“You come in and I’ll kill her,” he shouted back. “I want a car out front. Now!”
The hospital was in sort of a lopsided U-shape, and the lieutenant looked across the street to another three-story medical building. Then she looked at Bo. “See if you can get on the top of that building and get a clear shot. Hutch, you go with him. Speed and Preacher, take the back door. James and Cruz, take the hospital entrance going into the clinic. Patel, stay here with me.”
Someone with the hospital led Bo and Hutch to the top of the building. He didn’t actually lead, they ran. They went up the stairs to the roof, which housed air conditioners and exhaust fans and such for the big hospital. Once they were there they scrutinized the space and the view to see if Bo could get a clear shot at Mr. Purcell. The roof was enclosed with about a three-foot brick wall all the way around, and there was a ledge looking right out over to the clinic. Bo placed his rifle on the ledge, then knelt on one knee to look through the scope.
“Doesn’t that girl you’re dating work here?” Hutch asked, sighting his rifle.
“Yeah, that’s her the shooter is holding.”
“Oh, man, the lieutenant doesn’t know, does she?”
“No. And neither do you.”
“You’re very calm.”
“This is what I’m trained to do. If I lose my cool, someone will die.” Inside, his stomach burned, but his nerves were steady and he tried not to think about anything else.
“Do you have a visual?” the lieutenant asked through their earpieces.
“Yes, ma’am,” Bo replied. “I can see right into the clinic. The perp has a gun pointed at Ms. Tullous’s head. She’s…she’s bleeding from the head.”
“Can you get a shot?”
“Not like this.” Don’t think. Don’t think. Don’t think. “Patel, I need specifics. Wind velocity. Distance.”
Hutch laid an iPad in front of him. “Patel sent this.” It gave him the information he needed and the layout of the clinic. Three entryways. He had to figure this out fast.
Hutch pointed to the iPad. “James and Cruz are here. Preacher and Speed are here.”
Bo spoke into the mic. “Preacher and Speed, stay to the far right of the door. And make sure there’s no one back there.”
“Done,” they replied.
“Is it a go?” the lieutenant asked.
“I need a distraction so he’ll move the gun away from Ms. Tullous’s head. Your call, Lieutenant.”
“I’ll take the shot,” Hutch whispered to Bo.
“No one’s taking the shot but me.” Bo made that very clear.
“Okay, Sergeant, Cruz is going to make a noise at the door that goes into the hospital, and hopefully the perp will point the gun at the door. Give Cruz the okay when you’re ready.”
Bo looked through the scope and tried not to let Becky’s bloody face get to him. He had them in the crosshairs and now he had to be as fast as the perp. Becky’s body covered the man’s chest so there was no shot there. His plan was to shoot the gun out of Purcell’s hand. And if that didn’t work Bo would get him in the arm. One way or the other, the man was going down.
Bo took a long breath, steadied himself and concentrated totally on what he saw in the scope. The big exhaust fans hummed behind him, but he shut them out. His rifle was secure on the ledge. His nerves were steady. He was ready. “Speed and Preacher, when you hear the shot, breach the office. Copy, James and Cruz. Ready, Cruz?”
“Ready,” they echoed.
“Go.”
As soon as he said the words Cruz did something because the man swung his arm to the right, toward the door, and Bo had a clear visual of the gun. He pulled the trigger. Glass shattered, the gun went flying and SWAT breached the office in a split second. The man was down and Becky crumpled to the floor.
He handed his gun to Hutch and took off running down the stairs. The sound of his combat boots slapping against the floor echoed down the empty hallways. The hospital was on lockdown, but all he could think was that he had to get to Becky.
As he reached the bottom floor he saw a team of doctors and nurses rolling Dr. Eames and the other woman into the ER. Where was Becky?
He ran down the hall to the clinic.
“Bo! Bo!”
He saw Becky running toward him with two nurses behind her. She collapsed into his arms and he held her for a brief second. He removed her face from his chest. “Bec, Bec…are you okay?” He felt her arms, her shoulders, and saw the big black-and-blue knot on her head.
She was trembling and he held her a little closer.
“I love you. You’re my whole life and I realized that the moment I saw you in the crosshairs. I’m sorry I’ve been so conflicted lately. I love you more than life itself. I haven’t loved anyone else like that. Just you, Becky.” He was rambling but he couldn’t seem to stop. He just wanted to hold her forever.
“Bo—” she murmured and fainted in his arms. Two nurses stood behind Becky with a stretcher. He motioned for them to bring it forward and then he picked her up and laid her on it. He looked at her face, and didn’t see any burns from the gun blast.
“Bo,” she murmured, coming around.
“Shh, we’ll talk later.” He tried to keep her calm.
“Did… Are you the one who shot the gun…out of his hand?”
“Yes.”
“I knew you would get us out of there.” After saying that, she closed her eyes again.
They rolled her into an ER cubicle and a doctor immediately checked her over. A nurse started an IV and Bo stepped back and let them do their jobs. But he didn’t go far.
Becky stirred when they stuck the needle in her arm. “Please, Bo, check on Dr. Eames and Kathy. And Luci… Bo.”
He put a finger over her lips. “Relax and let the doctors take care of you. I will take care of everything else.”
From there it was chaos as reporters and people tried to get in to get information. SWAT had to help the cops keep everyone away. Dr. Eames and Kathy were in surgery, and Bo stayed close to Becky as they worked on her.
The doctor examined her and still Bo wouldn’t leave the room. There were bruises on her left arm and shoulder. The doctor checked her eyes and head.
“Do you remember being hit?” the doctor asked.
“Yes. He had a gun and raised it toward me while I was trying to help Dr. Eames. I jerked away, but not fast enough.”
“I think it was fast enough,” the doctor replied. “If you had gotten the full brunt of the gun it would look much worse. Right now it looks superficial, severe bruising along your skin and hairline. I don’t think your skull is involved, but we’ll do an MRI to make sure.”
That was the best news he’d heard all day and he began to relax. They took her for an MRI and he went with her. He wasn’t leaving her for one moment.
“Bo,” she called. “Luci…”
“I’ll take care of it.”
She reached for his hand. “I love you,” she said as they pushed her away. And that was all that mattered. She still loved him.
The lieutenant walked toward him and held out her hand. He shook it. “Good work today. Perfect shot, as always. I would sure hate to lose you, but it’s your call.” She glanced toward the room they were pushing Becky into. “I’m assuming you know Ms. Tullous.”
“Yes, ma’am. I’ve loved her since she was sixteen years old. I walked away from her when I was eighteen, but I’m not going to do that ever again.”
A young woman walked up, interrupting the lieutenant’s response. “I was looking for Becky and the nurse told me to talk to you.” She spoke to Bo. “Tell her not to worry about Luci. My mom keeps her and she can stay there as long as she needs to.”
“I’ll pick Luci up as soon as I can get out of here. I’m hoping they’ll release Becky, as well, but we’ll have to wait to see wh
at the test shows. I will pick up Luci, though. She won’t be too happy without her mommy.”
“Okay. Now I’m going home. I’m still a little shaky.”
“You were very brave women,” the lieutenant said.
“I’ve given a statement to the police and like I said, I’m going home. I’ll look in on Dr. Eames and Kathy before I go.”
She walked away and the lieutenant turned to him. “Take until after the first of the year, Sergeant, then we’ll talk. Maybe you’ll have your life sorted out by then.”
“You’re giving me that much time off?”
“You’ve been through a tremendous ordeal today and I believe you deserve it. Besides, Ms. Tullous is going to need a lot of TLC.”
“Thank you.”
She glanced at his head. “And you might want to remove your helmet.”
His hand immediately went to the helmet and yanked it off. A smile curled its way through his chest to his lips and it released a lot of tension. He also removed his Kevlar vest, gun belt and duty belt.
The lieutenant held out her hands and he handed everything to her. “They’ll be at the station when you need them. See you after the first. Now I have to inform Hutch he’s working the holiday.”
Bo sank to the floor and pulled out his phone. He had to let Craig know what had happened and it wasn’t going to be an easy call. He called his mother first.
“Mom, where are you?”
“At home with Craig. We’re about to have supper and then I’m going back to the store. Why?”
“I have something to tell you and I want you to remain calm.”
“You’re hurt, aren’t you? Did you get shot? How are you?” She kept firing questions.
“Mom, stop! It’s not about me. It’s about Becky.”
“What?”
“Put the phone on Speaker so Craig can hear. I don’t want to have to say this twice.”
“Okay.”
“Craig, are you there?”
“Yes, what’s going on?”
“There was a shooting at the Women’s Center this afternoon. Two people were shot and Becky was held as hostage. She’s okay, but he hit her in the head with the gun. They’re running tests on her now. As soon as the doctor releases her I’m bringing her home. She’s okay. She just needs some time to get over this, and I trust both of you want that for her, too.”
“Oh, my poor baby. I’m coming to Austin.”
“No, Craig. She wouldn’t want you on the roads. Just wait and be patient. I’m taking care of everything and we’ll be home before you know it.”
“I just want to see my baby.”
Bo looked up and saw the stretcher coming toward him. He met it and put the phone to Becky’s ear. “Say hi to your dad. He wants to know if you’re okay.”
Bo took the phone back when she’d hung up. “How did it go?”
“I’m sleepy. I think they gave me something in the IV.”
They pushed her into a room in the ER and Bo sat by her bed looking at the bruise on her forehead.
“You have to get Luci.”
“Stop worrying. I have it covered.” He smoothed the wet, bloody hair away from her forehead. “You look beautiful.”
She smiled at him and the world finally righted itself. “You’re such a liar.”
The doctor came in. “It’s more or less a superficial wound. No concussion, no breaks in the skull, just a bad bruise that’s going to hurt for a while.”
“I want to go home. I have a three-year-old I have to pick up.”
“Since it’s Christmas, I’m going to allow it. Just remember, you have to take it easy for the next few days. Relax and let everyone else do the work. If you get nauseous, have a bad headache or dizziness or loss of sight, come back to the ER immediately.”
Within minutes they were out of the hospital. Bo brought Becky’s car around to the ER entrance and picked her up. From there they went to get Luci and there was a lot of explaining to do. They told her mommy had had an accident. Then there were a lot more questions from Luci, who didn’t want her mommy to be sick. They stopped to pick up Pink and Purr and then they were off to Horseshoe. It was a good thing Becky had the car already packed with everything they would need for the next few days.
They made it to Horseshoe in record time and Becky slept all the way on the passenger side. Luci slept, too. Bo touched Becky’s arm as he turned on to Liberty Street.
She sat up straight. “That was fast.”
“How do you feel?”
“Achy.”
Before the car could come to a complete stop, Craig yanked opened the door to get to his daughter. “Oh, sweetheart! Let’s get you into the house so you can get some rest.”
Luci was sound asleep and didn’t even wake up when Bo carried her into the house and put her into bed.
“I’ll put her nightclothes on,” his mother said. “Craig is really shaken up and doesn’t want to leave Becky.”
“It’ll be fine, Mom.” Bo went outside to get Pink and Purr out of the car. Then he carried Becky’s suitcases and a bag of gifts into the house. Craig and his mom were still helping Becky and Luci. Bo took a long breath and sat on the sofa.
What a day! Becky was okay and she would get better. He buried his face in his hands at the thought and wondered how he could have shut her out the last couple of weeks.
That damn money! It had screwed up his mind, but now he knew what he wanted and had always known. His mind was on track and there was nothing on this earth that could separate him from Becky again. He leaned his head back on the cushions and was grateful that they had escaped a bad one today.
Craig and his mom came into the living room. “They’re both asleep,” his mom said.
“Becky is very sleepy,” Craig noted with concern in his voice.
“They gave her something at the hospital so she could rest.” Bo got to his feet and went down the hall to check on them. They were both out and safe. He then went to his mom’s house to get out of his SWAT clothes and take a shower. Dressed in gray jogging pants and a long-sleeved black T-shirt, he went back across the street. His mom and Craig were sitting at the kitchen table.
“Go to bed and get some sleep. I’m on duty,” he told them.
“I don’t think I can sleep,” Craig replied.
“Tomorrow is Christmas Eve and I expect both of you to be in a happy mood for Luci and Becky. No sad faces. Becky is going to be fine and I’ll be right here to make sure that she is.”
Craig got to his feet and held out his hand to Bo. “Thank you. Becky said you shot the gun out of the man’s hand. I don’t know how you did that, but I’m so grateful my daughter’s alive.”
“You’re welcome,” Bo said. “Now let’s all get some rest.”
He retrieved a pillow and a blanket from the hall closet and made himself comfortable on the sofa, which was hard to do because the sofa was smaller than he was. But he’d sleep on the floor, if he had to, to stay close to Becky.
* * *
BECKY WOKE UP to pain. One side of her head throbbed and she sat up to ease it. After a moment, she got up to check on Luci. Her baby was sleeping peacefully. The house was in darkness except for the night-light in Luci’s room. Bo must have gone home. No, she said to herself. He wouldn’t do that. He was here somewhere. She made her way down the hall and saw him sleeping on the sofa.
He jumped up immediately. “What are you doing? You shouldn’t be up.”
“I couldn’t find you.”
He took her hand. “Come on, sleeping beauty, you need your rest.” Becky didn’t feel like sleeping. She sat on the side of the bed and Bo sat beside her.
“Why do things like this happen?” she asked, almost to herself. “The man was drinking. I could smell it on him and he was shaking the whole time. I was trembling, too. It was like a night
mare come true.”
Bo put his arm around her. “Don’t think about it.”
“But I do. Why is there so much evil in this world?”
“I don’t know, but I see it every day in my work.”
She looked at him in the moonlight. “I don’t mind your job so much anymore. Just like that—” she snapped her fingers “—as the gun pressed into my skull, I prayed you would come because I knew that was your job—to rescue people and I really needed you to rescue us. In that moment I realized what a great job you do for the community and everyone. We all need more men and women like you.”
“Bec—”
“We’re idiots, Bo. Selfish and insensitive idiots.”
“I think you’re being a little hard on us.”
“It’s true. I had all these good feelings inside about what was happening between us. We had found a way to communicate and love each other again. We tossed forgiveness around like an ingredient in a salad, but we made it work.
“Then I saw that video of a guy shooting at you and I hit a brick wall, not wanting to deal with that part of your life. Then your dad died and he gave you that large sum of money and you hit a brick wall because you couldn’t deal with it.
“You shut me out, not wanting to talk. That hurt. All that angst didn’t mean anything when it comes down to life or death. Only one thing matters—how we feel about each other. That’s what makes life work, not all that other stuff, just how we feel.”
“I love you, bruises and all,” he said softly. “And, yes, we forgot the most important part of being a couple.”
She rested her head on his shoulder. “I love you, Bo Goodnight, warts and all.”
“And now you have to go to bed.”
“I don’t want to be alone tonight.” She raised her head and kissed his lips, and he returned the kiss eagerly.
“Mommy. Mommy.”
“I’ll get her,” Bo said, kissing her one more time before he left the room.
“Hey, little angel, what’s wrong?” she heard Bo say.
“I want my mommy.”
Bo brought Luci to Becky and she crawled into bed with her baby in her arms. She was safe and loved. When Luci fell asleep, Bo took her back to her bed.
Harlequin Heartwarming December 2020 Box Set Page 45
