Page 7 of Broken By The Devil

“You bitch, you’ll pay for this, all I wanted were those kids dead and now I have to kill a bitch police officer!” It’s then I realize the hair tie has come loose around my radio, the unit won’t have heard the gun shots. I push down on the button again “Rookie, you get your ass in here right now and back me up or so help me god!” Nothing, I get no response. Until I hear Kade’s voice, I’ve never felt relief like it. I don’t understand why I feel it, but I do. “Two minutes out Hale, sit tight.” I risk a glance around the banister again and I see Dante better this time, he has one knee on the bottom step and his other foot is planted on the next step as if he’s going to lunge up them at any minute. I must take this opportunity to eliminate him otherwise it’s me that’s going to be leaving this house in a body bag. I throw one of my gas grenades down the stairs and it quickly fills with smoke, I turn around and shoot twice. A loud thud echoes through the hallway, the smoke still obscuring my view but I can tell the noise was from a body hitting the floor. After coughing up my lungs for a minute, the smoke dissipates and I see Dante’s body crumbled on the floor at the foot of the stairs, the blood already pooling underneath his lifeless corpse. His gun discarded to the side of him in the entryway of the house.

I turn and go back up the stairs towards the kids’ room, put all my body weight into it and crash against the door. It opens a few inches, enough for me to stick my hand in. That’s enough for Malachi to move whatever it was he used to barricade the door. Elodie and Marie come barrelling towards me and wrap me in a bear hug. I inhale sharply through the pain in my ribs and smile through it. Malachi nods at me in approval and thanks, I think he’s warming up to me. “Let’s get you all out of here, but I want you to close your eyes as you come down the stairs, ok? I will guide you.” I make sure they don’t witness more death and bring them outside to where my rookie is now standing outside of the car crying. “I’m so sorry Hale, I panicked. I didn’t know what to do, please cover for me with the Sergeant.” He splutters. “Oh Rook, you have no idea, do you? It’s not the Sergeant you need to worry about, it’s me.”

KADE

Units were already scrambling out the door as soon as we hear Dante over the radio airwaves, but as soon as I hear the gunshot, I shoot up from my chair, grab my vest which holsters my gun, and dart out of the office. Cyrus is already halfway out the door when I catch up to him, we both sprint toward the SUV and all pile out of the car park.

“Get out of my fucking way!” Even with lights and sirens people suddenly forget how a vehicle works. “Boss, you might want to ease up a bit, we’re never going to get there in one piece if you keep driving like a maniac, I know you care about her, but I’d much rather keep my beautiful face as it is.” I can feel his gaze on me waiting for my reaction, “I don’t care about her, she’s one of my officers, I could do without the paperwork for a death on duty. Do you know how long the forms are?” Cyrus rolls his eyes like he can see through my words. I think if the roles were reversed, I’d call bullshit too. Just because I want to fuck her doesn’t mean I care about her, I don’t do that, I fuck and leave, that’s it.

We finally round the corner of the street and I screech the car to a halt when I see the three kids in the backseat of Hale’s car. I don’t see Hale though, only the rookie standing against the side of the car. I leap out of my seat, slam the car door behind me and shoot forward towards him. His eyes go wide, tears filling them, it looks like he’s already been crying. He straightens up before saying “Sarge, I’m so sorry I panicked, please give me another chance to prove myself.” I close the distance so fast, he doesn’t get to finish his sentence, I grip the top of his vest and shove him so hard against the car, he might be concussed. “Where the fuck is Hale?” He nods towards the front door of the property and I see her. She looks exhausted, her hair falling loose from its braid, she has a slight flesh wound on her cheek which is still bleeding and she’s favouring her left side. That’s enough for me to completely lose it. I drag the rookie towards me by his vest and spin him so he’s now on the floor. I crouch over him and grab his throat with one hand. “You nearly get one of my officers killed, you leave her to fend for herself and you think I’m going to give you another chance?” My grip on his throat tightens and I hear Cyrus in warning “Sarge, maybe this is not the time for this conversation?” Cyrus grabs my wrist and eases my grip. He’s right but I’m hanging on by a thread, I need to cool off and deal with the Rookie later.

Emilia walks over to the other side of the vehicle out of view. I scrutinize everything about her posture, she’s definitely hurt, I just can’t tell where or what happened. She puts her back against the car and I move in front of her “What happened, where are you hurt?” She straightens, keeps her chin raised and replays the events like it’s been scripted “Dante is dead at the foot of the stairs, the kids are fine, and the rookie stayed in the car the entire time, didn’t even give me a warning about Dante. I shall take that up with him later.” She spits out the last remark about the rookie. “Oh, he’ll be dealt with later, that’s a promise, but you’ve not answered my question about you being hurt, were you shot?” I demanded the question like an order.

“No, I wasn’t shot, I’m fine.” I shove her hard in the right side of her ribs, she cries out in pain and falls to her knees. “Why the fuck are you lying to me, just fucking tell me if you’re hurt, you don’t hide this shit from me, Viper!” I haul her up by the top of her vest and command her “Take off your vest and lift your shirt.”

Anyone would think I’d just offended her by the way she was looking at me. Her eyes were wide as if in shock and her cheeks had a slight blush to them, like nobody had ever told her to take her shirt off before.

“Absolutely fucking not, not happening Sarge, wait… did you just call me Viper?” I use my finger and thumb to massage the bridge of my nose, this woman is the cause of so many of my migraines. “I’m going to give you two choices, either you let me look at your ribs and decide whether you need to go to the hospital or see the in-house doc or I get Tom over here and he can inspect your body. I have a funny feeling which option you’re going to pick.” I’ve pissed her off, the fire in her eyes, the slight twitch of her mouth, I even see some of her teeth bared. She starts taking off her vest, one Velcro strip at a time and frees herself of the heavy Kevlar. She winces as she tries to lift it over her head, I don’t wait, I grab it for her. Would it kill her to ask for help, just once? Why do I even care so much. I know I want to avoid the paperwork but I wouldn’t normally respond this way. Why can’t I get her out of my fucking head.

I inspect the vest and see the bullet still lodged inside it. “You didn’t think to remove the bullet before lying about being shot?” I ordered.

“To be honest, I really didn’t want to fill out the paperwork and be on desk duty until I’m cleared from injury.” She lifts her shirt and grimaces “How does it look?” Truth is, it’s going to bruise like a bitch. It’s already starting to discolour, I place my hand just beneath her ribs and start to increase the pressure on each rib to see if any are fractured. Her skin is so soft it’s like touching velvet. She has a small tattoo that says ‘Thea’ on her side, I wonder if that’s her sister’s name. Goosebumps start to appear on her skin, it’s really hot today so it can’t be the temperature. She looks down at me whilst I’m kneeling in front of her, her cheeks are flushed, her chest rising faster, she clears her throat and averts her gaze quickly. “What’s the matter, liking me on my knees a bit too much little viper?” I tease, trying to make light of the situation. “Why do you call me that?” she questions. “I give everyone a nickname when they join my unit.” I’m really hoping she believes the blatant lie until Cyrus shouts over, “He really doesn’t!” I swear to God I’m going to demote him as my second in command.

Emilia smiles, her first genuine smile I’ve seen since she started 6 months ago. She doesn’t smile or laugh enough, she doesn’t even appear to be living. I plan on having a serious conversation with Cass when I get back to the office. I need to know what is going on here.

“I don’t think any are fractured but let’s get you to the doc on station and he can take a look.” She knows I’m not going to compromise on this, so she nods in agreement. “Let me say goodbye to the kids first?” I gesture towards the car and wait for her by my SUV. I see her face completely change, her smile is still there but it’s different, like she’s putting on a front. She signs something to the kids, I note that down to bring up to Cass later. The little girls jump out of the car and grip Emilia so tight she might burst. The brother gets out as well and signs something, but judging by Emilia’s reaction, she’s pleased at whatever he said to her. She comes stalking back to the SUV and gets into the car, wincing from the pain as she does, “What did he say to you?” I enquire out of interest. “He said thank you for saving our lives, I’ll protect them, I promise.” Her mouth twists into a sympathetic smile and I ask “Who will protect him?” She looks at me then, like she’s looking into my soul “I will, I gave him my card, he’ll text me if they need anything.”

Emilia genuinely cares about the people she protects, I know that much, but what I don’t know is where the darkness comes from. She has something inside her, a rage that seems to appear and dissipate at random. I don’t think she’ll ever tell me the truth, but I will find out. Before I was a sergeant, I was a soldier, in black ops, specialising in surveillance and targeted hits. If she wants to hide, she has no idea how good I really am.

* * *

We get back to the Doc’s office in record time.

“Hey Doc, whats the prognosis?” I enter the room again and Emilia is sat on the bed, fully dressed with some pills in her hand. “No broken ribs but she’s going to be sore and will bruise, I’ve given her something for the pain… before you ask she can’t go back on full duty for at least a week.” I look at her in that instant and she looks defeated. I almost feel sorry for her. “These pills won’t put me to sleep will they, Doc?” I glance at her quizzically “Yes they’ll make you drowsy, is that a problem?” he questions. “Yes, I can’t take them, are there any others that don’t make me sleepy?” The doc looks over at me, sharing the same confused expression, “Sure that’s not a problem, I’ll just swap them out for you.” Emilia nods in thanks towards the Doc and shakes her head at me in warning to not ask any questions.

The door is flung open and Sergeant Andrews stands before me, nostrils flaring and skin-tinged red. “Where the fuck have you been? You’re late to my family’s dinner, do you have any idea how this makes me look?” I back up towards the wall until my back is pressed against it, crossing my arms over my chest, I cross one leg over the other, ready to enjoy watching Emilia tear his head off… but it doesn’t happen. Instead she just bows her head towards the floor and says, ‘Tom, I really don’t feel up to it, I’m going home.” I’ve never seen Tom’s teeth as close up before, the saliva frothing at his mouth, his canine slightly crooked . “The fuck you are, get up and get dressed, you’re coming with me.”

I decide at that point, enough is enough. I’m not letting this prick get away with this. “Tom, do us all a favour and fuck off. I’m sure your family are missing your riveting conversation.” He scrutinizes me.

“You don’t order me around Sergeant, especially when it comes to what’s mine!” I can’t help but laugh at him. “You may be a sergeant in rank but when it comes to orders, you’ll follow mine Tom, because if you don’t, I will tear your head off your shoulders. Emilia has been fucking shot and has already told you she will not be attending your family’s dinner, so I’ll say it again, get out of this fucking room before I rip your head off!” He glances over at Emilia and declares, “You will answer for this,” and storms out of the room.

“Doc, can you give us a minute please?” I ask politely but it is an order through and through. Leaving only Emilia and myself in the room I ask “How exactly do you know Tom, what’s your relationship?” She exhales incredibly slowly, I know she’s exhausted, but I need answers and fast. “His father is friends with my father, I regularly have to attend family functions. As for our relationship, it’s incredibly complicated and not something I want to get into now.” I’m not going to push on this occasion, so I tell her to go and see Cass and Cara as they’ve both been worried about her. Every five minutes I’ve been getting messages from each of them asking for an update.

I walk into my office and slump into my chair when Cyrus walks in and closes the door. “Something’s wrong, I haven’t been able to access her file, someone is cloaking it. I’ve had Aaron looking into it but he can’t crack into it either…something isn’t right.” The sigh that escapes me is heavy and long “Ok, keep trying, I need to find out everything about her. I don’t know what’s going on between her and Tom or her father but something isn’t sitting right with me… get Cass in here would you?”

Cass comes into the office and immediately sits down in front of the desk. “You’re close to Emilia and so is Cara so I’m going to ask you this once and once only…what is going on with her?” His eyes are on me with apology laced in them “I’m sorry Sarge but this isn’t my story to tell, it’s Emilia’s and I will not betray her trust. If it means losing my job then so be it.” It’s becoming abundantly clear to me that I’m not going to be getting answers from anybody else so I’ll have to find out myself.

“You would really risk your entire career for her.” I question.

“Yes, without a doubt in my mind, you don’t know her like I do.” Cass explains.

“You’re dismissed Cass, thank you for your honesty.” I wave my hand in dismissal.

I look to Cyrus after Cass makes a swift exit from my office “Have you found anything on her yet?” I question. I’m getting impatient.

“No, nothing yet, but I’ll keep digging.” He assures.

“Oh Cyrus, do me a favour and escort the rookie out of here but take his uniform and badge, I don’t trust myself to do it, I’ll end up knocking him clean out.” I order. Cyrus scoffs and leaves the office to follow my orders.