Page 90 of Time to Bounce

“What?” I asked, already pulling up my dispatch screen.

“Well, the first thing is, I was running by Gavrel’s place. Nastya wanted to check it out, and I knew that you wouldn’t care if I showed it to her. So I let myself in using the code via the garage door. We were both inside, and there was this man in there.” She paused. “I didn’t see him at first as I started showing Nastya around.”

I was already typing in my brother’s address to have several units respond. I then started sending out a text message to the Carters.

Me:

Maven. Gavrel’s place. Emergency.

It was short and lacking in information, but I sent it anyway.

Everything was always shorthand when I was working.

I couldn’t help it.

“What happened?” I asked as I watched the texts start to roll in.

The first one being from Gable.

Gable:

10-4

Hollis:

Someone let me know what’s going on when they find out. I’m at work and can’t leave.

Pepper:

She’s with Nastya.

I half paid attention to them as I listened to Maven continue to explain.

“And so we’re walking quietly down the hall, and we get to the bedroom, and a naked man pops up off the bed, covered in tattoos, and starts running at us,” she continued. “Nastya and I both told him to stop, but he didn’t.”

Dread started to bloom in my stomach.

“Is everyone okay?” I asked. “You and Nastya are both fine?”

“We’re fine,” she emphasized, “but he’s not. He’s going to need an ambulance.”

I breathed out a sigh of relief at her words.

“When he didn’t listen, both Nastya and I, um, shot him,” she finished. “Then, my water broke.”

I shook my head in disbelief.

“You’re a month and a half early!” I cried out.

“I know!” she continued. “I think I’m okay. But I wasn’t sure if I could leave… and this is really bad. I’m okay. Nastya is okay. The baby is coming. And this man who’s calling himself Madman is definitely not okay. I think Nastya’s bullet to his throat is going to kill him.”

I started typing away, my brain furiously working, while I also said, “I want you both to get in your car. Keep your guns, though. Just in case.”

Normally I would tell people to be cautious, because cops didn’t like armed people when they knew there were active shootings happening.

But I decided in this case, just for their protection, I wanted them to keep it in case Madman miraculously managed to get up after being shot several times.

Me:

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