Chapter 11 No More Running #2
Amari grabbed her phone and moved toward the hallway.
Then headlights swept across the front window.
Another vehicle arrived.
Police.
Relief hit so hard her knees weakened.
Two patrol cars stopped near the curb.
Doors opened.
Officers moved quickly.
Then another unmarked vehicle pulled in behind them.
Tan stepped out.
Amari recognized him immediately.
For reasons she couldn't explain, seeing him made something inside her unclench.
Officer David.
Tan.
The calm one.
She hadn't realized how much she'd hoped he would be one of the officers responding.
Craig stood beside his car with one hand inside the pocket of his hoodie.
Tan's training took over.
"Craig Turner!"
Craig looked toward him.
"Take your hand out of your pocket."
"I ain't doing nothing."
"Hand out."
Craig slowly removed it.
Empty.
Another officer moved toward the passenger side.
Tan recognized Craig immediately from the previous call.
Craig recognized him too.
His expression twisted.
"You."
Tan remained neutral.
"Keep your hands visible."
"I just came to talk."
"There's an order prohibiting contact."
"I wasn't going in her house."
"You called her."
Craig's face changed.
"She told you that?"
"Hands where I can see them."
Craig lifted both palms.
"Man, this is bullshit."
Tan didn't react.
"We're going to talk about it."
"I didn't threaten her."
"I didn't ask whether you did."
Craig stared.
Tan saw something in his eyes.
Not panic.
Resentment.
And beneath that, something more dangerous.
Humiliation.
Some men were most dangerous when they believed they'd been embarrassed.
Tan had seen that before.
One of the uniformed officers approached Craig carefully.
"Turn around."
"For what?"
"We're detaining you while we investigate."
Craig laughed.
"Detaining?"
He looked toward the house.
"Amari!"
Tan's voice hardened immediately.
"Do not call out to her."
Craig looked at him.
"That's my woman."
"No."
The word came from the front porch.
Everyone turned.
Amari stood just inside the open doorway with one officer between her and the yard.
Her face was pale.
But her voice was steady.
"I'm not."
Craig stared at her.
"Amari, come on."
"No."
"Tell them I wasn't bothering you."
"You called me."
"I wanted to talk."
"You threatened to come here."
Craig laughed incredulously.
"I said don't make me come over. That's not a threat."
Amari shook her head.
"Go home."
"This used to be my home."
"No."
Her voice strengthened.
"It was my house you stayed in."
Craig's jaw tightened.
Tan watched him closely.
Amari continued.
"I don't want you here."
Craig took one step forward.
Three officers immediately reacted.
"Don't move!"
Craig stopped.
Tan's eyes dropped.
Something had shifted beneath Craig's hoodie near his waistband.
His instincts sharpened.
"Craig."
Craig looked at him.
"Lift the front of your hoodie slowly."
"What?"
"Do it."
"I don't have anything."
"Then show me."
Craig stepped backward.
Tan's hand moved toward his holster.
"Don't."
The yard became very still.
Amari saw it.
Fear returned instantly.
The officers around Craig spread their positions.
"Craig," Tan said, "keep your hands away from your waist."
Craig's breathing quickened.
"I didn't come here for y'all."
"Then don't make this something it doesn't have to be."
Another officer spoke.
"Sir, turn around and interlace your fingers behind your head."
Craig looked toward Amari.
She was crying now.
Not loudly.
Tears simply slid down her face.
"Why you doing me like this?" he shouted.
Amari's voice shook.
"I'm not doing anything to you."
"You ruined everything!"
"You hit me!"
"Because you don't know when to shut up!"
The words echoed across the yard.
Tan's jaw tightened.
Craig immediately seemed to realize what he'd said.
Amari stared.
The last bit of confusion disappeared from her face.
There it was.
The truth.
No apology.
No misunderstanding.
No stress.
He believed she'd caused the violence.
Tan saw the moment Amari understood it.
And he saw something else.
The relationship ended inside her before anyone placed Craig in handcuffs.
Craig reached toward his waistband.
"Gun!" an officer shouted.
Everything exploded at once.
Tan drew.
Craig pulled a handgun.
"DROP IT!"
Neighbors screamed.
Amari disappeared behind the doorway as an officer shoved her back inside.
Craig raised the weapon halfway.
A shot cracked through the night.
Then another.
Craig collapsed beside his car.
The handgun hit the pavement.
Tan's ears rang.
"Don't move!"
Craig groaned.
Blood spread across the shoulder of his hoodie.
Officers moved in.
The gun was kicked away.
Hands secured.
Medical assistance called.
Tan's heart hammered, but training held him steady.
"Suspect in custody."
He looked toward the house.
Amari.
The door remained open.
An officer stood inside with her.
She was alive.
Safe.
Tan released a breath he hadn't realized he was holding.
Craig survived.
The shot had struck his upper shoulder.
Painful.
Serious.
But not fatal.
He was transported under guard to the hospital.
The weapon recovered beside him was loaded.
Investigators later confirmed it had been reported stolen months earlier.
Amari gave her statement sitting at the dining room table.
Her hands shook so badly she couldn't hold the cup of water another officer brought her.
Tan wasn't supposed to be the primary interviewing officer because of his involvement in the incident.
That didn't stop him from checking on her once the scene had stabilized.
He stood near the doorway.
"You okay?"
Amari laughed weakly.
"Is that your favorite question?"
"Occupational requirement."
Her eyes were red.
"Then no."
Tan nodded.
"Fair."
She looked at him.
"You shot him?"
Tan shook his head.
"Another officer fired."
"You pulled your gun."
"Yes."
"He was gonna shoot somebody."
"We don't know what he was going to do."
"You really gonna give me the police answer right now?"
Tan almost smiled.
"Yes."
Amari stared at the tabletop.
"He brought a gun."
"Yes."
"To my house."
"Yes."
She wiped her face.
"I keep thinking..."
Tan waited.
"What?"
"What if I hadn't called?"
He understood the question beneath the question.
Would Craig have killed her?
He wasn't going to answer something nobody could know.
"You called."
She looked at him.
"That's what matters tonight."
Amari breathed slowly.
"I almost didn't."
"Why?"
"I thought I was overreacting."
Tan's expression softened.
"Trust yourself."
She looked away.
"I haven't been good at that lately."
"Then start practicing."
A tiny smile appeared.
"Bossy again."
"Still an occupational hazard."
That smile lingered a little longer.
Then Amari's eyes settled on him.
Tonight he wasn't the polished calm officer she'd remembered.
His tactical vest sat slightly crooked from the sudden movement outside. Sweat dampened his hairline. His expression remained controlled, but she could see tension in his jaw.
"Are you okay?"
Tan blinked.
"What?"
"You asked me."
"That's different."
"Why?"
"I'm working."
"You almost watched somebody pull a gun on you."
Tan stared.
Very few civilians ever asked the officer afterward.
Usually the uniform made people forget a person existed underneath it.
"I'm fine."
Amari raised an eyebrow.
"That's what I said."
Tan smiled.
"Fair enough."
For a moment, the fear inside the room eased.
Then Amari looked toward the hallway.
"What happens now?"
"There's going to be an investigation into the officer-involved shooting. Craig also has serious legal problems because of the firearm, violating the protective order, and whatever additional charges detectives and prosecutors determine are supported."
"You think he's going to prison?"
"That's up to the courts."
She nodded.
"I want him gone."
Tan studied her.
"I know."
"No."
She met his eyes.
"I mean gone from my life."
There was something final in her voice now.
"I don't want another apology."
"I don't want him sending people to talk to me."
"I don't want to hear that he's changed."
"I don't care if he cries."
Tears returned, but she continued.
"I loved him."
Tan remained quiet.
Amari pressed her lips together.
"I really did."
"I believe you."
"Doesn't that make me stupid?"
"No."
"Why not?"
"Because loving somebody and being safe with them aren't the same question."
She stared.
Tan continued carefully.
"You can grieve the person you thought he was and still never let him back into your life."
Amari looked down.
"Who taught you that?"
Tan smiled faintly.
"My mother would probably take credit."
"Hospital lady?"
He laughed.
"You remember that?"
"I remember a lot from that night."
"Yeah. She's a nurse."
"And your dad?"
"Cop."
"Of course."
She smiled.
"The whole family public service?"
"Pretty much."
"What about your siblings?"
"Brother becoming a lawyer."
"Wow."
"Sister studying nursing."
Amari nodded.
"That's a lot of achievement in one house."
"Also a lot of arguing."
She laughed.
The sound surprised both of them.
It was the first genuine laugh she'd given since Craig's call.
Tan liked the sound.
That realization caused him to step emotionally backward.
This was still a scene.
She was still vulnerable.
He needed to remember that.
He nodded toward the officers working nearby.
"Detective will finish everything with you."
Amari's smile faded slightly.
"You leaving?"
"Soon."
"Oh."
The disappointment came too quickly for her to hide.
Tan noticed.
So did she.
Amari immediately looked away.
"I mean—thank you."
"For what?"
"Coming."
"It's my job."
"I know."
She looked at him again.
"But you came."
Something about the wording hit him.
Tan thought briefly of another frightened child, decades earlier.
You came.
He smiled gently.
"Take care of yourself, Amari."
"You too, Officer David."
He headed toward the doorway.
"T?"
Tan stopped.
She looked embarrassed.
"Sorry. I don't even know if anybody calls you that."
"My family does sometimes."
"Okay."
She smiled.
"Goodnight, T."
Tan looked at her for one second longer than he should have.
"Goodnight, Amari."
Then he left.
The legal case moved faster than Amari expected.
Charges accumulated.
Violation of a court order.
Firearm offenses.