The Man Who Crossed Worlds (Miles Franco #1)

Chapter Twenty-Seven

I don’t remember much of the ride to Vivian’s apartment. The night was black with no sign of dawn. Desmond drove—I could barely keep my eyes open, let alone operate heavy machinery—and we had Caterina in the back, trussed up with some bed sheets. The bonds wouldn’t do much good if she came to with enough Chroma left in her system to attack us, but there wasn’t much we could do about that.

I directed Desmond to pull up directly outside Vivian’s place. No need for subtlety now. I fumbled my seatbelt off, stumbled out of the car, and made for the door. Desmond had already got Caterina across his shoulders by the time I got to the building’s main entrance.

We took the elevator up, the rickety shaking nearly sending me right off to sleep. When we reached Vivian’s floor I wrenched the gate open and stumbled out as fast as my broken body could manage, makeshift bandages growing a little redder with every step. Desmond stayed silent, watching me walk with a skeptical eye. I didn’t look that bad, did I?

I made for Vivian’s apartment, already trying to brace myself for what I might find. How long had I been gone? It could’ve been minutes, it could’ve been days, and I wouldn’t have a clue. Oh God, let her be alive.

“Todd!” I yelled as I shoved open the door. “Where the hell are you?”

The living room looked the same as before. I heard Desmond coming up behind me, Caterina slung over his shoulders. I had no energy left to spare to help him. I lurched forward and shouldered through the door to Vivian’s bedroom.

The bed was empty. The handcuffs that Todd used to secure her dangled uselessly from the headboard. I sucked in air, smelling smoke and stale sweat, and gasped like a fish hauled onto land. My eyes bored into the place where Vivian had been. A trickle of blood stained the pillow. My throat closed up.

“Miles.” Todd’s voice came floating through the fog to me. I turned and found him sitting on the floor with his back against the wardrobe door, with several cigarette butts scattered around him. A handheld radio lay next to his hand, quietly muttering to itself. He plucked an unlit cigarette from his lips and gestured to it. “My lighter ran out of gas.”

I staggered to him, dropped to my knees, and grabbed him by the collar. “Where is she?”

He didn’t even raise his eyes to look at me. His arms hung at his sides, doing nothing to brush away my hands. Despite his bulk, he looked like a little kid. “I let her go.”

I socked him in the jaw, sending his cigarette flying. “Lie to me again, you asshole. I dare you.”

Desmond’s hands grabbed me by the shoulder, gently but firmly pulling me away before I could tag Todd again. Caterina was lying on the floor, bound and unconscious; Desmond must’ve put her there. I pointed to her, snarling at Todd. “I brought you this bitch. She’s the one who’s got your Chroma. Now I’m going to ask you again, where is Vivian?”

Todd rubbed his jaw, bringing away a trickle of blood. “I’m not lying. She left about twenty minutes ago.”

“Yeah? I guess she just walked out of here with a lethal dose of Chroma in her system, huh?”

He shook his head, looking lost as a kid on his first day of school. “I didn’t give her any Chroma.”

I tried to break free of Desmond’s grip to kick Todd in the ribs, but I was so weak he could hold me back with one hand. Instead, I settled for spitting at his feet. “I saw her, you stupid fuck.”

“It was a sedative. Something Davies gave me. I didn’t have any Chroma on me, I’m not that stupid, and when Andrews’ gangsters struck they cut off my supply.”

“I don’t believe you.”

He shrugged and pulled another cigarette from the packet in his jacket pocket. “You’ll find out soon anyway. She’s coming for me. Can’t you hear?”

I frowned, trying to figure out a way I could get away from Desmond long enough to put in a couple of good kicks. But then I heard it. Sirens cutting through the night, coming toward us.

Todd put the cigarette in his mouth, but didn’t even bother trying to light it. I brushed off Desmond’s hands, and he didn’t try to stop me. I slumped down to the ground, leaning against the bed opposite Todd.

“We won, didn’t we?” Todd said. “We beat them.”

“What?”

“You brought the fuckers down. It’s all over the squawk box.” He jerked his thumb to the radio beside him. “They say Andrews’ mansion is in ruins.”

I wiped the blood out of my eyes. It was getting hard to think. “I killed a lot of gangsters. But that don’t mean you won. It don’t mean shit.”

“They won’t hurt any more innocents.”

“Those ones won’t, sure. But others will. They’ll come back. Bloodshed was never going to change this city, Walt. You should’ve known that.” I shook my head. “You stupid fuck.”

Some stirring noises came from Caterina, and Desmond went to her. Hell, I wasn’t sure any of us had won. It sure didn’t feel like I had.

Then again, my friends were safe. In the end, that was all that really mattered. Maybe it was enough.

“Why?” I asked.

“Why’d I let Vivian go?” Todd said

“Yeah.”

He shrugged. “Because she’s good police.”

“She is.”

“I think I loved her a little,” he said.

“Yeah, I figured.”

I leaned back, resting my head on the bed. It was so comfortable. The sirens were coming closer now, but I wasn’t sure I’d be awake to see if Todd was telling the truth. If he was, and Vivian was alive, she’d find an interesting bunch of folks sitting in her bedroom. I was sad that I was going to bleed out all over her floor.

“You ain’t looking too good, Miles,” Todd said.

“Fuck you, Detective.”

Desmond appeared at my side, his hands moving to my makeshift bandages. “He’s right, Miles. You’ve had your little trip. It’s hospital time now.”

His voice was fading out, just like his face. Somehow I’d pushed myself to keep going, but now that there was nothing left to do, all I could think of was sleep.

I knew what that meant. I wasn’t stupid. But it was okay. I could go now, for real this time.

“Des,” I said, my voice sounding like it was coming from somewhere else. “You there?”

“Yeah, guy.”

“You look after Tania like I told you, right?”

There was a pause. Then, “No.”

I tried to open my eyes again, but the lids were too heavy. “Whadya mean, no?” I slurred.

“You want to keep Tania safe, you do it yourself. You ain’t getting out of it that easy.”

“You asshole.”

“I love you too, guy. Stay with us. Hear those sirens? They’re almost here.”

I couldn’t hear them. I couldn’t hear anything anymore, except my heartbeat and the sound of my breathing. “Heh,” I said. “My landlady’s not gonna get paid. She’ll be pissed.”

And then there was nothing.