I’m still making my way through the people who are standing around on the neighbor’s lawn—waiting, I guess, no fucking clue—when I see Caleb come out of the house, no shirt on, blood streaked down the front of his chest. He’s running next to a second gurney. I stop for a second, put my hands on my knees, and let out the biggest sigh of relief. I feel like I am going to throw up everywhere. I pull myself together and run toward him. “Holy shit, Caleb,” I shout to him. “What happened?”
Everyone is suddenly hustling around me. It’s Sierra on the gurney. I look up and—I’m frozen. A woman I never thought I would see again, holding on to the top of the gurney as she runs to the ambulance.
“Oh my god, it’s you,” she says, her face filled with the same shock I feel as I meet her gray eyes. Her blonde hair is pulled back and piled into a high ponytail, then braided. She’s wearing a paramedic uniform with blue surgical gloves on.
“You,” I whisper. I shake my head, trying to get my bearings and figure out what the fuck is going on.
“She’s been shot. Meet me at the hospital.” Caleb is shouting, his voice filled with panic. I refocus on him. His eyes look like he’s about to kill someone. “Get me a shirt. Call Lilah,” he instructs as he runs, not leaving Sierra’s side. “We have to call Sierra’s parents. My phone is somewhere inside.” He motions with his chin toward the house, where two more uniformed officers run up the steps. Caleb gets into the back of the ambulance. “Meet me at the hospital,” he repeats, right before the male paramedic shuts the door and rushes to the driver’s seat. He blows his siren once to tell the people in front of him that he’s leaving before he speeds away from the house.
I run up the steps to the house and stop in my tracks when I see blood on the floor in two different spots. My eyes scan the room for Officer Burke. I see him in a bulletproof vest, his badge clipped to the left side of his hip, and his gun holster on his right side. He’s listening to the guy beside him.
“Can I get some help over here?” I look back to see a bloody and bruised man sitting on his ass with his arms cuffed behind his back. One eye is already sealed shut. “I need medical attention.”
I walk past someone taking pictures of what looks like a bullet casing, up the steps to the bedroom. I glance around the room to see if maybe there is a T-shirt somewhere I can just snatch up, not really wanting to go through their things. My gaze snags on a chair in the corner with gym shorts on it, with a black T-shirt under them. I grab them and head back downstairs.
Burke looks at me with his eyebrows pinched together. “What the fuck are you doing in here?” His voice is tight, the scowl on his face showing me he’s pissed.
“Caleb asked me to bring him a shirt.” I look around.
“Who the hell let you in here?” he snaps at me and shakes his head. “Don’t touch anything.”
“I’m not going to touch anything,” I reply softly. “I don’t even know what’s going on right now.”
“That guy”—he motions with his chin toward the man still waiting for someone to pay attention to him—“he shot off two rounds.”
“Who is he?” I ask.
“No clue. I need to get to the hospital to ask all those questions,” he states.
“I need Caleb’s phone. He said it’s here somewhere.” I look around. The living room has blood splattered on the floor. “But I’m going to guess I can’t touch it.”
“You would be guessing correctly. We have to take pictures of the scene.”
“Not to ask too many questions,” I look down, “but when do you think I can get cleaners to come in here? The last thing I want is for Caleb to get back home and have to deal with this.”
“We’re going as fast as we can,” he offers. “I’ll have someone give you a call once we’re done.”
“Appreciate that.”
He nods at me as my phone rings. It’s Mikaela. “Yeah,” I answer, moving out of the way of the action.
“What the fuck is going on?” She sounds like she’s in full-blown panic mode. “I came to get lunch, and someone just said that shots were fired at Sierra’s house.” The joy of living in a small town is that news travels faster than wildfire.
“Yeah, I’m here now. I don’t know any details. Caleb is okay. Not sure about Sierra, but I have to call her friend Lilah so she can call her parents.”
“What do you need from me?” she asks.
“For now, nothing,” I tell her. “I’m going to need to schedule a cleanup crew. Not sure when, though.”
“On it,” she declares. “I’ll get everything settled on my end, just give me the word.”
“Thanks,” I reply and then disconnect.
I don’t have Lilah’s number, so I call her boyfriend, Emmett.
He answers after two rings. “Yeah,” he barks.
“Hey,” I say, “I need to get in touch with Lilah.”
