Page 81 of Kiss Kiss Bang
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“Nine-one-one, what’s your emergency?”
“There’s a man in my house. There was a shot fired.” She said the address into the phone.
“And where are you right now?”
“I’m in the upstairs bedroom with my daughter.”
“Was there anyone else in the home?”
“Yes. My boyfriend, er, security guard. He’s here. He’s downstairs, actually.”
She could hear noises and typing from the other end.
“Is anyone hurt?”
“I—I don’t know.”
“Hold tight. Stay in the bedroom. We have officers two minutes out.”
“Okay, please hurry.” She bounced her knee up and down.
“Is Joey okay, Mommy?”
“I’m sure he is, sweets.”
It was time to get herself under control. It wasn’t time to have a panic attack. Not while her daughter was in her arms. And not while she was in the middle of a crisis. Except there was another bang. She knew the sound of a gun being fired and her she almost lost her grip on her daughter. Oh my God. What if Joey was hurt. Oh my God. She closed her eyes and began to pray and pray that she’d misheard, or that the bullet was not directed at Joey.
The sound of patrol cars became louder and louder and then there were noises from downstairs. She was about to pass out. Not knowing what was going on. The walls closing in on her. What she once thought was a huge bedroom now felt like a tiny cell.
A knock on the door startled her. “Ma’am, police. You okay in there?”
She didn’t answer.
“Ma’am? I need confirmation you are okay. Please open the door.”
Joey had told her to only open it for him. She was conflicted. What if Joey had gotten shot or worse . . . dead. What if this was someone working with Connor, trying to get in. Oh my God. And her daughter. Her hand trembled and she heard a noise coming from her phone which she had forgotten all about and was dangling from her arm.
A moment later there was more shuffling around and more noises coming from the outside the bedroom door and another knock. “Open up, Livie.”
It was Joey. Her entire body deflated and she ran to the door and swung it open and Joey walked in, two officers behind him. The moment he walked in she broke down sobbing, but was pushed aside by Sophie who jumped up. Without missing a beat, Joey caught her. She took his face in her hands and kissed his cheeks.
It was the most beautiful thing she’d ever witnessed.
“Hey, freckles. Are you okay?”
“I’m sorry I went to the far side of the yard.”
“We’ll talk about that later, okay? Right now, I need to know if you’re okay. Did that man hurt you?”
She shook her head no. “Good, good.” He reached forward and pulled Olivia closer. “You okay, darlin’?”
She nodded. Was she okay? She wasn’t sure. “I heard gunshots?” Her face broke into a sob. “I thought . . . I thought you were shot.”
“I’m okay. Connor’s not okay, but I’m fine.”
She didn’t hear anything else, because she wrapped her arms around his neck tightly and sobbed. “Oh my God, I’ve never been so scared. You could have been hurt.”
