Chapter Fifteen

Shortly after pulling out of the Grill, Shay noticed headlights following her. She glanced again in the rearview mirror. At a stop sign, the overhead lights lit the intersection enough that she could identify the truck. Nick’s.

In the driveway to her cottage, she turned off the engine and waited, not sure what to do. He wouldn’t hurt her. Nick was a lot of things but never physically abusive.

He stood awkwardly, hands plunged deep into his pockets, waiting for her.

With a sigh, Shay got out of the car but kept it between them. “I knew that was your truck following me. What do you want, Nick?”

“Can we talk?” He ex-husband leaned back against the hood of the pickup and appeared non-threatening.

“It’s late. I’m tired, and it’s been a tough day. I don’t want to talk. We have nothing to say to each other.”

“Are you all right? You don’t look well.”

“I told you I’m tired.” She headed up the short walkway to the house then unlocked the door.

Nick followed her, but he stopped halfway up the path. “Please stop. I left Brenda and took an apartment not far from here.”

Shay slumped and stared at the ground. “I’m not taking you back.”

“I know, I know. Can’t we just talk?” Nick walked to the bottom of the stairs. Dark shadows filled the hollows under his eyes.

He’d lost weight.

“I miss talking to you. You have a way of seeing around the bull. Please, I don’t have anyone else to go to.”

Shay gnawed her lip. He knew her weaknesses and counted on her never being able to turn away someone in need.

“No funny business, I promise.”

He sounded earnest. “Tsk. You can come in for a minute. Talk and no funny business. Got it?”

Nick began to follow her in, but noise and movement from a couple of doors down made them both glance over.

“What is it?” Shay leaned to look around the corner of the house.

Nick walked over to the area near the corner of the lot, peered into the dark beyond the light for a few moments, then returned. “It might have been a stray cat. I didn’t see anything.”

Shay peered out one last time as Nick brushed past her into the house. She shrugged, not seeing anything either, and closed the door. Hopefully, there were no stray cats. The bird feeder in the yard would attract their attention.

Nick followed her to the kitchen.

She flipped on the light over the white bistro table while he sat.

“This isn’t like our old house.” He scanned the room. “Ours was like a cabin. This is more like a beach cottage.”

It’s my taste.” Whirring noise filled the room as she ground the coffee. A push of the button and a nutty aroma quickly filled the air. “The cabin was about you. I didn’t think it worth the arguments.”

Nick pinched the area between his eyes. “I didn’t treat you very well.”

“Talk.” She wanted this over with.

“I’m sorry.” He fidgeted in his seat. “I messed up both our lives. I never meant to hurt you.”

“Oh please, spare me the platitudes and tell me what you want.”

“Maybe what I’m saying is cliche, but it’s the truth.” Nick ran a hand through his hair. “I was stupid. My ego held hands with arrogance, and they led me to a bad place.”

“You’ve never been one for introspection.”

Once, she loved this man. Handed him her heart. He’d changed—looked older. A couple of new wrinkles and silver highlighted his temples. He was still handsome, but also looked weary. When the coffee finished, she poured two cups and added cream.

“Brenda’s crazy.”

Shay jumped and nearly spilled the coffee when he blurted out the words. “And you didn’t realize that when she stabbed you?” She set the coffee on the table, rolling her eyes, and took the chair opposite. “Why did you go back?”

“No place else to go.” He shrugged. “You were the one real friend I had. Still are.”

“I wasn’t your friend. I was your wife. And now I’m your ex-wife and still don’t know what you want.”

“I don’t know what I want either. Peace, maybe? Some semblance of a normal life.” Nick placed his forearms on the table and leaned forward. “You were always someone I could open up to.”

Shay tilted her head and looked deep into his eyes. “All right, I’m listening.”

“Originally, I did plan to come here to try and get you back.”

Shay pushed her chair back. “That’s it…”

“No, wait. I know it’s over.” He raised both hands in surrender. “I deluded myself. You deserve better.”

She sat back down, trying to decipher his sincerity. “Nick, you have to make peace with yourself. It doesn’t come from the outside or from anybody else.”

“You always speak the truth. Something about tonight makes me want to hear it.”

Nearly midnight. The first hours of the new day were upon them. Images of the ghosts of past, present, and future loomed in the shadows. Getting up, Shay walked over to grab the coffee pot and topped off their mugs. In their bubble of light, the world around them remained dark. She hoped the bubble wouldn’t burst.

With a deep exhale, she rested both elbows on the table and wrapped her hands around the warm mug. “You’ve been running away all your life, Nick. When you showed up in town, you were running from your past, your family, and your nightmares. Then you ran from me and the life we were building. Now you’re running from Brenda. You keep changing your scenery, but never changing your story.”

They talked all night, transforming their relationship into a tentative friendship.

By the time Nick left and she’d cleaned up, the sun lit the horizon, turning it purple and pink. Walking toward her bedroom, she thought about how the conversation ended. No, they would never be a couple again. But friends? Maybe.

She changed into a sweatshirt and yoga pants but didn’t even make it into bed when the alert came over her cell. “Ah, nuts.”

It was Monday, barely, but Monday, nonetheless. After giving her bed a glance of longing, she grabbed the coveralls off the chair and pulled them on. Boots tied, she grabbed the phone and swiped to open the message.

—Possible gunshot wound. Police en-route. Proceed with caution.—

Running to her car, she pushed the unlock on the key fob, and the sedan beeped to life. The squad house was a few blocks away. Joanna would meet her there. Plugging in her blue light, Shay backed out of the driveway and took off. Her partner was already pulling the rig out of the bay when she parked in an on-duty slot. Mason and Zach had the other ambulance out and waited. Protocol required, when something serious occurred—like a gunshot or auto accident, they roll two vehicles.

“Paramedics are en-route, but you’re all ordered to stay at a distance until the area is secure.” Dispatch gave instructions over the radio.

Shay climbed in, then fastened her seat belt.

“At this time one man is down. The police on the scene are securing the area. Medevac has a helicopter on standby. Proceed to rendezvous. No lights, no sirens, roll dark.”

“Copy, dispatch. We are en-route to the waiting area.” Joanna keyed the mic and then turned to Shay. “Good morning.”

“Not for everyone.”

A few minutes later, the two ambulances joined the paramedics already at the designated standby area, a block from the scene. Two medics were out of their truck, and one stood smoking a cigarette. Shay cracked the window. No way was she getting out. It was definitely too cold to stand around.

Zach and Mason didn’t hesitate to join the other medics. Their breath puffed into the air and not from smoking.

“Hey.” Zach greeted them.

“Hey,” the smoker answered.

“They need to hurry up.” Joanna tapped the dashboard. “We’re already twenty minutes into this.”

“I know.”

Precious minutes ticked by. Trauma patients were on the clock. They called it the Golden Hour. Every minute counted after a traumatic injury. If medical intervention was received within the hour, the patient had the best chance of survival. Waiting for the all-clear had them on edge.

It came moments later through the radio. “Area secure, expedite. Man down is bleeding out. The helicopter is on its way.”

Shay put the ambulance into drive and pulled up to the scene. As they were piling out of their vehicle, Michael, one of the cops, intercepted her.

“Shay, wait. It’s Nick.”

Michael blocked her while Zach, Mason, and Joanna, along with the medics, skirted around them.

Deja vu. “No, it can’t be. He just left my house.” She struggled to get by him.

“How long ago?” he asked.

“What?” She tried to yank her arm from his hold.

“Shay, stop. Listen to me. You can’t help him. You’re too close.”

His words were a punch in the gut. In a matter of minutes, she went from being a rescuer to being a sort of victim.

Michael narrowed his eyes and gave her a piercing stare. “How long ago did he leave your house?”

Shay strained to see past his shoulders. “What time is it?”

“Seven-o-five.”

“Then he left my house about forty minutes ago.”

“Did you argue?”

She glanced at Michael’s now impassive expression, “What? You think I shot him? I’m a suspect?” Narrowing her eyes at him, she stopped struggling to get past. “No, we didn’t argue, we talked. All night.”

“What did you talk about? I know you and Nick haven’t spoken for a long time.” Michael took a pad and pen out of his pocket.

“Everything. Our life. Our relationship. A talk we should have had a long time ago.” Activity by the door caught her attention.

Nick was being loaded into the ambulance to rendezvous with Medevac.

“I want to go with him.”

Michael didn’t budge. “How did you both leave the conversation? I know the trouble Brenda’s caused. Did you fight about it?”

The doors to the ambulance closed, and she peered back at the man who was no longer Michael, the nice guy, but Officer Machau. Despite being dressed warmly, cold settled in. Instead of answering, she said in a quiet, controlled voice, “Just ask me, Officer. Ask me the question.”

“Did you shoot Nick?” The skin under his left eye twitched.

“No, I did not shoot him.” He had to be out of his ever-loving mind. “You’ve known me for years. How could you think I would?”

“I do know you. But I also know you shoved Brenda awhile back, and that’s not like you, either.”

“No, I bumped her. By accident.” She began to shake. Anger, on top of worry about Nick, coupled with the cold, caused tremors to run through her. “She tripped me, and I fell against her. Maybe you should be asking her questions. Nick told me he broke up with her and moved out. This is his new apartment.”

“Hey, I found the weapon,” a voice called from the side of the building.

“Stay here.” Michael started to turn away but stopped. He placed a hand on her shoulder. “I believe you. But it doesn’t mean everyone will. There have been a lot of issues between you, Nick, and Brenda.”

“Their issues, not mine.” She leaned against the ambulance while he walked away. The running engine kept the hood warm, but it couldn’t shake the chill deep inside.

When Michael strode back, another cop she didn’t recognize walked beside him. This guy gave her the hairy eyeball and said something to Michael she couldn’t hear.

Michael shook his head and answered the other man.

The cop turned and began to use yellow tape to cordon off the crime scene.

“Do you recognize this gun?” Michael held up a plastic evidence bag.

Shay shrugged. “I don’t know. It could be Nick’s duty weapon. I never paid much attention.”

“You’re sure?” Michael peered at her like she was a puzzle he needed to figure out.

“Jeez, Michael.” Shay scrubbed her face with her hands. “I don’t know anything about guns. I’ve never shot one or even held one.”

“Come to the patrol car with me.” He led the way to the vehicle and opened the trunk. Reaching in, he pulled out a small case. “This is a new field GSR, or gunshot residue, kit. Will you let me test you?”

“Of course. You won’t find anything on me.” Shay held out her hands.

After opening the sealed box, Michael snapped on blue nitrile gloves. First, he examined her hands and wrists. He then ran swabs from the kit over her skin on the palms and backs of her hands around the thumb. The swabs were then sealed into an evidence bag.

“All right—” Michael opened the door to the passenger side of the rig. “—you can go, but be available for questioning. Are you heading to the hospital?”

“Yes.” Shay climbed in and cranked up the heat.

“Good, someone will catch up with you there.”

He said some other things, but Shay only heard half of it.

All alone and trying to make sense of it, she startled when Joanna returned. “Let’s go back to the squad building and get my car. I’ll take you to the hospital. Zach said he and Mason would cover today.”

“How is he? Is Nick going to make it?”

“I think so.” Joanna sighed. “It’s not good. It’s an abdominal through and through, and he lost a lot of blood. But he’ll have the best care.”

Shay stared out the window. How had they come to this place?