Page 87 of Run

Before she could answer, the door to Ms. Patel’s spacious and tastefully decorated office slammed open, and Rachel strode in with Harvard at her back. Behind him, a cop was running to catch up.

“Mr. Carter,” the cop shouted. “Our interview isn’t over. I insist you return immediately, or I’ll have to charge you with perverting the course of justice.”

Harvard shut the door in his face.

“What’s going on?” Tessa demanded, glaring at both of them. “This is a police interview; you can’t come in here.”

Harvard spoke to Callum. “Rachel just sprung me. I know what you know.”

In other words, nothing.

“Rachel?” Callum said. “Has something happened to Ryan?”Is he dead?That’s what he meant but couldn’t say. Not out loud. Not where it might become something solid and real.

Her blazing eyes snapped to his. “They took him straight to the National Hospital for Neurology and Neurosurgery. He’s in surgery. A small-caliber bullet shattered part of his skull when it glanced off his head, but it didn’t penetrate his brain. They need to repair his skull and monitor the swelling. The concussive impact of the bullet might have caused severe brain damage. They won’t know for certain until he wakes up.” She paused, and the rest of her words hung in the air—if he wakes up.“He has a collapsed lung that needed more surgery. They removed two bullets from it. They just missed his heart.”

Harvard took a step toward Rachel, obviously intending to comfort her. She moved away. “No,” she told him.

That’s when Callum took a closer look at his former partner. Her face was flushed, her hands were shaking, and her shoulders were rock solid. She was fighting to remain in control. He’d assumed it was grief, but now he saw it was fury.

Callum shared a worried glance with Harvard as Rachel kept talking. “When I was at the hospital, David called Joe, and he in turn called me.”

Callum crumpled back into his seat. “Elle?”

Rachel glanced at him. “I don’t know how she is. He was on his way to rescue her.”

“Bloody hell, Rachel, give a man a break. Today isn’t the day to let someone think the worst.” Relief, frustration, anger surged through him.

Rachel stared at him as though not really seeing him. That’s when he realized her designer handbag and ever-present iPhone were nowhere in sight. It was almost as though she were naked.

“As I was saying, David spoke to Joe,” she said. “Who passed on the information to me, and I came right here.” Visibly seething, she stared down their lawyer and then Tessa. “He told Joe the name of the person who passed on information to the James Syndicate. The person who set up our friends.”

With speed Callum didn’t know Rachel possessed, she pulled back her arm and punched Tessa hard in the face. And she didn’t stop there. She followed the dazed cop, punching and slapping until she had Tessa backed up against the wall.

The whole thing lasted no more than a second or two before Harvard grabbed Rachel and carried her to the other side of the room.

“Tessa?” Callum frowned as he got back to his feet. “Is this true?”

Tessa wiped her mouth with the back of her hand, then tugged at her clothes to straighten them. “That’s assaulting a police officer,” she said. “Your lawyer can explain the penalty for this crime. My constables will be in directly to take you to the station, where you will be charged and processed.” She strode toward the door.

But Callum beat her to it and blocked her exit. “Is. This. True?”

“Are you insane?” Tessa snapped. “Do you honestly think I could be bought off by Tommy James?”

Rachel, who’d managed to pull herself together enough for Harvard to put her back on her feet, glared at Tessa. “I will ruin you. No matter how long it takes. No matter how much of my personal fortune I have to use to do it. Your unhappiness and the sullying of your stellar reputation has, from this moment on, become my mission in life. Until the day I die, I will make you suffer for betraying our trust and for what you’ve done to Ryan and Elle. You have my word on that.”

“That’s going to be hard to do from prison,” Tessa said. “Counselor, please deal with your client.”

“She isn’t my client,” Ms. Patel said. “I represent Benson Security, and Ms. Ford-Talbot no longer works with them.” She turned her attention to Rachel. “I hadn’t realized we’d met, but now I remember you, and I’d be happy to help you to achieve your new goal.” Her cold gaze returned to Tessa. “This isn’t the first time I’ve heard rumors about Commander Sharp.”

Tessa’s cheeks reddened as she retreated from Callum, giving off trapped-animal vibes that turned his stomach. He liked Tessa, trusted her. Counted her as an ally. Surely, they were wrong about her? This had to be a mistake they’d easily clear up.

With manic eyes, she swept her gaze over all of them and uttered the words that damned her, “You can’t prove anything.”

She’d just confirmed everything Rachel had accused her of. “You really did it,” Callum said. “You sold us out? What did you get for it? Where are your thirty pieces of silver? You didn’t only betray us; you betrayed everything you stood for and made a mockery of the police. I’m sorely tempted to walk out of here and let Rachel have you.”

There was banging at the door, and a voice called out, “Commander Sharp, I have an update.”

“You’d better open that door, Callum,” she said.