Diana reeled around and shot at Nathan. The first time, I would have sworn that the gun went off by itself. But the second bullet pinged into the van, and I knew she was intentionally aiming for him.
Nathan pulled his revolver out of his breast pocket and held it on the woman. “Get inside, Kathy!”
Diana stood there, confused for a millisecond, then turned the gun on me. “You wanted to stay out here in the open, so stay.”
I didn’t have time to react when I heard a third shot. But it hadn’t come from Diana’s gun.
Like a water balloon dropped from a five story building, blood sprayed from Diana Larkin’s knee. Startled, in pain, and bewildered, she dropped her gun and fell backward, down the three steps, landing on her side on the pavement.
As the woman shrieked in agony, Nathan raced up the stairs to see if I was all right.
“Forget her!” Diana screamed. “I’m the one hurt here. Call an ambulance.”
I could hear sirens before I saw an ambulance, followed by a squad car, rounding the corner.
Ashley opened her door a crack. “I thought they’d never get here. Are you okay?”
“Fine.”
“You sure?” Nathan asked.
I nodded and forced a smile.
Nathan picked up Diana’s gun, then walked to the officers and handed it over to them, along with his own. Which was standard procedure, since he had fired it as well. One of the EMTs examined her wound while the other wheeled over the folding stretcher.
“Wow!” Ashley said, coming to stand by me. “Shootout on Dover Street. I can see the headlines now. This is bad.”
I half expected Diana to shout threats or obscenities at me as they wheeled her away. But she only turned her head and cried. I had nothing to say to her, but Ashley couldn’t resist.
“You’re going down, Mrs. High and Mighty! Kiss that fancy house of yours good-bye. I’m going to laugh all the way to court.”
After loading Mrs. Larkin into the back of the ambulance, it drove off, and we were left with the two officers.
I told Ashley to give her statement for their report while I called Lizzie, hoping to catch her before she went to court.
But I was too late. Josh asked if I wanted to leave a message with him or with voicemail. Choosing the less emotional of the two, I tried making it brief.
“Mrs. Larkin showed up at Ashley’s house. There was a minor . . . altercation. But I’m okay. So are Ashley and Nathan. I’ll tell you all about it later. Oh, this is your mother.”
I hung up and walked over to Nathan. I was more shaken than I’d thought and regretted calling. My message sounded so cryptic. But the way news travels at light speed now, she would have freaked out hearing it from another source.
“This is Officer Carlson,” Nathan told me, motioning to the short man in front of him.
“And that’s my partner, Sanders.”
I looked at the man on the porch, talking to Ashley.
“It’s nice to meet you, Mrs. Sullivan.”
We shook hands.
“As I was telling Mr. Walker here, the three of you will have to come down to the station. . . . but you’re more familiar with procedure than anyone.”
“I told him we used to work with Chief Bostwick,” Nathan said.
“He’s a good man,” I said and meant it. Personality aside, Dean was an asset to the force. He just needed some fine-tuning.
Carlson raised his eyebrows so slightly I doubted if he thought I’d caught the gesture. “We’ll take Ms. Knight with us, and you two can follow in your car.”
Nathan zipped his jacket up. “Will do.”
Sanders allowed Ashley to get her coat, then followed her down the stairs to the patrol car. “The neighbors must be enjoying this. They’ve always hated me,” she told me as she got in the backseat.
* * *
In the time it took us to make the short drive to the police station, more than a dozen videos and pictures had hit the Internet. One even came from the old lady with the Pomeranians—at least that’s what Polly told me later.
E.T. had obviously ignored the “Reserved” sign and was parked in front.
When he saw us, he jumped out of his car and almost tackled Nathan as he got out of the van. “Larkin’s wife’s the crazy one in that family. When I heard she had a gun . . . I was so . . . thank God, you’re okay.”
“How on earth did you hear about it?” Nathan asked, looking at E.T. with alarm.
“You know I have a police scanner in my car, right?”
“I know we have one at the office. I didn’t know you had your own.”
E.T. cracked a smile. “Come on, boss, you used to be a Boy Scout like me. We’re always prepared. Right?”
Nathan smiled back. “You never cease to surprise me, man. I’m just glad you’re on my side.”
When we entered the station, we were told Ashley had been taken back already and were asked to wait.
“Can I get either one of you anything?” E.T. asked. “Coffee? Soft drink? I think they have—”
“I’m good,” I told him, hoping he’d settle down.
“Me, too,” Nathan said.
E.T. calmed down a bit and took his place on the bench across from us. “We have to stop meeting like this.” His attempt at humor was endearing.
The muscles in my legs twitched. My arms ached from the tension brought on by Diana Larkin. Sitting there, my back against the brick wall, felt relaxing in an odd way. I closed my eyes and hoped no one would ask anything of me for a few minutes. Taking deep breaths, I willed my brain to slow down. Mentally reviewing the contents of my purse, I was glad I’d packed some Tylenol for the headache I feared would come next.
But all the pain relievers in the world couldn’t stop the biggest headache that was marching down the hall.
“Katherine Sullivan,” Dean Bostwick said, “sorry to disturb your beauty sleep, but I’d like to talk to you for a few minutes.”