Susan knew better than to answer. Instead, she eyed the gun in Karim’s waistband, inches away from her free hand. But she’d done this math before. If she went for the gun, he’d cut her throat; if she ran, he’d shoot her. With one arm hanging limp and useless, she didn’t stand a chance at overpowering him.

“You’re not scary,” a voice said from the door.

Susan looked over, hardly daring to trust her ears. Archie stood in the doorway, with a gun in his hand pointed at Karim. But her elation deflated as she took in the rest. Archie’s pallor was corpselike, and he was soaked with blood from his ribs to his knees. He was braced against the doorjamb as if he needed the support to stay standing.

Karim reacted instantly, moving her in front of him and lowering the blade to the center of her throat, wrenching Susan’s shoulder in the process.

“You okay?” Archie asked her.

Susan took a few breaths as the pain subsided. “I think my shoulder’s dislocated, but yeah,” she said. He had lost a lot of blood. And he had still come after her. “How about you?”

“Fine,” he said. He gave her a weak smile. “Why?”

“You’ve just come to chat, have you?” Karim asked, sounding irritated.

“Thanks for reminding me,” Archie said, his eyes flicking from Susan to Karim. The instant Archie looked at Karim, Susan saw all the warmth in Archie’s face evaporate. “You’re under arrest,” Archie told Karim. “You have the right to remain silent.” He leaned a shoulder against the doorjamb. Susan could tell he had tried to do it casually, but he was clearly wobbly on his feet. Archie cleared his throat. “Anything you say or do can and will be held against you in a court of law. You have the right to an attorney. If you cannot afford an attorney one will be provided at no cost.” Archie’s gun started to drift toward the floor. Susan saw Archie notice it and jerk the weapon back up into the general range of Karim’s head. “Do you understand these rights as I’ve explained them to you?” Archie asked Karim.

This wasn’t good. Susan could see in Archie’s eyes that this wasn’t good. She glanced behind Archie, expecting Henry to appear, or Leo or Sanchez or … anyone. But there was no one else. Archie had come alone. What had happened to those sirens they had all heard approaching? Susan felt a knot of dread like a fist in her chest. Archie was bleeding badly. His face looked like her father’s had in the hours before he’d died, like he knew, like half of him had already gone.

With a terrible sinking feeling, Susan realized that Archie couldn’t save her. He couldn’t even save himself.