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My heart was pounding as I flanked the back entrance of the farmhouse. Training kicked in as adrenaline raced through my system. The intel we’d been provided was that not only was Garza on site, he’d also arrived with a large shipment of drugs and weapons. The farmhouse was surrounded, and we were going in. All the months of surveillance and intel collection had led to this standoff.
“Go, go, go!” The order came through our earpieces, and Whitlock kicked the backdoor in.
I followed behind, and the next few minutes were a blur of shouting and gunshots. By the time the dust settled, I had the top man of the food chain, Denny Garza, in handcuffs and was walking him out.
It wasn’t until I handed him over to Reed that I realized I’d been shot. I felt a slight burning sensation in my upper arm and looked down to see blood on my shirt.
“Fuck,” I grumbled beneath my breath.
After being examined by an EMT, I found myself in the back of an ambulance being transported to Valley Memorial. On the ride over, the paramedic started an IV and gave me some pain medication. By the time we arrived at the ER, the searing pain had dulled.
The gunshot wound and my badge got me moved to the front of the line, so I was taken straight to a cubicle. As I was examined, x-rayed, and had my wound cleaned, I got an insight into what Tay’s world would be. This was going to be the department she would be working in. She’d secured her position before her last deployment.
I admired Taylor for a lot of things, not the least of which was her work ethic. She’d had an ambitious plan for her life, and she’d done it. Her home life hadn’t been the greatest growing up. When I met her at eighteen, she didn’t know what she wanted to do or be, but she did know she wanted more, wanted better, and she’d made that happen. She wasn't a doctor when she went to boot camp. She enlisted and then served for four years. During her fourth year, she applied for and got a scholarship through the NHPSP (Navy Health Professions Scholarship Program), which paid 100% of her medical school tuition. Once she completed her schooling, she then had to serve another four years to fulfill her commitment, which she did.
I was so proud of her and glad that she was Harper’s mom. One of the reasons I hadn’t had a moment’s pause about raising a child with Taylor was because I knew, no matter what, she would never walk out on our daughter like my mom had on me. If Taylor made a decision, or a commitment, she stuck to it.
But I didn’t have that same security with Ruby. Even if she stayed, how long would it be before she got the itch for bigger and better things?
“Well, Officer Kingston, you got lucky,” the doctor, who had introduced himself as Dr. Winters, announced as he pulled the blue curtain back. “Thankfully, the bullet went straight through. There was no nerve damage, and it didn’t hit any bones. It was a superficial injury; there was just a lot of blood.”
Once he finished explaining my limitations and the antibiotics and pain medication they’d be sending me home with, a nurse came in, wrapped my arm in a sling, and sent me on my way.
My plan had been to call an Uber, but when I walked out into the waiting area, Sam was chatting up one of the nurses.
“You didn’t have to come,” I told him.
He ignored my comment and traded numbers with the pinup-worthy blonde nurse rocking scrubs and a sleeve tattoo before we headed out to the parking structure.
I knew that he was just doing what any good partner would, including myself. But as we walked out to his SUV, I couldn’t help but feel irritated that he was there. I hated being fussed over. I was perfectly capable of getting home on my own.
The reaction gave me some insight into how Grandad must have felt over the past few months. It couldn’t have been easy for him to be out of commission. He’d always been so capable and strong.
“How are you feeling?” Sam asked as we drove down the highway.
“Fine.” I didn’t feel like talking. Tonight, I’d done my job, and I was just happy that things hadn’t been worse.
Sam’s phone rang, and the screen on the dash lit with Kenna’s name. Well, it actually lit up with the word Kenergy, but I knew that Sam had switched it on his phone after seeing the Barbie movie.
My eyes cut to my partner just in time to see the corners of his mouth curling up as he answered, “Hey Ken?—”
“Are you okay?!” she asked, sounding panicked. “I just heard that two police officers were shot.”
“I’m fine.” Sam glanced in my direction, and I shook my head no, indicating I did not want him to include me or my injury in his conversation.
“Good, because if you weren’t, I’d kill you.”
When I saw his smile widen, I knew he was not going to heed my silent warning.
“Kane got shot, but he’s okay.”
“What? Is he okay? Does Tay?—"
“I’m fine. It was superficial. I’ll call Tay tomorrow and tell her. Right now, she’s out on an op.”
As Kenna read Sam the riot act for not calling her right away and telling her that he was okay, I leaned my head back and closed my eyes. Now that all of the adrenaline and some of the pain medicine had worn off, exhaustion pulled on me. The last thought I had before I blacked out was Ruby’s face and the word ‘mine’ playing on a loop.
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