flee a crime scene without leaving a hint of evidence behind? In their minds, the killer was a professional, not a vengeful ghost.
Others had remained convinced I was somehow behind it all, not helped bythe cuts, bruises, and stab wound I was sporting when I rocked up at the station the following day. I’d fed them a crock of shitthatmy injuries were a result of a mugging shortly after Nick let me go, but some didn’t buy it.
I was only too happy to let them run with their theories. It didn’t matter.Raven got her justice, and in the space of a week, Hadleigh Peak was already starting to become a better place.
When the green light was given for me to leave town, I took the first flightout of there, heading to a place I hadn’t been inmonths.
The building looked the same as it did the last time I was here, and thefamiliar sense of dread I felt whenever I navigated the corridors filled me. My heart raced as the elevator climbed to the fifth floor.
“Detective Roberts, good to see you,”Carly said, giving me a friendly smilewhen I stepped out of the elevator.
I’d pre-warned her of my visit, and like all the times before, she was waitingto greet me as soon as I arrived. Since my last visit, she’d cut her long blonde hair into a bob, and she now sported a large engagement ring on her finger.
“You too. I see congratulations are in order,”I replied, making small talk asshe led me down the corridor.
Carly replied, but I wasn’t listening; my brain was in turmoil about whatawaited.
“I’m happy for you,”I said when we stopped outside the room.“Have therebeen any changes?”
A sad smile pulled at her lips.“She crashed a week ago,”she saidtentatively, making my heart plummet.“We managed to get her back, but…you should probably prepare yourself, Mason. This could be the start of the end.”
“Or it could be her coming back?”I replied, hope lacing my tone.
She gave my arm a small squeeze.“Maybe. But it’s unlikely.”I swallowed,refusing to listen to her.“Take your time. I’ll be out here if you need anything.”
Withthat, she walked away, grabbing a chart, and disappearing into the neighboring room.Taking a breath, I pushed the door open, my eyes immediately landing onheras I stepped inside and closed the door behind me.
Despair seeped down to my bones as I pulled the chair up next to the bed,taking in the beautiful woman asleep.She looked peaceful, her long black hair in vivid contrast to the whitebedding. Long black lashes fanned her cheekbones as her eyes remained closed, and small, soft breaths left her parted lips.
I took her hand in mine and gave it a squeeze.“Hi, Blackbird.”
She didn’t move. Didn’t stir. Didn’t open her eyes. Why would she, though?She’d been in a coma for over a year. It was a miracle her heart was still beating, and she didn’t need a machine to breathe for her like she once had.
I leaned forward and kissed the back of her hand, allowing memories to playin my head.
I stare at Raven’s battered face, her features almost unrecognisable from thebeating Grim and his boys gave her. It’s been two days since she was attacked, and the swelling and bruising haven’tevenbegun to go down.
X-rays confirm she’s got two shattered eye sockets and a broken nose, butthose injuries are nothing compared to the results of her brain scan. She’d been deprived of oxygen after she was suffocated with the plastic bag over her head, and although I’d managed to get her back, she’d flatlined several times sincethen.
