Page 40 of Holding On to a Hero
Suddenly I heard Arturo’s voice. “Jason? Is that you?”
“Arturo? Where are you? Stay away from the door!”
“I’m inside the house and staying low. I think the phone you’re on is outside the door but I can hear you.”
“The gunman could still be out there! Don’t approach!”
“Jason, I have to get them out of the doorway.”
“Arturo, it’s too dangerous!” Then, “Fuck!” as I saw Will and Cole’s legs slide into the house. Thankfully, no more gunshots came.
“Got them inside!”
“Are they alive? Arturo, are they alive?” My hands clenched the phone as if I could squeeze the answers out of him.
“Will’s shot. He’s bleeding pretty badly from his shoulder but he’s alive. Cole….”
“What? Colewhat?”
“He’s unconscious. He’s alive. He’s got a head wound but I’m not sure if it’s a bullet or not. He’s covered in what I think is Will’s blood so I’m not sure about other injuries.”
Brian’s hand came down on my shoulder. “They’re alive. Breathe.” Fuck breathing. I needed to see them.
Arturo was back. “I got some towels and I’m putting pressure on Will’s shoulder since it seems to be bleeding the worst.” He paused. “Hey, I can hear sirens.”
“Thank fuck.”
* * *
Excerpt from transcript of interview with Tracey Romilly, personal assistant to Cole Washburn:
Special Agent Bardo: Thank you for giving us access to Mr. Washburn’s email and social media accounts.
Romilly:Of course. God, anything to help catch the motherfucker who shot him. I haven’t looked, but I’m sure his Twitter is blowing up with messages after this morning.
Special Agent Bardo:What about physical mail? Doesn’t Mr. Washburn still get letters?
Romilly:Yes, and packages. Ugh. People send in some weird ass shit. Most of those go to a P.O Box here in town. I send anything really freaky to the LAPD. Oh, his agent, Felicia Montgomery, she gets mail for him at her office sometimes.
Special Agent Bardo:Thank you, we’ll speak to her as well. Is there anything Mr. Washburn received recently that you felt was disturbing but you have not passed on to the police yet?
Romilly:Um, I didn’t give them the plate of red jello that looked like it was molded from someone’s butt. I sent Cole a photo of it, but then I threw it away. That’s just nasty.
Special Agent Bardo:Why did you send Mr. Washburn a photo of it?
Romilly:Because he pays me a lot of money, but sometimes I need to remind him why. [unintelligible] Dammit, he’d better wake up.
Special Agent Bardo:What else can you think of?
Romilly: Um, I already sent the rest of the weirdo mail from last week to the LAPD, but I haven’t picked up this week’s yet.
Special Agent Bardo:Would you take me to pick it up with you?
Romilly:Sure. Hey, it’s about time for the monthly package from pink panties girl. I’ll point that one out to you – you’ll want to double up your gloves.
Chapter Twenty-Six
Will
