What seemed like an eternity was only a few minutes. I heard sirens coming down the street. Within seconds, four officers burst through the broken patio door. It was over, and I was thankful. Marie helped me into the wheelchair, and with my good arm, I hugged her like I’d never hugged her before.
“You saved my life, Sis.”
Her entire body shook, and all she could do was nod. Danny lay on the floor, unmoving. Whether he was dead or not, I didn’t know, but Officer Rush quickly kicked the gun away from him.
“Detective Cannon, are you okay?”
I let out the breath I’d been holding. “Thanks to my sister, I’m unharmed. Is he—”
“He’s still breathing.”
Petrie called 911 and had an ambulance dispatched to the house. They said they would be there in under five minutes.
I nearly had to pry Marie’s hand from mine. “Sis, go upstairs and be with the girls and Gus. I don’t want them to come down until after Danny is taken away.”
Officer Rush escorted Marie upstairs while Officer Green cleared the property.
Petrie came to my side. “Shall I call someone for you?”
“Yes, call Royce and get him and Rue here as soon as possible.”
“Roger that, sir.”
I sat in the wheelchair and caught my breath. I was grateful that Georgia was a “stand your ground” state. If Danny died, no charges would be brought against Marie.
Seconds later, my cell phone rang. I asked Rush to bring it to me. On the screen, it showed Royce was calling.
I took in a deep breath before answering. “Mitch here.”
“Thank God. What the hell happened? Are you and your family okay?”
“We are, and speaking of family, I need to call my mom and tell her it’s okay to come home.”
“I’ll be there in five.”
“Boss, where’s Rue?”
“He went to Kim’s house to search for documents.”
“But Green just told me that there’s a cruiser in the driveway.”
“What the hell! I need to get to Kim’s house. We’ll come to you as soon as we can, Mitch.” Royce abruptly hung up.
The ambulance arrived seconds later and took Danny away. I was glad Mom and the kids wouldn’t have to see him on the living room floor. As soon as they left, I called Mom and assured her that we were unharmed and she could come home. We were safe thanks to Marie’s courage and quick thinking.
My mind was filled with worry over Devon. I wondered whether Danny had gone to Kim’s house and found Devon inside. That was the only explanation I could think of for a cruiser to be in my driveway, and my calls to Rue’s phone went unanswered, worrying me even more.
Minutes later, my phone rang again. It was Royce, and he was with Devon. He’d found him bleeding and bound on Kim’s office floor. The ambulance was en route, and although Rue had a couple of good cracks to the back of his head, he was alert.
I was relieved and thanked God that we were spared serious injury from Danny’s psychotic breakdown. Six other people weren’t so lucky.
Seconds later, Mom burst through the front door with tears streaming down her cheeks. “Are you okay, honey? Where’s Marie and the girls?”
I hugged her tightly. “They’re upstairs, and they’re fine. Why don’t you go be with them for a few minutes, Mom?” I heard Royce’s voice as he came up the sidewalk. “I need to talk to my sergeant anyway.”
Royce entered, looked at me, then looked at the patio door. He called out to Green. “Get somebody out here to replace that door right away.”
“Yes, sir.”
Royce walked to me. “Are you okay, Mitch?”
I let out a groan. “I am, but I don’t need my family to see that bloodstain on the floor. Can you put that throw rug over it for the time being?”
“You bet. I’ll get a service out here to clean the floor first thing in the morning.”
“Thanks, Boss. How’s Rue?”
“He has a hard head, like you.”
I chuckled. “No, seriously?”
“Nothing that a half-dozen stitches won’t take care of. He’ll be fine. Apparently, Danny showed up there, but why, I don’t know. I imagine seeing Rue inside really set him off. Speaking of Whitman, is he—”
“No. He was hit in the rib area according to the paramedics. Maybe he’ll have his day in court after all. Hopefully, there won’t be any bail for him.”