Pretending She's Mine

“You saw that?” I was surprised.

“I probably wouldn’t have noticed it except it was on her shooting arm. I wasn’t close enough to see what it said. But it was like time stood still. I saw the gun, like it was frozen or something and then I saw the tattoo.”

“But it said something? You’re sure it was words and not a drawing?”

“I think so. I don’t know for sure. It seems like it was a message, not just one word.” He scrunched his forehead in concentration.

Journey patted his arm. “Let’s take a little break. I don’t want you to get a headache. Can I get you something? Want some water? Or a protein shake?”

He laughed. “No. I’m good.”

I wanted to run through the analysis again. I needed to call Tomas at the office. He was my lead agent and had updated me every hour on all incoming information. He never once mentioned the shooter could have been a woman. We were certain it was an obsessed fan. Some lunatic who thought Journey had shunned him. A guy. A psychopath. A male. It had to be.

The shooting had all the signs of a revenge attack. The emails seemed to confirm our theory.

But now I realized we had been wrong from the beginning.

“Journey, we need to go.”

“But, we just got here,” she argued. “I want to stay a little longer.”

I eyed her. That wasn’t going to be possible with this revelation.

I placed my hand on her shoulder and extended a hand to Tristan. “Thank you for what you did. I hope you know it makes you a hero.” He shook my hand, gripping probably more than he should.

“Thanks, man.”

I squeezed her shoulder. “We’ve got to reassess the protocols for tonight. We need to discuss if it’s even possible to leave the compound.”

“But tonight is the first awards dinner.”

If I had to throw her over my shoulder and carry her out of here kicking and screaming, I would.

“Journey, if you want to go to that dinner, we need to leave now. All the plans have shifted.”

She nodded. Maybe she was starting to realize there were things she had to compromise too.

“It’s all right,” Tristan offered. “I’ve got some hot nurses waiting on me.” He winked at her again.

“You say your goodbyes and I’ll wait in the hallway for you.”

“Ok.”

I stepped through the door and waited for her outside the room.

A minute later she appeared.

“Is it really that bad?” I saw the worry on her face and had to admit she had been strong in there for Tristan.

I nodded. “Worse. But you’re not alone, babe. You’re not going to be alone.”

She squeezed my hand. “I know. For the first time in a long time I actually believe that.”

“Good. Let’s get out of this hospital and go somewhere we can talk. Everything has changed.”

Our palms slid together as we traveled through the corridor and exited the back entrance of the hospital. I scanned the sidewalk and the parking bays before ducking inside the car after Journey. The sick feeling that had started when I realized we were off track with the suspect had grown. I wondered what else we had gotten wrong.

Seventeen