Sweet Taboo

“I was gonna get you back. We wasn’t done yet. Not as long as I still lived here. I even had your baby, but you still wanted her!” Camilla started pacing. “I knew if she was gone, you’d want me again.”

I shook my head. “No. Nothing could’ve changed things with us. Think, Camilla. You know it’s true. We wasn’t right for a long time.”

She whipped around and glared at me. “So, you mean to tell me if I killed her right now, you wouldn’t take me back.” She pointed my spare revolver at Tegyn.

I inhaled sharply and slowly moved to put myself in between them. “Are you the one who has been threatening Tegyn?” I asked quietly, hoping to regain her attention.

“If I could just get her to go away, we’d be fine,” she muttered again under her breath. She tapped her forehead with the muzzle of the gun. “Think. Think. Think. I gotta fix this.”

“So, it was you.” I nodded and inhaled deeply. Behind Camilla, I could see shadows in the laundry room. Obviously, the police were getting in position. “Then I should thank you for helping us reconnect,” I began. “Tegyn and I hadn’t talked in three years.”

“You had a file on her. You kept everything about her. You never stopped thinking about her!” Camilla wailed as she dropped to her knees. “I had to do something.”

“I get it, but everything you did had the exact opposite effect.” I shrugged. I wasn’t lying. As much as I hated Camilla for so many things, she really was the reason why Tegyn and I reconnected. “None of this has worked. You should just give up. No one has been hurt. You’ll get off easy.”

She froze and shook her head. “I ain’t going to jail.” Camilla paced back and forth. “I ain’t losing you. I’ll kill us all ‘fore I let that happen.” She fixed the gun on Tegyn again and pulled mine from behind me and pointed it at her.

Police burst into the garage from under the door and the laundry room at the same time. There was even one officer peeking through the scuttle hole. “Drop your weapons!” One officer shouted.

“No!” Camilla growled. She whipped around and pointed the gun at the officer. “This is a family problem and you ain’t family.”

I watched her finger almost imperceptibly squeeze the trigger and I knew the police would be forced to respond. Without hesitation, I threw myself on top of Tegyn. From the corner of my eye, I realized Camilla noticed and started to turn the gun on me, but the police reacted swiftly. Bullets flew. Seconds later, Camilla fell to the ground, her lifeless eyes fixed on me. I sat up, pulled Tegyn to a sitting position and crushed her to my chest. “Tell me you’re okay,” I urged. Then I glanced at the police swarming us. “She needs medical attention.”

“An ambulance is on the way,” one officer assured us.

“I’m fine,” Tegyn murmured. “I just need to know Keyon’s okay.” She blinked back tears.

“He’s fine, baby. I promise.” I brushed the hair from her face and started working on removing the duct tape. “We’re all fine. And now our nightmare is over.”

Tegyn was transported to the hospital because of her head wound. Since it was after bar hours by the time she was loaded into the ambulance, I called Tommy to make sure I could drop Keyon off there.

“He can spend the night. Take care of Tegyn. Pick him up tomorrow sometime.” The seriousness in Tommy’s voice told me he realized the gravity of our night.

“We’re worried about a concussion,” the ER doctor told us. “Acetaminophen for the headache, but no aspirin or ibuprofen. Also sleep is fine, but if there’s trouble waking up, then you’ll need to be seen again to re-evaluate the head injury.”

“And that’s it?” I asked. I wanted this woman to be safe and healthy.

“Yes, a nurse will be in shortly with the discharge papers.” The doctor shook our hands and disappeared out the door.

“Before you say anything, I’m fine. Don’t worry.” She smiled at me, her lids lowering. “Just sleepy.”

“I’m going to take you home and hold you all night. I’m never going to be able to let you go. Look what happens when I leave you alone,” I murmured as I kissed her forehead.

“Yeah. Your crazy exes try to kill me. Got any more of those lurking about?” she asked while squinting at me.

“No. And I don’t plan on having any in the future.” I held her hand and brushed her knuckles with my lips.

“No?” She grinned.

I shook my head. “Is it too early to point out that I’m now free to marry you?”

She pursed her lips. “Maybe a little. Is it too early to suggest we sell our houses and buy one together?”

My pulse sped up and I glanced at the ceiling. “Thank you, Lord.”

A nurse entered the room with a clipboard. “Who’s ready to go home?”