Page 171 of Triggered By Love
“Nope, if you fired it, it’s evidence.” Jason dropped it into the bag. “Didn’t know you carried a Smith & Wesson Shield with a laser. Looks like you gave away your location, and Avery picked you off.”
“She shot the wrong guy. Give it to me.” Despite being on the floor and in obvious pain, Blade made a desperate attempt for the gun.
Jason took a step back and addressed the remaining people surrounding Blade. “I’m NYPD Detective Jason Burnett. I’ll be taking everyone’s statements. No one move. Stay where you are with your hands behind your heads.”
Instead of obeying, everyone turned tail and ran, including Tatiana. Jason gave chase, but she leaped up and grabbed one of the ropes the dancers used to swing themselves down from the mock fire escape and jumped off the stage.
“She’s getting away,” Jason shouted, elbowing his way through the crowd. He sprinted out to the limo line where pandemonium mixed with screaming sirens and drivers honking their horns. Panicked people darted for limos, and fender benders popped left and right.
“There he is.” Avery’s voice rose above the din.
Jason darted between two limos with his gaze fixed on the rapidly departing figure of Maria Schitt wearing a red flamenco dress.
Someone tackled him, and multiple sets of hands grabbed him.
“You’re under arrest.” An NYPD officer cuffed him.
“He’s been shot,” Avery said. “He needs an ambulance.”
“I have the shooter’s gun,” Jason said. “It’s Blade Camden. He’s a crooked cop.”
“He says you are,” the responding officer, Vinnie DeBrassos, said.
Cameras surrounded them, so Jason turned to all the bright lights. “Hey, you reporters. Report this. The gun used to shoot me is in this evidence bag. The bullet is still in my arm. The blood on the gun belongs to Blade Camden and if there are any prints, they are his too. Another bullet is lodged in one of the seats. Report this before the police department switches the evidence. A Glock 26 was used by Avery Cockburn to neutralize Blade Camden, who took a shot at us. Do your job and investigate why Blade Camden would want to shoot Miss Avery Cockburn. Bonus points if you can tie it up with the bombshell that will hit next week.”
“Shut up and let’s go.” DeBrassos yanked Jason’s arm, eliciting excruciating pain.
Jason gritted his teeth, not willing to give anyone the satisfaction of seeing him in pain. As best he could, he blew Avery a kiss and said, “Find Tatiana. She was the Maria Schitt actress, and Trent was the Adam Schitt actor. Don’t let them get away.”
* * *
Jason was sentto the same hospital as Blade with both of them under police guard and under suspicion.
Fortunately for Jason and unfortunately for Blade, ballistics evidence pointed to Blade shooting Jason and the seat behind Avery, while the bullets from Jason’s Glock were retrieved from Blade’s side and thigh.
He was injured worse than Jason, who suffered a flesh wound in his bicep.
The media were like sharks thrashing over the chum Jason threw into the water, and theories abounded on why a promising rookie would throw everything away by shooting his partner. Some thought there was a love triangle with Avery in the middle, whereas others rumored drug deals gone bad.
Blade, for his part, insisted he was protecting Avery, but even the chief could not cover for him, since he shot first before anyone was in danger. The gun Trent Gallagher was supposed to use was found in the orchestra pit, and it was loaded with blanks.
“I’m okay to check out,” Jason announced to the doctor who treated him. His arm was in a sling, and they’d removed the bullet.
“Be sure to keep the wound clean, and come back in a week for me to remove the stitches,” the doctor said.
Jason signed himself out and walked across the hallway where officers guarded Blade. Chief Grimes had restored Jason because he was eager to throw Blade under the bus.
You were right all along, Grimes had said.Blade had us all fooled. I should have known an officer dancing on the side is a liability. He’s the one with mental problems, and here I was, believing him and his girlfriend, that fake therapist. Well, here’s your badge back.
Jason didn’t need to flash his badge at the rookie standing guard, but he did anyway and let himself into Blade’s room.
His former partner was high on painkillers and bandaged up with his leg elevated. He’d suffered a collapsed lung and a shattered femur, and Jason wasn’t the least bit sorry.
He pulled up a chair and straddled it backwards.
“If you’re smart, you’d sing like a bird. Who are you and the chief covering for?”
Blade squeezed his eyes shut and opened them, blinking. “I wish I knew, but right now, it looks like I’m the fall guy.”
