Joaquin, Fisher, and Kevin skirted around the edge of the crowd, catching angry looks from a group of young men in ponchos as they jogged over to join us. Ursula and Chief Grantz slipped away from the grocery stand to gather behind us as well.
“Kevin!” Krista exclaimed. “You’re alive!”
“Yeah, I’m fine. When the fog came in and I lost Liam, I figured I’d head home to wait it out,” he said. “I must have fallen asleep. Sorry. Joaquin told me you guys were worried about me.”
“We’re just glad you’re okay,” Tristan said, clapping him on the shoulder.
A few other Lifers circumvented the park, sticking to the outer sidewalks, and joined us, everyone drawn to Tristan like moths to a flame. Lauren and Bea jogged over from the direction of the docks.
“Speaking of Liam,” Fisher said, “we have a problem.” He took a breath and held it for a second before delivering the news. “He’s gone.”
“Gone?” I exclaimed. “How?”
“Officer Dorn had my key. He left his post for five seconds when some visitors came into the station, demanding to make long-distance calls,” Grantz said. “When he got back down there, Liam was gone, and it was only then that he noticed the key was gone, too. Someone let him out. But of course Pete’s not talking, so…”
Tristan paced away from us, his fists shaking at his sides. His hair was slicked down across his forehead, and the rash guard he’d had on ever since we’d left the beach clung to his chest in the rain.
“Who the hell is doing this?” he demanded.
“I’d say at this point, that’s only one of our problems,” Fisher said, eyeing the crowd.
“Why don’t we just start ushering them?” Ursula suggested, lifting a tissue to her nose to cover a sneeze. “Some of them are ready to cross, and if we could thin out the crowd…”
“We can’t,” Joaquin told her. “We ran out of coins earlier. No one’s leaving here anytime soon.”
“Okay,” Tristan said, gathering himself. “First things first. We have to find Liam. Bea, Rory, you get twenty or so people together and fan out to search the island. He doesn’t know it as well as we do, so it shouldn’t take long to find him. Fisher and Kevin, get a dozen of our biggest guys and get up to the bridge. Whatever happens today, he’s not bringing any more innocent souls to the Shadowlands.”
“Don’t you want me here for crowd control?” Fisher asked, shoving his fist into his open palm.
“Dorn, Grantz, Joaquin, and I will handle it,” Tristan said. He looked over at the burgeoning mob, who let out a cheer at something Sebastian had just said. “I’m going to go talk to them.”
“What are you going to say?” Joaquin asked.
“I’ll figure it out. And if it doesn’t work, we could always try using the soothing power on them. Between the four of us, we should be able to subdue the worst of them. We’ll just infiltrate the park and start working the crowd.” Tristan glanced at Fisher and Bea. “We’re wasting time. Go!”
“We’re on it, T,” Fisher said. He lifted his dark hood over his head and led the others over to a line of waiting trucks and cars parked down one of the side streets, their headlights shining through the rain as their windshield wipers flapped frantically.
“This is my fault,” Krista said, shifting from foot to foot under the waterlogged awning. “I should have stayed at the station to relieve Dorn if he needed me. I was just so tired, and he told me to go home.…”
“Krista, it’s okay.” Tristan gripped her shoulder, and she stopped wavering. “Don’t worry. We’ll find him.”
He looked up at me, a raindrop working its way down his cheek like a tear. “You didn’t want to go with Bea?”
“I’d rather stay close to you,” I said, glancing around warily as a pair of visitors slowly walked by, staring us down.
Tristan reached out and squeezed my hand. “Wish me luck.”
“Good luck,” Krista and I chorused.
He gave a nod to the men, and Grantz and Joaquin fell into step behind him as he crossed the street toward the park. Joaquin lifted his radio and told Dorn to join them. Krista grabbed my hand to tug me toward the police station. Its marble columns faced the back of the swan fountain, and as we climbed the steps I realized the brilliance of her plan. From here we would be dry under the station’s stone overhang and still see everything, including Tristan as he stepped up next to Sebastian.
“Rory?” Krista said, shivering next to me as Tristan put his hand on Sebastian’s back. “I’m scared.”
I nodded, my teeth chattering. “Me too.”
She squeezed my hand as Tristan hopped up onto the fountain’s edge so that he was a couple of heads above the crowd. He lifted both of his hands, trying to quiet the din. Suddenly the doors behind us burst open, and Dorn barreled out, rushing down the stairs to join Grantz and Joaquin at the fountain.
“Please, everyone!” Tristan called out. “Please, calm down.”