Chapter 37

Gwen

Igasped as Fremont ordered the other men to kill Static. I wouldn”t let this happen. This man was responsible for so much pain in our lives. He was the reason Sean nearly killed his own father. So much of what Trent ended up doing was sanctioned and encouraged by Fremont. Which was something I found out after I got out of the hospital and after I heard Trent was dead. This was ending. Now.

Looking down at Sean, I met his gaze and gave him a pointed look. He nodded in understanding, his body tensing. Gunshots sounded around us, but I ignored them. They weren”t shooting at us. They were shooting at the man I loved.

Turning, I looked Fremont right in the eyes, and used every ounce of my strength as I punched him right in the face. Movement from the corner of my eye caught my attention and I saw my son scamper behind a car, well out of the way of the shooting. He was safe.

”You stupid bitch!” Fremont bellowed, grabbing me by the arm as I tried to move away from him. He still had his gun and he was stronger than me, so as he started pulling me along, I was forced to go with him. I struggled, but couldn”t pull out of his grip. The blood dripping down his face from his broken nose gave me a sense of grim satisfaction, but my hand was throbbing. Hitting people hurt.

”Let me go!” I shouted, hitting him again anywhere I could reach. This time I was off balance so I couldn”t get any power behind the blows.

Static had shown up right before I was about to make my move. It was probably best because my move was to dive for Fremont”s gun and probably end up getting shot for my trouble. But I didn”t want Static, or Sean, to be hurt either. I hoped to God Static would be able to fight his way out of that situation and find Sean. As long as they were safe, I knew it would be okay.

”I”m going to shoot you in the fucking face if you don”t stop squirming around!” Fremont bellowed at me.

I recognized the look in his eyes. It was the same look Trent had almost a year ago, minus the blurriness from cocaine use. Fremont wasn”t under the influence of anything, but he was insane. Something had snapped inside and he was a madman. He wanted to kill me. I was sure I wasn”t the only one, but I would do since I was all he had.

Knocking his hand away from my head, I grabbed his wrist with both hands, trying to keep the gun pointed in a different direction. I wasn”t going to go down quietly. I wasn”t going to let him almost beat me to death the way Trent had. And I certainly wasn”t going to let him shoot me. I kicked out, hitting him in the side of the knee.

Bones snapping reverberated through my leg and I forced myself to hold back a gag. He went down like a sack of potatoes, crying out in anguish. The gun slid away across the ground. I darted toward it, but his hand wrapped around my ankle. Stars burst behind my eyes as my chin hit the ground.

The shock made me freeze, at least until Fremont began crawling toward the gun. I didn”t have the luxury of holding still until the pain in my head stopped. No one was here to help me this time. Jordan was safely at home. Static and Scythe were fighting off the other assholes who worked for Fremont. I hoped like hell Sean was still hiding. He and Grace were my world. As long as they were alive, I would be happy. I knew Static would fight just as hard for them.

I forced my body to respond and scrambled for the gun. I was desperate. If Fremont got there first, I was dead. He wasn”t going to bother dragging me any further. My hand closed over metal. There was no time to check to see if there was a safety. The weight of the gun in my hand let me know it was loaded. I was so grateful my brother taught me everything he knew back in the day.

Flipping onto my back, I held the gun out and pulled the trigger. The gunshot was deafening. The shock on Fremont”s face made my eyes widen. He and I both looked down to where blood was spreading over his shirt under his coat. My hands started shaking, but I was waiting to see if I needed to shoot him again. I didn”t want to kill him. I just wanted him to get away from me. But there was a lot of blood. I was pretty sure I”d hit his heart.

His eyes met mine and the madness faded along with whatever it was that made up a person”s life force. I watched it drain from his eyes. Then he collapsed on top of my shins. That”s how close he”d been to me when I shot him. He”d been clawing his way up my body, trying to drag me away from the gun.

”Gwen!”

My name sounded so far away. I wasn”t sure if it was the concussion I was certain I had, the ringing in my ears from the gunshot, or shock.

”Dammit, Gwen! Where are you?”

”Here!” I forced myself to call out. The word was weak, even to my own muffled ears, but Static heard it.

”Jesus!” Arms surrounded me, jerking me onto his lap as he sat on the cold ground next to me. ”Are you okay?” His hands were roaming all over me.

”Hit my face on the concrete,” I mumbled, still staring at Fremont. He wasn”t moving. ”Is he dead?” I whispered.

”Yeah, Baby Girl. He”s dead.” His touch was gentle as he used a finger to turn my face toward him. Worried blue eyes searched my face. ”Where else are you hurt?”

”I”m not... My hand. I punched him.”

He chuckled and hugged me close.

I sucked in a deep breath, letting his heat seep into me as I snuggled close. He was here. And he wasn”t hurt, from what I could see. ”Sean!”

”He”s okay,” a new voice answered.

I looked up and saw David crouched near Fremont. ”Where did you...” My mind was spinning.

”He”s with me,” Static said, pointing at David. He stood, pulling me to my feet before swinging me up into his arms.

The world tilted on its axis. ”Don”t do that,” I murmured.

”Sorry, Sugar.”

”Ambulance is outside the garage,” David said. ”Have them look her over.” He shot me an apologetic look. ”I”m going to have to take you all into the station.”

”It was fucking self-defense, Torres,” Static snapped at him.

”I”m aware of that,” he replied in a wry tone. ”But we have to do this by the book. A district attorney is dead. We need to do everything following protocol so that neither Gwen, you, nor any of your men end up in trouble for any of it. Please, trust me. I”ll take care of you guys.”

I laid my head on Static”s chest, fighting off the sleep that kept wanting to come. I was freezing, and in pain, but I was alive. I was grateful. ”My son,” I whispered.

”I”m taking you to him now, Gwen,” Static told me, brushing a kiss on my head.

”Thank you for coming for me,” I told him.

He chuckled. ”Gwen, nothing will ever keep me away when you need me.”

”I love you.”

”Love you, too, Sugar. There you go.”

Lifting my head, I breathed a sigh of relief when I saw Sean sitting on the edge of an ambulance, Scythe next to him. They were playing Rock, Paper, Scissors, one-handed in Sean”s case.

Static set me next to Sean and I hugged him close. I met Scythe”s gaze. ”Thank you for helping us.”

”Thank you for trying to help me, Little Mama,” he replied with a grin.

I gave a soft laugh when Static reached out and snagged an EMT who was rushing past by the back of the shirt. The man flailed as he tried to keep his feet while his momentum was thrown off.

”Direct orders from Officer Torres to check her out,” Static barked at the man.

The EMT gave me a confused look, but as soon as he saw my face he winced and approached. ”What happened?”

”Hit my chin on the ground,” I told him.

”Her hand needs to be looked at, too,” Static added as the EMT began to poke and prod at my face.

”I might end up with a matching cast,” I told Sean with a smile.

He leaned his head on my shoulder and watched as the EMT patched me up. It took some time, but eventually he left, telling me I”d be fine with rest and pain killers.

David approached as cars began to clear out of the opening of the parking garage. ”Are you feeling up to giving a statement?” he asked me.

I nodded, careful not to jostle my already sore head, and said, ”Yeah. I can do that.”

”Can”t it wait?” Static asked at the same time.

”Yeah, look at her,” Scythe added.

I glared at him and he coughed and looked away. ”I”d like to get this over with,” I replied.

”It”ll be good to go over it while it”s fresh,” David added.

”Bullshit,” Static told him. ”You know as well as I do that witnesses remember more when you give them at least twenty hours of rest and reflection on the event.”

David sighed. ”I hate that you”re a lawyer. Look. If I don”t do this interview now she”s going to have to sit in a jail cell. I want to do this, get her cleared, and then let her go home so she can rest. I think we can agree that there won”t be any additional details needed twenty hours from now.”

”Fuck,” Static muttered. ”Fine. Let”s do it. She”s not riding in the back of that fucking squad car, though.”

”She can ride up front with me,” he replied.

”And don”t even think of handcuffing her.”

”She”s not under arrest right now, Reed,” he sighed.

”Good. We”ll follow behind you in my car,” Static told me. He cupped my cheeks, looking into my eyes. He was making sure I was okay.

I smiled at him. ”I”m good, Static. I promise.” My brain was rattled, I was exhausted, and more than a little horrified that I”d killed a man, but I really was okay. Despite everything, I felt more like the old me than I had in a long time. I”d fought for myself. For my kid. For my man. And the guy who”d been making our lives miserable was dead. I just hoped I didn”t end up going to prison for his murder.

David gave me my space—as much as possible inside the cab of the car—and didn”t ask me anything. Procedure. He was making sure he followed it to a T. He got me inside the police station and into an interview room. Static came in with me, as my attorney, and held my hand as we waited.

David came in a few minutes later, holding two paper cups with water. He set them in front of us. ”I have to have you go through everything that happened, Gwen. Are you feeling up for that?”

”Yes,” I responded.

”Then after that, we”ll have to have Sean do the same. As his parent, we”ll need you to be present while we question him.”

”Okay,” I agreed.

He gave me an encouraging smile. ”Then let”s get started.”

It took hours,but as Static led me out of the police station, I raised my face and let the afternoon sunlight hit my face. I sucked in the fresh air and gave a heavy sigh.

”You okay?”

I smiled over at Static. ”Yeah. I actually am.”

”You sound surprised.”

”Well, the sight of you with blood on your shirt sent me into a panic attack three weeks ago,” I said with a laugh. ”And now here I am, and after everything... I know I”m going to be alright.”

He grinned down at me and pulled me into a hug. ”I”m glad to hear that.”

”It”s because of you,” I told him, the words muffled because my face was buried in his chest.

”No, it”s because of you,” he corrected.

”Both of us,” I admitted. ”And Butcher.”

His eyes narrowed. ”What?” he barked as I pulled away with a laugh.

”What did that asshole do?” But his lips were twitching.

I”d already told him about the training session. And how it had helped me. He was teasing me.

”Why is that dickhead”s name coming out of your mouth right now?” he asked, glaring at me. He pulled me back into his embrace and I wrapped my arms around him.

”What about the others?” I asked. He”d mentioned they were all sitting in another jail downtown.

”Torres is working on it,” he replied.

”See? David didn”t turn out so bad, did he?”

”Don”t want you saying that asshole”s name either,” he muttered, squeezing me tighter.

I couldn”t help but laugh. ”Fine.”

Scythe was sitting with Sean outside, waiting for us to wrap things up with David after Sean gave his official statement. I went over and wrapped Sean up in a hug. As soon as I got home and had Static, Sean, and Grace all in one spot, I knew everything would click into place. I needed my family surrounding me.

”Let”s go home,” Static said.

”It”s like you read my mind,” I told him.

He wrapped an arm around my shoulders and helped me into the cage ride that Scythe had taken us to the hospital in. Sean got in the other side and we sat together in silence during the drive. It had been a crazy day for us both. I was sure there would be fallout from this, for both of us, but we”d deal with it. And this time I knew I had the strength not to fall apart. I was going to face this head on, with my family.