Page 54 of Dangerous Pursuit
I can feel my heartbeat in my throat as my eyes dart left and right in search of the third man, my blood pressure doubling when I can't locate him. An eerie sense of impending doom washes over me.
The operator's tirade in my ear seems foreign now, weirdly squeaky and high-pitched before I realize the sounds don't actually come from my phone, and instead, from a greater distance first before becoming louder until I recognize them to be emergency sirens.
A lot of things happen at once in the next few seconds.
The sirens grow louder and louder. The man that's been rolling around by Liam's feet lifts his dirt covered head, looks both way and despite seeming like he's barely able to hold himself upright, he scrambles to his feet and staggers forward, dragging one foot behind the rest of his body until he disappears around the far corner just as the first waves of red and blue spill around, illuminating the entire alley and I run. I run forward like my life depends on it, toward the light, the sounds, towardjustice that's just pulled up to the curb. I get to Liam just as he leans down, putting the half-conscious excuse for a man down, releasing the deadly chokehold he had on his neck and putting the barely moving body on the ground.
"Liam!" The second Liam's hands are free, I jump him like we've been separated for years, throwing both arms around his neck and slamming myself against him. "Fucking hell, are you alright?"
His exhale is shaky against my hair as he hugs me back. "Yeah, I'm fine," he rasps. "I'm—"
"Please step back, sir.Sir." It's not until there's a forceful pull on my arm, yanking me back that I realize the words I barely register are directed at me.
"Wha—" I let out as I'm being pushed away and the next time I blink, there's an offending body situated in the worst spot a body can be situated right now—between Liam and myself.
Every piece of me wants to reach out and get rid of the inconvenience. But the body in question happens to be wearing a police uniform, so I reluctantly step back.
"Okay. Why don't you tell me what happened," asks the officer, with his back currently facing me.
I step around the officer to face him and start talking the exact moment Liam does, words shooting out of me like bullets from a machine gun, and I'm gesturing so wildly I almost hit the officer in the face.
The man raises one hand, the gesture enough to shut both Liam and me up mid-word.
"Hold on. You"—he points at Liam—"from the top. You"—accusatory finger stops inches from my chest—"step away."
"But—"
"Sir."
My insides boil and my nostrils flair, and I swear if I get calledsirone more time, I'm gonna lose it. I take one calming breath to avoid just that and do as I'm told, moving to the side and letting Liam do the talking.
It's not until I'm standing a few feet away from Liam and the note-taking officer, close enough to hear Liam's recounting, but not close enough to chime in, that I look around and take in my surroundings. And let me tell you, the image I'm met with is not the image I've imagined at all.
The entire alley flashes with red and blue and the cry a different set of sirens reaches me from a distance.
Liam runs his palm over his face as he towers over the officer. Sweat rolls down his temple and his cheeks are muddy. There's a single scratch on the side of his neck, a thin red line marring his skin. My blood boils.
Three feet to their left, a female officer is squatting down, touching the upper arm of a young man, the same man who just minutes ago was punching Liam on the back, currently moaning something incoherently, half his face painted red, his mouth open, jaw hanging at an unnatural-looking angle.
My eyes dart left, then right, then left again. The other two men have long bolted.
A wave of dread washes over me as I spot an ambulance wailing its way into the alley.
I look at Liam. Then at the man on the ground. Liam. The man again. And just as the reality of sinks in, the paramedics rush out of their vehicle and towards the mess of a man, and the officer next to Liam says, "You're going to have to come with us."
"WHAT?" I roar, whatever sense of self-preservation I possess seemingly on holiday now as I leap toward the officer and stand right in front of his face. "Why?"
I barely catch Liam murmuring, "Xander, out of one side of his mouth, but I ignore him.
"You can't take him. You won't take him! There were three ofthemand—"
The officer cuts me off with another "Sir," while Liam says my name again. "Doyouwant to get detained?"
Every fiber of my being ignites, and I accept my faith. I am getting detained. For assaulting a policeman. My body takes over and I launch forward, but I'm not even a full step into my journey to madness when Liam's voice rings in my ear, halting me in place. "Xander!"
My eyes meet Liam's and begin to water.
"It's okay." Words I recognize to be lies do nothing to calm me. "It's nothing. It's procedure."
