After I Died for Justice, He Chased Me for Years

Chapter 10

Richard frowned slightly, but meeting Jillian's unwavering gaze, he finally gave his approval.

Jillian tugged up a faint smile, saluted him crisply, then turned and walked out.

She had barely stepped out of the office when she slammed right into a rock-hard chest.

She lifted her head, and her gaze collided with Nathan's deep, dark eyes.

Jillian's stomach dropped. Did Nathan... hear everything that was said inside?

"What are you doing here?" Nathan's low, gravelly voice rumbled from above her.

Thank god, he didn't hear a thing!

The tight, coiled tension in Jillian's chest loosened immediately. She pulled out her phone, ready to type out a reply.

But Nathan stepped back first, putting a clear gap between the two of them.

His obvious eagerness to get away from her made her fingers freeze mid-movement. After a beat, she typed out:

Jillian: [I'm here to report on my previous undercover mission.]

A flicker of doubt crossed Nathan's eyes, but he didn't press for details, and Jillian didn't offer any extra explanation either.

Thick, awkward silence hung between the two of them.

After a long moment, Jillian typed another line on her phone:

Jillian: [In the future... take good care of yourself.]

This upcoming mission was a near-suicide run. This line was as good as a proper goodbye, so she wouldn't leave any lingering regrets.

Staring at those words, a look of confusion flitted across Nathan's face.

Before he could puzzle out what she meant, Jillian tucked her phone back into her pocket, shouldered past him without a glance, and walked away.

Nathan's gaze turned dark and unreadable. He only turned to step into Richard's office once Jillian's figure had completely vanished from view.

"Did you call Jillian in for something specific?"

Richard's expression stayed completely neutral. "Just wrapping up some old loose ends from past work."

Nathan's face went grim. "I don't think Jillian is trustworthy. She might have already flipped..."

"Enough!" Richard cut him off in a sharp, heavy tone. "Nathan, what was the first thing I told all of you when you first arrived at this branch? No matter the time or place, you trust your teammates, no questions asked."

Nathan froze, his mouth falling open as he prepared to argue back.

But Richard had already moved on to another topic. "How's Nina doing?"

Nathan pressed his lips into a tight line, replying in a low, steady voice. "She's acting completely normal. No suspicious behavior so far."

Richard gave him a long, pointed look, then waved him off dismissively. "Alright, you can leave now."

Nathan's instincts screamed that something was off, but he knew better than to press the issue right now.

He headed out with a heavy, uneasy feeling in his gut, returning straight to his office. When he pulled open his desk drawer, the first thing that met his eye was a clipping of Jillian, cut cleanly out of an old group photo of the three of them.

In the photo, her eyes crinkled with joy and a bright smile tugged at the corner of her lips. She looked like a completely different person from the cold, withdrawn Jillian he'd run into just now.

He was still lost in thought when his phone pinged sharply.

It was a message from Nina.

Nina: [Nathan, I'm staying at a friend's place tonight, so I won't be coming home.]

Nathan's gaze flickered, but he didn't bother typing a reply.

He tucked Jillian's photo back into the drawer carefully and shut it.

Just hold on a little longer.

Once the Taylor Corporation case was fully wrapped up, once he could confirm for sure that Jillian was clean of any wrongdoing, he'd track her down and have a proper talk with her.

Meanwhile, on the other side of the city, Jillian jumped through a dozen hoops and worked every back channel she could find to finally get in touch with a low-level goon working for the Taylor family.

Half a month later, deep in the dead of night.

Jillian had just hit send on the coded signal that marked the start of the final sting operation when Bang! The door to her rental apartment slammed open with a deafening crash.

Men rushed into the room before she could react. They snatched her phone right out of her hand, tied a thick blindfold over her eyes, and hauled her away.

They took her to an abandoned, half-finished construction site on the edge of town.

Jillian was shoved roughly to her knees on the dirty concrete. The second the blindfold was ripped off her face, she spotted every wanted fugitive from the Taylor operation holed up in the space, with Finn and Nina at the front of the group.

Nina sauntered over, pressed the sharp tip of a knife under Jillian's chin, and tilted her head up mockingly. "Who would've thought the mole really was you? Works out perfectly, actually. Now we can settle every last score, old and new, all at once."

The cold, sharp edge of the blade pressed against her throat, and every muscle in Jillian's body coiled tight with tension.

She knew better than to provoke Nina right now. She just needed to stall, buy enough time for the tactical team to arrive.

But Nina kept sneering, her voice sharp and cutting as it sliced through the stale air. "Look at you, still putting on that tough, unbroken act. Do you actually think someone's coming to save you?"

"As far as Nathan's concerned, you betrayed them a long time ago."

Nina let out a sharp, mocking laugh, then drove the blade straight into Jillian's hand in one brutal, sudden move.

White-hot pain exploded through her hand instantly, and Jillian let out a choked, muffled groan.

Nina pressed down hard, driving the dagger inch by agonizing inch deeper into her flesh.

Jillian ground her teeth to bear it, repeating her oath over and over in her head: 'I will fight bravely to maintain social stability and protect the peace of the people, never fearing sacrifice, never fearing death.'

The torture dragged on, but she clung to that silent mantra, repeating it again and again as she pushed through each endless, agonizing minute.

Finally, as the sky began to lighten at the horizon, Nina nodded in satisfaction. "Throw her off this roof, then send word to Nathan and his team to come collect her body. I want everyone to see exactly what happens to snitches."

"Got it." Finn grunted in agreement, then hauled Jillian roughly toward the edge of the rooftop.

They were six floors up, and the ground below was unforgiving solid concrete. A fall from here would be a guaranteed death sentence.

Just then, the sound of rapid, heavy footsteps rang out from below.

Jillian forced her blood-crusted eyes open, squinting down to see.

It was the team from the branch office!

They'd come!

Even through the crowd far below, Jillian spotted Nathan immediately, sharp and dashing in his uniform.

The early morning sun caught the badge on his collar, glinting bright.

The second his eyes landed on Jillian, shock, surprise, and a flash of relief flickered in his eyes.

She'd never abandoned her faith. She was still the same Jillian he'd known six years ago.

"Miss, get out of here! Retreat now! Take her hostage!"

Finn's shout snapped through the air beside her. Jillian watched the remaining criminals scattering to escape, and her mind was made up in an instant. She would never give them leverage to hold over the police, and she would not let a single one of these criminals get away.

That thought burned through her like wildfire, and a fierce, determined light flared to life in her eyes.

She couldn't break free of Finn's grip, so she summoned every last scrap of strength left in her body, clutched hold of him with all her might, and threw both of them off the edge of the roof. They plummeted downward.

As the feeling of weightlessness wrapped around her instantly, every key memory of her life flashed before Jillian's eyes in quick succession.

"Nathan, I want to be a real cop, just like my mom and dad."

"Mom, Dad, I swear I'll take down the Taylor syndicate."

"Nathan, I've decided to go undercover."

*****

The memories flitted through her head in a split second. Warm tears streaked down her cheek. Jillian watched as the fleeing gangsters were tackled to the ground one by one by her fellow officers, and there was Nina, right among them, getting pinned down too!

Her eyes blazed with a brightness no one had seen in the six years she'd spent undercover.

For a split second, it felt like she was back at the police academy, standing under the solemn flag as she took her oath.

'I volunteer to become an international police officer. I pledge absolute loyalty to the organization, to my beliefs, to the people, and to the law...'

'...I fear no sacrifice. I will dedicate myself to the noble cause of public security, and fight tirelessly to uphold every word of this oath!'

'Oath taker: Jillian.'

All 324 words of the oath were etched deep into her bones. She recited every last line silently, but with unshakable resolve, until she finished.

Then she closed her eyes for good and let herself fall.

A few paces away, Nathan stared at Jillian plummeting straight toward the ground, and gut-wrenching, paralyzing terror seized his chest.

"Jillian, don't!"

He screamed her name in utter despair, sprinting like a madman toward her falling form, desperate to catch her before she hit the concrete.

But he was too late.

Crack!

Jillian crashed hard right in front of Nathan. Bright, hot blood splattered across his face—warm at first, then searing, like a brand against his skin.