“Ethan!” I cried out as the car spun repeatedly.
Ethan’s head flopped forward and back as the impact slammed into his side of the car, crushing it inward. My head snapped forward and banged against the steering wheel just before I lost consciousness.
“Hello?”
“Fullwood. We need you down here at Rose County Med,” Lieutenant Oliver Edwards demanded over the phone.
I glanced at the clock and noticed that it was a few minutes after six. Dragging my hands down my face, I asked, “Is everything okay? I’m off today, Lieu. Besides, I just worked a double.”
“Fullwood, I’m not asking you, I’m telling you. We’re at the ER. Get your ass down here now!” he barked in the phone.
I scowled and shook my head. I removed my other boxing glove that I’d been using for my workout with my best friend, Blake, who owned Concrete Gym & Fitness.
“Everything good?” Blake asked, releasing the punching bag and watching me unwrap my fists.
Shaking my head, I replied, “Nah. I don’t know what it is, but it’s serious. That was Lieu telling me to come down to Rose County.”
“The hospital?”
“Yeah.”
“What’s going on?”
“I don’t know, but the fact that he wouldn’t tell me what it is has me worried as hell. Catch you tomorrow evening. Same time?” I asked, grabbing my gym bag.
“Yeah. Keep me posted,” Blake called out after me as I headed for the doors.
The cool evening air hit me like a blast in the face, instantly cooling my temperature down from where it had been. I had worked up a sweat in the last forty-five minutes that I had been working out.
I hopped in my truck and turned the station on to Chris Perry and let his music blast as I made the fifteen-minute drive in nine minutes. I didn’t bother to park since Lieutenant made it such an urgent thing. When I saw all the cars parked in the parking lot, my stomach clenched, and I immediately became nervous.
I pushed through the emergency room doors and looked around for my people. It wasn’t hard to spot us when the lobby was filled with my brothers and sisters in blue. I almost missed the sympathetic look in their eyes when I stepped inside and walked over to them. It told me that this emergency had something to do with me, but I couldn’t fathom what it might be. I searched the room looking for Lena, who I knew would tell me what was going on, but I didn’t see her. It was her day off too. She was probably on the way over to the hospital now.
I thought about my parents, and I knew they were safe. I had spoken with them on my way to the gym. They were at homecooking dinner. I thought about Asad and Amani briefly. Before I could make a call, Lieutenant was heading my way.
“Hey, Lieu. Wassup?”
“We’ve been trying to call you for hours.”
“I was working out. I didn’t have my phone on me until I moved from one side of the gym to the other. What’s going on, Lieu?” I asked, looking around.
“It’s Lena.”
My heart stopped.
“What do you mean, ‘it’s Lena’?” I asked through clenched teeth.
“She was shot this evening and rushed here.”
“Shot? By who? She was off duty today.” I would have known if she was called in to work another shift.
“Her husband, Paul.”
The blood drained from my body and the oxygen from my lungs. I whirled around searching my brothers’ faces and waiting for someone to say this was a cruel joke. But all I saw was sympathy from my sisters and brothers in blue. There was a crowd of us here. I wouldn’t be lying if I said there were well over fifty of us crowded into the emergency room.
“Where is he?”
“He’s in custody, but it’s not looking good, Fullwood,” Lieutenant explained, his tone softening as he gripped my shoulder.
