She'd been made.
"Shit," she muttered, and then sprinted for the door with the other woman still saying something after her. Jade couldn't make out the words, but she knew they didn't matter. All she cared about was getting back to the station. Getting to Derrick.
Getting the hell out of Dodge.
Revving her engine, she bolted from the parking lot at top speed, zig zagging into a side street she hoped the guys wouldn't think to check. She had five minutes at the most before they found her.
Just five minutes.
She reached for her radio, knowing she should call the station, but in her panic she dialed the only number she could think of.
"Detective Archer," his gruff voice sounded over the line.
"Derrick, it's Jade."
"Jade where the hell did you go? I got to the office and-"
"There's no time." She breathed, checking her rear-view mirror just as a black Lincoln pulled out behind her.
Double shit.
"Look, you were right. Zac was the guy. He's the mole."
"How do you know?"
"Because he's currently trying to kill me." The sound of a car backfiring and then a loud metallic plunk let her know that guns had been drawn and the gasket just above her tire had caught gunfire.
"Jesus," she muttered. In all her time as a detective, she'd never once been in a firefight. With a shaking hand she fumbled for her sidearm and cocked it, hoping to God she wouldn't need to use it.
She already had more than enough blood on her hands.
"Oh my God, Jade, tell me where you are."
"I'm on the corner of Onaowahu and Crescent. They're in pursuit and guns have been drawn."
"Hang tight. I'll be there as soon as I can. Stay on the phone if you can okay?" There was a sound of rustling behind him and she could hear the other detectives yelling for him in the background, probably wondering where he was off to in such a hurry.
"I don't want you to come. If I'd only listened this would have been different. We could have gotten him. If you come here your life is on the line."
"I know that, Jade." His answer was quiet compared to the rumble of his car starting.
"But I-" Another bullet ricocheted off her side-view mirror, splintering the glass into little crystals that flew toward the street. She caught her breath then glanced behind her again. One man was hanging out of the sunroof, his aim poised on her.
She turned suddenly, hoping to catch them off their guard, but the confusion lasted all of one minute.
"I can't lose you." She choked the words out, but they still didn't feel like enough. She needed him to understand. It was one thing to be responsible for Crystal, but to lose him too after everything that had happened...
She couldn't even begin to think about how destroyed she would be. How impossibly devastated.
"You won't lose me."
"You can't promise me that!" Another shot rang on the other side of the car, just above her tire. She pulled the wheel as hard as she could and turned into oncoming traffic. Horns blared from every direction, but she turned on her siren and raced down the street all the same, careering from one lane to the next to avoid civilians.
"Don't be so selfish," Derrick shot back and for a moment she didn't know what to say.
"What?" was all she could manage.
"You feel like you can't lose me. Imagine how I'd feel if I lost you. I'm not going to leave that to chance." As if out of nowhere, another car pulled into the street and began shooting at the man in the Lincoln, catching him in his right shoulder.
Jade glanced in the direction of the shot and saw Derrick there, perched behind his car door like it was a shield.
"What do you want me to do?" she asked.
"Keep going. I've got their tires." And just like that he got the first one, puncturing it with a single shot. The other followed in quick succession and sparks shot out from under the car as they tried to propel themselves forward and the rims met the asphalt.
"I'm not leaving you here," Jade answered, then swerved to the other side of the street, taking a second to aim before knocking out the third and fourth tires with two quick shots.
"They're still armed. They're coming for us." Derrick said, and then the muffle of his voice over the radio was replaced by the blaring of his voice on the street.
"Lay down your weapons and come out with your hands up."
Jade watched, her breath held, as Zac climbed from the driver's seat with his hands in the air. The man in the passenger seat followed suit, and then at last the third man came out clutching his gushing wound.
"Get down on the ground." Jade called over her own speaker this time and all three men laid down slowly, carefully.
She couldn't believe it. It hadn't been easy, of course, but she didn't think it would be this simple to end things. She let out one long breath then stepped out of her car cautiously.
Another sound like car backfiring filled the too-quiet street. She glanced at Derrick, needing to know that he was all right. And he was. He was staring at her, his mouth open, shouting something she couldn't hear.
And just as quickly he was fading and blurring as the quiet turned into a buzzing. It filled her whole head, consumed her. Then it was warm. So very warm. First in one spot and then lower, spreading out through her whole body until it was one giant bonfire.
Looking down, she saw the blood. Just inside her arm. A few inches closer and it would have been her heart.
But maybe it was her heart. It was all too blurry to tell. To dark. So dark.
Then, all at once, it was completely black.
Derrick hadn't left the waiting room all night.
Whether that was because the hospital staff pitied him or because they were simply too scared to cross his path, he didn't know, but he was grateful for the time regardless of the reason, and even now it still wasn't enough.
Until Jade woke, they'd leave him here, trapped like an animal and dying to see her, the regret threatening to eat him alive.
It had been so close. A few more inches and she might have...
He couldn't think about that. It was bad enough that he had to live with the image of her crumpling to the ground as he shot her gunman and called in backup. Bad enough that he hadn't gotten there in time to save her.
His phone rang and for a moment he considered ignoring it, but reluctantly he pulled it from his pocket and pressed it to his ear.
"Hello," he said.
His sister's voice answered him, confused and not a little concerned. "What happened to you?"
"What do you mean?"
"You sound like someone just punched you in the stomach."
"It's Jade." He struggled to say the rest, and before he got the chance Andy piped in.
"She didn't like this plan? That's no problem. I got a new one. I've got some PR contacts out there and-"
"No, no. I didn't even get the chance to try and win her back. Not yet, anyway." He scrubbed a hand over his face. He'd totally forgotten about the flowers, the whole thing he'd planned to do. The second he'd heard the strain in her voice, it was like everything else had failed to exist.
"So what's the problem, then?" Andy's voice brought him back to reality.
"Jade was shot on duty."
"Oh my god," Andy breathed.
"She's okay. I'm just waiting here in the hospital. It was..." He tried to think of the words to explain the way it had felt. Like a flashback to another life he'd lived a long time ago. Like he was seeing Will's lifeless eyes staring back at him all over again.
"You don't have to tell me," Andy said. "Just promise me you'll take care of yourself. Drink some coffee. Get some sleep. Whatever you need to do."
"Right. Will do, sis." Derrick set his jaw, then said goodbye and hung up.
He didn't have time to talk right now. He only had time to sit here and stare at the nurses' station, waiting for the moment when they'd beckon him over and tell him what he needed to hear.
Until then, he'd simply have to live with the awfulness of what he'd done.
Two hours later, a nurse brought him a cup of coffee.
"Wasn't sure how you took it, but I figured you'd want some." She smiled down at him. On another day, he might have been struck by how pretty her brown hair was. How kind her eyes were when she smiled. Today, she was nothing. Just a talking blob.
"Thanks," he murmured, and then sipped. He couldn't deny that the burst of energy was wanted, and he attempted a smile that he knew didn't reach his eyes.
"Your...friend is awake," she said gently, and Derrick snapped to attention, sitting up so quickly that he nearly sloshed the steaming liquid all down the front of himself.
"When can I-"
"The doctor is with her now. She got pretty bad burns from the gunpowder, but the bullet only grazed her. She should be just fine soon." The woman smiled again and this time he did get to notice the way her chubby cheeks made her look that much sweeter.
"Thank you," he said.
"You're welcome. Once the doctor-" She turned and he followed her gaze to where an elderly man was striding from a room at the end of the fluorescent-lit hall.