Page 53 of Go Under

Nora realized it, too. She slowly pulled the needle away. Kate cried out with relief as she was spared the threat of blindness or death. Marcus relaxed too, just slightly.

Nora leaped at the chance. She shoved Kate forward and dove for Kate’s handgun. Marcus swore and caught Kate, moving his handgun out of the way to keep from accidentally shooting her in the collision.

Nora came up with the gun, crying out in triumph. She aimed at Marcus, eyes bright with hate.

“No!” Kate shouted.

Nora pulled the trigger. Nothing happened. She hadn’t disengaged the safety.

Marcus rushed forward with the speed of a cat, swiping with his left hand and knocking the handgun out of Nora’s hand. Nora moved toward it, but Marcus was on her, clotheslining her with the hand holding his weapon and succeeding where Kate had failed a moment ago, throwing Nora over his hip and dropping her face first to the ground.

He landed on top of her, carefully decocking his handgun before swinging one leg around to force Nora’s right arm behind her back. He held it there, leaning to put pressure and keep her still, then holstered his handgun and pulled out his handcuffs.

As soon as Nora heard the latch click, the strength went out of her. “No!” she wailed. “Oh, no!”

She went limp, no longer resisting as Marcus finished cuffing her and got to his feet. He looked at Kate. “You all right?”

Kate nodded. She tried to ask about him and had to force her jaw to slacken to open her mouth. “You?”

He nodded. “Yeah. I’m good.”

A wet, rasping sound came to her ears. Marcus spun toward the sound, drawing his weapon in a blur. Then his eyes widened. “Oh, God. She’s alive.”

Kate didn’t need to ask who she meant. She rushed to his side and saw.

Iris Doyle was on the floor, her face and throat covered in blood. A small object—also covered in blood—rested to her right. Kate saw the hole in Iris’s throat and realized she was looking at an artificial voice box.

Nora had torn that out to make sure no one could hear her scream. That was the only reason Iris was alive. She wanted to keep her alive to torture her first. The three sutures binding the right corner of her mouth proved that. The string of catgut hung over the hole in Iris’s throat, fluttering as the woman wept, her damaged vocal cords croaking a noise like papyrus dragged over wicker.

Footsteps sounded outside the door, and a moment later, Kate heard a voice call, “Shit, we’ve got one down! We need medical!”

“Make that two down,” Marcus said. “We have an injured civilian, too.”

Four officers rushed into the apartment. One of them grabbed Kate’s arm gently and asked, “Are you all right, ma’am?”

Kate nodded, unable to take her eyes off of Iris. The poor woman’s tears mingled with her blood, leaving thin red tracks on her deeply wrinkled cheeks.

Kate hadn’t saved her. Nora’s hate had saved her. Had she kept her emotions clear, she would have killed Iris before Kate and Marcus arrived.

“My fate is intertwined with yours, Scapegoat,” Nora said. “We must both atone, just as your father atoned.”

Kate turned to Nora. The woman was on her feet now, in between two police officers. She’d stopped on her way out of the apartment to deliver this message, chest heaving, eyes flashing.

“What?” Kate asked. “What are you talking about?”

“That was his message to you, the one I made hard to decode. ‘This circle will end where it began. My fate is intertwined with yours, Scapegoat. We must both atone, just as your father atoned.’” Her lip curled. “I didn’t want to make it easy for you. I thought the circle was too much of a clue. I guess you figured it out anyway.”

Kate stared at her, chest heaving, trying to understand what she had meant by that. What Cox had meant by that. Before she could form a question, Marcus called, “Get her out of here.”

The officers complied. Nora went quietly. Kate stood in the middle of Iris Doyle’s apartment, half-listening as Marcus applied first aid to Iris, giving one-word answers to the officer talking to her.

We must both atone, just as your father atoned.

This circle will end where it began.

CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX

Monday, January 25th