“Yeah, I’m here, Declan. Lie still, okay? You’ve been shot. Paramedics are on the way.”
“Elliot?”
“I’m fine, Declan,” Elliot said softly and put his hand on Declan’s arm. “I’m right here. Dad and Ryan are okay too.”
“Shooter?” he whispered, his voice full of pain.
“He’s down,” I said. “Situation’s been neutralized.”
Declan managed a nod. “My phone. I need to talk to my husbands. They’ll worry.”
Elliot scrambled up and got Declan’s phone. He entered the code Declan told him and then found the contact Declan wanted. He put the phone on speaker and held it to Declan’s mouth.
“Hey, baby, where are you?” came a man’s voice.
“Jagger, I’m okay,” Declan rasped.
There was a split-second of silence before the man said, “I’m coming, Declan. Where are you?”
“Baby, I’m okay, I swear it. Call Ronan – he’ll know where they’re taking me, and have Dom drive you and Ren, do you hear me? I don’t want you guys driving while you’re upset. Do it for me.”
The man – Jagger – let out a breath and said, “Don’t you fucking die on us, do you hear me, Detective?”
I saw a small smile grace Declan’s pained mouth and I had to wonder if it was because of the “Detective” comment.
“It’s Captain, asshole,” Declan managed to say.
I swore I heard Jagger chuckle, but his voice cracked when he said, “We’ll see you soon, okay, baby?”
“Yes, you will.”
Elliot had tears in his eyes when he hung up the phone for Declan, and I had to wonder how much of them were for the intimate moment he’d just been witness to and how much were for the similar call his own father hadn’t been able to make twenty-five years earlier.
I saw Sam hand Ryan to Elliot and then he was covering Declan’s hand with his own. “Thank you,” he whispered brokenly, and then he was wiping at his own wet eyes. “Thank you for saving my boy, Declan.”
“I’m sorry, Sam. I should’ve been there. I should’ve been stronger. I should’ve been the cop he thought I was.”
I heard Sam make a strangled sound. “You are, Declan. You saved his son’s life without any thought to your own. You’re exactly the kind of cop he knew you’d be and wherever he is, I know he’s proud of you.”
Declan let out a little gasp, but before he could say anything, Sam said, “Just rest, Declan. Just rest.”
My eyes met Elliot’s as he whispered soothing words to his brother, but I couldn’t see anything beyond the fear and pain and I had no idea what that meant for us.
If there even still was an us.
The chaosthat followed was predictable, but all that really mattered was the knowledge that Declan would be okay. Ronan had been waiting at the hospital when paramedics had arrived with him and he’d called me as soon as he’d had a chance to examine the wounded cop. The shoulder wound wasn’t life-threatening and he’d likely spend the night in the hospital to be monitored for a possible concussion, but he’d already been reunited with his husbands and several other family members.
After a second set of paramedics had treated the gash on my arm where the bullet had grazed me, I refused the offer to be taken to the hospital so I could stay behind at the house to deal with the cops in case Matias was taken in for questioning. But Declan had managed to call his second-in-command from the ambulance and had told the man that Matias wasn’t to be detained after giving his statement at the scene. Matias and Sam were still talking to the respective officers interviewing them and I couldn’t help but watch my brother’s reactions as he spoke. I was mainly worried about him becoming aggressive toward the officer, since it didn’t take much to send his temper flaring. But to my surprise, he barely seemed to even be aware of the young cop taking his statement.
Because he couldn’t take his eyes off Sam.
The older man was being questioned in the kitchen, which was directly in Matias’s line of sight. The officers had allowed Sam to take Ryan over to a neighbor’s house so that he could get some rest. It turned out that the woman who lived next door was a retired nurse who often babysat for Ryan, so the little boy was comfortable in her presence. Elliot and I had already been interviewed, and I’d lost track of him once he’d gone to Ryan’s room to pack some stuff for his brother for the night.
My emotions were all over the place as I tried to figure out how to convince Elliot I hadn’t lied to him beyond what I did for a living, and that he’d stopped being a job the instant he’d said my name at that Halloween party. But I knew it wouldn’t be that easy. He’d taken a big risk in trusting me with the things he had and everysecond I’d kept the truth from him, I’d been betraying that trust. It didn’t matter that my motive hadn’t been a malicious one.
“Thank you, Officer,” I heard Sam say, and I watched him shake the young woman’s hand before she left him in the kitchen. I knew the man was around the fifty-year-old mark, but he didn’t really look it. He was well-built with dark brown hair that had very little silver in it. When I’d first met him, I’d immediately noticed the thing Elliot had been hinting at… that missing spark in his eyes. It’d definitely been there for both of his sons, but in moments like these where he got lost in himself, I had no doubt he was remembering the one part of his life that was missing and always would be.
I wouldn’t have understood that before meeting Elliot. I knew it was too early to say I loved Elliot, but in my heart, I knew it was true. There was just no other explanation for what I was feeling. And I knew if I’d lost him tonight, I would have had eyes like Sam’s. Even if I wasn’t able to be a part of Elliot’s life going forward, knowing he was still alive, still living, would be enough to keep me going. And having that flicker of hope that I could someday be with him again would have to be enough to sustain me.
