The System Patched the Bug, Sending Me Home and Leaving Him in Ruin Chapter 04

The System Patched the Bug, Sending Me Home and Leaving Him in Ruin Chapter 04

I’d been in this world for seven years.

Haven Bay was a quiet, low-crime area, and violent felonies were few and far between.

But of course, my final field patrol shift had to be the exception.

A hostage situation. The suspect demanded a thirty-million-dollar cash ransom, plus a full-size cargo van for his out-of-state escape.

A light drizzle was falling by the time I arrived.

My partner Erica Moore sat on the stairwell landing, her eyes glistening and bloodshot when she saw me.

“Chloe, the crisis negotiator’s already here. The suspect’s demanding a prisoner swap.”

“A hostage swap?”

“Yeah… the victim right now is pregnant.”

No one on scene dared to speak a word. In a situation like this, if the kidnapper agreed to a trade, one of us would have to take her place.

“So… who’s going?”

Erica bit her lip.

“ He’s insisting on a female officer.”

There were only two women on our unit: Erica and me. Erica’s husband Jake worked in Criminal Investigations, and he’d been hospitalized not long ago after getting injured in the line of duty.

I unholstered my sidearm and pressed it into Erica’s hands.

“I’ll do it.”

The system was freaking out in my mind.

[Host, this is way too risky! If you die out here, you’re not going back to your real world!]

But I couldn’t bring myself to send Erica into imminent danger.

Over these seven years, Erica had been by my side far more than Finn ever had. We were inseparable field partners.

Erica broke down and threw her arms around me.

“Chloe, I’m so sorry. I know you’re about to get married—I hate asking this of you… but Jake’s still in the hospital.”

“I know.”

I patted her shoulder, then turned and walked out into the rain.

The hostage site was an abandoned warehouse on the outskirts of town. Through a hazy light rain, I could see the woman in the kidnapper’s grip.

Her face was pale, but she was still strikingly beautiful. Long dark hair clung to her temples, and her wide eyes looked utterly helpless and delicate.

She curled both hands over her stomach, pleading.

“Please, someone help me. I’m carrying Carter’s heir.”

My stomach sank.

The system alerted me: [That’s Renee Lane.]

Renee and I stared at each other across the rain, a tangled mess of emotions swirling through me.

The vicious, unhinged suspect dug his dagger into her skin, drawing blood.

“Get over here now, or I’ll put an end to her right now!”

Renee’s eyes went wide with fear as she looked at me.

“Chloe, please, I can’t die. Finn will lose his mind. If you let something happen to me, he’ll never forgive you for this.”

It was obvious she’d long figured out my identity and my situation.

I glanced back at Erica, let out a slow breath, and started walking toward the suspect.

The moment the cold blade pressed against my throat, Renee stumbled away, scrambling past the police line to safety. Now it was just me and the kidnapper.

” Hand over the van. Now.”

Right before I was shoved into the vehicle, the field sergeant shot me a silent, prearranged signal. The plan was set—they’d track the van the whole way, and I just needed to create a window of opportunity for tactical arrest.

With my wrists tightly restrained, I was roughly thrown into the passenger seat. In my last glimpse of the crowd, I watched Finn bulldozed through the crowd and catch the unconscious Renee in his arms.