5 The Ghosts in the Audience

by SUE FINEMAN

  “No,” she said before she noticed the hole in the left sleeve of her coat.

  The paramedic pushed her coat off her shoulder and ran his hand down her arm. He stuck his finger in the hole in her shirt. “That bullet missed your arm by a whisker.”

  Thank God it didn’t hit her in the stomach. She wore a vest, but Mark and Al had refused to wear them. If Al had worn one, he wouldn’t have been hurt so badly.

  Someone covered the suspect with a plastic sheet, hiding the gruesome sight from neighborhood children. Karen stood beside the house, yelling at Mark.

  Ginny felt numb. She could have died today. Instead, she’d killed the suspect and Al was badly injured with a hole in his belly. If Mark had followed the plan, if he’d waited until they were all in place, the suspect might be on his way to jail. Instead, he lay dead beside a smelly garbage can.

  “You okay?” Molly asked.

  “Just numb.” Now that the adrenalin of the moment had passed, she felt drained.

  She’d killed a man. The suspect had murdered the owner of Larry’s Liquor Store early this morning in a botched robbery attempt and wounded the police officer who answered the 911 call. He had to be stopped, but if Mark hadn’t barged into the house early, it might not have ended this way.

  Ginny felt no remorse over killing the suspect. If she hadn’t shot him, he would have killed her and Al and who knew how many others. As it was, Al might not make it. All because Mark jumped in too soon.

  Much later, Karen drove Ginny back to the station. “Did you call home?” she asked.

  “Not yet.”

  “I called Jim a few minutes ago. It’s all over the news. You’re a hero, Ginny. They’re saying, ‘The princess killed the dragon and saved her partner.’”

  Ginny groaned. Steffen would no doubt use this to pressure her to quit her job.

  “What are you going to do about Mark?”

  “He’s on suspension,” Karen said. “I need the chief’s okay to fire him, but I won’t work with him again. We had the whole operation mapped out. Everyone followed orders except Mark. I told him to wait, and he told me to ‘go to hell.’ Then he burst through the front door and shot at everything that moved.”

  “Oh, my God! What if someone else had been inside that house?”

  “They’d be dead. Today, Mark blew any chance he had of ever becoming captain.”

  Ginny knew this one incident would kill Mark’s law enforcement career. It wasn’t the first time he’d refused to follow orders. This time the suspect died and a fellow detective – Mark’s best friend – was fighting for his life.

  As soon as she arrived at the station, Ginny called home. “Dad? Did you hear?”

  “Hear what?”

  “The suspect shot Al, and I shot the suspect. It’s on the news.”

  “Did you kill him?”

  “Yes. I’m not sure Al will make it. He took at least one belly shot and a bullet to the shoulder.”

  “Wasn’t he wearing a vest?”

  “No. He and Mark refused to wear them. I had mine on. I have a hole in my sleeve, but I wasn’t hurt. Tell Mom not to worry. I’m all right. After I finish my report, I’ll be at the hospital. I don’t know when I’ll be home.”

  “I’m proud of you, Ginny. I’m sorry you had to kill the suspect, but I’m glad you stopped him. You did what you were trained to do.”

  “Yes, I did. Is Steffen there?”

  “He’s out with Julie, looking at houses. Apparently he’s moving to River Valley.”

  Ginny felt her mouth tug into a smile. Something was going right today. If he was buying a house in River Valley, he’d be close enough to see her and the baby.

  “Dad… Did Mom tell you?”

  “Tell me what?”

  “Steffen and I are having a baby.”

  “Hey, another grandchild. That’s great. When are you getting married?”

  “Dad, I have to write this report and get to the hospital. I’ll see you later.” Dad assumed she’d marry the baby’s father, and Ginny wasn’t sure what to do. It wasn’t that she didn’t love Steffen. She did love him. By moving to River Valley, he was eliminating the distance obstacle, but he couldn’t eliminate the other ones.

  He couldn’t stop being psychic.

  And she wouldn’t stop being a cop.

  <>

  Julie took Steffen to lunch at a local bistro, then they looked at one other house. The sellers were still living there, but they were gone when Julie pulled up in the circle driveway in front of the house. “This is a one-level house with a finished basement.”

  Steffen walked around with Julie. “Only one bedroom on the main floor?”

  “And a study you could convert to a nursery. The other three bedrooms are downstairs.”

  The house was perched on a hill, so there was plenty of light in the basement, but Steffen didn’t like the layout. He stood in the kitchen and shook his head. “Scratch this one.”

  “Okay. I showed you this one because it’s only seven hundred and fifty thousand.”

  “The price is good, but the layout doesn’t work for me. I’d like to see the house on Meadow Drive again.”

  Julie left her business card on the kitchen counter and locked the door on the way out.

  Minutes later, she pulled up in front of the second house they’d looked at this morning, the one on Meadow Drive. “This house has over five thousand square feet of living space on the main level and seven hundred upstairs.”

  She unlocked the door and pushed it open. “Go ahead and look around while I call home.”

  Steffen started on the left side of the house, in the master suite. The bedroom was as big as Joseph’s bedroom in the condo, the bathroom had a bidet for Ginny, and the huge walk-in closet had a built-in console in the center with drawers, so he wouldn’t need to buy a dresser for the bedroom. He loved the double-sided fireplace between the master and the study.

  Joseph’s big desk and leather furniture would fit nicely in the study, and the built-in bookshelves would hold the books. The room was already wired for Internet hookups. Perfect for a man who wanted to write a book.

  The bedroom he thought of as the nursery was across from the study, just a few steps from the master bedroom. It had a walk-in closet and a bathroom with a tub for a little one to play in. A bump-out with a huge window would make a good place for a rocking chair.

  There were formal living and dining rooms off the entry, but the great room was the star of the house. Carolyn’s piano would fit, along with enough seating for a big family.

  He stood in the kitchen, looking at the walk-in pantry, when Julie came in. He sensed something was wrong. “Julie? What is it?”

  “Ginny got in a shoot-out with a suspect. Andy says it’s on TV. Her partner was shot, and she killed the suspect. They’re calling her ‘the princess who killed the dragon.’ She’s not hurt, but Andy says their mother is having a hard time dealing with it. Her father was killed in a similar situation.”

  “I wish she’d quit that damn job.”

  “I know it’s dangerous, but Donovan says she’s good at what she does. He should know. He spent most of his life in the police business.” She waved at the house. “Finish looking around and I’ll pull some comps when we get back to the office.”

  “How much did you say this was?”

  “They’re asking a million, six hundred thousand, but it’s been vacant for a few months and I know they’re anxious to sell. Let me pull the comps and we’ll talk about price.”

  The house that looked like it came out of a fairy tale was beautiful outside, but the layout inside didn’t work. The layout of the new construction house wasn’t great either, and it looked pretentious. Both homes would need changes to accommodate a baby. This house had big rooms, but there weren’t too many of them, and except for the rec room, it was all on one level. He wanted a gym, but he could put that upstairs.

  When Steffen finished looking through the house, Julie asked, “Have you
seen everything you wanted to see?”

  He nodded. “Let’s go back and talk about price.”

  When he left Chicago, he hadn’t planned to buy a house here, but he didn’t know about the baby then. Now he did, and he couldn’t take Ginny or their child away from Ginny’s family. Aside from Carson and Joseph’s investments there, Steffen had no reason to stay in Chicago. The condo was nice, but he didn’t want to live there without Ginny.

  He didn’t want to live anywhere without her.

  <>

  Ginny paced in the hospital waiting room. Karen talked with the others, but Ginny was in a world of her own. Al was still in surgery when a nurse came out and called, “Conway.”

  Al’s wife, Mary, stood. “Yes.”

  “The doctor removed four bullets, and he’s working on his stomach now. Your husband is tolerating the surgery quite well. He’s a fighter.”

  Mary wiped away tears. “Yes, he is.”

  They had two little girls, and Al had a son by a previous relationship. The boy lived in Columbus with his mother. Ginny wondered if his son knew about the shooting.

  Four bullets. She knew he’d been hit twice, but she didn’t know he’d been hit four times. She shouldn’t be happy about anything while Al was lying in the operating room with the doctor’s fingers inside him, but she was relieved she wasn’t hit. She wasn’t injured and neither was the baby.

  The suspect had a girlfriend and a little boy, a child he wouldn’t see grow up. According to the radio news, his girlfriend was talking about suing the police department. She and their son were out when Mark burst through their front door, but if they’d been home, they could have been killed. The living room walls and furniture were riddled with bullet holes.

  Ginny couldn’t defend Mark’s actions. No matter that they’d been more than friends at one time. She didn’t want to work with anyone who couldn’t follow orders. The next time, she could be the one covered with the plastic sheet.

  An hour later, the surgeon came into the waiting room pulling off his hat. “Conway?”

  Everyone stood as Mary walked toward the doctor.

  “He made it through the surgery, but the two bullets in his stomach did a lot of damage.”

  Ginny half listened to the doctor try to reassure Mary and Chief Britton, who stood by her side. Al took four bullets. Four. But he was still alive.

  Mark looked like a whipped puppy. Karen had chewed him out, and the chief had reamed him out, too. Internal Affairs would investigate and the press would undoubtedly get involved. Mark would try to talk his way out of trouble, but his charm wouldn’t help this time.

  <>

  Steffen sat in the real estate office with Julie, going through the comps, trying to figure out a good amount to offer for the house on Meadow Drive. If Ginny liked it. He didn’t want to buy anything she didn’t like.

  Julie said, “Last year the house might have been worth what they’re asking, but now, with the market in a slump, it’s overpriced by at least two hundred thousand.”

  “If Ginny likes it, I’ll offer a million two. If they won’t take my offer, I’ll buy another house or have one built.” He wanted to get finished up here, so he could check on Ginny. He needed to see for himself how she was doing after the shooting.

  When Julie dropped him off at the Kane house, Hannah and Donovan sat in the living room watching the television news. Ginny’s picture flashed on the screen. She looked imposing in her police uniform. Another picture came up of her and her date at her senior prom, and another of her with her parents at some dressy function. She looked absolutely beautiful. No wonder they called her Princess.

  “How is she doing?”

  “She’s fine,” Donovan said. “She did the job she was trained to do. It’s always hard killing a man, but she’ll deal with it and move on.”

  “You’ve killed before?”

  Donovan nodded. “Four times, always necessary.”

  “No regrets?”

  “None. One man had just murdered his wife and her brother. One of his kids escaped, terrified he was going to kill her, too. Another man started a fire and then stood on the roof across the street, trying to pick off firemen.”

  “I see what you mean by necessary.”

  “No officer likes to kill, but sometimes there’s no other choice. Ginny shot the man who’d just shot her partner. He was aiming to shoot again when she shot him. I’m damn proud of her. If she’d hesitated, even for an instant, she and her partner would both be dead.”

  “I’m proud of her, too, but that’s a dangerous job, especially for a woman in her condition.”

  Donovan raised his eyebrows and Hannah sighed. “She’s pregnant, Donovan.”

  “She told me.” Donovan’s blue eyes bored into Steffen. “You are planning to marry her, aren’t you?”

  “That’s what I want, but Ginny’s not crazy about the idea of marrying a man who can read her thoughts and plant ideas in her head.”

  “Then don’t,” he snapped. “Stay out of her head.”

  “I wish it was that easy.” He felt her fear today, but knew she’d be all right. He didn’t see what happened. He didn’t want to see it. Bad enough to see people he didn’t know in dangerous situations. Watching some idiot shoot at Ginny would give him nightmares.

  “Talking about me?”

  All three of them turned to face Ginny. Steffen walked over and hugged her. “Do you want to talk about it?”

  “Maybe later. Al made it through surgery. If he makes it through the night, he’ll probably be all right. He took four bullets today, and all I got was a hole in my sleeve.” Ginny glanced at Steffen. “No blood, just a hole.”

  “Did you eat today?” Hannah asked.

  “No. Someone brought pizza to the hospital, but I couldn’t stand the smell, so I left. Greasy pepperoni. Yuk!”

  Steffen cocked his head. “What sounds good?”

  “Chinese, but I couldn’t stop with two news vans following me. It would undoubtedly be on the news tomorrow. I can see it now. The princess stopped at Mr. Wong’s and bought sweet and sour pork, fried rice, and egg rolls with extra mustard.”

  Donovan chuckled and stood. “I’ll get it.” He squeezed her shoulder as he walked by.

  “Get enough for dinner,” Hannah called to him.

  Steffen noticed Ginny’s parents didn’t coddle her. They accepted what she did for a living as if she worked in a candy shop.

  He wished he could accept it, too.

  Chapter Nineteen

  After a phone call to the hospital to check on Al, Ginny followed Steffen upstairs to bed. She made no pretense of sleeping in her own room that night. She had no desire to be alone when the nightmares came. And they would come. She’d run through a storm of bullets, watched one of her fellow detectives get shot, and killed a man. If things had gone down a little differently, she could be the one in the hospital tonight. Or the one in the morgue.

  As she crawled into bed beside Steffen, she said, “I must have an angel riding on my shoulder.”

  “Actually, you have five. They’re with you all the time, but they can’t protect you from everything.”

  “I have five angels?”

  “Yep. I only have four. God must think you needed extra protection.”

  “Apparently I do.”

  The officer who answered the 911 call last night had a new part in his hair. If the bullet had been an inch to the right, it would have killed him. That shooting and the incident today at the suspect’s house were reminders of the danger she faced every day on the job. One of her grandfathers had been killed answering a domestic violence call. After he died, Ginny’s other grandfather quit his job as a police officer and went to work as a carpenter. He lived to a ripe old age. So did her uncle, a police officer in Columbus. And Dad had never been seriously injured on the job. With all those angels helping her, maybe she could escape being injured, too.

  “Mark was trying to show up Karen today, trying to prove he made better
decisions.”

  “What did he do?”

  “Rushed in too soon. Al and I were still out in the open when the suspect ran out the back door. Five more seconds and we would have been safe. Still, I feel a little sorry for Mark.”

  “Why? He nearly got you killed.”

  “His actions got his best friend shot, and he ruined any chance he had of promotion.”

  Steffen pulled her closer. “How often do you go through something like that?”

  “Not often, thank God. Everyone was running high on adrenalin today. The suspect killed someone last night and then shot a police officer. We were all determined to get him, not kill him, but capture him and make him pay for what he’d done.”

  “Did the officer die?”

  “No, and Al’s still alive, although he’s not doing well. If he lives through this, the recovery will take a long time.”

  “How many bullets did you fire?”

  “Three. The last one was the head shot that killed him.” She sighed deeply. “I can still smell the garbage can. He knocked the lid off when he jumped behind it.”

  Steffen rubbed her back. “He had a little boy about five years old. And a girlfriend.”

  “Yes.” She didn’t ask him how he knew. When Steffen concentrated on something, he picked up a lot of details.

  “You’re a hero.”

  “I was doing my job.” Any other cop with the same training would have reacted the same way.

  Ginny snuggled into Steffen’s shoulder. “Make love to me, Steffen. I need to feel alive tonight.” She’d never felt more alive than she did in his arms.

  They made slow, sweet love, and Ginny fell asleep in his arms.

  Sometime in the night, she woke with Steffen shaking her. “Ginny, wake up. You’re having a nightmare.”

  She sat up, body shaking and heart pounding. In her dream, the suspect blew a hole through her bullet-proof vest. The bullet went through her stomach and killed the baby inside her. But it didn’t happen that way in real life. She didn’t get shot; she was here in Steffen’s arms, whole and healthy. Alive. And pregnant.

  “Steffen, will Al survive?”

  “Yes, he’ll survive and so will you. We’ll get married, have a beautiful baby, and live happily ever after.” He nuzzled into her neck. “Now close your eyes and dream about me.”