Page 66 of Deadly Protector
CHAPTERTWENTY-FIVE
Dimitri knelt next to Kurt Ryba’s prone body, checked his pulse for good measure. Given the odd angle he’d fallen from the attic opening and the bullet hole in his chest, he wasn’t getting up ever again.
But Dimitri wanted to be sure.
Dead.
He tucked his weapon away and hurried out into the driveway, back to his SUV. When he saw it was empty, low-grade panic buzzed deep in his gut. What if Ryba had been working with someone?
Fuck—
“Dimitri!”
He turned at the sound of Zamira’s voice, saw her running across her neighbor’s lawn, wide-eyed, her hair wild around her face.
Immediately he scanned for another threat even as he hurried toward her. “Are you okay? Was he alone?”
She nodded even as tears rolled down her face. “It was just him. He wanted some bank password or something,” she said on a sob, her voice breaking. “When I heard that gunshot, I thought…”
He pulled her to him, wrapped his arms around her. “He’s gone and he can’t hurt you again.” The sound of sirens started to grow louder and he knew that within minutes this place was going to be a shitshow. “Listen,” he murmured, gently rubbing up and down her spine. “We’re going to have to give our statements and I’m definitely being brought down to the police station. They might even cuff me.”
“What?” She stepped back, staring up at him. “Why?”
“I’m not saying they will cuff me, but I killed someone so it’s a possibility.” He spoke quickly, wanting to explain everything while they still had time. He was aware of some of her neighbors on their lawns now, watching, but all his focus was on her. “They will want full reports from us and they’ll separate us while we give our stories. I’m going to call my lawyer and I think you need to call your sister Mila. Lyosha will come down to the station with her and if they don’t let you out soon enough, he’ll raise hell. Just tell the truth and everything will be okay. Okay?”
She nodded and batted tears away as a police car pulled up into her driveway.
Dimitri stepped back, pointed to the garage as two uniformed officers jumped out of their car. “The intruder is in there,” he said, keeping his hands visible as he spoke. “And he’s dead. I killed him in self-defense. My weapon, which I have a permit for, is on me. I’m keeping my hands up so you can retrieve it.”
From that moment, everything moved at warp speed, and just as he’d known, Zamira was taken away in a separate vehicle.
At least they were being gentle with her. That was the only thing that made all this bearable.
Because all this was his fault. He never should have let her go, never should have insisted she get space from him.
It didn’t matter that Gorcyca had said Ryba wouldn’t be a problem. He should have made sure. Because of his oversight, he could have lost her forever.
He wasn’t making that mistake again. If she forgave him, he wasn’t letting her go.
