Total pages in book: 70
Estimated words: 67095 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 335(@200wpm)___ 268(@250wpm)___ 224(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 67095 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 335(@200wpm)___ 268(@250wpm)___ 224(@300wpm)
“Ready?” one of the SWAT officers asks, sticking his head into the stairwell a second later. Levi and I follow him down the hall toward the open apartment door. Upon entering, I do a quick scan of the room. There are two doors, both open. One leads to a bedroom, the other to a bathroom. The kitchen adjoins the living room. I walk in and see a TV on a glass stand, with a couch across from it. A woman who must be Juan’s girlfriend is sitting with her hands on her lap. Juan lies on his belly on the floor with two SWAT officers to either side of him.
Pulling the warrant out of my pocket, I stride toward Juan’s girlfriend but stop abruptly when she reaches down between her legs and pulls out something black. It takes a second for me to react and to yell, “Gun!”
As soon as the word leaves my mouth, all hell breaks loose. The officers holding Juan lose their hold on him as bullets start flying, which gives him just enough leeway to grab a weapon from under the entertainment unit. It feels like I’m watching him lift the gun in slow motion. I shout again, but it’s too late. He takes the shot. Everything seems to stop as the bullet hits Levi, who goes down.
Not again, not again.
I breathe in through my nose and out through my mouth as I make my way across the floor on my hands and knees toward Levi. His back is to me. Once I’m close enough to touch him, I grab on to the collar of his jacket and drag him with me until we’re both behind the couch.
Please be alive! I silently beg, rolling him onto his back.
His chest is rising and falling, but he’s bleeding.
I yell over the sound of grunts and shouting. “We need an ambulance—now!”
I strip off my jacket and put it over his shoulder to put pressure on the entry wound.
“Fawn . . . ,” he says as I add more pressure. “Call Fawn.”
“I’ll call her,” I promise as his eyes slide closed. “Get a fucking ambulance!” I yell again as blood pools out from between my fingers.
There’s too much blood—way too much blood. My stomach turns and my pulse thumps hard.
I can’t do this. I can’t do this again. I can’t lose anyone else.
“Medical is on their way up now,” one of the SWAT officers says as he gets down on his knees across from me. “Do you want me to take over?”
Shaking my head, I keep my eyes on my hands—they’re covered in blood.
“Medic’s here.”
I lift my head and watch four EMTs come into the apartment, carrying a stretcher and bags with them.
“We got it,” one of the female EMTs says.
But I don’t move. I can’t.
“You can’t let him die.” I swallow over the lump in my throat, and her hand covers mine.
“I promise we will take care of him, but you have to let us do our job.” She gives me a reassuring smile.
I look from her back to Levi.
“Thank you.” I stand back and watch them go to work on my partner, my friend.
Once they slow the bleeding and make sure he’s stable, they lift the gurney up off the floor and start pushing him out of the apartment and into the hall. He doesn’t look as pale as he was a few minutes ago, but his skin is still clammy, and his eyes won’t stay open for longer than a few seconds.
“It will be okay, man.” I follow him and the EMTs toward the elevators.
“Don’t worry about me. Just call Fawn. Tell her I’ll be okay.”
“I’ll tell her.”
“Take my phone.” He tries to reach for his cell, but one of the EMTs stops him as we all get in the elevator.
Reaching around the EMT—and ignoring the look she gives me—I take his phone and shove it into my pocket.
“I’ll meet you at the hospital,” I tell him when the elevator comes to a stop on the first floor.
“Just call Fawn.”
“I’ll call,” I assure him.
I rub the back of my neck as I watch the EMTs put him into the ambulance parked at the curb, the lights flashing. Dropping my eyes to my boots, I tighten my fingers around his phone before putting it to my ear. I head for Levi’s SUV, wishing I didn’t have to make this call.
MAC
Holding Fawn’s hand tightly, I watch Wesley pace at the end of the hall. Back and forth, back and forth, with his hands on his hips and his eyes on the swinging doors. When we arrived at the hospital, Wesley took my hand and led us up here, to a waiting area just outside the surgical unit. He said that Levi was stable when the ambulance left with him, and that the doctors assured him when he arrived that Levi would be okay. I know none of that information has really put Fawn’s mind at ease.