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“Amber, what was that?”
More silence.
My heart raced as I gripped a towel and stumbled out of the shower. Sliding over the tile, I unlocked and opened the door, relieved to see Amber sitting straight up in my bed.
“Amber? Damn, you could have answered me. I’m soaking wet,” I said as I wrapped the towel around my body and tucked it closed.
Amber turned to me slowly, and it was then that I saw the blood begin to drain from her stomach. Her eyes were wide with terror and blood laced her teeth as she screamed out a raw, “Nooooooo!”
Dread coursed through me as I jumped into action the second she went down against the mattress. I picked up the cell from her lap and dialed 911 as she stared up at me, gasping and wide-eyed. “Jos-Joseph! Taylor, get J-J-Joseph!” It was an agonized cry from her lips as I frantically spoke to the operator. Amber fought me frantically in fear for her son. I ripped the towel from my body and pressed it to her bullet wound and noticed a second bullet hole in the wall behind her. “Hold it there. Press hard!” With an ambulance on the way, defenseless and naked, I let the adrenaline do its job and made a beeline for Joseph’s room. I burst through the door and felt my whole chest explode when I saw dark hair surface at the top of the crib.
“Oh God,” I exhaled as I moved toward him and scooped him up. I raced back into my bedroom and covered the baby’s eyes so I could drape Amber with my comforter.
“Keep holding it, Amber!”
I rushed to my closet, threw on some clothes, and then lifted the comforter to see too much blood had leaked from her. She twisted in agony as the pain tore through her. “Oh, no, no, no,” she sobbed as Joseph began to sense something was wrong. His lips began to tremble as Amber’s eyes searched mine.
“It’s okay, buddy. It’s okay. Mommy is playing.” I turned to my sister, frantic.
“Who . . . who was it, Amber? Who did this? Did you see?”
Amber shook her head as she looked over at Joseph while a solid stream of blood slid down her chin. I wiped it away as tears streamed down her face.
“Hang in there; you can do this. Nod your head, you can do this.”
She nodded as Joseph bounced on the bed beside her. “Was it Dyer? One of Laz’s crew?”
She shook her head as the last of my hope was washed away.
I heard the sirens approach and was forced to leave her to open the door.
“Amber!” She began to spit up blood as she looked over at Joseph.
“Oh God, please hold on,” I begged as I pressed the towel to her stomach to keep more blood from spilling out.
“What’s her name?” the paramedic asked as he reached her.
“Amber,” I said as she went deathly still.
“Oh God,” I sobbed as Joseph began to whimper at the commotion around us.
“She’s in shock.” They frantically worked on her until they got her to the doors of the ambulance and then left us there, standing in their wake. I looked down at Joseph who turned to me with a qu
ivering voice. “Mommy?”
I was forced to stay behind with Joseph as the police questioned me, all of my answers useless. No forced entry. My alarm had been disarmed. I was defenseless against this enemy. And I knew without a doubt that that enemy had come to finalize the end of my relationship.
And if that were the case, we would never be safe.
Kiev, Ukraine
I made my way across the street and into the alleyway where my target stood with his back to the wall. He studied the cigarette in his hand as if it had answers. I wondered if he thought it would be the cause of his death.
I had that answer.
I took careful steps his way and gripped the gun inside my jacket just as he took one final puff of his cigarette.
The irony was not lost on me.
