Page 114 of Everlasting Promises

I press my hand to my stomach and hope there aren’t any kids playing there.

“Our drone is capturing the alleged gunman as he escapes, Alison,” Paul announces, like we can’t see what’s happening for ourselves, even though the footage is fuzzy. “The police are hot on his heels.”

From the bottom right-hand corner, a dark blur races at speed toward the man. “Rex!”

“What’s happening?” Graeme calls out as Ben also comes into view, reminding me I’m still on the phone.

“Rex and Ben are chasing the guy, and he still has his gun! He’s still shooting!” I scream, horrified at what I’m seeing. It’s one thing watching them chase down a young guy who stole a backpack at the beach. It’s an entirely different experiencewatching them chase down a madman with a gun. I know he wouldn’t have thought twice about chasing after the gunman.

I can’t get enough oxygen in my lungs, and my vision darkens around the edges. I can’t watch. But it’s like driving past a car wreck—I can’t turn away. My legs shake uncontrollably, and I’m certain my heart is going to pound its way right out of my chest and fall into a bloody blob on the floor.

“Hope. Calm down. Everything will be all right,” Graeme calmly says.

The man disappears beneath a copse of trees, shielding him from the drone, but gunshots ring out again, followed by the unmistakable yelp of a dog echoing through the speakers and into my living room.

“Oh, my god! Graeme. I think Rex has been shot!” Hysteria builds inside me and I struggle to suck oxygen into my lungs.

Another gunshot rings out, and I scream.

“Hope. Stay calm. You don’t know that for sure. We’re coming over. We’ll stay on the phone with you until we get there.”

No. No. No. No. This can’t possibly be happening. I slide my fingers through my hair, gripping the strands tightly as I curl my body over.

The world can’t possibly be so cruel as send Ben to us, only to steal him away.

The reporter presses his finger against his ear. “We’ve just received news that an officer has been shot. Alison, we have …” He presses his ear again. “We have reports of at least one officer down. I repeat. There is an officer down. Shot in the line of duty.”

“Have they caught the perpetrator, Paul?” Alison asks. Her voice drips with sheer joy that they’re the team breaking this horrifying story. Reporters really are the scum of the earth. They don’t care about the lives of the people in the story, how thiscould change the lives of the people involved … only about the story.

He presses his ear again. “No word, Alison.”

The image changes to the newsroom. “Thanks, Paul. We’ll check back in with you for an update soon. In other news, a tire factory has exploded, sending plumes of black smoke billowing into the sky. Surrounding businesses and homes have been evacuated, and fire and emergency services are fighting the blaze.”

No!

I need to see what’s happeningnow! I press the heel of my hand against my sternum in an attempt to keep my heart in place.Thump. Thump. Thump. The sound is deafening to my ears.

I stand to pace, walking a shaky circuit through my empty house as my heart threatens to cease beating one minute and escape my chest the next. Each time I loop through the living room, I study the screen like a crazy person looking for my next hit. My eyes fixate on the banner across the bottom of the frame, searching for some sort of update, but there’s nothing.

“Hope, we’re not far away. What’s happening?” Tracey’s voice breaches the buzzing in my ears.

I swallow the nausea that’s threatening to rise and press my hand tight to my stomach. “I-I don’t know. They’re not … they’re not showing anything. Don’t they know I need to know what’s happening? God, what if something’s happened to him? I don’t think I’d survive,” I sob brokenly, my knees finally giving out, leaving me in a puddle on the floor in front of the useless television.

“Hope. Everything will be fine. They’ll be home before you know it, and this will all be a terrible memory,” she cajoles.

I already have enough terrible memories. I don’t need to add another to the list. I don’twantto add another to the list. Iwon’t survive it. IknowI won’t. My lunch threatens to make a reappearance as more tears track down my face.

I press my hand to my stomach, like I can somehow protect our baby from the loss of its father.

“Mom! Hold it together, we’re just around the corner,” Evan’s stern voice breaks through the haze of my despair, and I jolt upright. I can’t let him see me fall apart. He’s had enough of that and I promised to do better.

I clear my throat and try to push confidence instead of fear into my voice. “I’m okay, Ev,” I choke. “I’m just worried about Ben and Rex.”

The sound of a car pulling into my driveway and doors opening and closing has me wiping beneath my eyes and sniffing as I climb to my feet on unsteady legs. Footsteps sound on the porch, and the door swings open. Before I can brace, Evan barrels into me, wrapping his arms around me, holding me up.

“They’ll be okay, Mom. Rex is a badass, and so is Ben. You’ve seen how fast he runs. He doesn’t mess around. Stop crying. They’ll be okay.” He squeezes me tight. “They’ll be okay,” he murmurs the last part, as if he’s trying to convince himself as well as me.

Cupping the back of his head, I lean down and press a kiss to his short hair, soaking his scent into my lungs. “You’re r-right. They’re both badass, and they’ll be f-fine. Ben’s been doing this a long time, and he knows what he’s doing. He wouldn’t take unnecessary r-risks. He told us he doesn’t.”

---