Melissa was almost grateful for Drew Orr. With her heart caught in an ever-tightening vise after walking away from Antonio, setting a trap for a criminal was the perfect distraction.
She wasn’t looking forward to spending another awful, lonely night on a cot in her office, even if it was the right move. The station was the safest place in town with Orr on the loose. Second safest, she amended. But she couldn’t have stayed in that suite a minute longer, loving a man who doubted her work. She’d thought he had started to come around, that at the very least she’d earned some respect. Her heart felt pinched and she ached from the inside out. Even focused on her work, she knew loving Antonio had changed her.
Bowe was a bad apple—he’d deceived everyone around him—but that didn’t make the entire department irredeemable. She couldn’t go around arresting people without evidence, even if the witness was the man she loved. There were rules, laws, procedures that kept the entire community safe.
Melissa looked at the others gathered around the table helping her plan an operation to take down Orr. Yesterday, she’d given another press conference to announce the reopening of the Paxton case. Everyone had been on their toes, but Orr hadn’t yet responded. As much as she’d like to hope he’d left town, she couldn’t count on it.
“What else can we do to get him to make a move on me?” she asked the room at large.
The easiest path was to offer herself as bait. A year ago, even a month ago, she might’ve done it, taking the chance to minimize any risk to her officers. But after refusing to allow Antonio to pull the same stunt, she couldn’t expose herself on purpose. They might not have a future, but he’d suffered enough. She wouldn’t pile on.
“Why not leak the detail about the fingerprint?” Troy asked.
“I think the victim’s family would be impossible for Orr to resist,” Officer Coleman said. He and Bear were taking more walks around the station and the hotel, under the guise of training, while searching for any sign of Orr. “We could float the news that they’re coming to meet with you and discuss new evidence found in their daughter’s effects.”
Melissa nodded, turning that over in her mind. “Yes. That has potential.” And it meant less risk to the community. She tapped her pen against her palm. She looked at the others one by one. “I want eyes at the hotel and regular updates. I’m aware Mr. Ruiz has his own security team, but I want to know if Orr goes directly at him again.”
“Yes, ma’am.”
“All right, let’s get the word out. Who wants to pose as the parents?” She thanked the volunteers with a nod as soon as the hands shot up. With the right outerwear for the winter weather, the officers would be able to pass as the Paxtons from a distance. “The rest of us need to eliminate the places he can lie in wait.” It bothered her to no end that they hadn’t yet found Orr’s hideout.
Troy arched an eyebrow. “We can put officers in place posing as repairmen over in city hall, up on rooftops, that kind of thing.”
She walked closer to the city map projected on the screen at one end of the room. Using the remote, she zoomed in on the blocks around the station, pointing out where she wanted undercover officers stationed in anticipation of Orr’s response. When she was confident they had every possible approach covered, she sent a statement to the local networks and instructed the GGPD social-media liaison to post an update online.
“Chief—” Officer Warren came skidding into the room “—we just got a silent alarm from the hotel. Orr forced Mr. Ruiz out at gunpoint.”
The words hung in the air, an incomprehensible shock to her system. Her heart stalled out and she couldn’t get a full breath. “Which direction—”
But there was no time to finish the question as screams erupted from the ever-present protestors out front. She swore and stormed to the front of the station, assessing the scene from just inside the bulletproof glass doors.
Heedless of pedestrians, Orr had driven right up onto the sidewalk and was shouting for the chief of police. The bastard was using Antonio as a shield. Fear and fury lashed at her. She couldn’t give in to the emotions, couldn’t look at Antonio as the man she loved. Yes, loved, despite all her best attempts to resist it. All of that had to wait until they were clear.
“Get an ambulance over here,” she ordered. “No sirens. Tell them to hold back out of sight.” Someone got on the radio and was speaking in hushed tones.
“Warren, I want the street blocked.”
“On it,” he said, rushing off.
She faced her department, steel in her voice. “I want everyone out of harm’s way. One hostage is all he gets today.” On the street, Orr fired into the air and bellowed for her again. She ignored him. “Troy, get someone on a roof with a clear shot. I want teams of two, but no one moves without my order. I’ll keep him distracted.”
Everyone leaped into motion as she stepped outside, hand resting casually on her gun. For the first time in days the steps were clear of protestors and she resented Orr for ruining the moment.
She desperately wanted to give Antonio some kind of reassurance, but she couldn’t. If she looked at him, at the danger he was in, she might break. That would put them all in jeopardy and no doubt raise the body count.
“Mr. Orr, thanks for coming over,” she said, as if they’d been lifelong friends. “We’ve been wanting to speak with you.”
“I’m not in the mood to talk, bitch.” He shoved Antonio forward with his gun. “I’m making a special delivery.”
“That so?” In her periphery, she saw her officers drawing away the bystanders a few at a time. “Please turn over your weapon,” she said. “It’s unlawful to fire a gun inside city limits.”
“Come on down and take him,” Orr shouted. “Wendy Paxton’s killer, ready to confess.”
“You can’t mean Mr. Ruiz.” She caught sight of Troy across the street, escorting one of their best marksmen, armed with a rifle, into city hall. She couldn’t let it get that far. “We have his prints on file and they are not a match to the evidence on Wendy Paxton’s body.”
“He did it.” He gave Antonio another little shove.
“Lower your weapon,” she directed, pulling her own gun. “Let Mr. Ruiz go. We can get to the bottom of this together.” She had a shot, as did several of her officers by now. “This is no way to resolve anything.”
“He’s been spreading lies about me. He killed Wendy and ran me out of town.”
“Okay. That’s upsetting.” She tilted her head. “Hey, is that the gun you used to fire at me on Saturday night?”
The tactic worked. Orr shifted to look at the weapon in his hand and she used the distraction to advance. He recovered quickly, though, raising the gun and taking aim at her.
Everyone moved at the same time. In a blink, Orr pulled the trigger while Antonio slammed into him and the bullet went wide, missing her and the glass doors, and lodging in the stone facade. He and Antonio were twisting around in the snow and the gun slid out of reach. Her officers closed in from both sides of the street, separating the men and guiding Antonio away.
Her heart had stalled during the scramble and seeing Antonio safe, she felt it beating again. The surge of relief would have brought her to her knees if she didn’t have unfinished business with Orr.
Someone collected the gun while others brought Orr under control. She walked over and snapped the cuffs on his wrists herself. “You are done.”
He screamed in outrage, making vile threats and promises of vengeance.
She let his anger roll over her, squeezed the cuffs another notch tighter as she stared him down. “Did you fire a weapon at me and Mr. Ruiz on Saturday night?”
“I was shooting at him,” he snarled, looking around for Antonio.
“Good start.” She stepped back, hands on her hips. “Did you try to run me over with a stolen truck?”
“Would’ve been two for one,” he said. “Ruiz and a cop for a spare.”
The spittle gathered at the corners of his mouth had her taking a half step back. “Did you kill Wendy Paxton?”
“Hell yes!” Orr shrieked.
“Take him to County,” she said.
The officers aimed him toward the patrol car that had just pulled up.
“She had it coming!” Orr did everything in his power to shake off the officers to no avail. “Cheating on me like that. She didn’t know anything.”
“County,” she repeated, turning away.
“You can’t hold me,” he screamed. “I have great lawyers. I’ll be out by dinner.” Orr laughed, and the maniacal sound slithered down her spine.
Why wreck his fantasy? They had him dead to rights for attempted murder today, and they would pile on with the other attempts he’d made on her life and Antonio’s. Wendy’s parents would have justice at last.
She started up the steps, baffled by the horror on the faces in front of her, when the sounds of a fight registered behind her. A grunt, a shouted warning and another gunshot.
Whirling around, Melissa saw one officer down, clutching his thigh, and Orr, hands cuffed, with a service weapon in his grasp, taking aim at her again. She fired, twice, center mass.
In slow motion, she watched the gun fall from his hand, watched the man crumple to the ground. Blood pooled under the lifeless body, following the bumpy pavement and staining the snow along the way.
Then, abruptly, the world snapped back to reality. She handed over her weapon, then let the paramedics confirm Orr’s demise and tend to her injured officer.
Orr was dead.
Given a choice, she would rather have Orr behind bars. She looked down at her empty hands, feeling utterly disconnected and slightly out of step with everyone around her. She’d shot him in self-defense, but it was more to protect her community than herself.
Reeling with a strange sadness, she instinctively looked for Antonio, but he was gone.
Antonio’s heart pounded against his ribs and his only coherent thought was to go to Melissa. He wanted to hold her until he was certain she was safe and whole. But she was surrounded by GGPD personnel and was being ushered away for whatever had to happen after an officer fired a gun.
In a fatality.
“Take it easy.” Troy guided him away from the scene, around the corner of city hall. “You’ll be able to see her soon,” the detective said.
“Should I give a statement?” He craned his neck, hoping to get a glimpse of Melissa. Surely with so many witnesses she wouldn’t be in trouble for taking lethal action. “She didn’t do anything wrong.”
“That’s why I’m here. For your statement. Relax, Antonio. Walk me through it.”
It took another few hard heartbeats to absorb the words, the meaning. He cleared his throat and explained how Orr had traded one hostage for Antonio at the hotel. “I saw Chief Colton do what was necessary to prevent further loss of life,” he said to finish. “Can I see her now?”
But he had to fill in more details as Troy questioned him, until finally the interview was complete.
“We appreciate your help,” Troy said. “You’ve been an asset to the department, to the chief in particular, and that helps all of us. Thank you again for helping us rescue my nephew.”
Antonio gave a nod, but trailed after Troy. “What happens next? For Melissa, I mean. They won’t force her out, will they?”
“Every officer-involved shooting is investigated and she’ll have to speak with a psychologist before she can return to duty.”
“But she’ll return?” Antonio couldn’t bear it if Orr killed her career. Melissa lived for the job, for the opportunity to serve the city and people she loved.
“I can’t just say yes, because we have to follow protocol,” Troy explained. “But the takedown was a group effort and there were plenty of witnesses to her necessary actions.”
Nothing he could do. The helplessness burned through him. He needed a minute with her; that was all. Just enough time to make sure she was all right, but they’d led her somewhere he couldn’t follow.
Returning to the hotel, he went straight to his office, making it clear Melissa was the only interruption he would allow. It seemed to take forever for his heart to find a normal rhythm again. He pressed his fingers lightly to the tender spot on his jaw where he’d taken another punch from Orr. It was begging for ice.
Would’ve been nice to sit beside Melissa, watch the fire together while the ice relieved the ache. Would anyone take care of her tonight or would she be dealing with all of this alone?
Their last conversation hadn’t gone well and she hadn’t returned his calls. Still, she had to know she could come to him, that he would be a friend, even if she didn’t return his feelings. More than anything else right now he regretted that she’d gone up against Orr, unsure of how much Antonio believed in her and the GGPD. And she had no idea how much he loved her.