Page 51 of Keeping Knight

The memories rush back with breath-stealing force.

I’m walking beside my dad when his face suddenly drains of color. His smile drops. Then he grimaces in pain. His hand comes to his chest, right over his heart. “Ruby,” he gasps. Then he falls to his knees.

“What’s wrong?” I cry, falling to my knees beside him. “What’s happening? Is it your heart?”

I’m already grabbing for my phone. The reception isn’t good in the mountains, but a 911 call should go through, anyway. “It’s going to be okay, Dad,” I tell him. “We’ll get you help. It’s going to be okay.”

But it wasn’t.

By the time the rangers reached us, he was gone.

As the memories pummel me, I cry harder. I pay no attention to where I’m going. I can barely hear the voices behind me. All I can concentrate on is getting away.

At the end of the hallway, I shove open a metal door to find myself in a large room abuzz with activity. There’s a long desk at one end with two uniformed officers sitting behind it. Two more officers are standing nearby, talking to them. A row of chairs are lined up against the wall adjacent, with half of them taken. In one, a woman is holding an ice pack to her cheek. In another, a man in a blood-splattered shirt is scowling at his phone.

My feet come to a stumbling stop, and as awareness comes back to me, I swipe at my damp cheeks. Shame sweeps through me as realization sinks in. For all my insistence that I could handle this, I couldn’t.

And what about Micah? In my mad dash from the viewing room, did I lose him? Is he going to be upset when he finds me? Will he say that he told me so?

No. Micah wouldn’t do that.

As I think of him, I turn back towards the door I came through. I take a shuddering breath. I need to go back. Find Micah and his friends. Apologize, not just for running off, but inconveniencing them to start with. Because if I hadn’t insisted on coming to the station, they wouldn’t have had to take time out of their days to escort me. It wouldn’t have been a whole production to get me here safely.

“Ruby!”

The voice comes from behind me, sharp and demanding. Not Micah. Not Rogue or Jester. But one I remember all too well.

At the sound of it, my heart leaps to my throat.

I spin back around, my eyes widening at the sight of my ex-boyfriend.

Seemingly appearing from nowhere, he hurries towards me, his expression a mix of anger and indignation. Instinctively, I take a step back, and my back bumps against the door. Fear clutches at my chest. Though I never really believed he was capable of hurting me, there’s something new in his eyes that makes me wonder.

“Ruby,” he repeats as he closes the distance between us. Without preface, he demands, “What is this all about? Accusing me of assault? Attempted murder? Bombing?”

With each accusation, his voice rises. His eyes narrow. His hands clench into fists.

Get away from him, my brain orders. Find Micah. He’s got to be close.

But my body doesn’t want to obey. It just freezes, so I’m trapped between a metal door and my furious-looking ex-boyfriend.

“What the fuck?” Liam snaps once he’s an arm’s length away. His face twists. As he speaks, bits of spittle hit my face. “You told the police I attacked you? That I tried to kill you?”

“I…” Forcing my reluctant muscles to work, I reach behind me, searching for the doorknob. “I didn’t⁠—”

“So they targeted me all on their own?” he shoots back. “Come on, Ruby. I’m not stupid. I know you pinned it on me.”

As I scrabble for the doorknob, he moves closer. My gaze darts over Liam’s shoulder to the police at the desk across the room, but they seem oblivious. I’m not sure if they can even see me now, with Liam looming over me.

Panic steals my breath. Waves of hot and cold sweep through my body. My legs go weak.

I’m in a police station, I remind myself. It’s one of the safest places to be.

Is it though? a little voice in the back of my head asks. What about the guy who was killed during a fight at the station downtown? I read about that in the news only a few months ago. And what if Liam has a knife? He could stab me before any of the officers could reach him.

But there’s a metal detector. He couldn’t⁠—

Really, Ruby? the little voice asks. How many crime thrillers have you read? How many ways are there to sneak weapons into buildings where they aren’t allowed?