“Sit. Down.”
Still glaring, she sat. He sat beside her.
“There were two cops there. Adam Wells, who’d been shot and was down on the ground, and Connor Lowell, who was doing his best to get Ricky and his parents to safety. That left no one to go after the gunman. He could have hit more people. As it was, he was still shooting. He was up on the roof. If he hadn’t been a lousy shot, not to mention an idiot, God knows how many people he’d have hit. Did you really expect me to sit there and let him hurt someone else? Especially when we could have stopped him?”
Expect? No. Wish he would have let someone else do it? Yes. But she saw no point in saying that.
“So Justin and I went after him. Justin, who’s a fellow vet and a fellow MP, and who, by the way, had his gun with him. Not that he needed it, as it turned out.
“We went around back. Were we prepared to go up there and stop him? You bet your ass we were. We weren’t going to stand around and let the bastard keep shooting. But he’d stopped by the time we reached the back of the house. He didn’t even know we were waiting for him.”
“So it was nothing. You two civilians just apprehended an armed criminal. No big deal.”
“That’s the way it turned out. And I told you, Justin was armed.”
“But you didn’t know how it would turn out when you went after him. You’re a freaking hero.”
“Is that why you’re so upset? Because you think I did it so people would think I was a hero? That I did it for glory or something?”
He said the wordglorywith loathing. “No, I think youarea hero and that’s why you did it. And I can’t do this again. Not again.”
“Do you want to tell me what you’re talking about?”
“No. I want you to leave, Trevor.”
“Fine. I have to go to the station anyway. We’ll finish this discussion tomorrow. Maybe by then you’ll be more rational.”
“No. We won’t. I’m done.”
“What does that mean? You’re done? Done with what?”
“You and me. I can’t be with you anymore.”
He looked astonished. “You’re breaking up with me? Over this?”
“Yes.”
“You’ve got to be kidding. What about work? Are you done with that too?”
“Obviously.”
“This is insane, Jedidiah.”
She opened the door and held it. “Go, Trevor.”
He was angry. Too bad. She was devastated.
He stomped out the door without another word. She shut the door behind him and sank to the floor, too upset to even cry. What was wrong with her? She’d fallen in love again. She’d thought she never would. She’d done the exact thing she’d sworn never to do again. Instead of falling for a nice, safe man she’d gone and fallen for a freaking hero. Again.
Heroes died. Not every time, but often enough. When Noah had been murdered it had nearly destroyed her. She absolutely could not take that risk again.
*
By the timeTrevor reached the police station he was not only still pissed as hell, he was also worried sick about Jedidiah. Nothing she’d said or done had been like the woman he knew. None of it. Before he went in he called Damaris.
“This is Trevor,” he said when she picked up.
“Oh hi, Trevor. What can I do for you?” She sounded surprised, and why wouldn’t she be?
