Richard heard her steps and whipped the gun around on her. “Don’t come any closer to me, Detective. Don’t make me shoot you too.”
A chill ran through Rick’s blood. Richard was completely out of control, and Rebecca was in his line of fire. He quickened his step. He had to completely back away from them and circle outside his line of vision, and having to be quiet was taking way too much time. He prayed Rebecca could keep his attention just a few seconds longer.
“I’m not your enemy, Richard. This isn’t the way to deal with this.” She was ten feet away now, close enough to see the whites in his eyes. She could shine the light directly in them, but worried that in his wild reaction. he would shoot her. “Put the gun down, Richard.”
“Stop!” His voice was menacing. She had taken his mind off of Phillip and put it on her, a dangerous move.
He saw her move towards him. He loosed his grip of Phillip’s collar and leveled the gun on her. Time suddenly stopped. Rebecca’s eyes widened. She heard the gun fire and felt the bullet hit her. As she fell, her flashlight dropped from her hands and rolled towards Richard. She didn’t see his body hit the concrete seconds behind hers, his blank eyes staring into the night sky.
Rick leveled his gun on Phillip. “Don’t move! Don’t you fucking move!” He knelt down next to Rebecca, panic racing through his veins. He shined his light on her body, searching for the wound. He saw blood on her right side, and he ripped her shirt away. “Stay with me, Rebecca.”
Her eyes met his, and he saw the fear in them. She looked like a wounded animal. He pressed his hand to the wound and pulled his phone from his pocket. “Officer down! Repeat Officer down! The southeast corner of Navy Pier.”
Rebecca’s body was starting to shake. The cold, shock and blood loss making her tremble uncontrollably. “Jones…Jonesy, I’m s…sorry. I fu…fucked up.”
“Shh, shh, it’s okay, honey.” He stroked her brow. “It’s gonna be okay.”
He heard sirens in the distance, and knew help was close. Beyond the distant sirens, he heard something new. A small, shuffling sound. Whipping around, he saw Phillip pushing off the ground. He whipped around, his hand grabbing his gun. “Get down! Get down! Don’t make me fucking shoot you, you sick fuck.”
Phillip hit the ground with a loud thud and raised his hands above his head. “Don’t shoot. Don’t shoot. I’ll stay down.”
Rick watched him a second longer and knew he wouldn’t move. He turned his attention back to Rebecca. “It’s okay, Boss. We’re gonna get you taken care of.”
Rebecca smiled weakly. “I ne…need J…Jordan. P…please.”
He squeezed her hand reassuringly. “I’ll get her.”
Rebecca’s eyes fluttered close.
“She’ll be there when you wake up.”
Chapter 23
Jordan listened to Rebecca’s slow, even breathing. When Rick called her and told her they were taking her to Mercy for a gunshot wound to the abdomen, she had nearly lost it. She had grilled him for hours before finally calming down. Fortunately, the bullet had gone straight through her abdomen and missed all her organs.
Richard Hudson was dead. A single gunshot to the head. Once Rick realized that he was going to shoot Rebecca, he had fired without even thinking. It was only the dark and Richard’s poor aim that had kept the bullet from penetrating her heart or some other organ and possibly killing her. Jordan was furious at them for following a lead without them.
Her anger had turned to concern when she saw Rebecca. Her face was incredibly pale, and even in repose, Jordan could tell she was in pain. Jordan hadn’t left the room except to shower for the three days that Rebecca had been there, needing to be there when she woke up.
She was exhausted and not even sure if Rebecca would be happy to see her when she woke up. She wasn’t certain where they stood anymore. Rebecca had told her she couldn’t do the relationship thing. She was too distracting. Then she had held her hand and Jordan thought everything was okay. But then after their disastrous meeting with Meghan Mercer, things had gone south again.
Confusion was the order of the day, and Jordan had had three full helpings. Even when she woke up, they probably wouldn’t be discussing the subject anyway. That is if Rebecca didn’t kick her out of the room when she saw her.
“Hey kid, how’s she doing?”
Rick’s soft voice broke through the silence, and Jordan shot him a weary smile. “Same as earlier.”
Rick squeezed her shoulder. “She’s going to be okay, you know?”
“Yeah, I know.” Jordan rolled her shoulders. She was tired and sore from being curled up in that chair for seventy-two hours.
“Listen, why don’t you take a break? I’ll keep an eye on her.” Rick nodded towards the door. “Besides, there is someone outside that wants to talk to you.”
Jordan’s brow knitted in confusion. “Who would be here?”
“Matt.” Rick bent over her. “I don’t think he feels comfortable coming in here, but he wanted to come by and check on Rebecca. Make sure she was okay, and I think check on you.”
“Oh.” Jordan swallowed. Things between her partner and her still weren’t great. His feelings for Rebecca were stronger than Jordan had known, and the fact that she had started a relationship with Rebecca stung his ego a little bit. It would take a while, but she knew in time, things would get back to normal. For now, she would just tread lightly.
She ran a hand through her unruly hair and pushed herself out of the chair, sighing loudly.
Rick cupped her elbow. “Don’t worry too much. Pretty soon this will all just be a bad memory. The important thing is we finally got the right guy.”
Jordan nodded, her eyes flicking to Rebecca and resting on her face. “But at what cost?”
Rick opened his mouth to reply, but Jordan stopped him. “I know, I know.”
Matt turned at the sound of Jordan’s footfalls, a tentative smile breaking out on his face. “Hey, Jordie.”
Jordan shot him a grateful smile. “Hey, yourself.”
Matt shuffled nervously. “How is she?”
“Oh, you know.” Jordan shrugged. “Still unconscious but stable.”
“Rick said she got lucky.” Matt met Jordan’s gaze. “How are you holding up?”
Jordan’s breath caught in her throat. No matter what, Matt was like a brother to her, and when things got tough, he genuinely cared about her well-being. “I’m alright. Anxious and worried.”
“I figured.” Matt nodded towards the door. “Let’s get some coffee. You look like you could use it.”
“You saying I look tired?” Jordan asked.
“Nah.” Matt smirked. “I’m saying you look like shit.”
Jordan punched him in the arm. “Thanks, dude. Way to kick me when I’m down.”
Matt chuckled softly. “You can take it.”
“Probably.” Jordan fell in step with Matt, and they walked to the waiting room and stopped at the vending machine.
He slid a dollar into the machine and punched several buttons. He waited while the machine dispensed a Styrofoam cup, filled it with hot liquid and opened the door for retrieval. He handed Jordan the first cup and bought a second for himself.
“Thanks.” Jordan blew on her cup and took a tentative first drink. “So, did you talk to Mitchell?”
“Yeah.” Matt sat in one of the chairs, and Jordan sank down beside him. “Until Stein is convicted and put away, she’s still worried. Especially after catching the wrong guy.”
“I’m sure she’s just worried about Julie. That somehow he’ll try to come after her.”
“Hell, can you blame her?” Matt stared at his cup. “I don’t think Mitchell’s let her out of the house for months without being attached at the hip.”
“Maybe now they can finally get back to normal.”
“She said she is going to push for a quick trial and conviction.”
“What Mitchell wants, Mitchell gets.” Jordan said softly. “In this case, I think she deserves it.”
“She’s not going to let anyone mess up the investigation or the trial.” Matt nodded down the hall. “Rick says he’s handling it, but Mitchell wants us on his ass twenty-four, seven. She doesn’t want any mistakes.”