Page 194 of Joker

That thought does something primal and ugly enough to cut through the freeze.

I move. Not smart. Not graceful.

Violent.

I slam the heel of my boot down onto the top of his foot as hard as I can.

He curses and his grip loosens just enough.

Enough.

I twist free and stumble backward, nearly losing my balance with Lexi in my arms.

Mac is suddenly there between us like a fucking blade, property jacket half open and gun out so fast I don’t even process the motion.

“Back the fuck up,” she snarls.

The entire store seems to freeze for one impossible second.

Cal’s eyes flick to the gun.

Then to me. Then to Lexi.

And the smile that comes back is colder this time. Meaner. More honest. “This isn’t over,” he says quietly. Then he vanishes into the chaos just as sirens start screaming somewhere outside.

I can’t breathe.

I can’t fucking breathe.

My body is still trying to process the fact that he was here. That he touched me. That he got that close. That he looked at Lexi.

That he found us anyway.

The room starts going gray around the edges.

Mac turns immediately, one hand gripping my shoulder hard enough to anchor me. “Raven. Look at me.”

I can’t.

I’m shaking too hard. Lexi is crying into my neck. My vision is tunneling. The whole world feels like it’s sliding sideways.

“He found us,” I hear myself say. The words come out broken. Not even fully formed. “He found us.”

Mac’s expression shifts. Softens for exactly one second. Then hardens again because this is not the time for softness. “I know,” she says. “But he doesn’t have you.”

That should matter.

It doesn’t. Not enough. Because he was here. Because he touched me. Because he got close enough to grab my wrist and look at my daughter and smile like he was already picturing how this ends.

I hear shouting outside.

Bikes.

A lot of bikes.

Then boots pounding toward the entrance with the kind of speed and violence that means the cavalry just stopped pretending this was containable.

And then Joker is there.