Scorned (29 page)

              I pushed him away and ripped the flashlight from his hands. “I’m not stopping until we find them.” I used the light to find my way through the living room. “Rodney; Amanda, are you here?”

              “James shushed me. “If this is a trap, do you really think it’s a good idea to announce you’re here?”

              I knew he was right, but there was a glimmer of hope that one or both would respond and be perfectly fine. There was no reply, but the sounds that erupted from Amanda’s bedroom told me everything I needed to hear. The first sound was a loud thud, as if something heavy fell to the floor, or someone tripped, stumbled, slammed into the wall, or any other number of reasons. The noise that followed was what chilled me to the bone. A single blast from a gun echoed the halls of my house.

              A high pitched scream escaped from the pit of my stomach. “Amanda!” My heart nearly burst through my chest. There was no sense of control left within me. I had forgotten all of my police training and moved towards the hall. James tried to restrain me, but it was too late. His hands grazed my skin as I ran down to Amanda’s room. The door was wide open. Nothing I faced or was trained on could prepare me for what I was about to stumble upon. A large lump lay at the entrance to Amanda’s room. I directed the flashlight onto it, noticing Rodney sprawled out face down on the carpet.

             
Oh god, not Rodney
. I ran to his side. My fingers traveled along his body checking for any sign of blood. Rodney groaned, signaling he was okay. I saw his right hand was still clutching his glock. I pulled him in close. “Thank god you’re all right.”

              “What the hell happened,” he moaned.

              “I was about to ask you the same thing. We heard a gunshot and came running.” The flashlight’s beam stilled itself on his face.

              “I-I don’t know. The front door was open when I got here and started searching the house. When I got to Amanda’s room, someone attacked me. Next thing I knew, you were here waking me up.”

              “Then who fired the gun?”

              James stopped short of us and crouched down next to Rodney. “Is everyone okay?” He reached for my hand, but it still clung onto my glock for dear life. “It’s okay Ali, Rodney is fine.”

              I holstered my weapon and stood to help Rodney to his feet. My hand slid over the barrel of his gun and felt it was still hot. “Did you fire off a round?”

              “Um, I don’t know. Everything happened so fast.”

              A sharp stabbing pain erupted in my stomach. I twisted to look over my shoulder. The light hit the slick crimson pool that inched towards us. Someone was shot, someone was injured or dead. It was getting harder to breathe. I gulped down one more breath before raising the light to follow the path to Amanda’s bed. The blood was becoming thicker, some of it was smeared on the floor and on the comforter. Finally I saw who it belonged to.

              “
OH MY GOD, MATTHEW
!” I ran to his side and focused the light on his body locating a bullet wound in his chest. I ripped the bedding off, using a sheet to put pressure on the wound. “Someone call an ambulance!”

              James joined me in trying to revive Matthew. “No breathing and no pulse,” he shouted. James began mouth to mouth, hoping something might get through long enough to keep him alive so the paramedics could assist him.

              I heard Rodney on the phone calling dispatch. The three of us were frantically trying to keep Matthew alive. But it didn’t matter how hard we tried, he’d lost too much blood. There had been no pulse for over ten minutes. We needed a miracle to save him.

              Sirens blared in the distance. It was too soon for the ambulance. I heard voices shouting from the front door.

              “We’re back here,” Rodney shouted.

              The room became compact in size as half a dozen men in police uniforms entered the room. Hands grabbed my shoulders and pried me from Matthew’s lifeless body.

              “No! Leave me alone!” I scratched and clawed to stay with him. Rodney and another officer dragged me out into the hall as the officers continued working on Matthew. It wasn’t until I was out the front door that everything pieced together. Rodney was the shooter. His gun shot and killed Matthew. My foot connected with his shin. I broke free from his grasp. My hands balled up into fists and begun striking Rodney in the face and chest repeatedly. “You did this. You shot him. You killed him.”

              Rodney raised his hands defensively and backed away letting the other officer restrain me. “Ali, I swear, I didn’t pull the trigger.”

              “Liar, you were the only one in the room with him. You had the gun in your hand. You did it you son of a bitch.”

              Two more officers ran out from the house and did their best to keep distance between Rodney and me. I was foaming at the mouth, fighting off three cops trying to get at him. If they had let me go, I probably would’ve killed him.

              The ambulance pulled up along with another car. The medics rushed past me and through the front door. It was only a matter of time before they confirmed what I already knew. Matthew, the love of my life, was dead.

              “Someone mind telling me what the hell happened,” the Lieutenant said in his thick Columbian accent.

              Rodney’s expression went from complete confusion to “oh shit,” in a matter of seconds. “Uh Lieu, what are you doing here?”

              “I called the station to see how things were, and one of the boys told me they were on their way out to Detective Ryan’s house. Something about a killer coming after her sister. I got in the car to check on everyone and heard the call for an ambulance coming over the radio.” He surveyed the scene in my front yard and saw the officers keeping a barrier between Rodney and me. “Would someone mind telling me why she was trying to beat the hell outta you, or why she’s covered in blood?”

              There was pure hatred in my eyes. “Rodney shot my boyfriend.” The coldness and viciousness in my voice took the Lieutenant by surprise.

              “Is this true Detective Johnson?”

              “I-I don’t know. I don’t remember pulling the trigger. I don’t remember a gun going off. I don’t even remember anything after going into Amanda’s room.”

              “His gun was still warm and in his hand. He was the only one in the room with Matthew.” The officers turned their attention towards Rodney and took their eyes off of me. I broke through the barrier they formed and lunged at Rodney again.

              Once again I was pulled off of him, but this time I was dragged back to the street. Lieutenant Esposito blocked me from ripping my arms free and charging at Rodney again.

              “Stand down Detective, and that’s an order.”

              James emerged from the house. His good looks and sharp dressed style was masked in blood, Matthew’s blood. He glanced up at me, solemnly shook his head and continued down the path.

              Tears fell against my blazing hot cheeks. I bit my lip, afraid of what I might do if they released me again. I wanted to hurt Rodney for what shooting Matthew. It didn’t matter if he meant to do it or not.

              The Lieutenant watched James out of the corner of his eye and pulled him aside. Were they talking about Rodney? Were they talking about what happened? Or were they trying to figure out what to do with me? I didn’t care. The love of my life was dead and my sister was still missing.

              “I’m sorry ma’am; we’re closing this area off,” an officer said. He was standing in front of my neighbor’s house by the street talking to someone who tried driving up to the crime scene that was once my home.

              “Get the fuck outta my way,” the woman’s voice commanded. I recognized the sassiness in her tone. I craned my neck to confirm my suspicion. “This is my sister’s house. I live here with her.”

              I ripped my arms free and sprinted to the street, shoving the officer aside. Amanda was standing on the sidewalk. Her long black hair hung down to her shoulders. She was breathing, unharmed and alive. My body slammed into her. I wrapped her in my arms and held on tightly.

              “Thank god you’re all right.”

              “Of course I’m okay. What’s going on?” Amanda stared at the police cars and ambulances surrounding the place she called home. “Why are all the police here?”

              I hugged her tighter, afraid to break away, afraid that this would be just some hallucination brought on by shock. But she was real, she was here.

              “Where the hell were you?”

              “I went to therapy and a group session before getting a late dinner.”

              “A group session?”

              “Matthew recommended it.” Just hearing his name come out of her mouth sent tears streaming down my face. “Ali, what’s wrong?” I couldn’t tell her, but it was more like I didn’t want to admit it out loud. I had no choice. Amanda’s hand rapidly tapped my shoulder. “What the fuck happened?”

              I turned and saw the medics coming out of the house accompanied by the police while another group of officers escorted Rodney into the back of a squad car. “There’s-there’s been an accident.”

              “What kind of accident?”

              James interrupted before I could tell her. He was still covered in blood. “Ali, your Lieutenant needs us to go down to the station and give our statements.”

              “I’m not going anywhere without Amanda.”

              “That’s fine; she can come too, but we need to go now.”

              James put his arm around me and escorted me back to his car. He held the door open for Amanda, allowing her to get in the backseat. I climbed into the passenger seat and stared out the window. All I could think about was seeing Matthew’s lifeless body slumped against Amanda’s bed.

Chapter 37-Ali

              James was the first to give his statement. He felt it was important for me to sit with Amanda for a while. In that time I told her everything I saw and what I was led to believe happened at the house. Her face registered nothing but horror and shock.

              “I just talked to him yesterday,” she admitted.

              “Wait, you two still talked?”

              Amanda’s eyes were filled with guilt. “I’ve been trying to convince him to give you guys another shot.” Part of me was annoyed that my sister went behind my back to meddle in my love life, but I knew how much she cared about him. Amanda looked at Matthew as the older brother she never had and wanted us to be happy together. Needless to say, I was a bit curious to hear if she had made any progress.

              “So, what did he say?”

              “I think he was considering it, but was still pretty hung up on the whole you being in danger from your job.” My heart sank deeper. Matthew wanted me to leave my job because it was too dangerous. He was so concerned for my safety, but he was the one who paid the ultimate price.

              “Ali, you’re up,” James said as he emerged from one of the rooms at the station. He had cleaned up and washed the blood off of his hands and face. Unfortunately I couldn’t say the same for his clothes. I was frozen to the spot. James walked towards me with his hand stretched out. “Come on; they’re waiting for you.”

              “What about Amanda?”

              “I’ll stay with her until you get back.”

              The idea of James watching over Amanda didn’t sit well with me. We still had no idea who delivered the flowers and the note. Whoever sent it was still out there. We knew he was dangerous, that was a given. In the course of a year, he nearly killed me, kidnapped my sister and sent us on a wild goose chase for Amanda again which led to Rodney shooting and killing Matthew.

              My eyes gazed at Amanda. “It’s okay sis,” she replied. “I’m not going anywhere. Besides, do you really think someone’ll try anything in a station full of cops?”

              “Amanda, some guy waltzed in here and put flowers on my desk without anyone noticing. I wouldn’t put it past him to try something else.”

              “You probably didn’t have that many cops here when it happened.”

              “Plus the Lieutenant has everyone on high alert right now,” James added. He’s got every cop in the county either at your house or on their way here.

              “It’s all right Ali. Go, I’ll be fine.”

              I walked down the hall and entered a closed off room. A man I had never seen before, sat at wooden table jotting things down on a legal pad. He was dressed in a crumpled black suit and had salt and pepper hair that was kept short. The wrinkles on his face told me he was easily fifty or older and that he had done more than his time on the force.

              “Evening Detective,” he said in a deep monotone type of voice. “I know this isn’t the best time to do this, but we must stick to protocol.”

              I understood the procedure. They needed a statement from me for a few reasons. The first was to gather as much info about what happened as possible before things were “forgotten.” Another reason was because Rodney had fired his weapon and they needed to consult everyone present about what happened leading up to and after the shooting occurred.

              I took a seat across from the man as he jotted my name on a clean piece of paper. “I’m sorry; who are you?”

              “My name is Captain Braden Braun.” His name rang a bell, but I couldn’t put a finger on where I knew him from. “Now Detective Ryan, please walk me through what happened tonight.”

              And so I did. Captain Braun and I sat in the small confined room discussing every moment from Dr. Cain’s arrest, to the flowers being found in the backseat of my car and on my desk, to the moments leading up to and after I heard the gunshot. The half hour it took James to get through seemed like ten minutes compared to the hour long discussion I had with the Captain.

              I won’t deny it, I broke down in front of him when talking about rushing back to my house. Every moment we spent looking for a switch that worked or trying to turn on the TV for some source of light was time that we could’ve spent checking the rest of the house and stopping Rodney from killing Matthew. Truth be told, I was starting to blame myself as much as I did my partner.

              I exited the room with a soggy tissue in my hand and tears staining my face. I walked down the hall, but not towards Amanda. I stumbled back to the interrogation room, finding Rodney, Lieutenant Esposito and another man, most likely from I.A. sitting across from each other.

              I stepped behind the glass and listened to them. This was a bad move on my part. A war was raging inside of me that was chomping at the bit to explode. I loved Rodney, he was like a brother to me. He’s been my partner for years. I trusted him, relied on him, and depended on him to have my back every time we left that station together. We’ve spent holidays together with his wife and daughter and even hung out just because we were bored. So for me to not be by his side in this kind of situation is one of the worst feelings in the world. But he shot Matthew. Matthew, the man I love, the man I actually saw a future with. Any chance at getting a happily ever after was ripped away and destroyed the instant Rodney pulled that trigger.

              I listened to him tell the Lieutenant his side of things. He was sticking to the story of someone attacking him before the gunshot, and how he doesn’t recall ever firing his weapon. I wanted to scream,
liar, you’re a fucking liar. You’re just saying that to save your career and your ass from going to prison.
My mind was made up, and I was about to tear him a new one, but was stopped when two people blocked me from going near the door.

              “Don’t do it Ali,” James said.

              Amanda stood off to his right shaking her head. “Get out of my way,” I shouted. “I need to get in there.”

              “And do what, ruin your friendship?”

              “How can I be friends with someone that murdered the man that I love?” I looked back at the mirror and saw three heads turn towards us. They couldn’t see what was going on, and I’m sure they couldn’t hear everything that was being said. But they heard something, even if it was muffled, it was enough to stop them in mid-conversation and wonder what was going on.

              The Lieutenant stood up and opened the door. “Detective, what are you doing here? You are not on this investigation and are not authorized to hear this interview.”

              “I have every right to hear this. He shot Matthew. I was there. I saw the gun in his hand.” My words carried into the room and saw Rodney break down in front of the man from I.A. It didn’t faze me. I had no sympathy for him. He deserved to know what I thought of him and planned on letting him know it.

              I lunged for the door, but James threw his arms around me and pinned me against the opposing wall. “You trying to lose your job on top of everything else tonight?”

              “It doesn’t matter.”

              “It matters to me.”

              “And me too,” Amanda replied softly.

              They looked to the Lieutenant for his comment. “Yeah, me too. You’re a pain in my ass, but a damn good cop. I don’t wanna lose you.”

              James pressed his nose up against mine. He was too close for comfort and swore he was trying to kiss me again. Instead he looked me straight in the eyes as if we were the only people in the room at that moment. “Let me take you and Amanda someplace safe for the night. We can worry about everything else later.”

              I chewed on my bottom lip while trying to break free from James’s grasp. He was strong and wouldn’t let me go until I agreed to leave the station with him.

              “Fine,” I said dismissively. James let go of my wrists, but kept his stance in front of me. Amanda ran to my side and placed her arms around my waist as the three of us walked to the parking lot. “Where are we going,” I asked.

              “My place; you’ll be safe there.” I raised an eyebrow at him, questioning his motives. “Relax, I won’t try anything. You girls can take the bed and I’ll sleep on the couch.”

              “You take one step near that bedroom and I’ll chop off your little friend.” My eyes lowered to his pants. I think he got the message.