by Mia Taylor
“Friend of yours?” Luke asked and Lily grunted, turning away.
“Something like that.”
“People react weird under stress,” Luke told her comfortingly. “I’m sure she’s not really worried about her wedding planning.”
“Oh no, she is,” Lily assured him and he gave her a soft smile.
“She’s worried about you.”
You’re only saying that because you don’t know her at all.
The bank phone rang again and K nodded toward Luke.
“You’re up, Luke,” she jeered. “Don’t screw up or I might have to take it out on your girlfriend.”
Lily’s neck was so taut with tension, she feared it might snap.
“There’s nothing to worry about,” Luke whispered, gently unhinging his hand from hers, despite her desperate attempt to keep it in her hold.
“I’ll be right back. This is almost over,” he promised and she begrudgingly let him go.
“This is Officer Ressling,” he answered. “Who am I speaking with?”
She met his eyes across the room, hope and fear entwining in her heart as she tried to read Luke’s expression.
“Hello, Detective Dayton. Have you met the demands?” the cop asked. “Please give us some good news.”
Lily inhaled, holding her breath until Luke cast her a warm smile and relief flooded her.
“In the next fifteen minutes.” Luke shifted his gaze toward K, who stalked toward him.
“Tell them that they better not follow us or have any tracking devices in the money or on the chopper.”
“Did you hear that, Detective?” Luke sighed like he didn’t believe that the SWAT team would honor the request.
K didn’t lose the smirk on her face and the more Lily eyed her, the more her anxiety grew.
“There’s no way the cops are just going to let them fly away,” George hissed. “They can’t be that stupid.”
But Lily didn’t want to consider anything but an optimistic outcome. The shitty day had to come to an end at some point, didn’t it?
In half an hour, I’ll be out of this bank. Half an hour. Hang in there.
“You’ll call back when the chopper is on the roof?” Luke was saying. Lily’s attention was pulled back to the television where Sasha’s full wailing had consumed the screen.
“I can’t believe this is happening before my wedding!” her friend sobbed. “There’s so much to be done!”
It’s like Luke said. She’s stressed. She’s not that selfish…
Sasha was the least of her worries.
Luke hung up and nodded at the robbers.
“He says to make your way up to the top. He’ll call again and I’ll give you the all clear,” he said. “Just as you asked.”
“Good,” K said, waving her team toward the back again. “No one moves until we’re gone.”
She paused and grinned at Lily.
“Except for you.”
Terror spiked through Lily and she stared at K uncomprehendingly.
“What?”
“You didn’t think we were going to leave here without taking some insurance with us, did you?” K chuckled. “You’re coming with us.”
“No!” Luke cried, jumping between them. “I’ll go with you. I’m a cop. I’m more valuable than her.”
K’s brows raised and she scowled.
“Nice try,” she snapped, stalking toward Lily to seize her arm. “No, she’ll do nicely. No one is going to want to lose a delicate blonde for a few million. It’s bad for the optics.”
“No,” Luke growled, pulling Lily back. He and K glowered at one another for a long moment.
“You don’t want to do this,” K hissed and Luke held her gaze.
“Neither do you,” he assured her.
“I’ll go,” Lily squeaked. “Please, don’t do anything!”
“She’s not going,” Luke said flatly.
“Luke,” K said reasonably. “Things are about to go very sideways. I don’t need to tell you who will get hurt.”
Luke cast Lily a sidelong look and balked.
“Then take me, too,” he insisted. “We’re still outnumbered.”
K continued to stare at him.
“No!” D snarled. “That’s more trouble than it’s worth.”
“I’m a cop,” Luke reminded her. “They won’t risk harming a cop. You think killing a delicate blonde is bad for optics? Think about what would happen if I died?”
“You’re not just any cop,” K hissed and Lily felt a chill run through her.
I was right. Something more is happening here. Is Luke in on this?
That didn’t fit either.
“More reason to bring me along,” Luke retorted. “I’m not letting you take her alone. Let it rain down fire. Either I’m coming too or no one is going.”
Whatever K saw in his eyes seemed to convince her and she nodded.
“Fine,” she snapped. “But if you act out of turn…”
“I’ll be on my best behavior,” Luke replied but even Lily didn’t believe that.
Luke turned to her.
“They’re not going to hurt you,” he vowed. “They aren’t killers. They just want to ensure safe passage to wherever they’re going.”
“I wouldn’t get her hopes up, Officer,” K jeered. “Her safety is now going to depend on how you act.”
A glimmer of uncertainty shone in Luke’s eyes but it was gone as quickly as it had come.
“Nothing is going to happen,” he said again, ignoring K. “Just stay with me and we’ll be fine.”
Does he think if he says it enough times that I’ll believe him?
“Okay, enough chit chat,” D snarled, reaching for K, but to Lily’s shock, Luke bared his teeth.
“Don’t touch her,” he snapped. “She’s coming. We both are, but if you put one hand on her…”
The threat hung heavily in the air and despite the apparent upper hand that the robbers held, D backed off.
“Just leave her, D,” K instructed. “All of you on the roof but stay in the stairwell. I’ll wait with these two until the call comes in.”
D held Luke’s eyes for a moment longer before grunting and moving to follow the others.
“This is a bad idea,” Lily heard D mutter to K but she only cast him a scathing look.
“Do you have any better ideas?”
He didn’t answer.
“You don’t need to come with me,” Lily told Luke weakly and he laughed softly.
“I’m not letting you go that easily,” he assured her and the words filled her with a ridiculous warmth. He reached for her hand again and Lily grabbed at it eagerly, exhaling as they touched.
“We’ve got this,” he promised her and leaned in to whisper in her ear as K wandered toward the phone impatiently. She stared at him hopefully.
He really believes that we’re getting out of this unscathed. I have to have faith in him. It’s all I have.
“Will you trust me, Lily?” he asked, his breath hot in her ear. Goosebumps exploded over her skin and she nodded.
“I do,” she sighed and Lily realized that she meant it. She trusted this complete stranger with her life.
Chapter Five
The Aftermath
The bank phone rang for a third time and Luke answered it on the first ring under K’s watchful stare.
“Officer Ressling.”
“What’s happening now, Ressling?” Dayton wanted to know and Luke’s eyes moved around the room. “Any changes? Is anyone hurt?”
“No, sir. We’re still a go. Is the chopper ready?”
“There’s no chopper and you know it,” Dayton growled. “Is everything a go?”
“Great. We’ll be on the roof in two minutes.”
Dayton grunted.
“You’re sure they’re all bears?” Dayton growled, referring to their previous conversation, and Luke again wondered how he was getting away with speaking so freely through the phone. Surely the entire task force
wasn’t made up of shifters.
And they record these calls.
The aftermath was less of Luke’s concern than the present. He wasn’t going to be hurt by whatever this rogue sleuth was doing, but Lily wouldn’t survive a bullet. If push came to shove, he would simply shift and do what he had to do to protect the hostages, even if it meant blowing his cover, but taking on all four bears with their firearms… well, that was a little much, even for Luke.
“Yes, I’m sure we’re ready,” Luke improvised. “There will be two of us going with them.”
“Another bear?”
“No, she’s not a teller. Another civilian.”
“A civilian?” Dayton cried. “No! No way. You need to—”
“We’ll be up in a minute.”
He hung up, trying to steel his hands from shaking, lest K see his nervousness. He knew that the crisis negotiator had wanted the bears to be on the roof alone so that they could be dealt with swiftly and easily. Having a civilian on the roof would only create more problems when the robbers realized that the chopper was a ruse.
The sound of whirring blades overhead told Luke that his time was up. The moment of truth was unfolding. Either the bears in SWAT would wrap up this mess without Lily being any wiser about their existence or there would be a whole other mess with which to deal.
They followed K out the back door and toward the others, Luke’s hand firming around Lily’s as they moved.
If anything happens to her…
He didn’t let himself think about it. He couldn’t, not if he wanted to keep it together.
Slowly, they ascended the stairs, and Luke found himself second-guessing what he had done.
There’s no way out of this without Lily seeing.
“Hurry up,” K hissed at him. “The chopper is waiting.”
Casting one final look at Lily, he moved forward, knowing that they would be the first ones going out.
The others waited impatiently at the back door.
“Come on!” J grumbled. “This is already taking too long!”
“Go,” K instructed and with Lily still firmly in his grasp, he burst through the emergency door where the chopper sat. The wind from the blades almost knocked Lily back, but he pulled her close to his body as the robbers followed, their assault rifles drawn and looking about for snipers.
Easy now, he willed the watching pilot, who met his eyes and Luke knew they were in big trouble.
Something was going to happen right there, on that roof.
I need to create a diversion.
“What are you waiting for, Luke?” Lily whispered and Luke realized that J had jammed the barrel of the gun against her spine.
“Don’t touch her!” Luke hissed, yanking Lily toward him. “We’re obliging you.”
“Then move faster,” J retorted, jamming Lily again. It was more than Luke could take and before he could stop himself, he lunged toward J, disarming him.
It took several seconds for anyone else to register what was happening, but before they could react, Luke had J pinned to the tarmac, his fangs bared.
“Don’t,” he rasped again. For the first time, J seemed to clue in that he was in the presence of another bear, not part of his crew, and his eyes widened.
“Get off him!”
Arms yanked him back but just as quickly as he was pulled off J, the arrows began to fly around them.
Ah shit! I’m right in the line of fire!
“What the—” J started to say but his neck was pierced with a dart and he choked out, pointing at Luke in disbelief.
“Oh my God!” Lily gasped, but Luke didn’t permit her another word as he bounded toward her, covering her body again from the spray of silver hailing toward them.
He silently prayed that the bear snipers would be accurate enough to miss him. He wasn’t looking forward to a week in recovery as the silver was flushed from his system.
“What is that?” Lily cried.
“Shh!” he urged her. “It’s almost over.”
Without raising his head, Luke knew what was happening around him—the bears were shifting, their bodies naturally reacting defensively to the assault, but there was nothing they could do. They were officially incapacitated.
Silence filled his ears then and he stared down at Lily’s face, her eyes huge with shock.
“W-w-what…?” she tried to sputter but the words died on her lips. Dizziness overcame Luke and it was only then he realized that he, too, had been hit by a dart.
I’m shifting. She’s seen me. This isn’t good…
But that was the last thought he had as he fell into a deep, dark blackness.
~ ~ ~
It was three days before he woke. Instantly, he sat up in the hospital bed and looked around desperately at the empty room.
Lily. I have to find Lily.
He yanked the IV from his veins, knowing that he probably shouldn’t, but he needed to know what was going on. But before he could swing his legs over the side of the bed, Cortez appeared in the doorway.
“Whoa! What the hell are you doing?” his partner demanded. “Lay back down. You’re not through your treatment.”
“I-how long have I been out?”
“Three days. You’re fine,” Cortez assured him. “But you need at least another two days.”
Five days. I have my exam coming up.
Of course he didn’t mention this aloud and instead asked the more pressing question.
“Where is Lily?”
“Who? Oh, the girl from the robbery?”
“Yes. Is she okay?”
“She’s fine. She stayed overnight the first night—not here, of course, but at Mercy.”
“They let her go?” he demanded incredulously.
If she saw us, they would have never let her go. They would have sent in a clean-up team and held her somewhere until they decided what to do with her.
“She was unconscious, pinned underneath you. When she came to, she didn’t remember anything—not even being held hostage.”
Luke blinked, his dark eyes narrowing.
“Really?” he said, not believing it for a second. There was no reason for Lily to have memory loss.
She’s lying to protect herself.
It was a smart move, almost like she knew what would happen if she told the truth.
I need to find her and talk to her.
“What about the morons who robbed the bank?”
“They’re the same ones who have been hitting up the others,” Cortez offered. “They aren’t speaking much but they seem to be part of a larger ring. Rand Simon is looking into it personally.”
“That’s good.”
“I guess,” Cortez grunted. “I’m not sure what else he does but watch us like we’re his lab rats.”
Luke didn’t want to discuss Rand Simon or anything else regarding the CPD in that moment. He only wanted to find Lily.
“I have to get out of here,” he told Cortez. “I can’t lie around in bed.”
“Buddy, you have silver in your veins. You’ve got nurses at your beck and call. Just lie still and enjoy your vacation. You’re being hailed a hero.”
“Oh, that’s just great,” Luke muttered sarcastically. All he’d wanted was his last week to go off without a hitch. Instead, he’d landed himself in the middle of the public eye.
“Of course, the rest of the world doesn’t really know what happened,” Cortez explained. “They think you singlehandedly apprehended them.”
“Seriously?” Luke groaned. “This is awful.”
“Why? You’ll probably get a medal and a promotion.”
Luke studied his friend covertly.
The gods are mocking my attempt to get out of the CPD. That’s what this is.
“The press is anxious to talk to you,” Cortez continued, oblivious to Luke’s internal pain. “Simon has told them that you’re recovering from your injuries.”
“I can’t stay here,” Luke said again, moving to rise from the bed,
but he was struck with a wave of dizziness and fell back.
“You don’t really have a choice,” Cortez chuckled sympathetically. “I’d be milking it if I were you.”
But Cortez wasn’t Luke. He was happy dodging bullets and working the beat.
“Can you get me a tablet or my laptop?” Luke asked, realizing that Cortez was right. He wouldn’t last two minutes on his feet until the silver was cleared from his system, but that didn’t mean he was going to sit around idly.
“Sure,” his partner agreed, seeming relieved that Luke had forsaken the argument. “Your phone is here. It’s been ringing off the hook so the battery’s probably dead. I’ll bring you a charger, too.”
Luke looked at him gratefully.
“Thanks,” he muttered.
“I’ll be back in a couple hours,” Cortez promised him. “Rest up. There’s a hot nurse around here somewhere. I’ll see if she can arrange a sponge bath for you.”
Luke grimaced but Cortez didn’t see as he wandered into the hall.
I don’t want a sponge bath from a nurse. I want Lily.
The thought was so firm, so determined, it surprised him. It was more than just the fact that they had been through such a dangerous situation together. Even before the robbery had occurred, there had been something between them. He had sensed it in a single glance.
And now she knows my secrets… well, at least one of them.
With a grunt of frustration, he settled back against the pillows and willed himself to rest.
There was little he could do but wait for Cortez to return with the means to find Lily.
What are the chances that she really didn’t remember anything that happened?
The idea that she could have forgotten bothered him more than her remembering. If she truly had amnesia about the events of that day, it would mean that she didn’t recall meeting him.
No way, he thought. She’s just too smart to tell the truth. I just have to find her and prove it.
Chapter Six
Forgetting Luke Ressling
“Miss Brenner! Miss Brenner!”
Lily hurried into her building as the reporters closed in around her.
“Please, Miss Brenner, just one more question.”
Don’t make eye contact, she warned herself. Just keep your head down.