Page 64 of Doctor Grump

“I would say you did that all on your own,” came a deep voice that had Bella snapping to the side, immediately focusing her gun on the newcomer. Relief and despair fought when I saw Ian emerging from the shadows.

Oh God, he was here.

Oh no, he was here.

Don’t hurt him,I nearly cried out as Bella seemed ready to shoot. But Ian shot me a glance that stilled the words. Even though he said nothing, I got the message. He didn’t want me to say anything.

“What the fuck are you doing here?” she asked him.

Ian looked unperturbed at the fact that a gun was pointed straight at his chest. He was the picture of self-assurance as he stood, addressing her.

“That’s not the real question you want the answer to,” he said.

Bella gave him a mocking smile. “Oh really? So I guess the question is, I wonder how good you’d look with two bullets in your skull.”

“Shooting me will make no difference to your predicament. It will probably worsen it in any case because then the police will charge in here.” He took a step forward. “The real question is, what are you going to do now? The police have you surrounded. You have no way out of this unscathed. Your identity is pretty much blown, and jail is guaranteed. The best you can do is hand over the hostage and hope it gains you some leniency in court.”

Her eyes widened perceptibly as she shook her head. “No. I’m not going to jail. It’s not an option.”

“You don’t have a choice.”

“Oh yes, I do, tough guy. If you haven’t noticed, I’m the one holding the gun, and I could shoot

you where you stand.”

Ian took another deliberate step forward.

“But you won’t, though,” he said. “You won’t shoot me because I’m not your type. The truth is, you like that people underestimate you and think you’re an innocent little girl. And you get off on showing them who you really are and terrorizing them until they’re filled with fear. But you can’t do that with me because I already know who you are, and it means nothing to me. I’ve faced tougher and crazier and lived to tell the tale. And that makes this whole thing not as enjoyable to you. Because you’ve played all your hands now and seen that no matter how you arrange them, it’s not a winning deck.”

He took another step forward, and she raised her gun. But there was an odd, crazed fear in her eyes. And she didn’t shoot.

“Either way, you’re losing,” Ian continued. “You overplayed your hand, and this isn’t going to be a win for you. Now it’s a question of managing your loss. You can lose more or lose less. You can shoot her and me and end up with a life sentence, or you can plead insanity and get out with good behavior.” He lifted his shoulder. “The choice is yours.”

Another step.

“And I think you’ll make the right one. Because despite what everyone else may think, you’re not crazy. In fact, you’re actually perfectly sane.”

Bella was silent for a few seconds, seemingly struck speechless by his words. It gave Ian time to take another step and another. But the third step jogged her out of her reverie, and she finally realized how close he was.

“That’s where you’re wrong, asshole,” she cried out, squeezing the trigger.

Everything happened so fast.

I saw Ian move, quick as lightning, to grab the gun. I screamed as I heard the blast and an explosion of blood, but Ian was still in action, pulling the gun out and knocking her down in one move.

Bella dropped to the ground, out cold.

Without stopping, he ran to me.

“Are you okay?” His voice had lost the calm nonchalance he talked to Bella with, and it was now filled to the brim with emotion.

“Yes, I…oh my God, Ian, you’re bleeding.” There was blood spreading across his shirt on the left side.

“What the hell were you thinking?” he growled, his eyes flashing with anger. “Leaving me with a damn note over an argument?”

“I thought I was doing the right thing. Giving us both a clean break.” I couldn’t take my eyes off his wound. “Ian, we can talk about this later. You’re hurt.”

“The one who really hurt me is you, damn it.” His hand went to my face, dragging my eyes to his. Contrary to how cool he looked a few moments ago, his eyes were now swimming with emotions so deep and fathomless. “I love you.”

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