I wasn’t, either. Mostly. At the very least, it’d slowed, so it was clearly fine.
“It’s a precaution,” I said.
“It’s a waste. They should be checking you out. I tried to cup your head to soften the landing, but part of it still hit hard.”
My throbbing skull and I didn’t need the reminder. I hated to think how much worse it would’ve been without the buffer.
A buffer that was as stupid as it was brave.
“Rhys—”
“No more Mr. Walker?” he cut in.
“We survived a drive-by together. I think that puts us on a first name basis.”
He was about to say something, but the EMTs arrived before he could. They took over with him—something he didn’t look thrilled about—and I resumed my lap. It was short-lived because a familiar SUV blocked the street.
Murdoch.
Fuck.
Rhys wasn’t the only one with a long list of enemies. I had my own lengthy one, and my top spot of dishonor didn’t go to a criminal. It didn’t even go to the man who’d shot me. It went to Murdoch.
Detective.
Misogynist.
Certified asshole.
He climbed out and looked around before his gaze landed on me. He strolled over like he was out for a relaxing walk. “How’d you manage to turn a softball call into this mess?”
His tone was light like he was joking, but he wasn’t. It didn’t matter that I hadn’t done anything. If there was even a single perceived misstep in how I’d handled the night, he would pounce on it.
I wasn’t worried since I hadn’t fucked up, but that didn’t mean I wanted to deal with any of it.
“I’ve got this handled,” I said. “There’s not much to be done.”
“You know you can’t run the scene when you’re involved. You need to hand over your weapon and wait for your union rep.”
“I didn’t return fire, so there’s nothing to clear.”
Matthews approached in time to ask, “Why not?”
Because this isn’t a TV drama, and I’m not stupid enough to blindly fire at a moving target in a busy area.
Murdoch looked just as ready to give me shit, but he caught himself.
At his show of restraint, I knew who was behind me even before I looked over my shoulder to see our captain approach.
Rather than taking in the scene, his focus was zeroed in on my face. “Shit, Oscar, why haven’t you had that looked at?”
“It looks worse than it is.” I didn’t know if that was true because it was starting to burn like a bitch, but I could still function, so it could wait.
“What happened?” Cap asked.
I gave a recap, including the details I’d already shared with Matthews.
“Any idea how many were in the car?” Cap asked.
