Page 10 of Ghosted in Arkadia
It isn’t hard to figure out who is who in this situation.
“I’m going to talk to him,” Cathy says, opening the door and exiting the cruiser.
I grab my handle, hurrying after her while looking down the street. The sound of approaching sirens pierce the air, though they are still several minutes away.
“Want to wait for backup?” I call after her, but she’s already striding toward the man with a gun.
“What’s going on?” Cathy shouts as she approaches, sounding more curious than accusing.
“He killed her,” the man holding the gun growls, gesturing toward the man in the suit, using the barrel as a pointer.
Being part of the club, Cathy is one of the best officers to handle dead-mate disturbances. She knows their pain in a way I can’t understand. She needs to get him to focus on her, and shecan talk him into surrender. I have seen her handle these types of situations a handful of times. She’s good.
I couldn’t stop the man in the suit from opening his mouth and cutting off Cathy. “It was an accident. We already held a trial and I’ve been pardoned.” The man looks at Cathy as if explaining himself before turning back to the man holding a gun to his soulmate’s head. “I’m so sorry. I know you must be hurting.”
The man presses the gun against the woman’s temple again, making her screech and cry out.
“You don’t. But you will.”
Dread settles in my heart as I watch the gunman’s upper lip curl.
Cathy draws her gun from her holster, and I reach for mine.
Cathy yells, “Stop.”
Two shots ring out.
The formerly hysterical woman is silenced as her head jerks back, a hole appearing in the middle of her forehead. The man using her as a shield holds his gun straight out, and smoke leaks from the end of the barrel.
Cathy falls to her knees.
I aim at the middle of the man’s chest and fire every shot in my magazine. He falls to the ground. The sound of sirens blare behind me. Looking over at Cathy, I see her slumped to her side, and I move toward her. My mouth opens as I try to yell her name, but all I can hear are the sirens.
Cathy is lying on the ground, her hand pressed against her chest. Red blossoms between her fingers and a trickle of blood trails down one side of her mouth. Her eyes are open, but she can’t see me.
She’s with her soulmate now.
Hands land on me, and I watch James rush past. He falls to his knees beside Cathy before grabbing his radio. I watch him but can’t hear anything other than the sirens.
“Are you injured?” Tommy’s face swims into view, blocking the sight of James moving Cathy.
“I don’t think so.” The words come out automatically.
“He’s alive.” James’ voice snaps my muscles into action, and I push Tommy to the side to look around him.
Cathy is still lying motionless on the grass. Her eyes are closed now, and her hands rest peacefully by her sides. James is crouching beside the man lying in the grass. The one I shot.
Tommy gets up, leaving me to head for the dead woman in the arms of her distraught soulmate.
An ambulance arrives.Great, more sirens.
Thankfully, they cut off when it parks, leaving just the flashing lights to bounce off the buildings. More people rush past me, crowding around Cathy and the shooter. The people work frantically for him, but the ones near Cathy move slower.
Because there’s nothing they can do.
The shooter is loaded into the ambulance while my partner is pronounced dead, along with the other woman. I look at the back of my cruiser and see Rex barking in the back seat. The window is covered in spit from his snarling, snapping jaws.
“Looks like you need to go pet shopping,” Tommy says, putting his hand on my shoulder.
