Page 38 of Real Shadows
And they did.
The front door crashed open and four police officers filed in. The immediately took in the scene and every gun was raised and aimed at me and Thomas. Thomas was going to get us killed and maybe that was his plan now. He was going to stay true to his word that if he couldn’t have me, then no one could.
“Put the gun down, now!” one of the officers instructed as Xander stood with his hands up, worry lining every inch of his face.
“Or else what, Officer?” Thomas asked, goading him with his insolence. “Are you going to shoot us?”
The cop’s eyes darted towards mine as the other three police officers fanned out. “If we have to,” he said as calmly as could be, as if my life wasn’t in danger.
“Sir, come with me,” one of the officers said, reaching for Xander.
“No,” he barked. “Not without her.”
“Don’t make me arrest you,” she threatened. “Besides, the best thing you can do for her is to go outside with me.”
The madness was evident in every word coming out of Thomas’s mouth. “Yeah, Xander,” he chuckled darkly. “Why don’t you go on outside with the nice officer, where it’s nice and safe, and leave Fallon here to me.”
“You motherfuc-”
“Now!” the officer yelled. “You either leave with me now, or Iwillarrest you for impeding a police matter!”
“Xander, go,” I begged. “Please, please go. I’ll be okay.”
The playfulness was gone when Thomas spoke again. “I’ll shoot her where she stands if you don’t leave, Xander,” he threatened.
I’d never seen such agony on one person’s face ever in my life. Xander looked torn. I knew he didn’t care about getting arrested, but Thomas’s threat to shoot me was real, and Xander knew it. He was going to have to walk out of his house in a small bid to save my life.
“I love you, Fallon,” he said, misery in each word. “I fucking love you.” Tears streamed down my face as the office escorted him out of the house.
The second the door closed, the point officer got back down to business. “I need you to put the gun down, sir,” he tried again. “Everyone can still walk out of here alive.”
Thomas got back to chuckling. “You think I give a shit about that?” He had no concern for the cops on either side of us, guns pointed at our heads. His attention was on the point officer who, like the others, had his gun pointed as us too.
“What do you give a shit about?” he asked, trying to negotiate, but even he had to see we were beyond a mutual ending here.
“If I can’t have her, no one can,” Thomas replied, making it clear the reason we were all here.
“I need you to put the gun down,” the cop repeated. “We can’t let you hurt her.”
Thomas didn’t comment, nor did he put the gun down. It was still held to the side of my head and the wait was excruciating. The wait of the unknown was a debilitating thing. Everything was a nightmare my mind didn’t want to process. And I was still disgusted that a tiny part of me didn’t want to witness Thomas’s death.
Suddenly, I felt Thomas let go of my arm. The gun was still pressed up against my head, but he had released his grip on my arm. I couldn’t help it, I turned to face him to try to get a hint as to what he was going to do, but his face was nothing but calm. He was giving nothing away and I didn’t know what I was supposed to do now. Run? Fall?
“It’s me or it’s no one,” he repeated in a voice clear and concise for all the room to hear. “That’s the only way this ends.” Tears started streaming down my face. “They can kill me, Fallon. Hell, they most likely will. But not before I take you with me. You were never meant to be with anyone else. It was always going to be you and me.”
Thomas cocked the gun in his hand, and I couldn’t stop the cry that escaped. “No!”
And then there was nothing but gunshots.
Chapter 24
Xander~
Idropped to my knees at the sound of gunfire.
This is not supposed to be real-life. This isn’t supposed to be what happens outside action movies. The guilt that I hadn’t believed Fallon at first was paralyzing. It’s what brought me to my knees. Anyone else might be rushing inside the house to save the woman they loved, but the guilt of not believing her at first had me weakened.
Unwilling to face a life without Fallon was what also had me on my knees on the street. When I walked out of the house, the officer had forced me to stand behind the patrol cars or face being handcuffed in one of the backseats. I had chosen to behave, all the while, I felt like my emotions were trying to crawl out from beneath my skin.
