Page 30 of Disarming Caine

He squeezed my hand. “But I actually am.”

Jimmy’s radio squawked. He answered it and updated the room. “K-9 found a track but lost it. They’ve collected some bullet casings where Sammy spotted the shooter.”

While he was talking, Janelle’s phone rang. She headed into the spare bedroom to take the call.

He continued, “Nothing from any of the neighbors. We’ll see if we can find anything else when the sun comes up.”

Not what I was hoping to hear.

The paramedic applied a gauze bandage across Antonio’s right shoulder to cover the stitches and other cuts she’d cleaned up. After a small lecture on keeping the area dry for a day and watching for signs of infection, she asked if I needed any attention. I declined, but Antonio insisted. She checked my pupils, prodded at my elbow, and declared I was alright before she left.

Janelle returned to the main room, slipping her phone into a pocket. “Forensics is on their way. Where are you staying tonight, Sam? I’m going to have a patrol car posted outside.”

I nodded. “I’ll talk to the staff and book a different room here.”

“No!” Antonio and Nathan said at the same time. At least they could agree on something.

“What if they were coming after you and decide to finish the job later?” asked Nathan. “You can’t be alone. You’ll be safer at my place.”

He stared at me, those big, earnest blue eyes imploring. Bad idea, Nathan.

Antonio stepped around me, closing in on him. He spoke clearly through bared teeth. It was quiet, but his words carried. “She’s mine, not yours. Don’t forget that. She’s staying with me.”

Janelle inserted herself between them before it could escalate. Her voice was flat, as though this was routine police work. But she wasn’t in uniform, so she wasn’t actually working. “We need statements. I’ll take Sam’s while she’s packing. Dr. Ferraro, you can do the same with Slater in the spare bedroom.”

Antonio’s lip curled and released, then he nodded and planted a kiss on my temple before sequestering with Jimmy. Once inside my room, Janelle closed the doors to the sitting room and the bathroom. I pulled out an overnight bag and crossed to the closet.

“Sam, stop.” She placed a hand on my back, and I froze.

My hands drifted to my face, hoping to scour the evening from my brain.

She wrapped an arm around my shoulders. “I’m off duty. You can come home with me.”

“No.” The adrenaline high was fading fast and a tremor shot through my hands. The noise of the gunshot, the feel of the bullet behind my head, and falling to the floor. It looped in my memory, over and over. “I need to be with Antonio.”

“Are you safe if you go with him?”

“Yeah. I—What?”

She turned me so we were eye-to-eye. “You know exactly what I’m asking. He appears to have a short fuse.”

My hand headed back for my face, but she restrained it, not letting me hide from her. “It’s Nathan. He and Nathan have a—I don’t know. Nathan’s been an ass this week, like he’s trying to piss Antonio off. They really don’t like each other.”

“He’s usually a good judge of character.”

“Usually, but…”Shake it off. Get control.I looked at the closet and she released me so I could retrieve enough clothes for an overnight stay and work tomorrow. Stuffing them in the bag, I paused and dropped onto the edge of the bed.

Janelle sank down next to me. I’d missed our friendship over the years. We had a long way to go back to where we were, but it didn’t matter tonight. Somewhere inside of us was a bond we couldn’t break. My head fell to her shoulder and she put her arm around me again. Like we used to do as kids, when someone was mean and she’d stood up for me. Being two years younger than everyone else in our classes made me a target. She’d been my protector until I learned how to do it myself.

“I’m going to catch whoever did this, Sam. Both shootings. I promise.”

“It was a really close call, Janelle.” I swallowed hard, pushing past the lump stuck in my throat, but I still heard how shaky the words were. “If he hadn’t been here, I’d be in a body bag.”

“I understand. No one will think less of you if—”

“I would.” I sat up straight and resisted rubbing my elbow or my hip, which throbbed from hitting the table as we fell. “Jimmy and the other officers would. I’ve apparently got a reputation.”

She grinned, squeezing me. “You would’ve been a better cop than Slater, that’s for damn sure.”

---