Chapter Text
“You didn’t answer me… Why did you need him?”
Thomas stood rigid, his handgun raised and aimed directly at her.
She faced him with one hand pressed tightly to her side. Blood seeped steadily through her shirt and dripped onto the floor. Her other hand held a gun trained on him.
His heart thudded in his throat.
“It’s the same reason I needed the gold from that sunken ship,” she said, her breathing uneven. “It’s the same… same reason I betrayed you… and the guys in Afghanistan….”
Her arm trembled under the weight of the weapon.
She swayed.
The strength went out of her legs, and she dropped to the floor. The gun slipped from her hand and hit the ground beside her.
Thomas moved immediately, stepping forward and snatching it out of reach.
She tried to push herself up, panic breaking through the control on her face.
“Thomas, what are you doing?”
He didn’t lower his weapon.
He pulled his phone out with his free hand, eyes never leaving her.
“HP, how may I direct your call?”
“I need to speak to Detective Katsumoto,” Thomas said, his voice tight.
“No! Hang up the phone. Please—” she begged.
“You committed treason!” he shouted, hating the fear that bled into his voice.
“Hang up the phone, Thomas!” she pleaded.
“You’re going to prison,” he forced out, voice breaking.
“Just hear me out, okay? I know you have no reason to trust me—”
Everything he had imagined saying to her over the years, everything he’d demand to know, –for answers– collapsed into something hollow. Now that she was here, bleeding on his floor, He fought the part of him that wanted to turn and walk out the front door.
“You’re right… I don’t.”
Her hand slipped from her side and came back slick with blood. The stain spread wider across her shirt.
“Just ask yourself this… why…” She paused, pulling in a strained breath as her consciousness began to slip. “Why would I risk everything to come here?”
Thomas felt himself hesitate.
He wanted to know.
Why would she risk it?
Why hire Dotson?
But more importantly.
Why did she do it?
But he couldn’t let himself go there.
He couldn't.
“I’m done asking questions…”
“Thomas, please… I’m ready to tell you the truth. All of it. You deserve that.” Her voice weakened. “But more than that… I think it’s something you need.”
There was a click on the line.
“Hello?”
“Please, Thomas…” she whispered.
Her eyelids drooped. She fought to keep them open, her gaze fixed on him.
“Please…”
“Hello, this is Detective Katsumoto?”
Thomas looked down at her.
She lost consciousness.
Blood roared in his ears. Adrenaline surged through him so hard it made him nauseous. His hands felt unsteady for half a second before he forced them still.
He swallowed against the dryness in his throat and pushed past the panic settling into his gut.
“I need units to Robin’s Nest immediately.”