Page 125 of Indigo Sky

The cops and paramedics acknowledged me with nods as one—cop or paramedic, I couldn’t be sure—said, “Who was the shooter?”

I pointed at Donny’s lifeless body.

One cop stepped over Donny to crouch beside his head, oozing with blood already coagulating. “What the hell happened here?”

I opened my mouth to respond, but my eye landed on Kate as a paramedic helped her onto a stretcher. “Kate?Kate! Where are they taking her?”

“They need to look her over. She’s very hurt and very much in shock,” the cop who had looked at Donny said, now walking toward Howard and me. “What’s your name, sir?”

His eyes finally took notice of Angela’s body, and he breathed out a sound close to a groan.

“This is Howard McLaughlin,” I said. “I don’t know if he’s been injured, but he has Alzheimer’s, and he—"

The cop knelt beside me and helped to untie Howard’s ankles. “All right, Howard. My name is Officer Matt Payton. I’m going to help you out tonight, all right?”

Howard’s startled gaze turned to look at Officer Payton. He barely nodded. “Th-thank you, Officer. Can you tell me if Patricia is all right? I-I haven’t seen her, and I need to know if my Patty—"

I took Howard’s hand in mine. “Patty is fine. She’s okay.”

He released a breath of relief. “Oh, thank goodness. But … Revan …”

The fact that this man remembered my name set my heart into overdrive. “Yeah?”

“What about Kate? Where is my Kate? She … she was here, for just a few seconds … and I …” His brow furrowed with confusion and the desperation to remember. “She was soupset. Oh—ohGod, sh-she was soscared,and I couldn’t help her. Revan, you have to save her. You have to—"

His hands were shaking in my grasp and I held them tightly.

“I did,” I told him. “I saved Kate, Howard. She’s going to be okay, I promise.”

Then, he began to cry. Heaving sobs racked his body as Officer Payton helped him to stand, one of us on either side, holding him steady. He leaned against me, his tears soaking my shoulder as he thanked me over and over, repeatedly, until we reached the two ambulances waiting outside.

A paramedic stopped me. “Sir, are you hurt?”

I shook my head, and, fuck, the guilt was so heavy. “No. Where’s Kate?”

“She’s over there,” he said, gesturing toward a third ambulance.

“Is she going to be okay?”

He looked at me, eyes heavy with apology. “She’s had quite a day,” he said. “We’re taking her down to the hospital in just a minute.”

I blew out a breath and nodded. “Can I—"

Officer Payton laid a hand over my shoulder and asked if he could talk to me. “You’re the only one who isn’t hurt or dead,” he said with a gruff, mirthless chuckle.

I looked back at Kate. I didn’t want to let her go; I didn’t want to let her out of my sight ever again. So, I asked, “Can we do this at the hospital?”

He hesitated for a moment, following my gaze, then nodded. “I’ll drive.”

CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE

In a hospital somewhere on the other side of town, I sat at a table in a quiet room with Officer Payton. He had the good grace to buy me a shitty cup of coffee from the vending machine and slid the cup across the table before folding his hands. He barely smiled, his eyes holding a deep sympathy as I tried to control the shaking in my hands long enough to take a sip of coffee without spilling it all over the damn table. But it was futile, and I gave up to run my stupid, trembling hands through my hair.

“How’s Kate?”

“She’s your girlfriend?”

I began to nod, then hesitated. “We got into a fight last night, and we haven’t gotten the chance to talk since …”

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