Love

by Lacey Weatherford

  “Do you know what happened to me in prison?” she asked, her chin quivering. “Those women, they were mean. They assaulted me in terrible ways you can’t even imagine. I begged them not to, but they liked the begging. Then, when they were done punishing me, the guards started coming onto me too, dragging me into empty cells so they could do vile things to me. Every time that happened, I promised myself I’d make the two of you pay for it.”

  “Are you sure it wasn’t the other way around?” I asked sarcastically. “Maybe you were coming onto them. If I remember correctly, there were at least a dozen times you propositioned me, not to mention every other guy in the school. I’d say prison sounds like it was right up your alley.”

  “You bastard!” she yelled, in a snarling scream. Ripping her hand out from behind her she threw a hammer at me, before grabbing another and launching herself at me like some possessed demonic creature.

  Ducking to dodge the missile, I jerked to the side to avoid her attack, her weapon grazing my arm. I didn’t stop to look, turning quickly as she jumped to attack me, again. Zeroing in on her chest, I pulled the trigger. One, two, three, four, I emptied the rest of my clip into her as she jerked backwards, slamming into the shelves, her body knocking more things down as she fell into a heap of hardware.

  Screaming erupted throughout the store and I could hear people running in all directions, but I didn’t move, my gun still trained on Gabby as her blood spread across the floor.

  I had no idea how much time passed before I heard people closing in on my location. “Drop your weapon,” a loud voice came from behind me.

  “I’m a police officer,” I replied calmly, bending to set my gun on the floor. Kicking it away from me, I also pulled my badge off and tossed it toward them. Immediately, I was tackled from behind and pinned to the floor by two men. I could feel the stitches in my arm ripping as it was twisted back behind me. Someone else was shouting orders for workers to get people out of the store safely, but all the sounds of chaos around me meant nothing. I stared at the widening pool of blood that was moving across the floor. Whatever happened to me now was up to fate. The only thing I cared about was taken care of. Cami was safe.

  Chapter Twenty-Five

  Cami-

  The room was so quiet. I opened my eyes to see if everyone was still gone.

  “Ah! There’s sleeping beauty.”

  “Russ!” I exclaimed, forgetting my predicament for a second and leaning forward way too fast. “Ow!” I wrapped my arms around my stomach and slumped back against my pillow.

  “Easy there, slugger. You’re supposed to be resting.” Standing, he moved across the room. “See? This is how it works.” He gestured to his legs. “I come to you. You stay in the bed like a Disney Princess. But again, I won’t be kissing you. That’s Prince Charming’s job.”

  I couldn’t help my laughter and the simultaneous tears that leaked from my eyes. “I’ve missed you so much. When did you get here?”

  Sitting on the edge of the bed, he leaned forward and gave me a huge hug. “Late last night. I got a room at the same place your parents are staying. I saw them this morning and they said to tell you they’ll be here a little later.” He paused and sighed. “Cami, I can’t tell you how sorry I am.” His voice was soft and he didn’t release me and I relished being in the embrace of one of my very best friends.

  “It’s been so hard, Russ. It seems so unfair for me to be able to keep on living without my baby.” Tears continued to fall, dripping onto his shoulder, but he didn’t seem to mind.

  “I know it’s got to be hard, but you had to keep living or Dylan wouldn’t have made it through. You know he’d rather be dead than live without you? I mean, I would be a pretty good substitute, but there are certain places that I draw the line.”

  I burst out laughing again, followed by a painful moan. “This is what I love about you, Russ. You can always make me laugh, even through the most dire of situations.” He squeezed me tighter before letting go and settling in the chair beside me.

  “I’m just glad Chris called to let me know what was going on. Of course, that might have been because I’ve been hounding him day and night for information on the two of you. Which, I might add, he refused to tell me. Life has been terribly boring without you guys. Turns out, watching you and Dylan make out is one of my favorite pastimes after all. You don’t know what you’ve got until it’s gone.”

  I giggled again, this time holding the extra pillow they’d given me to my stomach. “I’m sure it hasn’t been that bad. Not with your new girlfriend hanging around. I’m hoping you’ve been getting a few make-out sessions of your own, lately.”

  “Yeah, about that.” He shook his head. “She’s not around anymore.”

  “What?” I exclaimed. “But you two liked each other so much, what happened?”

  He shrugged. “Sometimes it’s just hard for girls to handle all of this.” He waved his hand over himself. “I think my super awesomeness scares them off.”

  “That must be it.” I smiled at his joking around, but I felt sad for him. “What really happened?”

  “Our mothers. They wouldn’t leave us alone. It got to be a little too exuberant for Daphne and me. I guess it proved we didn’t like each other enough to keep putting up with it.”

  “Well, I’m sorry.” I really was. Russ was such a great guy—wonderful personality, good looking. He’d be a catch for any girl.

  “Don’t be. I’m still looking for my “Cami”.” He made quotation signs in the air. “I just haven’t found her, yet. I’m starting to think Dylan walked away with the prize in that department.”

  My emotional state was getting to be too much. Eyes watering again, I felt completely touched by his words. “Thank you, Russ. But I hope you find someone better than me. I’m far from perfect.”

  He snorted. “You need to get a better mirror then—one that reflects what the rest of us see. I’ve watched Dylan for the last two and a half years. There’s something inside him that lights up every time he looks at you. I want that, too.”

  I sighed. “I’m afraid he doesn’t light up anymore. All I see there now is worry and concern. He blames himself for everything. I don’t know why, either. He did everything humanly possible to save me and the baby.” I glanced down at my hands, realizing I’d been subconsciously rubbing my hand over the pillow where my belly used to protrude. “I’ve never seen him like this, Russ. I’m worried this has broken him. He barely smiles. I see him struggling with his emotions when he thinks I’m not awake or paying attention. He’s hurting badly and I don’t know what I can do to fix it.”

  Russ leaned forward, laying one of his hands on the bed offering it to me and I slipped mine inside. He gripped it, rubbing his other hand across the top of mine. “You can’t fix it, Cami. He needs to work through his grief and he’s the only one that can do it for himself. The same goes for you. You need to grieve in your way and not worry about whether or not it’s hurting him. I know how you both are. Each of you will mask your pain in order to make things better for the other. That’s not going to work this time. You need to talk things out and be truthful with each other about what’s going on inside.” I nodded, agreeing with everything he was saying. “And as much as I hate saying this, neither of you are ever going to get over this. It’ll become easier to deal with in time, and maybe not consume your every thought, but you’re still going to cry every time you think about it. It’s just the way it is. You’ve both been through hell and this experience has changed you.”

  Sniffing, I reached for a tissue. “I hate change, Russ.”

  “Nah, that’s not true. You just hate bad changes. Everyone does. You have a lot of good changes to love in your life still, and the important thing is you and Dylan have each other. In the end, isn’t that what matters most?”

  “Yeah, but I’d be okay with the sunny rainbows and fluffy bunnies version of life.”

  He chuckled. “I’m with you on that. I think everyone in the world feels the
same.” He released my hand and sat back in his chair. “I don’t know why bad things have to happen to people, but I can say this—it certainly makes us learn to appreciate the good days.”

  “That’s true.” Russ might be a jokester, but his heart was always in the right place. I knew Dylan trusted him more than anyone, with the exception of Chris, perhaps. He loved Russ.

  The sound of wailing sirens filled the air and Russ shook his head. “I swear, no matter where I go I can’t seem to escape those things. Dang hospitals and emergencies.”

  I gave a short laugh. “Yeah, you and Dylan are always out in the thick of things. But you’ve both done so much service for others. That has to feel good.”

  He nodded. “It does. As far as jobs go, this has been a rewarding one.”

  “I’m glad you and Dylan get to work together, now. It makes me feel better knowing you’re out there with him.” More sirens filled the air, catching my attention again. Staring Russ in the eyes, fear suddenly surging through me. “Where is Dylan, Russ? He’s not usually gone this long.”

  “He ran to the store across the street to get a razor and some other things so he could get cleaned up.”

  As even more sirens joined the others, I began to panic. “Those sirens aren’t coming to the hospital. They’re going past us. Go find him, Russ, now!”

  Russ shook his head. “I can’t. I promised Dylan I wouldn’t leave you for any reason. I won’t go back on my word.”

  Still, I could see the worry evident in his eyes. Standing, he paced toward the window before giving a disgusted sigh. “I can’t see anything from here.”

  “Please, go find him!” I begged, hoping I was working myself into hysterics over nothing.

  “I can’t. But we can call Chris and see if he knows what’s happening.” Digging his phone out, Russ quickly dialed a number.

  “Put it on speaker please.” I wanted to know exactly what was going on. No more sugarcoating things.

  “Hello?” Chris answered and the wail of a siren could be heard in the background.

  “Chris, do you know what’s going on around the hospital? We’re hearing a bunch of sirens and it’s upsetting Cami. Dylan went to the store a little bit ago and he hasn’t come back.”

  “Damn. We have reports of a shooting there. I’m on my way over with another officer now. They’re evacuating the building. I was concerned because the location was so close to the hospital.”

  Russ glanced at me and my chest constricted so hard, it felt like it was going to cave in on me. My knuckles turned white as I clenched my pillow. “Can you please let us know if he’s okay as soon as possible? Cami’s on the verge of hysterics. I don’t know how much more she can take.”

  “I’ll call as soon as I know what happened. Tell her not to worry. They’re most likely asking people to stick around so they can interview them and see what they can find out. I’m sure he’s fine. You know Dylan—ever the cop. Those instincts die hard.”

  I knew he was trying to appease me, but I wasn’t going to believe it unless Dylan came walking through the door. Hoping for exactly that, I glanced in that direction, willing him to appear.

  “Will do,” Russ answered. “Talk to you in a few minutes. Be careful.” The call ended and he came to sit beside me on the bed, wrapping his arm around my shoulders. “Don’t worry, Cami. I’m sure he’s okay. Try to breathe. Come on, in and out, in and out, nice and slow.”

  His coaching suddenly reminded me of Dylan at my Lamaze class. I’d give anything to be back at that day right now. Leaning my head against Russ, I let him attempt to comfort me while I watched every second ticking by on the clock. Soon we heard the wail of another siren.

  “That’s probably Chris. Hang in there. We should hear something soon.”

  “I hope so. I mean, I’m sure Chris is right and I’m just overreacting. It makes sense. If something happened, Dylan would want to make sure everyone is okay. He is a paramedic after all. He wouldn’t pass by someone needing attention. I’m just feeling over stimulated with everything else that’s happened.” I wasn’t sure who I was trying to convince, Russ or me.

  Hearing a deep voice talking outside my door, I turned, relief pouring through me, but it was my parents who entered.

  “Good grief! It’s a mad house out there. We were lucky to get in when we did. Apparently there was a shooting next door and the hospital is on lockdown until it’s resolved. The guard had to vouch for us,” Mom said.

  “Hi, Russ. How are you?” My dad stepped over and shook his hand. “Good to see you, again. If anyone can cheer up Cami and Dylan, it’s you.” He glanced around. “Where is Dylan?”

  “He’s next door at the store.” I stared helplessly at my parents.

  “Oh, dear.” My mom’s grim face told me she was thinking exactly the same thing I was. “Brandt, go see if you can find anything out for us. I’ll stay here with Cami and Russ.”

  “All right. I don’t know if they’ll be giving out any information over there, though.”

  “Tell them your son-in-law is there. That has to be good for something.”

  Russ’s phone rang right then and he glanced down. “It’s Chris.” He answered the call, putting it on speaker. “Chris? What’s going on?” he asked.

  Chris sighed heavily. “Try not to panic, okay? I’m trying to take care of things. Dylan’s been arrested. He shot and killed Gabby Martinez.”

  Chapter Twenty-Six

  Dylan-

  The door opened and I glanced up from where I was seated in the interrogation room, waiting to be . . . well, interrogated. Chris entered, quickly closing it behind him.

  “They’re granting me a professional courtesy and letting me talk to you first. I also told them you needed to have a lawyer before they questioned you.” He sat in the chair across from me. “No one is in the booth behind us and I’m holding the key to that room, so you can talk to me freely. This is off the record, strictly brother-to-brother.”

  I shook my head, glancing at him. “How’s Cami?”

  “Honestly? She’s about to go insane. I promised her answers. So let’s hear them.”

  “There’s not much to tell. I went to grab a few things at the store. As I was leaving, I thought I saw a girl that looked like Gabby, so I followed her.”

  “You didn’t think to call me first?” he asked incredulously.

  “Of course I did, but if you’ll remember, I’m currently without a phone, thanks in part to you.”

  Chris sighed and ran a hand through his hair. “Go on.”

  “As I got closer, she walked into another department. I saw her go down the aisle in the hardware department. I continued past, pretending to be studying some toolboxes at the end. I waited until she turned and I was positive it was her. She still didn’t see me, so I approached her and ask her if she was picking out a hammer to bludgeon someone with.”

  “You didn’t?” Chris said, shocked.

  “On my word. That’s exactly what I said. She glanced up and saw me, then tried to run, but I grabbed her arm and pushed her back. She stumbled against some of the tools and a whole bunch of things fell, but she looked like she was going to bolt again, so I pulled my weapon on her.”

  “And what, exactly, was your plan at that point?”

  “I didn’t have one. After briefly considering how easy it would be to pull the trigger and be done with it all, I figured I’d keep her talking until someone noticed me holding her at gunpoint. I’d tell whoever that was to call security and the cops.”

  “And did she talk?” he pressed. “Did she say if she was involved in any of this?”

  “She did. She blamed Cami and me for her arrest. Apparently the jail she was in had some extra friendly inmates and guards, if you get my meaning.”

  He sighed. “I do.”

  “You might want to run her history and see where they were keeping her. It sounds like bad things are being done to the prisoners there.”

  “I’ll be sure to pass this informa
tion onto the state. What else did she say?”

  “She said every time something happened to her, she plotted ways to get revenge on Cami and me.”

  “So she admitted her involvement.”

  “Pretty much, yeah.”

  “Then what happened?”

  “I made some comment about how after knowing her in high school, I’d have thought she’d enjoy a place like that. She got pissed and threw a hammer at me and then came after me with another one, claw side out. She swung and grazed my arm, but I managed to dodge my way past her. ” I shifted so he could see the long welted scratch going down my arm. “She turned and came at me again and I loaded her up.”

  “I’ll say. What’d you do, empty the clip on her?”

  “I did. It was self-defense; but I’m not going to lie, Chris, I wanted to make sure she was dead.”

  He leaned back in his chair and sighed heavily. “Well, all I can say is I’m glad Chief Robson had the foresight to reinstate you. Hopefully that’ll pull some weight. As far as Gabby, the department here had a crew at the hotel we believed she was staying at. They did find a gun, but the serial number is filed down. We’ll send it to a ballistics team to see if they can retrieve it, but if we can tie it to the bullets pulled out of the wall in the cabin, that will make things a whole lot tighter.”

  “Get the security video from the store. They have those cameras everywhere in there. It’ll confirm my story.”

  “Already being done. Anything else I can do for you today?” he asked a bit sarcastically.

  “Yeah. Tell Cami I’m okay and I love her.”

  “That poor girl is about to crawl out of her own skin, Dylan. She can’t take much more. I’m worried about her. She’s had so much thrown at her so fast. And this didn’t help any.”

  I nodded. “I know, but at least she’s safe now.”

  “Yeah. That’s a good thing. And now you can stop beating yourself up about all of this. I know how your mind works. None of this is your fault. You pointed us to the guilty party, and in the end, you took care of it. Call it done and move on. Your wife needs you, and you need her. And both of you need to take some time to mourn your baby properly, together.” He stood and headed for the door.