19. Chapter 19
CHAPTER NINETEEN
CHAPTER 19
~LEVI~
I f people would stop interrupting me, I could get the hell out of here and home to Starla. I don’t like leaving her alone. I know she thinks that a couple of hours isn’t a big deal, and she might be right, but I’d feel better if I were there with her.
“Have a minute?” Jim Parker asks, leaning his head around the doorjamb.
“Not really.” I sigh and look up at him. “What’s up?”
“Update, but not a great one. We’re still not able to find a definitive source for the emails, but I think I found something today. There’s one specific thread that’s come through a couple of times, not enough that we’d catch it if we weren’t looking, but it’s there.”
“Great, keep pulling it.”
“I plan to, just didn’t want you to think I was slacking on the job.”
“You’re here more hours than I am, and there’s only three of you in your department. I know you’re giving me all the hours you can spare. I appreciate it.”
“My pleasure. I think we’re getting somewhere. I’m going to stay after for a couple hours and keep working on it. I’ll try to charm my way to the source.”
“Well, that won’t get us anywhere, given you’re the least charming asshole I know.”
I grin when Jim glares at me.
“Kidding. Thanks, man. I’m going to head out. Starla’s home alone.”
“I thought she had a full-time detail.”
“They were needed elsewhere, and we didn’t have anyone else to spare.”
“Get home then. I’ll call if I find anything.”
“Appreciate it.”
I clip my holster to my belt and toss my jacket on before locking my office behind me and walking out to the car.
I’ve written my letter of resignation. I had breakfast with my parents this morning, gave them a heads-up. I know they have concerns, and at my age, I don’t have to ask their permission, but I do value their input. They’ve been married for forty-five years, and they’re smart people.
Despite their concerns, they also support my decision. The Lubbock case assured me that homicide is not for me. And how can I ever stay here in Seattle, working the job, while wondering if Starla is safe, wherever she is?
No, I’ve made my decision, and now I have to talk with Starla about it, get her input before I quit a job that’s been more than good to me for most of my life.
As I turn the corner to Starla’s house. Something feels… wrong.
I don’t see anything out of the ordinary. Starla’s Jag is in the driveway. No other cars are parked on the street. I glance at Wyatt’s house, but it’s quiet as well.
I park and get out of the car, looking up and down the still street. There’s no noise. Not even any birds, and that’s not normal.
When I approach the front door, I pause, taking in the jimmied lock. The door is cracked. I open it and look inside, but there’s no one in the living area.
The alarm is not set.
I step back outside and call for backup on my phone, speaking quietly.
“This is Detective Crawford. I need backup ASAP.” I give the address, put my phone away, and draw my weapon before walking in again, stopping in the living room to listen.
When I look out the back door to the pool, I freeze. Starla is standing, turned away from me, and a woman is holding her at gunpoint.
“Starla!”
The gun fires, the bullet hits Starla in the chest. She falls back, hits her head, and tumbles into the water.
“Freeze!”
“I don’t know if she’s dead,” the woman shouts, aiming the gun at the seemingly lifeless Starla. “I’ve been trying to end you for years! Why won’t you just die?”
“Throw your gun down!”
The woman moves to squeeze the trigger again, but I fire first, hitting her in the head, killing her instantly.
Blood pools around Starla in the pool, and I instantly jump in and turn her over so her face is out of the water.
“Baby.” I pull her to the edge, trying to feel for a pulse. “Come on, baby, stay with me. Don’t you dare die on me, Starla. Come on.”
“Seattle Police!”
“Back here!” I yell. “The perp is down, and I need an ambulance for the vic!”
“Jesus,” Anderson breathes when he sees me in the water with Starla. “The ambulance is here. Who’s that?”
“This is Starla. She has a heartbeat, but she’s unconscious. I don’t know who the perp is.”
“On it.”
Cops swarm the area, and before I know it, the medics arrive to help me pull Starla out of the water and onto a gurney.
“Heartbeat is strong,” one of them says. “Gunshot wound to the upper left chest.
Contusion on the back of the head.”
“I’m coming with you,” I announce as they wheel her toward the ambulance. I glance back at Anderson. “I’ll call to give my report.”
“This is Rachel Samuels,” he calls after me. “Ring a bell?”
I shake my head, then pause. “She’s Starla’s assistant. Fuck me.”
“Looks like we found our stalker.”
“Who knew a gunshot wound would hurt so bad?” Starla asks. It’s three hours later, after the worst hours of my life as they took Starla in for tests and then stitched her up. She’s on a good amount of morphine right now.
“You shouldn’t be in so much pain now, sweetheart.” I kiss her cheek. “They’ve got you drugged up.”
“When it happened,” she clarifies. “It really hurt.”
“I’m surprised you remember it.”
“Yeah.” Tears fill her beautiful blue eyes. “It was Rachel.”
“I know.” I kiss her again. “I know, baby. I’m so sorry.”
“I don’t understand. Why? I was always good to her.”
“Did she tell you why?”
“Jealous.” Her words are a little slurred. “She was jealous. Mad. Crazy. Loved her.”
“I know you did.”
“Trusted her, you know?” She turns her blurry eyes up to me. “Hard to trust.”
“No one’s going to hurt you like that ever again. I promise.”
“Love you.” Her eyes close. She’s been fighting sleep, wanting to be alert to what’s going on around her. She needs the rest. She needs to heal.
The bullet went clear through and miraculously missed any major organs or arteries. It was the fall, and the hit on the back of the head, that knocked her unconscious. And if I hadn’t pulled her out of that pool, she would have drowned.
But she didn’t. She’s here, and she’s whole, and I’m going to spend the rest of my life keeping her safe.
My phone buzzes with an incoming call.
“Crawford.”
“It’s Parker. We found our stalker.”
I frown. “I know. I should have called you, man. She shot Starla today, and I killed her.”
“Oh my God. I’m sorry, man. I hadn’t heard. Sounds like Belinda Lanigan was off her rocker.”
“Wait. Her name was Rachel.”
“No, the person sending all of the emails to Starla is Belinda Lanigan. Her permanent address is in San Francisco, but I found a short-term lease here in Seattle.”
“Jesus.” I scrub my hand down my face. “Rachel wasn’t the stalker.”
“Not the email one, no. So, we have a name and an address. Give me the word, and I’ll get an arrest warrant.”
“Do it.”
“On it.”
He hangs up, and I can only watch Starla sleep, my brain going a million miles a minute. There were two threats. One we had no way of knowing was even in the picture.
I lost about ten years from my life today. The horror of watching the love of my life get shot and not knowing if she was dead or alive was a hell I wouldn’t wish on my worst enemy.
It gives me all-new empathy for Jeremy Lubbock and what he walked into.
“Hey.”
I look up to see my mom standing in the doorway.
“Mom.”
I stand and pull her in for a hug. I know it sounds childish, but having her here is a balm to my hurting heart.
“How is she?”
“She’s going to be fine. The bullet went straight through. She has a concussion, and she’ll be sore for a while, but she’ll be good as new before too long.”
“Oh, thank goodness.” Mom wipes a tear from her eye and leans in to kiss Starla’s forehead. She’s sleeping peacefully, but Mom whispers to her. “We all love you, sweet girl.”
“Is everyone here?”
“Yes, the whole crowd is out in the waiting room.”
“Paparazzi?”
“No. Your officer friends made them leave. And after the tongue-lashing they gave those idiots, I don’t think they’ll be back anytime soon.”
“Good.”
“How are you?”
“Relieved. Tired.”
“You took a woman’s life today, son. And even if she had it coming, that won’t sit well with you.”
“No, it doesn’t. But she was about to take another shot at Starla, and she probably would have killed her. I didn’t have a choice.”
“No. You didn’t. Remember that.”
She takes my face in her hands and smiles up at me.
“I’m so proud of you.”
“Thanks, Mom.”
“If you need anything, just call.”
I nod and watch her walk out of the room.
“I like your mom.”
I hurry back to Starla and take her hand in mine.
“I didn’t know you were awake.”
“I was eavesdropping. She kissed me.”
“She’s an affectionate woman.”
Starla’s lips tip up in a soft smile. “That’s where you get it.”
“Yeah.” I take her hand in mine and kiss it. “Everyone’s here to make sure you’re okay. The guys booted the paparazzi out.”
“It’s good to have people watching your back.”
“You have a lot of those people.”
“I thought Rachel was one of them.” She sighs. “It makes me sad.”
“It’s okay to be sad. You should be.”
“Will you stay with me?”
“I have nowhere else to be. But there will be rules.”
She opens one eye, just a slit.
“What rules?”
“You have to sleep. Sleep is going to help you get better.”
“And?”
“And no flirting with the male nurses.”
“Done.”