Page 55 of The Arbiter
"Oh God," I gasp, the realization hitting me like a physical blow.
My best friend isn't just being stalked. She’s caught in a game with the most dangerous man in the city, and she’s trying to handle it alone.
I put the car in gear, my eyes scanning the dark, rain-slicked streets. I need to find her. I don't care if she told me to stay away. If that man is who I think he is, Madeline isn't just a pathologist anymore. She’s his next target.
I dial her number again, the persistent ringing sounding like a countdown in the silence of my car.
"Pick up, Mali. Please, just pick up."
An hour.
I’ve been sitting in my car for a full hour, redialing her number until my fingers went numb. Every silent ring felt like a strike against my chest. I was ready to drive straight to the precinct and trigger a city-wide search when the line finally clicks open. The silence on the other end is heavy, filled only with a ragged, shallow sound.
ME:"Mali?"
I breathe out, my heart leaping into my throat.
ME:"Madeline, talk to me. Where are you?"
There’s a long pause. When she finally speaks, her voice is a ghost of itself, thin, trembling, and completely hollow.
MADELINE:"I'm... I'm in my car, Lucy," she whispers.
ME:"In your car? Where? You were supposed to be home two hours ago! I’ve been calling you like a lunatic. What happened?"
I’m gripping the steering wheel so hard I can hear the leather groan.
MADELINE:"I just needed to drive. I... I got lost. The mist was too thick."
She’s lying. I’ve heard her lie before, but this is different. This sounds like she’s reciting words from a dream she’s trying to wake up from. And then I hear it. A soft, wet hitch in her breath. She’s been crying. Or worse.
ME:"Mali, listen to me," I say, my voice dropping into my professional, 'emergency-mode' tone.
ME:"The man who’s been stalking you, he might be the—“
MADELINE:"No," she says too quickly. It’s a reflex.
MADELINE:"No, Lucy. It’s not... it’s not what you think."
ME:"Then what is it? Because you sound like you’re falling apart! I’m looking at the files, Mali. The white strand in his hair,he’s been linked to The Arbiter’s cases. Do you have any idea who you’re dealing with?"
A sharp, jagged gasp escapes her on the other end. For a second, I think the call dropped, but then I hear the sound of a car door locking. Click. The sound of someone trying to build a wall between themselves and the rest of the world.
MADELINE:"He has a name, Lucy," she whispers, and the way she says it, with a mix of terror and something I can't quite identify, makes the hair on my arms stand up.
ME:"A name? What name?"
MADELINE:"It doesn't matter," she cracks, her voice rising into a sob she can't suppress anymore.
MADELINE:"Nothing matters. Just... Please, go home. Don't look into this anymore. If you love me, just stop. You’re going to get yourself killed, and I can’t. I can’t have your blood on my hands too."
ME:"Too? Mali, what’s going on?"
I’m shouting now, the panic finally overflowing.
ME:"I'm coming to your apartment. Right now. We are calling the detective, and we are ending this."
MADELINE:"NO!"
