Karma III. Sabrina Eubanks

riser. He grabbed the railing and pulled his foot out of the soft, unrealistic wood. It made a small sucking sound that gave him the creeps.

      “That’s nothin’, bro. Can you deal with the shit at the top of the stairs?” No sooner than that scary, bodiless Noah-voice asked the question, a door at the top of the stairs was thrown open. A light shone out of it, so bright it almost blinded him.

      Justine stepped out of the light. She was smiling at him and holding something in her hand. Lucas took a step back and tucked his lips in. He ran his hand over his beard and stared at her. He hadn’t seen her in a long time, not even in his dreams. Lucas figured this wasn’t the day for surprises — because he wasn’t surprised to find he still loved her. He probably always would.

      “Justine.” Her name felt strange on his lips. He hadn’t said it in so long. Nicole was his love now. Why wasn’t she here? Where was she?

      “She’s hurt, but she’s alive, Luke. All these people here are dead.

      Can’t you see that?” Noah’s voice spoke plainly.

      The hair stood up at the nape of Lucas’s neck. “Yeah? Then where are you, Noah? How come I can’t see you?”

      “I ain’t really here, Luke,” Noah replied. Irritation was edging into his voice. “Stay focused, bro. She’s got somethin’ I need. Get it away from her. Don’t let her keep it, or I’m stuck here. Hurry up, Luke!”

      Lucas looked back at Justine. She was beautiful. She always was.

      But her smile abruptly turned into a frown, and suddenly she wasn’t so pretty.

      “I hate what you did to us, Lucas. It was all your fault. Look what you did to me.” Her face changed in an instant, from lovely to decay-ing like paper. Her beautiful eyes shrank back into her skull and her lips stretched grotesquely over her teeth.

      “Oh, God,” Lucas said in horror. He took another step back, but someone who wasn’t there pushed him forward like a strong phan-tom.

      “Fuck that! Don’t let her keep it. I ain’t stayin’ here. Go get it! It’s mine!” Noah yelled at him.

      Justine held the object in her hand high over her head. It swung on its chain and glittered in the bright light, snug in its leather case.

      Lucas knew what it was immediately. It started to beep like a small gold bomb.

      Lucas reached for it. “What are you doing with that? It’s not yours. Give it back!”

      Justine laughed, and it was like nails dragging across a chalkboard. “Come get it, Lucas!”

      She flung it over the railing of the stairway into nothingness. Lucas dropped his gun and leapt after it instinctively. His fingers closed around it, and now it was beeping louder. He fell into the void, falling fast, clutching Noah’s badge in his hand.

      Lucas came awake with a disoriented jolt. The first thing he felt was the tendrils of agony in his forearms and the crisp pain in his neck. It took him a moment to remember that he was hurt. His mind wasn’t as sharp as it should have been, because they’d given him something for the pain.

      Leah Wheeler was standing over him, still pretty in her heart-break. Her hand was on his shoulder. “You okay, Lucas?” Lucas sat up in the chair he’d been sleeping in and looked around. He got up and sat at the foot of the bed that held Nicole. She was asleep with an IV drip in her right hand. A machine that monitored her heart rate beeped sharply in the corner. That’s where the sound from the dream had come from.

      Everything came crashing back all at once. Oscar Tirado had blown their cover with the Trinidads. He’d paid with his life, but it had cost them plenty. Nicole and Tony Colletti had gotten shot up pretty badly in Tate Trinidad’s last-ditch effort not to be defeated.

      They’d set their dogs on Lucas, and Nick had shot him in the forearm trying to get them off. He also had a graze on his neck from an errant bullet.

      Noah. Noah had gotten the worst of it. Troy had shot him three times: once, point blank in the chest. Lucas vividly remembered Noah crashing right before his eyes, and him feeling utterly helpless. He stood up and realized he was holding Noah’s badge in his hand.

      “Lucas?” Leah was looking at him, her brow creased with worry.

      Lucas looked down at Noah’s badge. He’d gotten it away from her, he thought, with a certain knowledge he was being irrational.

      Maybe Noah would be okay. He slipped Noah’s badge around his neck and it laid there with its little dots of Noah’s blood next to his own.

      “I’m okay,” he said, looking at Leah. “Any word?” “They’re bringing him up from surgery.”

      Lucas sighed deeply and looked at Nicole, who seemed to be holding her own. He put his arm around Leah’s shoulders and led her out of the room. It was time to go check for Noah. Lucas was scared for his old friend. Scared to death.

      Chapter Two

       Who’s That Girl

      N adine knew she was going to die. She felt her knees buckling even as she tried to run. Her heart was pounding toward what seemed an ultimate explosion, and she was trying desperately to catch her breath. She knew she was having a full-fledged panic attack.

      Captain Myers himself had her by the arm. He’d come and rung her doorbell, personally, to tell her the news she prayed everyday not to hear. Just hours ago she’d begged Noah to be careful and he’d made some stupid joke. Now he was.

      She stepped into the elevator with Captain Myers and the DEA Agent — Griffin, she thought his name was — and rode silently up to ICU. The elevator opened onto a sea of cops with sad faces. They were everywhere, lining the walls in tragic clusters. They were keeping vigil for their own, praying, and trying to send them their strength. Nadine didn’t recognize any of them, but they stopped talking amongst themselves in their hushed voices, and nodded respectfully as they passed

      — like they recognized her.

      Nadine had Myers in a death clutch as she leaned against him heavily. Griffin had her by the other arm. She thought of her children.

      When Myers rang the doorbell, Nadine passed out cold at the news.

      When she came to, Noah and Raine had been hysterical. They were with her sister now. Noah Jr. wanted to come with her, but she didn’t want him to see Noah like this. Hell, she didn’t want to see Noah like this.

      They neared the end of the hallway, and she saw Lucas standing just outside Noah’s door like a sentry. Lucas was like a life preserver in that sea of blue. He walked toward her, looking exhausted, with his lips tucked in, frowning with worry. One arm was in a sling while the other was heavily bandaged. There was another small dressing on his neck.

      His face, arms, and hands were covered with scattered scrapes and contusions.

      Lucas wasn’t his usual, quietly expensive dapper self. There were no tastefully tailored threads today. Instead, Lucas was wearing a black heavy metal T-shirt that was a size too small. That would have been funny under a different set of circumstances, but at the moment it horrified Nadine. She vaguely wondered what had been on his shirt that made him want to take it off. Despite their tumultuous history, his presence was the one she was most thankful for. Lucas reached her and looked down at her with enormously sad eyes that looked like they’d been crying.

      Nadine’s breath hitched in her throat. “Lucas.” She collapsed into his arms and he held her tight. Nadine cried into his chest without shame until she could pull herself together. Until she had enough to go on. She pulled away from him slowly, careful of his arm that wore the sling. Myers had his hand on Lucas’ shoulder, his eyes full of sympathy. Griffin had his hands clasped in front of him, studying his shoes.

      A doctor came out of Noah’s room and Nadine was suddenly nauseous. She had absolutely no desire to hear what