Page 3 of Shattered Dreams
“You worrying about keeping a promise to your man.” Max smiled as they walked out of the small 50s diner on East Illef Ave into the bright sun. He was beyond happy. His service sub, Raine, had finally found a man worthy of his submission – and it just happened to be in the man Max had called a friend for over thirty years. “It’s great to see the Storm I remember.”
Storm, a behemoth of a Black man, and a wide receiver for the Colorado Springs Nuggets, rolled his eyes. “Whatever, man. Save that sappy shit for your sub.”
Max chuckled. “Like you do?”
“Whatever. I don’t do sappy shit.”
He opened his mouth to give his buddy another ration of shit when the squeal of tires on pavement, followed by what sounded like a car backfiring, filled the parking lot. “Wha…” Something struck him, spinning him around. He hit the pavement, fire racing down his spine. He tried to roll over, but nothing was working, and dear lord…the fucking pain! Another blast of bullets ricocheted across the pavement. Black spots swam before his eyes and his wife’s visage competed with them. What was his submissive little wife going to do if he died?I’m so sorry, Lizzie.
“Max…” Storm’s voice came, as if it were from a long, dark tunnel. “….don’t you dare die on me, man. I can take over Raine, but I’ll be damned if I’m taking Lizzie on full time. I don’t do pussy!”
“Sorry…” he croaked out, and then gave in to the deep darkness where there was no pain.
* * *
“Landon!”
Elliot looked up from the paperwork he was working on at his boss’s bellow. He loved his job as a detective in the Aurora Police Department, but like every other job, the paperwork sucked. Only one more report to finish and he could call it a day.Or maybe not, he decided when he glimpsed his captain’s expression. Someone had obviously pissed in Captain Ortega’s Cheerios.
“Yeah, Captain?” He saved the report he was working on.
“There was a shooting by that 50s place on East Illef early this morning. Two wounded were transported to the University of Colorado. I want you to head over to the hospital and see if you can get a statement from the vics, if possible. The brass is breathing down my neck because of the celebrity status of the one vic.” He rubbed the back of his neck. “Not exactly sure why, considering the shooter is already in custody.
“Maybe they want to know if this a random act of violence, or if the suspect had a vendetta against the guys in question?”
“Who knows? Just get your ass over there.”
“No problem. I’m on it.” He stood, then grabbed his jacket off the back of his chair. Even after two years on the force, he found the piece of clothing restrictive.You’re just used to wearing fatigues. Suck it up, soldier.
After making sure he had his handy notebook, along with a pen, he clipped his badge to the slender belt at his waist. Then he was out of the squad room and heading to his unmarked vehicle. As he made his way into the late afternoon traffic, he headed over to the hospital at the University of Colorado. During the longer than normal drive, he mentally prepared the questions he’d need to ask. God, he could only hope that there were no children involved. Those were always the roughest, he found.
Once arriving at the hospital, he identified himself to the man at the front desk and was given directions to the surgicare floor, where he’d more than likely find the family of the shooting victims. When he entered the floor, he tracked down one of the staff at the nurse’s station. He’d first get an update on the victims’ condition before talking to the family. The last thing he wanted to do was walk into the minefield of a grieving family member, if their loved one had died from their wounds.
“Hi, I’m Detective Elliot Landon with Aurora PD. I was told that two shooting victims were brought in a few hours ago?”
The male nurse nodded. “Yes, Officer.”
“I was wondering if they were out of surgery and would be available to give me a brief statement of what happened.”
“Well, Mr. Rodkin is still in surgery, but the other gentleman came out of surgery about three hours ago. He’s settled in a private room on the third floor.” The nurse scribbled something down. “But I highly doubt he’ll be able to give a statement. They had to completely reconstruct his knee. They’ll keep him heavily sedated for at least the next twenty-four hours.”
Elliot didn’t let the disappointment appear on his face. It wouldn’t be the first time he had to wait to get a statement. For the time being, he’d talk to the family and get their take on the situation. “Understood. Would it be possible to talk to the families of the victims?”
“Only one family is here at the moment. Mr. Donovan left to get some food for Mrs. Rodkin. She hasn’t been taking this well at all.” He gave Elliot a pointed look. “And I won’t have you upsetting her…”
“Understood.” He gave the male nurse a small smile. “I’ll be gentle with her.”
The nurse gave a short nod. “I’ll take you to her.”
Elliot was surprised when he wasn’t led back to the waiting area of surgicare. He followed the nurse to a private room down the hall from the waiting room.
“We gave them this room for privacy. Because of the status of the victims, we arranged this so the reporters wouldn’t stumble over them in the waiting room.”
“I get it. Boss sent me down here for the same reason. The higher-ups are breathing down his neck. Whichever celebrity it is, he has friends in high places.”
“Just treat Mrs. Rodkin with kid gloves.”
He gave the man a quizzical look.
