Trickster [Aidan Hunter series book 1]

Chapter 16

My pulse raced. Suddenly, the arguments I had with Aidan didn't matter anymore. When it came to his life, our conflicts took a backseat.

Maybe I shouldn't have yelled at him before, but he was so damn reckless and took tremendous risks without knowing the consequences. Either that, or he DID know the consequences and thought he could handle them. Overconfident as always.

I was here because of him in the first place. One day I was simply another rookie at the HQ, among others. While they progressed further up the ranks, I was left behind, until Aidan showed up and asked me to assist him in a mission to hunt down a serial killer. That was my first big case and the one that made me a detective. The one thing I wanted the most.

I was here because he believed in me, because he thought I stood out from the rest. He saw something in me no one else did, and I failed to understand what it was. When asked, he would simply say, 'You're different'.

The reason I always stuck by his side was because he did it first. No matter what, he always looked out for me without question, cared about me without conditions. That was how we grew close. All I did was return the favor. So, when he did something stupid, I had to look out for him and make sure he didn't get hurt. Like right now.

Louis and Robert sat quietly in the backseat of my car as I hauled its busted ass across town. Robert looked shaken. He stared into nothing and didn't make a comment at my breakneck speed. Louis met my gaze in the rearview mirror, his brows caught in a frown. Neither of us said anything.

Despite knowing it was futile, I asked him to try Aidan's phone again. As I listened to the phone ring, I gripped the steering wheel so hard my knuckles bleached. No one answered. Eventually, it cut off, and the automated recording asked us to leave a message. I thumped the wheel in frustration.

East 42nd Street. That was where Cliff said they were.

The first thing I saw was the cloud of smoke after the firefighters had put the flames out. The police cordoned off the entire block and prevented civilians from driving that way. A couple of cops guided vehicles to another route. Emergency response teams were already present.

I spotted Martin sitting in the open end of an ambulance, with a medic tending to his wounds. I ditched my car outside the roadblock and rushed in, followed by my friends. An officer was about to stop me but stepped aside when I flashed my badge.

Two young women were receiving help from medics. They looked utterly disheveled. One of them was on a stretcher, and the other, a young brunette, sat clutching her shock blanket. She looked my way and her face lit up in surprise. I realized then she wasn't looking at me.

Robert came up from behind. "Haley!"

He ran and embraced her, lifting her in his arms. She bound her arms around him and broke down on his shoulder.

The Trickster said he wanted to kidnap his girlfriend, but decided otherwise. Clearly, the manipulative bastard lied. Which meant the woman on the stretcher had to be Toby's wife. Despite being in awful shape, she was alive.

I hurried over to Martin. "Chief!"

He looked at me and sighed in relief. "Thank God. I was getting worried."

"Aidan didn't answer his phone. Where is he?"

"He's over there." He nodded to the medic, who finished dressing his wounds and left. "We took a bad hit, but we were lucky."

I saw another ambulance ahead. Aidan lay on a stretcher inside, covered by a blanket. A medic sat next to his head, cleaning his wounds.

I hurried into the van and took the seat next to the medic. "Oh my God."