My heart raced. “What’s going on with Dylan?” I asked.
Instead of answering, he put the phone to his ear and listened, gesturing for me to follow. I grabbed my purse and jacket, and we hurried out of the restaurant.
The radio in his car was going crazy whenwe climbed in. Jake set his phone down and cranked the dial in time for us to hear, “...all available units to the corner of Lovejoy and northwest Thirteenth. All available units. We have a possible hostage situation in Safeway. Suspect is armed.”
“Hostage situation?” I asked, unable to believe my ears. Why had Jake asked about Dylan? Was she connected? “Is Dylan the hostage?”
Something elsecame over the radio, but I was too busy freaking out to hear what was said.
“Not sure what’s going on, but I need to listen.”
I bit my lip and nodded. Hostage? Who would take Dylan hostage? Why? In Safeway? Feeling worried and helpless, I pulled out my phone and fired off a quick text to Asher, letting him know he needed to get his butt to the downtown Safeway right away.
By the time we arrived,I couldn’t hold back my tears anymore, although I was able to keep my sobbing to a minimum.
Cop cars with flashing lights and ambulances (three of them), were blocking two streets and various uniformed people were behind the safety of their vehicles, some with guns drawn, others watching the front of the store. One of the ambulances took off as we pulled in.
Jake turned to me and stroked mytears away with his thumb. “Stay here. I’ll find out what’s going on, but I need you to stay in the car.”
I nodded.
“She’s gonna be okay, sweetheart. Okay?”
I nodded again, but didn’t really believe him as he climbed out of the car. I grabbed my purse, pulled my gun out, and unlatched the safety. He had five minutes and then I was going in.
As I sat in Jake’s car, everything was eerily quiet.It was so quiet, my shallow, quick breathing sounded more like wheezing. I forced myself to take a few deep breaths as I waited. I noticed a drop of water... just one... land on the windshield and slide down to touch the wiper, and I waited. I checked my watch... two minutes. I sighed and glanced back out the window. Nothing was happening. How could so much be riding on absolutely no activity?
My phone pealed, breaking the silence and about causing me to jump out of my skin. Asher’s photo flashed across the screen so I hit talk and put it to my ear. “Ashey.”
“I’m on my way. What’s happening?” he asked.
“I don’t know. I’m in Jake’s car. There’s a hostage situation at the downtown Safeway, and I think Dylan’s the hostage.”
“What? What were you guys doing this time?”
“Nothing. I swear.I was about to turn all our evidence over to Jake. He and I were at lunch when he got the call.”
“Evidence as in the spreadsheet?” Asher asked.
“Hmm. Yeah. And a recording Dylan got.”
“What?!”
“Asher, I love you but I can’t talk about this right now because I’m kinda worried about my friend being a freakin’ hostage in Safeway. Where the hell are you?”
He took a deep breath. “You’re right.Sorry. I’m... I’ll be there soon.”
He disconnected, and I put my hand on the door, determined to find out what the hell was going on. Just as I pulled the handle, Jake appeared between two cruisers, jogging toward me. I relatched the safety on my gun and shoved it in my purse, then jumped from the car. “What’s going on? Is Dylan okay?”
“She’s on her way to the hospital. There was some gunfire—”
“She wasshot?” I screamed, and made a run for the remaining ambulances.
Jake caught me and pulled me to his chest. “She’s fine, Addison, and she’s not in there. She whacked her head and knocked herself out. It’s just a concussion.”
“What?” I gestured at the cop cars and ambulances. “All this... for a concussion?”
“No. There was a gunman. But Dylan hit her head when she fell.”
