Feliks dropped a possessive hand on Cam’s shoulder. “Cameron’s Uncle Joey arrived here last year, just in time to negotiate a deal to keep his nephew from being lost to the juvenile justice system. By making Cameron his very own confidential informant, Joseph could more easily keep the boy under his thumb. However, that wasn’t the only secret Joseph was keeping from his colleagues here. You see, he was granted a transfer here in exchange for his participation in an Internal Affairs investigation. Under the guise of rooting out corruption in the department, he’s been quietly surveilling the police officers I’ve employed. Apparently, he’s been using the information he gleaned to exploit my vulnerabilities.” Feliks’s gaze dipped thoughtfully to the blood on my hands. “If Joseph blamed me in some way for his brother’s death, I suppose it makes sense that he was secretly out to ruin me. Though, given his pristine employment record, I’m surprised that blackmail was his weapon of choice; I would have expected a nobler pursuit.”
I stood there, dumbstruck as I tried to reconcile everything Feliks had just said. Joey was Cam’s uncle. All this time, he’d been working for Internal Affairs, lying to Nick—lying to his entire department—about all of it. Had he really been using his job only to uncover Feliks’s weaknesses and exploit them for revenge? Had my suspicions about Joey been right all along? It seemed easier to believe now, in light of these revelations, and yet I couldn’t shake the last thing Feliks said, about Joey’s character and his choices, the hint of doubt I detected …
The faint slam of a car door outside shook me from my thoughts. Feliks signaled to his men. Weapons drawn, they moved quickly to the rear exit. Feliks paused in front of me. The thumb of his leather driving glove traced the curve of my cheek. “How disappointing that our time together is up while we have so much unresolved business to discuss.”
He put an arm around Cameron and ushered him out.
When the door closed behind them, I rushed back to Joey. “Wake up!” I shouted, slapping his face. Buttons popped free as I tore open the front of his shirt. The bullet was lodged in his vest, just to the right of his sternum. I pulled at the straps, Velcro shrieking as I yanked them loose. Joey moaned. His eyelids fluttered, his pupils doing strange things in the low light. He blinked at the blood on my sweatshirt, his hands groping his chest for a wound that wasn’t there.
“You’re alive, you idiot. But you have so much explaining to do.”
Shouts came from the women’s locker room. Then the men’s. The gymnasium doors flew open. Nick, Georgia, Roddy, Wade, Ty, and Charlie all swarmed in with their weapons drawn. Vero rushed in behind them, a broken toilet paper dispenser dangling from her handcuffs. Wade flipped a series of switches on the wall and light flooded the room. The barrel of Nick’s gun shifted to each corner of the gym as he limped toward us.
“That way,” I said, pointing to the rear exit. Roddy, Ty, Wade, and Charlie rushed out the back door in pursuit, though I was sure they wouldn’t find anyone. Feliks would never have stepped foot on the campus without ensuring he had an exit strategy.
Nick holstered his gun as he reached my side, his eyes and hands frantically searching my clothes, my hair, my face. “Are you hurt?”
“I’m fine,” I insisted, “but Joey hit his head pretty hard.” Georgia was already kneeling beside him, her phone pressed to her ear, calling for an ambulance. As Nick went to check on his partner, Vero threw her arms around me, the toilet paper dispenser swinging hard against my back.
“You’re okay! I thought Feliks was going to kill you!”
I hugged her back. “For a minute, I thought he was, too.”
Joey groaned as he tried to sit up. Nick held him down, checking his head. Joey lay back, his eyelids drifting shut again. “Where’s his Glock?” Nick asked me.
His Glock. Vero and I exchanged a look. I hadn’t thought to look carefully at the gun Feliks had put in my hand. “Feliks took it,” I said.
“Feliks was here? You saw him?” Nick asked.
“I already told him,” Vero interrupted with a pointed look at me, “that you and I were in the bathroom and we heard a commotion in the gym. I was indisposed,” she said, holding up her wrists, the toilet paper dispenser swinging between them, “so you came to check it out. By the time I got free, Zhirov’s goons had already dragged you into their soiree with Joey, so I ran for help. And that’s all I told him.”
Nick’s eyes skated between us as he withdrew a key ring from his pocket and unlocked Vero’s cuffs. “Why do I get the feeling there’s something you’re both not telling me?”
Vero pressed her lips shut.
Better to stick close to the truth, I reminded myself. Nothing Vero and I had said so far had been a lie. It just hadn’t been the whole story. “Feliks was here looking for Joey,” I said cautiously. “He said something about a photo. He thought Joey had emailed it to him last night.”
Nick narrowed his eyes. “Joey? But that’s not possible. Joey couldn’t have sent that photo. He was…” Nick’s thoughts trailed. I could see him trying to work through it—the timelines, the possibilities.
An EMT brushed past us. Two more came right on his heels, wheeling a gurney. The gym erupted in chaos as Wade, Ty, Roddy, and Charlie burst in, breathless and sweating. Roddy shouldered his way through the crowd, red faced and panting.
“Anything?” Nick asked him.
Roddy shook his head. “The media are here. They’re looking for a statement from you about Zhirov’s escape. I could use a little help getting their vans clear of the gate.”
Nick scrubbed a hand over his face as the EMTs put a neck brace on Joey. “We can’t let the press get wind of what happened here today. If Feliks thinks Joey’s dead, then Joey’s only safe if it stays that way.”
“Good luck keeping it quiet. The ambulance rolled in with lights and sirens, and now every reporter out there is frothing at the mouth. Commander Ortega wants the campus locked down.”
“Great,” Nick muttered. “Where are the students now?”
“Sheltering in place in the mess hall.”
“Have them escorted to the dorm. I want an officer stationed on every floor.”
“What are you going to tell the press?” Roddy asked.
“As little as possible.” Nick put his hands on his hips, frowning as he watched the EMTs strap Joey on a gurney. Joey’s eyes were closed. An oxygen mask covered his mouth. Nick reached in his partner’s pockets and collected Joey’s wallet and phone. He tapped Georgia’s shoulder on his way back to us, beckoning her to follow. “Stay here with Joey,” he told her. “I want the EMTs to leave quietly through the front gate. No lights. No sirens. Roddy, I want you to leak word to the press that the ME is on his way. Then have the EMTs circle around and pick up Joey from the back. Georgia will ride with him. When they get him to the ER, make sure he’s listed as a John Doe.”
“We’re going to fake his death?” Georgia asked.
“For as long as we can,” Nick answered.
Vero looped her arm in mine and turned for the door. “You heard the man, Finn. We’d better get to our room.”