As Jared headed farther away from the building and down Seventh Avenue, Sara completely lost sight of him. Panicking, she pulled out her badge and waved her hand in the air. “Police!” she yelled. “Stop that man!” Although not a single person reached out to stop him, they did make it easier for Sara to maneuver through the crowd. Once they started stepping out of her way, she was able to fly through the wake of people Jared was leaving behind.

When she reached Forty-ninth Street, Sara stopped. Jared was gone. She looked down Seventh Avenue, but it didn’t look like anyone was running there. Maybe he’d turned on Forty-ninth, she thought. Then she heard someone shout, “Watch yourself, asshole!” and spotted an angry man coming out of the entrance to the subway, looking over his shoulder. There. She darted down the concrete stairs, raced underground, and promptly encountered another mob of people. Judging by the size of the crowd, it appeared that everyone who was not still swarming in front of the building was trying to take the subway. Running past the long line that stretched out from the token booth, Sara hopped over one of the turnstiles.

She was stopped by a transit employee. “Sorry, not without a token,” he said as he held her by the arm.

“Get the hell off me,” Sara said, pulling away. “My husband-”

“Lady, I don’t care who your husband is, you’re not-”

She shoved her badge in front of his face. “You want to talk to my boss?”

“Sorry, I didn’t realize you were a-”

But before the man could finish, Sara was gone, running down the subway platform. It took her only another thirty seconds to find Jared. He was forcing his way through the crowd toward the edge of the platform. Since most of the crowd was now standing still, waiting for the train to come, Sara could see that there were two other people running with him. When she was an arm’s length away, she realized who they were. And when she realized who they were, she also realized why Jared had been running.

“You never give up, do you?” Rafferty asked. Standing behind Jared, he turned just enough to show Sara that he was holding a gun to Jared’s back. Next to Rafferty was Claire, who looked miserable.

“Are you okay?” Sara asked her husband.

“Yeah,” he said. Turning to Rafferty, he added, “Let Sara go.”

“Not a chance. Now I get an extra hos-”

“He’s got a gun!” someone shouted as chaos enveloped the crowd. Within seconds, everyone else on the platform scattered, racing for the turnstiles.

Using the confusion to her advantage, Sara reached for the gun in her right pants pocket.

“Don’t do that,” Rafferty warned. He shoved Jared out of the way and pointed his gun at Sara. “I’ll decorate the walls with you.” He was disheveled, sweating.

As Jared stopped himself at the edge of the platform, Sara froze. Seeing the gun aimed at his wife, Jared did the same.

“Now give it to Claire,” Rafferty said as people continued to scramble from the platform.

Claire reached out for the gun, but Sara hesitated. “You don’t have to do this,” Sara said.

“Shut up,” Claire shot back. She took the gun and led Sara toward the edge of the platform, near her husband.

As Sara and Claire walked in front of Jared, Sara shot him a desperate look. They had to do something.

Determined to save his wife, and unable to get a clear view of Rafferty, Jared made his decision. Just as Claire passed him, he kicked her in the back of the knees, sweeping her legs out from under her. Hitting the floor with a jolt, she dropped her gun. Wasting no time, Sara lunged at Rafferty, whose gun was now pointed at Jared.

Rafferty got off a single shot, then turned his gun on Sara. But before he could pull the trigger, Sara plowed into him, connecting with a swift knee to the groin. The gun flew out of his hands, but she was too late – he had already shot at Jared. And as Rafferty doubled over in pain, Sara registered her husband’s scream.

“Jared!” she shouted. She turned around, but he was nowhere in sight. She ran back to the edge of the platform. He was lying on the train tracks. Blood ran from his shoulder. “Jared, are you okay? Can you hear me?” she asked.

He didn’t answer. From the vacant look on his face, she could see he was in shock.

Behind her, Sara saw Claire helping Rafferty to his feet. On her right, near the edge of the platform, was Rafferty’s gun. She looked back at her husband. He was just starting to shake off the effects of his injury. Get the gun, she told herself. Jared’ll be fine. But as she moved for the gun, she heard the jarring electronic tone that signaled the imminent arrival of an incoming train. Leaning over the platform, she could see the train’s lights in the tunnel. There wasn’t much time. Jared was still lying there. So was the gun. She had to pick one. The choice was easy.

She braced herself on the edge of the platform and was about to leap down to the tracks when she felt Rafferty grab her by the hair. As Sara was yanked backwards, she managed to spin around. She lashed out uncontrollably. “Get off me! I’ll kill you!” She clawed at his arms, then his face – anything to make him let go. Taken aback by her ferocity, Rafferty released her and crouched to get his gun. Sara knew she had to be quick. At the edge of the platform, she could see the incoming train barreling toward the station. It was too close. There was no way she’d be able to get in and out in time. “Jared! Stand up!” she shouted.

Jared followed her instructions and tottered to his feet. His legs felt like they were stuffed with rubber bands, and as the pain set in, the smell of his own blood made him nauseous.

“You’ll be okay,” Sara said. “Take my hand.” Dropping to her stomach, she extended her arm down to Jared. The ground was vibrating from the motion of the oncoming train, and as the noise got louder, the nearby rats scattered.

Jared reached up and grabbed his wife’s hand. But before she could pull him up, Sara saw Jared staring over her shoulder. Someone was behind her. She turned around and looked up.

Rafferty pointed his gun at her. With a cold look in his eyes, he glared at Jared. “Let go of her.”

“Don’t do this,” Sara begged.

Rafferty didn’t answer. He could see the bright lights of the train as it emerged from the tunnel. “Say hi to Sara’s parents for me.”

The train was only seconds away. This was Jared’s last chance to climb out. He didn’t care, though. He wasn’t going to put her at risk. Letting go of Sara’s hand, Jared pulled away from his wife.

“What’re you doing?” Sara yelled, her voice barely audible above the train.

“He’ll kill you!” Jared shouted back.

“I don’t care!” Sara screamed, still holding out her arm. “Get back here!”

The train was right there. As Jared searched the space below the platform, Sara knew he wasn’t going to make it. They were out of time. It was impossible to hear anything but the shrieking of the train’s wheels against the rusted tracks, but that didn’t stop Sara from shouting one last “I love you” to her husband.

“Jared!” she pleaded. “Jaaaared!” At the last possible moment, Sara pulled her arm up and rolled away from the edge. And as he watched the train swallow Jared, Rafferty stepped back and smiled.

Claire ran for the doors when the train stopped. “Let’s go!” she shouted at Rafferty.

“No.”

“What are you talking about? Let’s get out of here!”

“Not until I see his body.”

“Not until you… Oscar, this is our chance! Let’s go!”

“Forget the train. This is more important.”

“Stop being so obsessed with them! We can-”

“Go if you want, but I’m staying. I’m not risking any more loose ends.”

As the train doors chimed to close, Claire hesitantly returned to Rafferty. “We’ll leave as soon as you check it out, right?” she said.