The sound of the shot propelled Millar into Penner’s car, just as the radio cracked to life.
‘This is Constable Curry. I need an ambulance at the corner of Sheppard and Carling. Suspect has been shot. I repeat, suspect has been shot.’
‘Ambulance is en route,’ dispatch reported.
‘My God, she’s just a kid! I thought she was a man! She’s so tall, and…and bald. Get that ambulance here now! Suspect is bleeding out from her right thigh. I’m going to tie it off to try and control the bleeding.’
‘Ambulance is about five minutes out. Confirm the scene is safe for the paramedics to assist.’
‘Roger, suspect has been cuffed and searched, no weapons found. I was sure she had a gun!’
Millar looked at Penner as she peeled away from the curb, determined to get to the scene as quickly as possible. ‘He was doing his job, Millar. Don’t do anything stupid when we get there, right?’ Penner said, shooting him a sideways glance. Millar didn’t respond, but she could see the clenched fists in his lap. As they turned onto Sheppard Street, Penner saw the lights of the ambulance ahead of her. Millar jumped out of the car before she could even put it in park. Without waiting, he raced to where he could see two paramedics working on his daughter. Tina lay on the blood-soaked ground, pale and still.
‘Tina. Tina! Are you okay?’ There was so much blood.
‘She’s unresponsive,’ one of the paramedics said into his radio. ‘Ron, get an IV going. We’ve gotta get her to the hospital now!’ he said to the other paramedic as he re-tied the tourniquet around her leg, trying to control the bleeding before moving her. Millar leaned down to try and hold her hand. ‘Sir, we need space to work,’ the paramedic said to him.
Millar stood up and gave them some room. He knew Tina was in good hands, and he couldn’t do anything for her right now.
The paramedics inserted a needle in Tina’s right arm and hooked up the IV bag. Fluids started to flow and they loaded her onto a stretcher. Her left arm flopped down to her side. She didn’t try to bring it back up.
‘What hospital are you going to?’ Millar asked as they put Tina in the back of the ambulance.
‘The General,’ the first paramedic said, closing the door behind him. The ambulance sped off, with lights and sirens.
Millar turned to walk back towards Penner’s car.
Penner found Constable Curry standing apart from the other officers at the scene. He seemed to be very shaken up. ‘What happened?’ she asked him. ‘Why did you shoot?’
‘I was sure she had a gun,’ Constable Curry said, shaking his head. ‘I saw her running down Carling so I called out. I yelled that I was the police and told her to freeze. She kept running. I ran after her and started to close the distance between the two of us. I called out again. This time she stopped and turned towards me. I thought she had a gun. I thought she was a he. I yelled to drop the weapon and she took a step towards me. I don’t remember pulling the trigger, but I must have. She just fell right there, grabbing her leg. I never shot anyone before. Never even pulled my gun.’
Out of the corner of her eye, Penner saw Millar change direction and start walking towards them. ‘Constable, go to your car. If you can, drive yourself to the precinct and see the Captain. If you need to, get one of the other officers to drive you.’ Constable Curry didn’t move. He just stood there with his hands in his pockets. ‘Constable, did you hear me?’ Penner said, more forcefully this time. Constable Curry looked up, just as Millar’s fist was heading for his face.
Thankfully, the ‘shots fired’ call had brought several officers to the scene. It took three of them to pull Millar off of Constable Curry.
‘You really shouldn’t have done that,’ Penner said, buckling her seatbelt and turning to Millar in the passenger seat. She looked in her rearview mirror and saw Constable Curry being helped to his feet, holding his nose.
‘What would you have done?’ Millar asked, holding his hand. His knuckles had started to swell.
‘Honestly? I probably would have shot him,’ Penner said, pulling away from the side of the street in the direction of the hospital. ‘Nice hit by the way.’ Millar didn’t say anything—he just stared out of the window, rubbing his hand. ‘How you doing, Terry?’
‘I really don’t know,’ Millar answered. ‘I kinda feel numb, like it’s some kind of surreal dream. How could she kill someone? I don’t get it. She was unpredictable—mad, sad, extreme mood swings—but I just figured that’s how teens were, ya know? I never saw this coming. I failed her. I failed as both a dad and a cop. I should have seen this coming.’
‘Don’t blame yourself. No one saw this coming. I’m sure the school would have reported something if there were signs. Or her coach, or her mom,’ Penner said. ‘You’re not the only adult in her life. You can’t blame yourself. Right now, you have to get into dad mode and be there for her. This is not going to be easy for her. She’s going to need you to be strong. Get in touch with your lawyer, or John Sharp. He’s one of the best defense lawyers in town. Expensive, I’m sure, but maybe you can get an advance from your publisher for another book or something.’
‘Who’s going to read a book on profiling written by a guy who couldn’t see his own daughter was a serial killer?’ Millar said, turning to Penner. ‘I just don’t get it.’
Penner didn’t know what to say. As she pulled into the hospital emergency entrance, she noticed Arden Wall and his camera man filming where Tina would have been transferred out of the ambulance. ‘You go in—I’ll deal with him,’ Penner said to Millar as she parked the car.
‘Detective Millar! Is it true that your daughter is the serial killer?’ Arden yelled out as Millar walked by him, staring straight ahead. It took everything Millar had to keep walking. ‘Why did she do it? Was she abused at home?’ With this, Millar stopped in his tracks and started to turn.
‘Don’t Millar, just go in. I got this,’ Penner called out. Millar took a deep breath and continued into the hospital. He looked around and saw the nurses’ station to his right. He still felt like he was walking in a fog, and blindly headed over, not paying any attention to what was going on around him. An orderly pushing a stretcher had to dodge around him—Millar didn’t even notice.
‘Can you tell me where they took Tina Millar?’ he asked as he got to the desk. The nurse sitting on the other side didn’t look up from the computer.
‘Sorry, who?’ she asked.
‘Tina Millar. She just got brought in with a gun shot wound to her leg. I’m her father,’ Millar said.
The nurse looked up. ‘Detective Millar? I didn’t realize she was your daughter. I thought they said she was the suspect…’
‘She is. And she is. Can you tell me where they took her, please?’ Millar asked, sounding defeated.
The nurse typed on her computer. ‘She’s being prepped for surgery. Not sure if she’s conscious or not. She wasn’t when she was brought in. Even if she is, she may have already received some meds and anesthetic, so she may not be coherent. Steve, can you bring Detective Millar to pre-op?’ the nurse called out to another orderly who was passing by.
‘This way, Detective.’ The orderly beckoned to him, not even breaking his stride.
‘Thanks,’ Millar said to the nurse. She just nodded, not knowing what to say. As Millar followed after the orderly, he heard running steps behind him and paused, waiting for Penner to catch up. She was holding her right hand a bit awkwardly. ‘Don’t tell me,’ Millar said.
‘He’s not going to run the story until our PR team gets in touch with him,’ said Penner. ‘He may run a story on police brutality, but we’ll see.’
‘Thanks, Sue,’ Millar said as the orderly pointed them towards the pre-op room. An officer stood outside the room, and two more were inside. Tina lay on a bed with her eyes closed. Her pants were cut up to her waist and covered with blood. Various tubes ran into her arms, one up her nose, and she was hooked up to a heart monitor. Millar found it hard to look at her. He walked to her side and put his hand on her forehead. She didn’t move.
‘She’s already under.’ Millar started at the sound of the doctor’s voice. He hadn’t even noticed him when he walked in.
‘How’s she doing?’ Millar asked, afraid to hear the answer.
‘She’s lost a lot of blood, the bullet hit the artery. It did a lot of damage, but we won’t know the extent until we get her in surgery. She’s lucky she got here as quickly as she did, otherwise she probably would have bled out,’ the doctor said.
‘Real lucky,’ Millar thought as the orderly returned, wearing a mask. ‘How long’s the surgery going to be?’ he asked as he watched them prepare to take Tina to the operating room.
‘Hard to say. It really depends on how much damage was done, but I’d say at least a couple of hours. If you want, go home and we’ll call you,’ the doctor said, washing up at the sink.
Millar leaned down and kissed Tina on the cheek as she was wheeled by. ‘I’m so sorry,’ he whispered.