Ch.32: Denial

We didn't stop until we hit the old pumping station three miles down the line. It was dry there, the hum of the drones a distant memory.

I collapsed against a rusting generator, my breath coming in ragged gasps. The image of Rats—eyes open, foam on his lips—was burned into my retinas. And the message. *Mia says hello.*

"It's a setup," I said, my voice shaking. "It has to be. Someone else killed him and framed her. Kael. Sterling. They want me to turn on her."

Julian was pacing, checking the ammo in the pistol he'd taken from the guard. He stopped and looked at me. His face was hard, unyielding.

"Look at the facts, Harper. The patch. The message. The video. She wasn't coerced on that rig. She was drinking wine."

"She was playing a role!" I shouted, standing up. "She told me! She was trying to survive!"

"By killing a witness?" Julian snapped. "By killing the only person who could exonerate me?"

"She didn't kill him!" I advanced on him, jabbing a finger into his chest. "She wouldn't. She's not a killer. She's my sister. I raised her. I know her!"

"You knew the girl she was," Julian said, catching my wrist. His grip was tight, bordering on painful. "You don't know the woman she's become. Sterling changes people. He finds their price."

"Her price isn't murder!"

"Everyone has a price for murder," Julian said coldly. "Even you. You were ready to let Mark Davis burn to save your case."

"That's different! Mark was an abuser. Rats was... he was innocent."

"And Mia killed him," Julian said, his voice dropping to a dangerous whisper. "She placed the patch. She watched him die. She wrote that message in the leather while his heart stopped beating."

I wrenched my hand away.

"Stop saying that! You don't know!"

"I know she had the opportunity. I know she had the means. And I know she has the motive. If Rats testifies, Kael goes down. If Kael goes down, Sterling goes down. And if Sterling goes down... Mia loses her partnership. Her money. Her future."

"She hates Sterling!" I screamed, tears hot in my eyes. "She told me!"

"Words are cheap," Julian spat. "Actions are expensive. And her actions just cost a man his life."

I shoved him. It was a weak, pathetic shove, but he stumbled back a step.

"You want her to be guilty," I accused. "Because it makes it easier for you. If she's the villain, then you're the victim. You get to be the martyr."

"I don't want to be a martyr," Julian said, his eyes blazing. "I want to survive. And right now, your blind loyalty to a traitor is going to get us both killed."

"She is not a traitor!"

"She is!" Julian roared, his control finally snapping. "She sold your brother! She sold you! And now she's cleaning up the mess!"

He grabbed me by the shoulders, forcing me to look at him.

"Wake up, Harper! The sister you knew died with Liam. The woman in that rig? The woman who killed Rats? She is an operative for Sterling & Wolfe. And right now, she is hunting us."

"No," I sobbed, shaking my head. "No, no, no."

"Yes," he said, relentless. "She planted the tracker on Rats. She knew we'd find him. She knew we'd try to save him. It was a trap, Harper. A trap set by someone who knows exactly how you think. Who knows your heart better than anyone."

I looked at him, hating him for saying it. Hating him because deep down, in the darkest part of my mind, I knew he might be right.

But I couldn't accept it. If Mia was a monster, then everything I had done—every law I broke, every risk I took—was for nothing. If Mia was a monster, then I was alone.

"I won't let you hurt her," I whispered.

"I'm not going to hurt her," Julian said, releasing me. He turned away, running a hand through his hair. "But I'm not going to let her kill me."

He looked back at me. The anger was gone, replaced by a cold, terrifying resolve.

"We have to get the drive open. We have to find the voiceprint. It's the only leverage we have left."

"The mixtape," I said, wiping my eyes. "It's in the grave."

"Then we go to the grave," Julian said. "But know this, Harper. If we see her again... if she stands between me and my freedom..."

He paused, letting the silence hang heavy between us.

"She's your sister," he said. "But she's my executioner."