Chapter 3

Frederick's blade instantly pressed flat against Phoebe's neck.

Reuben leveled his gun straight at Frederick's head, his eyes brimming with lethal coldness and rage. "Let her go!"

Frederick let out an arrogant laugh. As he applied pressure with his hand, a line of fresh blood trickled down Phoebe's fair neck. "Reuben, pull the trigger if you have the nerve! Even if I die, I'm taking her down with me! I want you to feel the agonizing pain of losing everything!"

Phoebe's face went pale with pain, cold sweat trickling down her cheeks. But she gritted her teeth and lowered her eyes, refusing to show even the slightest sign of weakness.

Reuben's gaze turned icy and sharp. "Let her go. Name your conditions."

"Put your guns down, and then…"

Frederick smiled with sadistic malice. "Reuben, I want you to get on your knees and beg me!"

Reuben pressed his lips together, his grip tightening around the gun until, at last, he slowly lowered it. His voice was hoarse as he said, "Fine."

Phoebe's eyelashes fluttered as she looked up at him in disbelief. She watched as he tossed the gun to the ground, took two steps forward, and began to bend his knees.

Right at that split second, Emma stepped forward and shouted, "Officer Lane, don't kneel!"

She fired a shot toward Frederick, but the bullet only grazed his arm, embedding itself into the wall behind him.

Fury flared in Frederick's eyes at once. He swung his knife and plunged it violently into Phoebe over and over again.

Blood spattered out, and the excruciating pain sent darkness crashing over Phoebe's vision.

Before blacking out, all she caught was the blur of Reuben charging forward to tackle Frederick.

…

When she woke up again, she was in a hospital bed.

The knife wounds pierced deep into her lung, turning every breath into a stabbing torture.

Emma sat on the edge of the bed, watching her suffer with a malicious gleam in her eyes. "Phoebe, you're one tough woman to kill. I can't believe you survived that."

Phoebe ignored her.

"Back in that broken house today, did you actually think Reuben did all that because he loves you?" Emma's voice reeked of mockery.

"You're wrong. If it were any other hostage held at knifepoint today, he would've done the exact same thing to save a life."

Phoebe's eyelashes trembled slightly because she knew Emma was right.

Even if Frederick had taken a complete stranger hostage today, Reuben would still have made the exact same choice to save them.

To him, she had never been special.

Emma preened with triumph. "In the year since I joined the department, the chicken soup Reuben had you make was for me. The fabric you'd been saving up? He used it to buy me a dress. And the money you'd been putting aside for sweets? He spent it on my favorite caramel candies.

"Phoebe, stop clinging to him like a leech. Now that even the daughter holding you two together is dead, what do you have left to compete with me?"

Phoebe's eyes turned ice-cold instantly.

Emma suddenly leaned in close to her ear. "The day of the flood, I didn't get a cramp at all. And that shot yesterday? I missed on purpose."

A loud ring exploded in Phoebe's head, leaving her mind completely blank.

What happened that day wasn't an accident after all. Emma had deliberately stalled Reuben from rescuing them!

Emma had plotted to kill Macey!

Right then, Emma whispered right into her ear, "Even if nothing happened during the flood, I would've found another way to send her straight to hell."

At that moment, the final thread of Phoebe's sanity snapped. Summoning every ounce of her strength, she delivered a thunderous slap across Emma's face.

"Emma, a cruel monster like you isn't worthy of wearing that uniform!"

The blow snapped Emma's head to the side, and blood trickled from the corner of her mouth.

A venomous glint flashed in her eyes. She grabbed the hot water thermos off the nightstand, unscrewed the cap, and prepared to douse Phoebe with it.

Just then, footsteps sounded outside the door. Emma's eyes darted, and she suddenly poured the water over her own hand.

She shrieked in agony and dropped the thermos on the floor.

Reuben pushed open the door and found hot water spilled across the floor. Emma's hand was bright red, and her cheek was swollen and flushed.

"What happened here?" he demanded, his interrogative gaze locking straight onto Phoebe.