“So that’s why you came in here shooting a bunch of kids? What’d they do to you?” It was a risk asking him, but she decided to trust her instincts.
His expression changed. “Why shouldn’t I, huh? Give me one goddamn good reason why I shouldn’t kill everyone? No one cares! Not one of these fuckers was nice to me or even believes me. She even had her dealer set me up in a cop shooting.”
A moment of whoa, back the hell up and say what? struck her square in her gut at that news. There hadn’t been a cop shooting in their city in years. Not until the other day. This she had to hear more about.
“A cop shooting?”
“Fucker’s stole my car and shot at a cop the other day. They had the nerve to return it to me and tell me what they did. That bitch over there smirked at me when they threatened to turn my ass in for attempted murder of a cop if I told anyone about their little operation.” He rested the shotgun on his leg and shook his head. “I went to my dad like a dumbass thinking he would help me. Can you believe that? I honestly thought my own father would help me. The same guy who would do anything for a buck and hardened criminals and he told me to get lost. Called me an embarrassment and warned me to not get in the way of anything his clients were dealing with.”
Leah actually felt for the young man who sat before her. Despite his age, he seemed like a boy just then. He was perspiring, coming down off of a high, holding a shotgun, and for all intents and purposes was guilty of attempted murder of several innocent civilians. Still she saw the face of a young boy who may have had a chance, but had been backed into a corner with no one to help him out.
“That’s pretty messed up, kid.”
He looked at her annoyed. “Don’t mock me. I’m not fucking stupid. I mean, I am when it comes to test scores and shit, but I know when someone’s making fun of me.”
“Easy. I’m not doing that at all. I’m not condoning what you’ve done here, but it sounds like you’ve been dealt a bad hand.”
Suddenly angry, he stood up. “Don’t fucking mock me, I said!”
“Hey, I’m just listening to you. That’s all. Just relax, okay? There’s no reason to get upset.”
“Don’t fucking tell me what to do, damn it! I’m in charge here! Me! Not you! I call the shots!”
She nodded and raised her hands, wanting to show him she was not a threat. “You’re right. You call the shots. You’re in charge.”
“That’s right. I am. I came here to finish this bitch off for fucking with my life, and that’s what I’m going to do.”
He aimed the gun at the woman’s head. “You don’t want to do that. Just calm down.”
Suddenly he swung the shotgun in her direction. “I’m in charge! Not you! Don’t fucking tell me what to do!”
“I know. I know. I’m just saying—”
He quickly cut her off. “I don’t fucking care what you’re saying. Maybe I’ll just decide to shoot you first.” As he shouted the words at her he pulled the shotgun back, cocking it.
Leah stood up then, her hands still up and the sawed off end just inches away from her face. “Okay. You’re right. You could do that. You could shoot me right now. But remember this, right now you haven’t killed anyone. Right now you’re in trouble, but you’re still not a murderer. Not yet, anyway. As it stands right now though, you’re pointing that shotgun at a cop, and your life will be over the moment you pull the trigger.”
Leah held her breath, nausea consuming her, and she fought the urge to vomit as she watched his finger pull back and squeeze the trigger.
Chapter 11
Cole was pissed on so many levels. He felt trapped in a lose-lose situation. The attempts to get the shooter’s attention with the bullhorn proved to be a waste of time. Patiently, he and the SWAT commander had waited the assailant out in hopes they would be contacted. When that didn’t happen, he tried to call into the school, but again his efforts were met with no response.
A good twenty-plus minutes had gone by since they’d heard from Leah, and he had no idea what was happening inside. His insides twisted and knotted into an unbearable ball of doom. He didn’t get like this. He was a Marine for Christ’s sake. Keeping it together was what he did best. Still, he couldn’t shake the worry of her being inside. This sort of thing wouldn’t happen in the sandbox. Or at least the military did everything to avoid it. Fraternization between male and female troops was frowned upon. It fucked with a man’s head when the woman he cared about was in danger.
Cole hesitated when given the option. They had the choice of going in full force with SWAT and hoping they wouldn’t put more lives in danger while trying to take the shooter down. With the little information Leah had provided them, they at least knew what end of the school the shooter was on. Plus, they had the victims to contend with. They needed to get medical attention to those kids fast. Her messages had stressed it, saying their real immediate danger was blood loss.
“Well, Chief? What’s it going to be?” Commander Matthews asked.
Surprisingly, Cole caught himself looking to Colby for a sign or some sort of clue as to what was the right thing to do. Having Leah inside was wreaking havoc on his judgment. Everything told him he should give the order for them to breach the school and shut this shooter down before more people were hurt. Any other time he wouldn’t be second guessing himself, but now his instincts fought for approval inside his mind.
“Chief, I think we’ve got to go in,” Colby said. “There’s no telling what’s going on in there. She’s unarmed. She’s a sitting duck.”
He blew out a breath and rubbed his hand behind his neck. Stress and worry plagued him with the decision he had to make. The more he thought about it, the more it seemed impossible to choose. Finally he took a leap of faith.
“Go in hot. You have the green light.”
“Copy that. Let me round up my men. We’ll set up around the perimeter and prepare for breach.”
Cole nodded, but his attention, along with everyone else’s was drawn to Colby once his cell phone beeped.
“We got another text,” Colby said. “Holy shit!”
Acid roiled in Cole’s stomach, and he fought the urge to hurl. Dear God, if anything happened to her. He would not lose her. He couldn’t.
“She’s coming out, with the suspect. She’s going to smash out a window on the east side of the building where the faculty lounge is. Her instruction is to not fire. She says he’s surrendered.”
Cole listened to what was being said. Disbelief and confusion clouded his mind. Had he really heard that? Did Leah really get a lunatic gunman who showed up to kill people to peacefully surrender? Or was his anxiety getting the better of him and now he was only hearing words he wished to hear? “Come again?”
“Here, see for yourself.” Colby handed the phone to him.
He read the message once then a second time, looking for any signs that she was in distress or this was some sort of a trick by the shooter to get out of the school without being apprehended.
“One step ahead of you, Chief. We’ll set up around the faculty lounge and be prepared in case it’s a trap,” Commander Matthews told him before heading toward his team.
Cole just nodded in agreement. It seemed too easy. He wasn’t going to be satisfied until he saw her standing before him. Fuck, that wasn’t going to be enough, and he knew it. He needed to hold her, touch her, and feel with his own two hands that she was safe.
Minutes later he stood behind the cover of a large oak tree. A window had just been shattered after an office chair had been thrown through it. As he peeked around, he saw a stool being used to knock out any remaining pieces of glass that remained jagged around the window sill. He watched for signs of movement and saw none. Then he heard the most beautiful sound in the world, her sweet voice.
“This is Officer Leah Allbright. I’m going to throw out the shotgun. It’s been emptied, and there are no shells inside. Do you understand?”
“Affirmative, Officer Allbright. Proceed,” Commande
r Matthews shouted back.
Cole watched and waited for the gun to come out on the ground. Seconds later it did, and one of the SWAT team members ran to retrieve the gun before quickly running back into position.
“Now I’m going to send out Jesse. He’s going to get down on his knees and wait for you to cuff him and read him his rights. Okay?”
“Copy that, Allbright. Send him out,” Matthews shouted back to her.
A minute later Cole watched as the young man put one foot out the window. He held his hands high, his movements slow and methodical. Unbelievably, the shooter did just as Leah said he would. He got down on his knees, kept his hands raised, and remained perfectly still while two members of the SWAT team cuffed him and read him his rights.
Where the hell was she? Why hadn’t she come out yet? A moment of fear struck him that she might be hurt. He cursed himself under his breath and forced himself to pull it together.
“He’s been apprehended, Allbright. You okay? Do you need help in there?” Matthews once again yelled to her.
“Start breaching the other end of the wing. He was the only shooter. You need to get to those kids in the bathroom. I’ll be out in a second with another suspect.”
Matthews looked to Cole, who was just as confused as he was by her statement. If Jesse was the only shooter, why would she have another suspect to bring out? When people lost a lot of blood and went into shock they sometimes would ramble, making very little sense.
“Officer Allbright, please confirm. You say you have another suspect? Another shooter?”
“Negative. I have someone who’s been dealing drugs and may have been involved in the drive-by shooting the other day.”
Cole would have fallen over from a case of what the fuck if the tree he was leaning against hadn’t held him up. What the hell was going on? She had only been in there an hour, hadn’t she? Suddenly she’s apprehending armed suspects, arresting drug dealers, and solving attempted murders?
He blinked his eyes several times for signs of a headache or pain of any kind. Maybe he had hit his head and passed out, and this was all some very strange dream.
“Copy that, Allbright. Proceed,” Matthews responded.
Time stood still for Cole as he watched the rectangular opening for signs of Leah. He held his breath. The thump of his heart had ceased to play its rhythmic melody while he waited to see for his own eyes that she was really okay.
Seconds passed and he saw a woman slowly climbing through the window. Her hands were cuffed behind her back, and someone held onto her, assisting her so she didn’t fall.
He knew those hands. Long and slender fingers which had splayed themselves so delicately across his chest last night were now strong and determined as they held firmly onto the suspect.
Finally, he saw her. Once the SWAT team had come to the window and taken control of the woman, Leah finished crawling out of the window. Her white T-shirt was bloody and clung to her where it had been soaked. He searched her body for signs of pain as she finished climbing out and saw none. The blood, while plentiful, was not hers.
In a sudden rush of adrenaline, his heart started to pound and beat back to life. A swift rush of air flooded his lungs so fast it nearly knocked the wind out of him.
She was okay. His beautiful, strong, tenacious, pain-in-the-ass Leah was okay. Thank you, God.
He put one foot in front of the other, trying to steady his wobbly legs. Nothing had ever scared him as much as the thought of losing her did. First the other day and now today. Jesus, he was getting too damn old for this shit. His heart couldn’t take it. His heart couldn’t lose her.
Her glance in his direction hit him square in the gut. She spoke to him with her eyes, assuring him she was okay, while her attention stayed focused on her conversation with SWAT.
“Here, you’re going to need this to log into evidence.” She handed her cell phone to Matthews. “There’s an audio file on it. She has been read her Miranda rights and offered up a full confession.”
Matthews took the phone from her and looked at him. “This is your newest rookie? Jesus, what kind of a training program do you have in your city?”
Cole gave the man a smirk but wasn’t feeling it. He was still in shock and wondered how in the hell his Leah had managed to accomplish all of this in such a short time. Hell, the amount of time it took her or not, how did anyone accomplish all she did? Even some of the most seasoned veterans of the force couldn’t talk a suspect down like that.
An odd moment of nostalgia hit him, and he thought of Dex. His old friend was one hell of a Marine, one of the best snipers the corps ever seen, but at the end of the day, Dex was a humanitarian. He would rather talk someone out of a bad situation than hurt anyone.
There were plenty of times back in the sandbox that he’d spoken with members of the Afghan people and reason with them to avoid violent outcome. It was a gift he had, one that Cole had oftentimes envied. It would seem the apple hadn’t fallen that far from the tree, and his little sister had inherited his knack for conflict resolution.
It was killing Cole that all these people were around. He wanted to take her in his arms and confirm what his eyes were telling him, that she was okay. For the first time since he’d become chief of police, he actually cursed his job.
“Officer Allbright?” a paramedic from across the lawn yelled out.
Leah didn’t hesitate and ran toward the medic and the boy lying on a gurney. It was then Cole turned and took in the scene before him. There were half a dozen ambulances, all of them with their lights flashing. The scattered chaos played out before him while emergency workers rushed to the aid of victims and tended to their wounds.
He watched in amazement as Leah held the hand of the boy lying there. She spoke to him and whatever she said seemed to calm him. The paramedic spoke to her, and she relayed something back to the boy, who nodded in agreement at her. Somehow, in the short time she was inside, she hadn’t just saved lives, she had given these victims hope and courage.
All his years in the Marines and he never felt in such awe of someone before. She was amazing. All grown up now without pigtails. She was more than just a woman, she was a cop. In every sense of the word, she was an officer of the law. Her duty to protect and serve went deeper than an oath she took, it was inside her.
The knowledge nearly knocked him on his ass.
“Chief? The news is here.”
He turned to see Colby pointing toward some reporters standing behind yellow caution tape.
“Oh, yeah. Okay, I’ll be right there.”
“You okay, Chief Bottego?” Colby asked.
“Huh?” He was staring at Leah and hadn’t even realized it until her partner brought him back to reality.
“You okay?” he asked again.
Was he okay? Boy, was that a fucking laughable question. Fuck no, he wasn’t okay. How could he be?
His life had been turned upside down. He felt like he’d walked into a gigantic washing machine and someone had turned the spin cycle on full force. His head, body, and heart were completely fucking rattled.
Thirteen years ago he’d met this sweet little girl who was also a pain in the ass. Despite her annoying ways, she was as cute as a button, and throughout the years Cole had kept his promise to his best friend and watched over Leah. He had been there to hold her hand, be her friend, and guide her in adulthood. With all his best intentions, they became best friends. She worked her way past all his defenses and became more important to him than anyone ever had before.
That was when things changed. She had felt it before he did, but it didn’t make it any less true. Days ago, he had almost lost her. The fear it invoked had pushed him to the point of confronting her last night, and in that moment in time he had seen her, the real her for the first time. Everything else before then was merely a prelude to what was to come.
She was more than his best friend. More than his lover. More than his Leah.
She was his heart, his soul. She was every
thing.
Chapter 12
She allowed the water to cascade down her body, relishing in the relaxing contentment the hot, steamy bathroom provided her. The afternoon had dragged on into the evening hours as she waited at the hospital to ensure all of those who’d been wounded had come out of surgery successfully. She hadn’t even realized it until she was waiting with the parents that she was just as worried as they were.
Of course it wasn’t quite the same. It wasn’t like they were her children, but in a strange sense she still felt responsible for them. It was as though it would somehow be her fault if something went wrong and they didn’t make it. Hours had passed, and finally she was home as she tried to wash the weight of her day from her shoulders.
Turning off the water, she ran her fingers through her hair and stood motionless. Shock either had completely passed her or it hadn’t yet hit her. She wasn’t foolish enough to think that, just because she was a cop, the day’s events wouldn’t affect her. Being in law enforcement didn’t make people immortal. They were human, just like the rest of civilization. She knew what she’d experienced today would stay with her for quite some time, maybe even forever.
She pulled back the curtain and stepped out of the shower. Her tired feet finally felt relaxed with the soft plush of the carpet under her toes. The hospital scrubs she had donned once her clothes had been bagged up and taken into evidence lay on a ball by the door. Reaching for a towel, she bent over and tipped her head upside down. Her wet hair dripped on her toes, and she quickly wrapped it atop her head.
Running her hand across, she swiped at the foggy mirror and saw her reflection. She looked at herself and saw the tiredness looming underneath her eyes. The image quickly disappeared when the heat in the bathroom clouded the mirror once again.
Her desire to call Cole was eating away at her. Several times in the past hours she had seen news clips of him making statements to reporters about what had transpired. From what she could tell, Jesse had been arrested, as had the teacher who’d set him up. One of the local stations had aired a brief segment on his father walking into the station shielding his face from the cameras. She couldn’t help but feel sad for Jesse at that moment. The father who had so easily discarded him was probably going to do everything in his power to get his son off, not because that was his child and his need to protect him was instinctive. Instead, she assumed he would do it because he didn’t want his son’s actions affecting him or his career.
When Promise Meets Passion Page 11
