Chapter 49

Jess

Time.

We can do time, kill time, save it, spend it. It can heal all wounds or teach us just to live with them. We lose time and have all the time in the world, but the truth is, time is the thing that eventually kills us all. Because time waits for no one. And nobody is powerful enough to stop it.

I feel it now, the steady drip, drip, drip of the sand in the hourglass. We're running out of time. My chance to save Alice is slipping away.

I don't have time to wait for backup.

I limp up the driveway. Visibility has gone from bad to worse. Giant, fat blobs of snow are falling fast, hustling to the ground. The footprints leading toward the front door are barely visible now. I climb the front porch and peer in the window. There's something there, a shadow on the other side of the blinds.

Alice?

I set my cane on the porch and slip my hand up my sleeve, bunching the material and smashing it into the panel of glass by the door. The glass shatters. It isn't a quiet entry, but speed is more important than stealth right now.

I reach through and open the door, drawing my gun as I shuffle inside. I'm unbalanced without my cane and press a hip into the wall as I scan the room.

The house is deathly quiet. Dark, with a dim light coming from the living room. I limp toward the light, and there she is. Alice.

She's lying on the couch, a blanket pulled to her chin. She's bone white, utterly still.

Panic licks at my belly, my breath sticking in my throat. My world narrows, and time slides away from me as I hurry to her.

"No! Alice, wake up, sweetie. Wake up!"

I drop awkwardly to my knees. Alice's hands are curled under her chin. I wrench them away, fumbling to get to her neck, to check her pulse. Something tumbles out as her palm opens. A necklace. A heart-shaped locket with a musical note attached to the bottom.

I drop it into my pocket and thrust my fingers into Alice's neck. And then a miracle. Her pulse, butterfly-wing soft under my fingertips.

Something prickles over my back, and there's a faint rustling sound. I spin, just in time to see wild eyes. A knife swinging down toward me.

Melanie.

I bring my arms up to protect myself. The knife buries into my forearm. Hot pain lances through me. I scream. Mel kicks my gun away, then levels another kick to my temple. Fireworks explode in my head. Everything goes blurry, and I crash into the floor.

I twist and instinctively lash out with my good leg, catching Mel in one ankle and bringing her to the ground. Blood is gushing out of my arm, the slash near my elbow. I'm losing blood fast and it's making me dizzy. I grit my jaw and blink, trying to get my eyes to focus.

Mel scuttles away from me and gets to her feet, knife still in hand. Another stab. This time she misses. Fear like boiling water bubbles inside me. I can't get to my feet without my cane. I weave on my knees, bring one hand out to steady myself. I'm at a complete disadvantage, unarmed, no gun, no vest, one disabled leg, and losing blood too fast.

She jabs with the knife again. But she's off-balance, moving too quickly. I take advantage and lash out again with my good leg. I get her in the knee, and she drops to the floor. I throw my weight against her, taking her to the ground. The knife clatters out of her hand, landing a few feet away.

We scrabble, slipping in blood. I'm stronger than her but weak from the loss of blood. She gets an arm free, and her elbow cracks into my skull. My vision sparkles, and I crash backward.

This time, I can't get up. The world around me sways like I'm on a boat. Mel gets to her feet, scoops up the knife again.

"That's it." She hovers, knife poised over me. "Just close your eyes. You'll be with your daughter soon."

That catches my attention. She knows who I am.

I look down at my arm, the blood pouring out of me. Is that what I want? To join Isla?

The answer hits me like a punch to the teeth. No. I don't want to give up. I still have so much to live for. Mac. My job. All the victims I can help. I owe it to them to stay alive.

But maybe, now, I don't have a choice. Blood is squirting out of me too fast, matching the beat of my heart.

Mel lifts the knife above her head, readying for the last, fatal stab.

A shot explodes in the night. Glass shatters. Mel's eyes widen. A splotch of blood blossoms on her white coat. She drops to her knees, releasing the knife. It clatters onto the hardwood floor. Mel grabs for her shoulder, howling.

Voices fill the air as cops pour into the house. I let my eyes close. And then Shane is at my side, pressing his jacket to my bloody arm.

"Get an ambulance in here now!" he roars.

I blink at him. "How'd . . . ?"

"Dispatch called Galloway. The neighbor across the road had called in a break-in. The team was already on the way when we spoke on the phone."

Behind him, one of the cops is cuffing Mel, reading her rights.

I struggle to sit. "Alice."

"Jess ..." Shane tries to stop me, but I shake him off. I keep the pressure on my arm, but my blood has already drenched Shane's jacket.

"Alice. Wake up, sweetie."

And then, another miracle. Alice's eyelids open. She reaches up and stuffs her fingers into the far reaches of her mouth. They emerge slimy and covered in white.

"You clever girl," I whisper, relief bashing at my lungs. "You never swallowed them."

"Tried ... not ... to ...," she slurs, then retches, spitting the rest of the spit-slicked white pills onto the floor.

I follow her gaze to a small pile of white huddled on the floor under a painting of Alice and her family. She'd spit some of them out earlier, too.

Alice lies back on the couch, her eyes fluttering.

"They're here," she whispers. "My family ... is here."

"Alice, look at me." How much of the drugs has she ingested? "You need to stay awake, okay?"

She pries her eyes open and stares at me groggily. I try to hold her gaze, but the room tilts. I can't stay upright anymore. I slump to the floor. I hear Shane shouting my name. I blink up at him, unable to answer. The edges of my vision have started to soften, the darkness tugging at me.

I close my eyes, letting it win. But then, right before I pass out, I hear the whoop of an ambulance.

We're going to be okay.