Sean regained his senses and rushed into the bedroom. A shot rang out, and he froze. A hot flash of pain radiated up his arm and into his shoulder. The asshole had shot him in the arm. Adrenaline took over, and Sean rushed him against the bed and slapped the gun out of Justin’s grip.
Sean looked over at the doorway to the bedroom. Abigail stood with a knife in her hand. “I didn’t…I didn’t know what to do. Are you…are you, oh my God, Sean! You’ve been shot. Oh no! Oh no!” she screamed and dropped the knife on the floor.
Sean held his bleeding arm to his side and hurried to get Abigail out of the bedroom and away from Justin. They ran back into the living room. Sean shoved Abigail behind the couch and started back for the bedroom to grab the gun when he saw Justin scramble out of the bedroom, wielding the knife Abigail had dropped.
“She’s not worth your blood, tough guy. She’s a whore.”
“You motherfucker!” Sean yelled and lunged for Justin. As they rolled on the ground, Abigail rushed past them, into the bedroom.
Justin swung at him, and Sean struggled with his good arm to defend himself. The next thing he knew, a loud bang rang out in the small apartment, and Justin fell on top of him.
“He was going to hurt you,” Abigail said. She timidly laid the gun on the coffee table. “I-I h-had to do it.”
Sean pushed Justin’s lifeless body to the side and ran to Abigail. “I know, baby.” He coaxed her, pulling her against his chest so she couldn’t see the body on the floor. “I know. You’re so brave.”
“Did he hurt you? Oh, Sean, he was going to kill you.”
“Shh, I know. I know. It’s all right. Everything’s all right now.”
Two men dressed in blue and a man dressed in street clothes rushed inside the apartment. All the men had their guns drawn and were yelling instructions at Sean and Abigail to get back and get down on the ground.
Sean hid Abigail’s face against his chest. “That’s the guy you’re looking for.” He nodded at Justin’s body.
The plainclothes officer knelt to feel for a pulse on Justin’s neck. “Coroner needs to be called.”
One of the officers kept his gun aimed at Sean and Abigail while he spoke into the receiver pinned at his shoulder. “Send an ambulance. One down and one…” He looked over at Sean. “One wounded.”
The other officer pointed at Sean. “Your arm, sir. Have you been shot?”
Sean took a deep breath and twisted his arm to look at his bicep. “Yeah. I think it grazed me.”
The first officer lowered his gun. “The ambulance is on its way.”
“I-I did it, officers. I shot Justin,” Abigail said as she pulled out of Sean’s embrace. “I’ll answer all your questions.”
Sean gritted his teeth, making his jaw ache. He shrugged off the burning pain in his arm and sat Abigail down on the couch. He got a blanket from the bedroom to wrap Penelope in. Not knowing what else to do, he made an ice pack and strapped it to her injured hip. The cold always made him feel better when he’d been beaten to a pulp. He’d make arrangements with Ron to get her to the nearest animal hospital.
Abigail told the police officer she’d kept the strange e-mails and phone messages Justin had left. She also agreed to have her medical records pulled for further evidence against Justin. Sean sat on the couch, holding her in his arms as she relayed the events of the afternoon. He fought the urge to snatch her up and hide her away in the bedroom. The whole event was a blur of punches and kicks. The more she talked, the more he wanted to hold her, thank her for protecting their unborn child.
He was going to be a father. That was all that mattered now. His family was safe and always would be. I’m going to be a dad.
“Let’s get you two down to the station and get the paperwork done on this. Mr.…?”
“Drennan, Sean Drennan.”
“Mr. Drennan, the ambulance is here. Let’s get you to Regional Hospital. We can go over some questions there.”
* * * *
After several hours in the emergency room, where Eric was on duty to fix Sean’s arm, the officers got the answers to their questions. They reassured both Abigail and Sean it looked like self-defense, but they’d be in touch to get the evidence filed and the information lined out for the case.
Sean sat in the hospital bed with his arm bandaged and the soft beep, beep of his vital signs going off in the background.
“Eric said I can go home but insisted we go to his house. He said he can monitor my wound there. Are you okay with going there?”
“I’ll go anywhere with you, Sean.”
He smiled and cupped her soft cheek in his hand. “Come here.” She curled up beside him on the bed. He kissed her on top of her head. “I’m going to be a dad.”