Page 2 of Montana's Bravest

“Sam, I’m coming in!” Mark’s alerting me.

I feed him the info he needs as our suspect clocks the new arrival. I back away and crouch behind an exhaust fan, widening my shoulders to make sure Noah doesn’t see anything past my torso.

“It’s okay. We’re safe here,” I comfort Noah, protecting his ears from the shots and the din of helicopters circling overhead.

If time stood still, this boy in my arms could be my long-lost brother. What would I give up to change history? If I had a chance to go back in time, to the Labor Day weekend in Syracuse twenty-two years ago, I wouldn’t have let Jack leave my side, not even to be with my father.

“Noah, you good?” I look into his eyes. For a six-year-old in peril, the boy seems pretty calm. Perhaps, despite the noise, he’s not aware of how much danger he’s in.

Noah hugs me as the police start to gather around us. Strangely, people’s voices appear to spook him more than thegun shots. I motion to Zander’s men to stay away while I keep Noah in my arms. At the moment, this spot behind the exhaust fan, and this man in a black suit and armored vest he’s clinging to is his safety—and I don’t want to change that. Not yet.

But where the hell is my partner?

“Mark! You there?” I check on him through my device.

“I’m fine, buddy.”

I exhale a relieved breath, then scoot myself to peek at the carnage. I keep Noah’s face on my shoulder, preventing him from turning around. The asshole is dead, and it looks like he didn’t even have time to properly install the dynamite strapped onto his chest.

Mark soon finds us. But Noah squeezes my shoulder in panic, as if my partner was an alien from Mars. When Mark reaches out his arms and smiles at him, the boy cries.

“What’s wrong with me?” Mark says. It’s unclear if he’s asking me, Noah, or just himself.

It’s a mystery indeed. At thirty-two years old, Mark is only a couple of years younger than me, but the guy has a baby face as if he was forever twenty-three. Yet, little Noah prefers to stick with me.

I comfort Noah as Mark assesses the aftermath of the showdown. The police have covered up Bower’s body.

“Noah!” a woman’s voice rises above the chaos.

“Mrs. Forbes!” Captain Zander shouts. The woman rushes toward us, ignoring the call. The captain turns to his men. “How the hell did she get up here!”

Noah lifts his head off my shoulder. “Mom!”

I let the boy go.

“Noah!” Ivy Forbes cries out as she kneels to pick him up.

Time stops as the mother and son hug.

I wish it was my mother comforting my brother Jack, and the night at the fair in Syracuse was just an evening of misadventure. I can still feel Jack’s hand holding on to me.

But right now I’m holding nothing but empty air. He’s been missing for so long, his case gone cold. But I haven’t given up. I’ll keep searching until I uncover the truth.

Mark paces along the perimeter the police have just set up, diverting my attention from the Forbes. He scans the ledge I jumped from, “Not the best way to nurse a broken heart, Sam.”

Love’s been nothing but a losing game for me. And as for Mark, he preaches ‘she’s out there’ for me, while swearing off it for himself. I guess it proved that being unlucky in love is part of our job description. But being a fool isn’t—so even though it goes against the grain, I won’t let love come near me again.

This time, though, my partner’s reference to ‘broken heart’ wasn’t referring to the lovey-dovey kind. We both know it’s about Jack.

Regardless, I stick to business, “Did it for the kid. And his mom.”

I did, even though the vision of Jack had stayed with throughout the whole operation.

We wrap up while I reflect on the day’s events. I stand by every decision made.

“I knew what I was doing, Mark,” I tell my partner. My heart told me to jump, but logic drove me to execute it. “A cornered man is capable of doing the unthinkable. It was my only chance.Our only chance.Or we would’ve lost the boy.”

Mark softens. He knows me too well. He’s a man of devotion, whoever he’s protecting—including me.

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