by Liz Bradford
“Get… Becca.”
She nodded and turned. Both hands supporting her belly, she ran. Down the hallway. Up the stairs. Across the lobby. Into the squad room. Into Captain Baker’s chest.
She pulled back, and he gently gripped her arms. “Jocelyn! What’s— who’s blood?”
Jocelyn looked past the captain and saw Becca walking out of the conference room. “Becca!”
Becca ran to her. “What—”
Jocelyn motioned for her to follow.
Captain Baker hadn’t let go of her arm. “Who?”
Jocelyn locked eyes with Becca. “Jared.”
Becca collapsed against the captain.
“He’s alive. Let’s go!”
Gavin held his hand tightly against Jared’s shoulder, but blood continued to seep between his fingers. “Come on, Jared. Stay with me.”
That bullet hadn’t been meant for Jared. Why had he gotten hit? And why wasn’t Gavin dead?
“Come on, Jared.”
Jared’s eyes flitted open. “Tell—”
“Nope. You aren’t going anywhere except the hospital.”
“Jared!” Becca fell to the floor next to them. “What happened?”
“I d—” Gavin didn’t know what to say. Becca probably wasn’t really listening anyway. Jared had to live. Becca couldn’t handle another loss, not after her dad, not after Tom. Come on, Jared.
EMT Emily Bennett knelt on the other side of Gavin and tapped his arm with her elbow. “I’ve got this.”
Gavin removed his hands. So much blood.
“Riley.”
Gavin looked up, and Captain Tyrone Washington of the fire department handed him a towel. He scooted back and sat on his heels. The towel was insufficient to remove Jared’s blood.
“Ma’am, I’m gonna need a little more space.” Emily’s voice was tight. “We’ll take care of him. I promise.”
Becca wasn’t moving.
Gavin tossed the towel on the ground and reached forward to his partner. “Becca.”
She turned to him and collapsed into his arms.
Gavin looked across at Tyrone. “Ty, where’s Caleb?”
“He’s not on duty.”
Captain Baker said, “Amelia and Adam went to get him.”
Gavin glanced back at Captain Baker. His hand was on Jocelyn’s shoulder. Gavin’s eyes locked with hers.
“Riley, which direction did the bullet hit him from?”
Gavin turned at Ty’s question and shook his head. “My back was to him.”
Jocelyn stepped up next to where Gavin sat. “He was facing Gavin and the building.”
That explained the breadth of the wound. It was where the bullet had exited.
Gavin held a shaking Becca, and they watched the EMTs work on Jared. They lifted him onto the stretcher and moved him toward the evidence garage where the ambulance was parked.
When they stood, Becca gripped Gavin’s upper arms. “You and Jocelyn are not to leave this building via any regular doors or cars. Stay away from windows… stay safe.”
Gavin nodded. “We will. But we’ll meet you at the hospital. Go.”
She ran after the EMTs and her husband.
Gavin was ready to collapse himself. What had just happened?
Caleb ran down the hallway toward Gavin. “Where is he?”
Gavin pointed. “They just left for the hospital.”
“How is he?”
“I… I don’t…”
Caleb took Gavin’s shoulder. “It’s okay.”
Captain Baker came up beside them. “I heard Emily saying he was stable when they left. Pulse was weak but steady. He seemed to be breathing fine, so the bullet must have missed his lung.”
Caleb nodded, and Amelia, who had appeared with Adam, pulled on Caleb’s arm. “Let’s get to the hospital.”
Adam rested his hand on Caleb’s shoulder. “You two go. I’m gonna keep Gavin and Jocelyn safe.”
The couple disappeared down the hallway and out of the lab.
Gavin turned to Jocelyn. He could read so much in her expression. She was relieved he wasn’t dead but fearful for Jared.
She took a step closer to him. “How did he not hit you? Were you moving too fast?”
Gavin shook his head. “He’s trained to calculate for that. There’s no reason he should have missed me.”
Adam crossed his arms. “What if he was aiming at Jared?”
“Then Jared wouldn’t still be alive.” Gavin tried to rub more of the blood off his hand with his thumb.
“Then why didn’t you get shot?” Captain Baker rubbed his chin.
“Me.” Jocelyn’s voice barely filled the space between the four of them.
Gavin tilted his head. “What do you mean?”
“He always loses his temper with me. Do you suppose he saw me and lost his focus?”
That was the only thing that made sense.
The group walked up the stairs toward the squad room, but Jocelyn struggled to stay in step with Gavin, Adam, and Captain Baker. Her body quit working about halfway up the staircase. She stopped.
Gavin turned around. “Are you okay?”
“I think the adrenaline is wearing off. I’m still sore from Monday.”
He came back down and slipped his arm around her waist.
“Thanks.” She put her arm around Gavin and leaned into him. Emotions rocked her. She tried to block out the what-if’s that wanted to play in her mind and squeezed him a little tighter.
Adam and Captain Baker stopped at the top of the stairs and turned toward them.
Adam gave her a weak smile. “Sorry, Joc. Didn’t mean to run ahead of you. Are you doing all right?”
“Let’s just get Patrick locked up for good.” She made it up the last couple of steps.
“Captain Baker!” A uniformed officer called from across the lobby.
“Did you spot him?” Baker walked toward Officer Will Cooper. The rest of them followed.
Will shook his head. “I made it to the roof just as I heard the gunshot. I saw someone leaving the roof of the old K-Mart, but I couldn’t make an ID. I radioed it in. Logan Jackson was headed there.”
Gavin released Jocelyn. “Well, let’s go.”
Jocelyn took a fistful of his shirt. “You ain’t going anywhere!”
Adam put his hand on Gavin’s shoulder. “Jocelyn’s right. You two have to stay safe. And that means no crime scenes. Jocelyn, Mike is going to have to handle your job right now. I don’t want you out and about.”
“I’m not going to go hide in my office and do nothing.”
“I’m not saying either of you are going to do nothing, just let us bring it to you. Your sa—”
“We won’t be safe until Patrick is caught.” The fear in Gavin’s voice matched her own.
Captain Baker rubbed his chin. “While I agree with your assessment that it appears to be Patrick, we don’t have any hard evidence. Gavin, go find out when his hearing is regarding Monday’s incident. That may be an opportunity to pick him up for questioning.”
“Yes, sir.”
“And you two make yourselves at home in my office or Jocelyn’s. Neither have any windows and have restricted access.”
“Patrick has access to the squad room.”
“Not after his arrest.”
Jocelyn bit her lip. “We should go to the hospital too.”
Adam agreed. “And we will. Let the captain and me check out the building for any clues, and I’ll take y’all over there in shortly.”
Jocelyn nodded, and she and Gavin headed to the squad room. Gavin swiped his ID. His hands were still covered in Jared’s blood. Her stomach churned. How was Jared?
On the outside of the old K-Mart building, Adam climbed a ladder.
“Jamison, over here.” Uniformed officer Logan Jackson waved him over.
Once Adam was over the edge and onto the roof, he walked to Logan. “What’d you find?”.
“Looks like he didn’t police his brass this tim
e.”
Adam knelt next to the abandoned shell casing.
“That seems odd.” Captain Baker’s shadow fell over the piece of brass. “Is there a possibility this is a different shooter? The guy we’ve been dealing with has been meticulous.”
“Well, if it is our number-one suspect, we know what set him off, and that’s why he missed.”
“You believe Jocelyn’s theory?”
Adam stood and turned to square himself with Captain Baker. Was he questioning Jocelyn’s credibility? He opened his mouth to speak but closed it. He needed to choose his words wisely. “Absolutely. And any doubt I had before vanished when Jared hit the pavement.”
Baker nodded. “Then prove it. I need proof, Adam. Pull all possible camera footage around this area and figure it out. Make sure this casing is dusted. Follow the evidence to the lab if you don’t one-hundred-percent trust the tech who gathers it. We need proof.”
“Yes, sir.” That’s exactly what he planned to do. Patrick had his tentacles reaching into all sorts things, and Adam wasn’t about to let that man walk.
Gavin sank onto the waiting-room chair. The same room they had been in after Adam had been shot only eight months ago. Gavin dropped his head into his hands. Jared had already been in surgery for three hours. What was taking so long? Adam and the captain had processed both scenes—the top of the building and outside the lab door. Adam had personally escorted the shell casing to the lab and insisted they send him copies of all the information while he hovered over the techs. Then they had gone through a whole lot of hoopla to get Gavin and Jocelyn to the hospital. Jocelyn sat across the room next to Becca, Amelia on Becca’s other side.
Captain Baker walked in with a tray of coffee.
Becca looked up at him. “How’s Amy?”
A sad smile covered the captain’s face. “More worried about you than anything.”
“Thanks for going over there to talk to her.”
“She almost freaked when I showed up at the door. I promised her Jared would make it, though. Please tell me he’s doing all right.”
Gavin joined the group. “You’ll be able to keep that promise. Someone told us about fifteen minutes ago that surgery was going well, but there was a lot of damage to repair.”
The captain nodded. “Where’s Jamison?”
The door opened behind the captain and revealed Adam with a large paper bag. “Sandwiches, if anyone is hungry enough to eat.”
Caleb followed Adam into the room.
Wow. It really was lunch time. Gavin shook his head. This shouldn’t be happening. Patrick shouldn’t be roaming the streets killing people all because of a stupid decision Gavin made.
Gavin went back to his chair on the opposite side of the room and resumed his downtrodden position.
Caleb sat next to him. “Hanging in there?”
Gavin slouched back in the chair. “That’s the question for you. It’s your brother in there.”
“I asked you first. You almost got shot today.”
“No one should have gotten shot. God told me to wait. We had just sent Cooper to the roof. If we had only waited…”
Caleb turned a little more toward Gavin. “Why didn’t you wait?”
“Well, I did for a minute. But then…” Gavin looked across the room to Jocelyn. He’d left the truck because she’d appeared at the door.
“Ah. Distraction.”
“I’m trying so hard, but now… A baby. Changes everything, yet nothing can change.”
“You know you can’t do this on your own, right?”
Gavin shrugged. “In theory.”
“Then let Him fight for you. He’s fighting for Jared right now.”
“But if I had obeyed, then Jared wouldn’t be in this situation.”
“But you did wait a minute. And Jocelyn showed up. Did that throw off the shooter’s focus? If—”
“That’s Jocelyn’s theory. Otherwise I’d be dead. There’s no way he should have missed me. But Jared shouldn’t have gotten hit.”
“He was guarding you. He knew the risks. You have to let go of the guilt.”
“But there’s so much of it right now.”
“Gavin”—Caleb placed his hand on Gavin’s shoulder—“Jesus died for your sin, and mine, once and for all. It says in Hebrews 9, I think it’s verse 12, that Christ secured our redemption forever once for all time with His blood.”
“I wish I knew Scripture as well as you and your brother.”
“We study it. Read it over and over again. It keeps us connected to the One who can sustain us even in the toughest moments.”
“Like your brother getting shot.”
Caleb nodded.
Gavin lowered his head. Jesus, I’m sorry I didn’t listen better. Help me to rely on You. And thank You for Your forgiveness.
“I got it!” Gavin all but jumped up from his desk. For the last several hours, ever since they got back to the station after dinner, he, Adam, Jocelyn, and Captain Baker had been all combing through any video that might have caught who had gone up to the roof of that building down the street. But he finally caught a glimpse. “Look!”
Jocelyn and Adam came over. Through the office window, Adam motioned to Baker to join them.
Jocelyn gripped his left arm as she leaned close to see his computer screen. He tried to ignore the warmth that radiated through his arm.
“Here.” He pointed at the screen. “That’s our guy headed toward the ladder that leads to the top of the building.”
“Can you zoom in?” Captain Baker asked.
“I can.” Jocelyn reached across Gavin and grabbed the wireless mouse. With a few clicks, they were all staring at a blurry image of a man who, without any doubt, was Patrick. “Oh, my…” Jocelyn wavered on her feet.
Gavin darted his arm around her waist and caught her.
“I mean… I knew it was him… but…” She leaned onto the desk.
Gavin left his hand on her back. “I know…”
Baker cleared his throat. “That’s evidence enough for me. Find any other angles you can, now that you know exactly what he’s wearing and have a timestamp. I’ll take care of the warrant and send another pair of detectives to get him.”
“But Captain”—Adam stood a little taller—“I want to be the one who puts him in cuffs.”
“You know I have to keep the two of you as far from this as possible. However, his hearing for Monday’s incident is tomorrow morning. If we don’t find him tonight, I’m inclined to say you can go get him when he shows up at court.” Baker pointed his finger at Adam’s chest. “You must promise to keep your head.”
“Yes, sir.”
“Find anything else you can, but call it a night soon. It’s getting late. Gavin, you can crash at my house. We can get him in the morning.” Baker returned to his office.
Gavin rubbed Jocelyn’s back. “You okay?”
Her face was pale and eyes sunken. And she didn’t reply.
He couldn’t blame her. It was a stupid question. How could she be okay? He wasn’t. They were about to arrest Patrick for murder and attempted murder.
Her lips lifted, and a little color returned to her face. “We get to find out if the baby is a boy or girl tomorrow!”
Without thinking, he reached out and placed his hand on her round belly. He couldn’t wait to see their little one.
CHAPTER NINETEEN
Adam checked his watch as he sat on the bench in the courtroom. Nine-fifty-seven. Three minutes until Patrick was due to see the judge. Becca slid in next to him. He leaned close to her. “What are you doing here?”
“I’m here to arrest the man who shot my husband.”
“Well, I figured that much. Why aren’t you with Jared?”
“He’s sleeping, finally. His pain was high last night, so he didn’t sleep well, but they finally got the pain killers leveled right. I had breakfast with the girls and figured I’d come help you arrest that son of a—”
“Becca!”
She snorted.
He laughed. And the captain was worried about him keeping his cool.
Doug joined them. “Hey.”
Adam returned the greeting and tapped his thumbs on his knees as he waited for the session to begin. He was on edge. He’d feel better once Patrick was behind bars. Why hadn’t he stayed with Gavin and Jocelyn? Were they safe?
“Where is he?” Becca said softly.
Patrick’s lawyer, the same one he had called on last fall, waited on the other side of the room. “Good question.” Adam’s stomach churned. If Patrick didn’t show, that meant Gavin and Jocelyn definitely weren’t safe anywhere, especially the doctor’s office.
“I have a bad feeling about this.”
“Me too.”
The bailiff announced the judge, and they all stood. It didn’t take long for the judge to issue another warrant for Patrick’s arrest for skipping out on his bail. As soon as Adam had the opportunity, he ran from the room.
“Adam, wait up!”
“I have to get to them. Becca, he’s going to try something.” He kept walking, but let Becca and Doug catch up.
“Aren’t they at the station?”
“Anytime now, they’ll be leaving for Jocelyn’s appointment.”
“Dear God!”
“Exactly!”
Jocelyn accepted Gavin’s hand out of his truck and smiled. And she didn’t let go of his hand as they walked through the parking garage toward the doctor’s office. The sunshine reflected off a shiny silver car, so Jocelyn shielded her eyes. The sun’s warmth snaked its way into the garage. A light breeze blew away the smell of the cars and carried in the scent of the magnolia trees. She wanted it to blow away the craziness of Patrick and usher in something new, but instead she clung to Gavin a little tighter.
Despite the fear that clouded her heart, she was excited to see the baby today. Baby had been so active this morning, and she couldn’t wait to see him or her on that screen. She bit her lip and looked up at Gavin. He was smiling at her too. Her heart skipped like a schoolgirl. Joy. She willed all the rest of her crazy life to fade away, if even for a moment. It would come back into focus soon enough, but she would enjoy this as long as it lasted.
