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“Now kick them underneath the window!” Alex continues, with Big Teddy still struggling underneath him.
They oblige, and Alex looks at me, pleased. “We’re getting out of here, Liv,” he says under his breath. I smile, even though I barely register what he says.
“Now what, Winters?” Michael is the first one to speak again, and as if we all were a carefully orchestrated play, the police sirens ring in the air.
The henchmen run out of the room like a bunch of cockroaches when you turn on the lights. Big Teddy makes an effort to kick Alex and attempt escape, but Alex gives Big Teddy a quick blow to the neck which leaves him unconscious. Then he grabs me and falls to the ground with me just as the gunshots move from the first to the second floor.
“Mr. Winters?” We both look up. It’s a young police officer with his weapon at hand, seemingly out of breath and overwhelmed by the situation. “I’ll stay here until this is over!”
“Put some handcuffs on that one. That’s Big Teddy!” I say, pointing frantically to the man unconscious in the center of the room.
“Wow!” the officer interjects with pure disbelief. “Who shot him?”
“No one. I just gave him some night-night time,” Alex says, flushed, but able to maintain his calm.
“Impressive!” the officer laughs, putting the handcuffs on the dealer.
The rest of the officers come, bringing the other henchmen in tow, all handcuffed and walking in an orderly manner.
“Daniels, what you got there?” an officer with a glorious mustache asks.
“It’s Big Teddy, sarge!” Officer Daniels says, exultant. “Alex Winters caught Big Teddy!”
Chapter Thirty
ALEX
We’reescortedoutofthe building a few minutes later, and I walk down holding onto Liv, still terrified that I could have lost her.
Much to my chagrin, there’s already a few reporters waiting at the door. Bella is there too, her face white and her eyes red with tears.
“Alex! Liv! Are you ok?” she rushes towards us, and I stop Liv on the sidewalk to better hear her.
“We’re alive, thankfully. You’re not publishing this on the company blog, are you?” I ask.
“No, of course not, but I was thinking it would go to the highest bidder.”
“And to whom are you going to sell it? The Investigative Observer?” Liv asks, full of doubt.
“No, I’m thinking bigger. This should make national news.” Bella says. “Are you okay with me doing an exclusive on this? Of course, we’d do it another time. Do you need to go to the hospital or anything?”
Liv surprised me by saying, “No, it’s okay. I think it will be good to talk about it now and just get it over with actually.”
“Are you sure?” I ask with concern, ready to whisk her away.
She nods, “Yes.”
I sigh and hold her hand as we walk to an empty park bench as she recounts everything from the moment we picked her up at work to when Big Teddy was neutralized.
Then it’s my turn. Bella surprises me by not interrupting like she usually does. She just listens and when I’m done, she asks me how I feel about the whole experience.
“It left me tense!” I say.
“That’s a lie! You never lost your cool!” Liv says, burying her face in the curve of my neck.
“Ha! I wish!” I kiss the top of her head, then look at Bella, who gives us a small smile. “I was tense, but there were fewer people there than I anticipated, so it was easy to get where I needed to be.”
“With Liv?” Bella goes on, looking from me to Liv with concern.
