Conviction of the Heart (34 page)
He listened, pacing, then burst into a shower of obscenities as he kicked the coffee table. The low table didn’t weigh much, but the corner of it crashed into Suzanne’s leg. She couldn’t hide a moan as the point pierced her skin, but thankfully he was distracted by his argument. She lay there fighting to stay silent.
Hey, maybe I’ll tell him I’d be in less pain if he’d just shoot me.
It was a joke, a bad one, and not funny to anyone else since she couldn’t even breathe it aloud. But the black humor helped her hang on.
“Get me someone with some balls, huh? I can’t negotiate with you.”
Oh sure you can
, Suzanne begged silently.
Someone needs to get us out of here.
But the truth was, Greg Morgan was right in front of her, off his last nut. Maddie was helpless in every way. The police were all on the far side of a locked door. She was the one with the best chance of making a difference.
Could that happen without her losing her life?
“Yeah, well, here’s the thing,” Morgan said. “You just don’t seem to believe me. So let me show you what I’ve got up my sleeve.” A nervous laugh. “Or down my pants.” He cut the phone off again and set the glass, now empty, on a table. He pulled the gun out of his waistband and studied it a moment, taking a long breath. “I’ve got to do something.” He cocked it and pointed it at his former wife. “Maddie, I wish there was another way. I know you wouldn’t want to live without me, my darling. Guess we’re both going, now. Don’t see much other way to go. See you on the other side.”
That was it, Suzanne realized. He’d put together the final picture that he wasn’t going to survive this. That meant he had nothing to lose. If someone didn’t intervene right now, they were all dead.
A flashback to those headlines, those phone calls when she’d lost that client years before filled her mind. She’d promised herself she wouldn’t lose Maddie, and she wouldn’t. She wouldn’t.
“No, damn you!” she yelled, shoving herself upward, throwing herself at Morgan. Her leg was half asleep and she stumbled over the table sitting askew between them. His mouth dropped open, and he staggered back as she fell into him. The gun went off once, twice, close to her head, but she didn’t think she was hit. She was deafened, though, the ringing in her ears blocking all other sound. Morgan reeked of sweat and spoiled alcohol. He tried to wriggle out from under her, but she couldn’t move.
Moments later, the front window exploded inward, and the room filled with a bright light. Her ears popped. Suzanne rolled off of the heavy-set councilman and hit the floor, the contact sending waves of pain through her. The floor shook with the pounding of heavy feet, motion all around her, men in uniform, men with guns, but she couldn’t focus. Had he hit her? What had happened? Was Maddie all right? The confusion overwhelmed her, and she faded from consciousness, still trying to put together her situation.
“Suzanne?”
The voice penetrated the fog that had swallowed her up, consumed her. She struggled to follow it.
“Suz, come on, honey, open your eyes.”
That was Nick’s voice. She knew it. Her breath caught and she fought to open her eyes. When she finally got control, she looked up briefly, blinking in the bright light. The air was cold. She was outdoors. She was…in an ambulance.
What?
A paramedic swabbed her forehead. Her arms were bandaged. Her lips battled to get words out.
“That’s my girl. Come on. You’re going to be all right.”
Someone squeezed her hand and she forced herself to keep her eyes open. It was Nick, looking worried, kneeling next to her, on her right side, while the paramedic worked on the left. “Maddie?” she whispered.
“She’s good. She’s fine.” He grinned. “You saved them both.”
“Hope I’m getting hazardous duty pay.” She coughed, and tried to move. At first, she felt rising panic as she couldn’t move her shoulders or sit up, but Nick tapped the stretcher’s restraining straps.
“Just relax, all right? Everyone’s out of the house, you’re safe. Jim here says you’re in one piece, just banged up a bit. They’re getting you ready to go to the hospital for a thorough check.”
“Don’t want the hospital,” she murmured. Something she wasn’t asking. What else did she need to know? Something nagged at her.
“You’re going. Period. None of your usual legalese or stalling or technical excuses. I nearly lost you and I’m going to make sure you’re all right. I’m not letting you slip away again. No argument on this one, woman. “
She knew that tone.
Not like there’s much you can do about it now.
Wait. Morgan. That was it. “What happened to Greg?”
Nick glanced up at the paramedic, who shook his head. “Pity,” he muttered. To Suzanne, he said, “Suicide by cop. They said when they went in, he still had the gun in his hand. He wouldn’t put it down, and actually tried to take a shot at a couple of the guys. They didn’t have much of a choice.” He frowned. “Guess it’ll save the city the expense of a trial.”
She sighed with relief. “It’s over.”
He leaned down and kissed her lips, a soft, warm reminder of all they’d shared and all those days yet to come. “To the contrary, my love. Everything is just beginning.”
Alana Lorens dreamed for many years of being an astronaut, maybe even President, but settled instead for inspired excursions into fictional places with fascinating imaginary companions that she likes to share with others. She has been a published writer for over thirty years, including seven years as a reporter and editor at a newspaper in Homestead, Florida. Her list of publications is eclectic, from science fiction to romance to horror, from tech reporting to television reviews. This is her second novel with The Wild Rose Press; the first, SECRETS IN THE SAND, was released in April 2011. Alana is married to an absent-minded computer geek. Together, they have a dozen computers, seven children and a full house in northwestern Pennsylvania.
Find out more at http://alanalorens.com
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