Getting back wasn’t easy. I had to keep my head down, avoid checkpoints, forge my way through paths I hadn’t walked in months. The terrain was rougher than I remembered. The people are colder. And the silence, it cut deeper than any wound Lazaro could’ve left me with.
But I made it, somehow. By the time I reached HQ, dawn had just broken. The skies were bruised with tired pink and gray, like even the sun wasn’t sure it wanted to rise. My body ached. My clothes were torn and caked with dirt. I looked more like a fugitive than one of their own.
But the second I stepped past the outer gates, someone saw me. “Zadie?” I turned. Marlowe.
He didn’t run. Didn’t smile. Just stood there, frozen for a moment, as if unsure if I were real or a ghost. “I didn’t think you’d come back,” he said carefully.
“I had to,” I replied, my voice rough from days of silence. “I couldn’t stay.”
His eyes scanned me from head to toe, wary. “Did he... did Lazaro hurt you?” I hesitated. That was the moment. I could’ve lied, given them a reason to keep trusting me. Told them I’d escaped a monster and been their loyal agent all along. But I didn’t.
“No,” I said plainly. “He didn’t.”
Marlowe’s jaw tensed. “So... you just walked away?”
“I left because I needed answers,” I said. “I couldn’t stay in the dark anymore.”
He took a breath, nodding slightly, but I could see the unease settle in his shoulders. He stepped closer, dropping his voice.
“Zadie... you should leave again. Now. Before anyone knows you’re here.”
“What?” I frowned, confused. “Why would I-?” Before I could finish, I heard heavy footsteps behind me. Too many. I turned slowly. Three armed officers. Uniforms stiff, expressions unreadable. And behind them… Chief Chris.
He didn’t waste time. He walked right up to me, his boots thudding heavily against the floor. His eyes, sharp, always unreadable, were colder than I remembered.
“Marlowe,” he said without looking at him, “stand down.” Marlowe stepped back, silent. I didn’t move. But something in my gut twisted, tight and ugly.
“Chief-” I began, trying to explain. “I came back because I want to know the truth.”
“I don’t care why you came back,” he snapped. He pulled his weapon out and raised it, not as a warning, but with deadly intention.
“You are under arrest,” he said, voice clear and final, “for forming an alliance with Lazaro Saventino.”
The words hit harder than any bullet could. I stared at him, stunned. “What?”
The moment the cold barrel of Chief Chris’ pistol met my chest, something in me fractured. He wasn’t just arresting me, he was condemning me. As if everything I’d fought for, everything I’d lost, meant nothing. I didn’t flinch. I couldn’t afford to. But inside, I was screaming.
“I didn’t form an alliance,” I said, my voice tight but firm. “I infiltrated his camp like you ordered me to. I was following your mission.”
“Your mission ended the second you stopped reporting back,” he said, circling me like a vulture. “You chose him over us.”
“No,” I snapped, “I was kidnapped because I was caught. You didn’t know that?”
“If you were kidnapped, why I don’t see any wounds or torture in your body?” he asked, which made me shut up. “You disappeared. You let him live. You protected him.”
I’m too confused about what is happening. My head is spinning right now. I’m a cop who’s loyal to my job and now I’m being arrested?
“I’m really not!”
“Just put your hands up!” And that’s when I saw it, not disappointment, not even fury. Just smugness. A flicker. A shadow of a smirk in his otherwise blank face. It vanished quickly, but not fast enough. It didn’t make sense… until it did.
My breath caught in my throat. “You… knew.” He didn’t answer. I took a step back, realization dawning like a slow, sickening light. Maybe Lazaro is not the real evil here. It’s Chief Chris.