"Wait… you're telling me I have a biological brother who murdered my entire family, broke out of prison, and now he's coming to kill me?"
Laurie stared at Luke and Clarice, eyes wide, completely stunned.
If Luke hadn't been wearing the uniform and shown his badge, she would've thrown them both out as obvious scam artists.
Luke and Clarice shared a helpless look.
Clearly Laurie had zero memory of the nightmare that happened when she was a kid.
Probably for the best. Saved her a lot of pain.
Luke hadn't expected useful intel from her anyway.
His real goal had been to see if Myers had already reached her.
Didn't look like it.
Myers hadn't shown up yet, and Luke wasn't about to sit around waiting.
"Laurie, you're in serious danger right now. I think you should come stay at the station with us for a few days. It's safer."
Laurie's first reaction was pure refusal.
"Mr. Luke, this is ridiculous. I'm not hiding from some random escaped convict by sleeping in a police station."
She didn't even finish before her adoptive father grabbed her arm, face slick with sweat.
"Laurie, I didn't adopt you so you could play tough. I'm ordering you to go with Mr. Luke right now. I'll stay with you the whole time."
The panic in his voice was real. He clearly saw her as his own daughter.
Knowing her dad would be there too, Laurie stopped fighting.
They packed a few things fast and climbed into the car.
Inside, Clarice leaned close and whispered, worried.
"Luke, what now? Laurie's lead just went cold."
Luke shook his head, confident.
"No. Just because we didn't grab him here doesn't mean he sprouted wings and flew away."
"He's wandering the city right now. A guy like that stands out. We'll get a hit soon."
"Plus Laurie might still know something about the cult—she just doesn't realize it yet."
He glanced at the father and daughter in the back seat and lowered his voice even more.
"Easiest move would be to let Laurie go about her normal life while we stake her out. Wait for Myers to make a move, then grab him."
Clarice's eyes widened. Using civilians as bait was standard FBI talk, but she didn't expect it from a local cop.
Then Luke shook his head again.
"But I don't like playing defense. Putting innocent people in danger is just coward shit."
Clarice looked at him with something new in her eyes.
This local cop wasn't like the ones she'd expected.
"You know… you really should join the FBI. Being a regular cop is a waste of you."
Luke grinned and dropped his voice into Chief Woody's rough growl.
"Didn't you hear the chief? Federal agents are all terrorists. I'll stick with being a cop, thanks."
The joke eased the heavy mood in the car.
At the station Luke found the duty officer and asked for a temporary holding cell for Laurie and her dad.
The guy shrugged, looking uncomfortable.
"Cells are open, but they probably shouldn't stay there."
He led Luke down to show him.
Behind the bars were a bunch of Luke's old prison buddies.
"Well look who it is—Officer Luke! Got time to visit the boys?"
"Luke, for old times' sake in the joint, hook me up with some stuff."
The inmates called out with big grins.
After the prison collapse most cons had been shipped to other facilities.
The ones with less than a month left got dumped in the holding cells to save paperwork.
Luke scratched his head at the noisy scene.
No way he was leaving a high-school girl and her father in that zoo.
He asked the duty cop for options. The guy thought Luke was overreacting but offered one anyway.
"There's a motel on the corner. Owner's tight with us—protects our informants there all the time."
"Place is decent. Anything goes down, we're five minutes away."
Laurie let out a huge breath when she heard they weren't staying in lockup.
Good girl like her had zero interest in a holding cell.
Luke still wasn't thrilled, but he couldn't make them sleep on the floor.
After dropping them off, the sky had gone dark.
Clarice headed home.
Luke was about to leave when someone unexpected showed up.
"Little brother Luke, here's the hundred grand I promised. All on this card."
Warden Holden handed it over with a big smile.
Luke took it, surprised.
"I thought you told the mayor you were broke as hell."
Holden waved it off.
"That was for outsiders. You think I run a prison without insurance?"
"Might even turn a profit on this one. Anyway, I gotta hit city hall again tomorrow for more funding."
Luke watched him swagger away and shook his head.
He still didn't fully understand how this world worked.
He cleared his mind, pocketed the card, and drove straight to the nearest gun shop.
The owner was Asian. Seeing the uniform, he gave Luke a solid discount.
Luke bought a brand-new Glock and a thousand rounds.
To stay on top of station calls he skipped the shop's range and went straight to the police basement range instead.
[Police Marksmanship: +1 XP]
[Police Marksmanship: +1 XP]
The thunder of gunfire filled the space as Luke emptied the last magazine.
He pulled off his earmuffs. His ears were still ringing and his shooting hand tingled from recoil.
But the panel update made it all worth it.
[Police Marksmanship LV2 (0/1000): Physique Bonus +0.2]
He raised the gun again and fired fast from the hip.
The feel was noticeably smoother, the barrel steadier.
Now he was confident he could hit six out of ten shots at ten meters with quick fire.
Just as he started picking up brass, the range door slammed open.
A duty cop stuck his head in, face tight.
"Luke! Move! Chief wants everyone in the squad room right now!"
Squad room.
Chief Woody slammed his palm on the desk and roared at the half-asleep officers.
"Wake the fuck up! We got a call—triple homicide in a west-side alley. Three bodies."
"Everyone grab your gear. We're rolling out now!"