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My heart flutters in my chest and my stomach churns as I will myself to get it together.
“Okay, ma’am, can you tell me what happened?”
“I came downstairs this morning to open up the shop, but that man had already gotten in somehow. He was standing in the middle of the shop facing the front door. He’d come in a few days before to buy a book and that was the only other time I’d seen him.”
“And what happened after that?”
“I didn’t think I could make it out the front door without him attacking me, so I tried to assuage him, but he kept getting more agitated. He was saying all sorts of strange things to me, comparing me to his mother. When he caught me looking for where I had kept my gun, he became enraged, and then he pulled my gun out of his waistband and pointed it toward me. He’d evidently already grabbed it before I came down from my apartment.” My voice cracks.
“Then he came closer, he pulled my hair, and I kneed him in his junk. He screamed and dropped the gun, so I went for it. I was so scared I didn’t hesitate, I just shot him and when he tried to come after me again, I shot him again.”
The officer continues scribbling things down in his notepad, “You said you’d only seen the man once before?”
“Yes, but my boyfriend,” I say motioning to Isaiah, “saw him lurking outside of the shop before that and then one night there was a man peering into the shop after closing. It was dark so I can’t be certain it was the same man, but he did have the same build.”
“And did this man break your door off its hinges?”
“No sir, that was Isaiah, when he arrived on the scene after the man had already been shot.”
The officer raises his eyebrows looking Isaiah up and down, “Ever since the night when the man was peering into the window, he comes by to check on me sometimes. I’ve had incidents with folks in town, also, who apparently are not happy about my shop.”
“Folks are superstitious in this town, it’s not surprising.” The officer says nodding.
“Is there somewhere you can go for the next couple of hours? We’d like to take some photos and the ambulance won’t be arriving for another 45 minutes, small town and all.”
“Yes,” I say looking at Isaiah who nods. “Sir, will you be able to help me find out why he did this?” I ask the policeman.
“We will do our best ma’am,” he nods sympathetically. “I’m going to just take a photo of the blood spatter on you for our records and then you’ll be free to go. The operator gave me your cell number so we will call when we are wrapping things up here.”
“Thank you, sir,” I say nodding and Isaiah steps aside as the officer motions and another uniformed man steps forward with a camera.
Chapter 9
Isaiah
“Oh!” Lorelei’s eyes widen with shock as we approach ‘Catch of the Day’ to hop in my truck and head back to my place. “I completely forgot about the grease fire. I am so sorry.”
“How could you have known about that?” I ask appraising the damage. We are going to be closed for at least a month while everything is fixed and brought back to being operational.
“American psycho boy told me; it’s how he shook the guys watching my shop off, I guess.” Her eyes are filled with tears.
Gritting my teeth, I wish I would have made sure that guy was dead, “that makes a lot of sense.”
“Hey,” I say stopping Lorelei before she steps into the passenger seat. Planting a kiss on her forehead I pull her in for a tight hug and she collapses into my arms sobbing. “You were very brave today. I am beyond proud of you, I am so sorry that I wasn’t there to protect you. I failed you.” A lump rises in my throat and I fight back tears of my own.
The realization that things could have gone a lot differently today if Lorelei hadn’t had her wits about her sinks in.Some protector I am.
Lorelei pushes her hands against my chest and looks up at me through dampened eyelashes. “You didn’t fail me. You can’t be everywhere all at once and you guys were dealing with your own crisis. It’s not like you took the morning off to check out a movie at the theatre.”
A half-stifled chuckle fights its way out of my throat, coming out like the squawk of a baby bird. This at least elicits a half smile from Lorelei. I might have made a fool out of myself but at least I made my girl smile.
“I’m still sorry, I should have realized something was up sooner and checked on you.”
“Should have, could have, would have.” She says rolling her eyes and lifting herself onto her tiptoes, she gives me a sweet and brief kiss on the lips. “Can we please go? I’d like to shower this blood off sooner rather than later.”
“Right, absolutely,” I say holding the passenger side door open for her. Once she settles in, I shut the door and run around the truck.
“What year is this truck?” Lorelei asks, seeming to want to talk about something other than the shooting.
