Chapter 30 · Emma on the Other Line

"Mark." Emma's voice came through the phone sharp, no greeting. "I need you to listen."

I pressed the phone harder against my ear, still smelling smoke on my jacket. The archive was three blocks behind me, Kyle was in the wind, and my dead partner's name was burned into my skull.

"Emma, where are you?"

"Home. Locked in. Like you told me." Her breathing was off. Too controlled. "But I got a call."

I stopped walking. "From who?"

"Me."

The street noise dropped away. A bus passed. I didn't hear it.

"Say that again."

"My voice, Mark. My exact voice." She wasn't crying. Worse—she sounded certain. "She knew things. The way I take my coffee. The scar on my shoulder from when I was nine. And she said you've already died twice."

My hand went cold around the phone. "What else."

"She said this is your third try. That the first time, Kyle shot you in your apartment. Second time, you bled out in an alley off Tenth. She said this version of you has six hours left unless I do exactly what she says."

I started moving again, faster. "Which is?"

"Meet her. Alone. She gave me an address."