“Henry,” Maia said, his name a soft protest.
“A bullet won’t hurt me as much.”
“You’ve taken everything from me!”Amanda screamed.
Where had she bought a gun?Guns weren’t a common commodity in New Zealand.
“Back up slowly,” Jacey instructed those behind them.
“Pay attention,” Amanda screamed.The gun fired, punctuating her order.
“What do you want?”Maia called, wincing as a thunk sounded behind her, followed by a metallic reverberation.
“For you to get the hell out of my life,” Amanda screeched.
Maia noticed the reporter sidling closer, intent on a story.Maia wanted no part of this drama.
“Amanda, put down the gun,” Cameron shouted.“This isn’t the way to solve your problems.”
“You’re right,” Amanda called.“I’ll shoot her, then she won’t be an issue.”Amanda prowled closer while everyone around Maia backed to safety.
Without warning, Amanda darted forward, but Gerard and Sam glided behind her.They exchanged hand signals before they tackled her.Amanda jerked, loosed a screech.The gun fired.A woman shrieked.
The reporter.She dropped to the ground, holding her arm and screaming hysterically.
“She shot me,” she howled.
Sam and Gerard pinned Amanda’s bucking body, Gerard taking the gun away.
Jacey spoke on his phone.“Yes, they’ve secured the woman.We need an ambulance and the police.A stray bullet hit a spectator.”
“You okay?”Henry asked.
“Yeah.I’m thinking Amanda won’t get bail.If she thinks I won’t press charges, she needs her head read,” Maia snapped, thankful for Henry’s friends.Her friends, too, now that her shock about shifters and learning most of her friends were dual-natured had dissipated.
“The cops have arrived,” Jacey said.“Plenty of witnesses.That will help.”
“Is the reporter okay?”Maia asked.
“The bullet nicked her arm,” Lisa said.“A doctor is with her.”
“Thank goodness,” Maia said.“This might truly be over now.”
Chapter 36
She’dbeenwrong.
The media attention after the attack drove her crazy, and it made her thankful she was in Christchurch rather than Middlemarch.Reporters followed her, popping from behind trees and cars, asking intrusive questions, and making her life miserable.Something she could’ve done without on finals day.
“Out of the way,” Henry growled, using his elbows when a reporter wearing an arm sling shoved a microphone in Maia’s face and fired questions like a machine gun.
“Move back,” Gerard said in a hard voice, his usual smile and easygoing nature absent while in security mode.
Maia spied their team changing room door with relief, eager to get out of the spotlight and relax.Her strides lengthened.She needed her best game today.Her very best effort.Although she had nothing to prove, pride compelled her to want a win today.Did it make her petty if she wanted to rub the noses of the Dunedin team’s management group in the dust?Probably.
“You okay?”Henry jerked her away from the barrage of nosy press questions.
“I’d hoped the reporters would find another story to amuse them,” Maia said.
