12. Shiloh
12
SHILOH
F or the hundredth time I checked my watch. I still had another hour left on my shift and I had resisted the urge to text Ryder. He’d texted me twice, though. Once to let me know they were done at the doctor’s office and were at the studio. Then to let me know they were at his place, and that I should prepare to have dinner there.
Except for the day I saw the outside of the house he’d bought, I hadn’t seen the place. I knew it was in a good neighborhood because it was a few minutes from where I stayed. Still, the idea of being in his space made me nervous. Sure, I tried to do everything as carefully as possible, but Ryder was rich. Which meant he had expensive things in the house. What if I broke something?
I mean, sure, Ethan was nine, and more likely to break things, but he was Ryder’s child. Of course he would get a pass. But me? I was just a girl he had sex with many years ago who happened to fall pregnant with his child. He had no obligation to like me. And he certainly had no obligation to forgive me if I broke his Ming vase or something.
“You want to tell me what you’re thinking about so hard over there.” Joel had been listening to me talk about Ryder for the last seven hours. “Are you still worried about him not knowing where the Emergency Room is? Because I think if he went to Doc Evans for that fucking DNA swab, he knows where to find the best ER doctor around.”
That was the logic Joel had used all day. He had ranted more than I did about Ryder’s need for a paternity test. And he was more pissed off that I had relented.
And while I hated that he needed it, I had to admit I saw Ryder’s point.
Joel was also right. At least about the ER thing. Ryder may not have been a parent for nine years, but he wasn’t an idiot. “What if he forgets to remind Ethan about the science questionnaire? I didn’t remind them before they left this morning.”
“What is the worst that could happen if Ethan does forget. Or Ryder doesn’t know to remind him. What great tragedy is going to happen? Other than you and I being proven right.”
I glared at Joel. Of course, he was making sense, and making me sound like an irrational control-freak. Also, I didn’t want to be right. When did I become this person? Sure, I was the one who planned the birthdays and special occasions in our friend group. But that was mostly because Maggie and I were the only two still in town, and Maggie didn’t take things as seriously as I did. Who would hold on to our traditions, if I didn’t?
We’d made pancakes for every birthday since we were teenagers. Maggie and I still did it and we included Tiffany when she’d joined our group of friends. The guys still crashed on occasion when they were around. Of course, with so many of them deployed, and the general anxiety around that, there was no crashing of Maggie’s birthday, the most recent one. We still all gathered around the day before a major holiday and spent time with one another. Even Theo would come down from his high tower to spend time with us.
All because I kept things together. I was the one who didn’t allow any of us to lose touch with one another. I made sure we stayed in each other’s lives. Still, that didn’t mean I needed to control Ryder’s time with Ethan.
Our radio crackled and I listened for the message. “Unit 14 Bravo. Disturbance heard at twelve forty-two Westford Drive. At least two assailants and multiple gunshots heard.”
“This Bravo 14. Show us responding.”
Joel pressed the siren and our lights flashed. We were a block away from where we needed to be. As we pulled up, the view inside the window was clear. We saw the man pointing his gun at the woman in the bookstore.
“Fuck.” This was not the first time Ms. Sheri had been held at gunpoint. Back when I was a teenager, she had been one of several small businesses that were hit in town. “I can only see one of them.”
Joel got on the radio and requested backup. I pulled the binoculars from the glove compartment and looked into the bookshop.
I switched the frequency of our radio. “This is Officer Bauman, please drop your weapon.” The young man looked out of the window. I couldn’t tell if he was looking at me or Joel. But he wielded the firearm in our direction.
“Back away, or I will start shooting.”
I took a deep breath. This was not my first shooting and it wouldn’t be my last. “Too late for that, Sir. We got reports that there were multiple gunshots from this location.”
“That wasn’t me.” His scream was almost frantic. “I only shot in the air once and no one was hurt.”
I needed to get him to think about something other than the trouble he had just caused. “Sir, what is your name?”
“Malcolm.”
“Hi, Malcolm.” I considered staying stern but decided perhaps I needed a different approach. “Is there a reason you’re turning my day into a crapfest?”
“Uh— I need to get the money.”
I tried to see what was happening inside the bookshop. “Really, you need money and decided to rob a bookstore?” Something didn’t add up. “Seriously, there are at least five businesses more lucrative than the bookstore on this street alone.”
“He—it doesn’t matter why I chose this store. This is where I am.”
That slip was all the clue I needed. I switched channels so I could talk to dispatch in private. “Dispatch, please advise our back up there is a possible second shooter in the vicinity and send the bookshop landline number to my phone.”
Whatever was going on in that store was more than we were aware of.
My phone dinged and I saw the number for the bookshop had been sent to me. Joel gave me a nod as he scanned the area before getting into position. The phone rang a few times before going dead.
I turned my radio to loud once more. “Malcolm, I'm going to need you to help me out here.”
I pressed redial and heard the phone ring inside the store. After two rings Malcolm picked up the phone. “He-hello.”
“Malcom who is making you do this.”
“I can’t tell you.”
“Has he threatened you?” Through the window, Malcolm nodded at me, but since my call was being recorded, I needed his words. “I need the words, Malcolm.”
“He’s got my sis?—”
Everything happened so fast. The glass to the Bookshop store front shattered before I registered the gunshot. Joel aimed his weapon in the direction of the shot. Before he could get his shot off, his body jerked and he fell to the ground.
“Joel.” I was torn between attending to my partner and making sure no one else got hurt.
I spotted someone running across a rooftop on the other side of the street. I took aim at the same time he aimed at me. Our shots went off together, him falling backward, thankfully not falling off the roof. But I also took a hit to my dominant arm.
Sirens blared in the distance as I made it back over to the car.
“Bravo 14.” I pressed the dispatch channel on my radio. “Where the fuck is back up. Officer down, gunshot to an unprotected area. Assailant down, status unknown.” I kept my hand over Joel’s wound. It wasn’t like I had a choice. If I left him to check on Malcolm, he would bleed out. And while I could appreciate the position the kid found himself in, Joel had to be my priority.
Less than a minute later, back up had arrived, followed closely by two ambulances.
As the paramedic headed to Joel, he lifted his chin to me as he spoke to his partner. “Check her arm. I’ll stabilize Joel.”
The other two paramedics headed into the bookstore once our back up had declared it clear. Minutes later, Ms. Sherry was escorted out with a blanket around her back along with the two customers who were in the shop at the time of the attack. Not long after that both Malcolm and Joel were being wheeled into their respective ambulances.
The paramedic looked at me. “We’ve sent another bus over to that building. You can come with your partner and get that wound checked out.”
“It's just a graze.” But I would ride with Joel.
“A graze that needs stitches.” The paramedic smiled at me. “Don’t fight me on this. I can get you benched and you know it.”
I rolled my eyes and followed Joel into the ambulance. She was right, she was married to my captain and if she mentioned I needed stitches and refused, Cap would insist I get checked out for infection and all sorts of things. The trouble really wasn’t worth it. Even if I thought she over-played her hand sometimes.
The drive to the hospital was quick. I was taken to a procedure room and didn’t need to wait too long before I was seen. The doctor was busy stitching up my arm when Maggie and Tiffany stormed in.
The doctor looked at them. “Wait outside. I will call you when she is done.”
They glared at me and then at the doctor before turning around and stepping out. I smiled at the doc. She was about the same age as Doc Evans. “Please take your time, Doc. The longer I can put off their fussing, the better.”
The doctor smiled as she worked. First cleaning the wound then prepping it. She pulled out her suture kit as she dabbed the numbing agent on my arm.
I didn’t know how the numbing agent worked but my arms still hurt like a bitch. It wasn’t the first time I’d had stitches. This wasn’t even the most dangerous situation I had found myself in. Still, as the adrenaline started to wane, I could feel myself getting restless. While I was good in a crisis, my body didn’t respond well to its aftermath.
By the time the doctor was done and allowed my friends back into the room, my crowd had grown substantially.
I frowned at the small gathering. “Who let you know?”
Harry rolled his eyes as if the answer was obvious. “Your captain called me. And I let Maggie know. She told everyone else. Your mom has gone to Ryder’s to tell him what is happening. She says to call when you get home.”
Shit. I hadn’t even thought about Ryder. He wasn’t prepared for Ethan to sleep over. Hopefully Tess would sort him out.
Tiffany and Maggie followed close behind Harry.
Neither of them said anything as Harry stood watching over me. They both knew what I needed and I had no doubt they had already decided between the two of them who would be on Shiloh duty.