BELONGING: Hope, Truth And Malice (Beauty 0f Life Book 3) Read online

  Outside Bennie’s Gas Station – EMS Rigs

  When Ray requested EMS for Dan and Bram, Loki had made it to one of the three EMS rigs that had responded. He handed Kenny to a lanky but muscular medic who had short, light ash brown hair. The nametag on his uniform shirt read, J. Shea.

  Loki said, “We’ve got two officers in the alley who need assistance. One is dazed and the other is unconscious. We’re unsure of their injuries.”

  Jim stopped his assessment of the crying little boy for a moment and responded, “Either of them shot?”

  Loki turned away for a moment and asked, “Boss, either of them shot?”

  Nick responded, “No, I’m not sure what happened, but I think Dan might have slipped and fallen. He has a slight lump and small cut on his head.” He glanced at Bram. “Bram’s just dazed. No idea what happened.”

  Loki relayed the information. “Neither shot, one unconscious with a small cut and lump on his head, my Boss thinks he slipped and fell. The other officer is a bit dazed. We don’t know what happened.”

  Jim looked around at all the kids and replied, “Since it’s not life threatening, someone will be there as soon as possible.” Then he focused back on the little boy who was going into shock as he said, “Trey, we need to get going now.”

  They put the gurney in the back of the rig, Trey closed the door, then raced to the driver’s seat. Then they were speeding to the hospital.

  Loki watched the rig pull away and said a silent prayer that the little boy would be okay. He looked at Lexa who was trying to extract herself from Ava. The little girl was afraid to go to the medics at first, but Loki saw that Lexa was able to calm her down and get her to allow the medics to begin check her over. Lexa was so good with little kids— he thought she’d be a great mom someday.

  He informed the Boss, “EMS is pretty backed up, dealing with all the kids and the chaperones. They’ll be there as soon as possible.”

  Nick replied, “Copy that, Loki. Dan’s still out cold, but it appears to be only a minor head wound so focus on the kids.”

  “Copy that, Boss.” Loki refocused on helping Lexa and the medics with the other kids traumatized by what happened to them today.

  Outside Bennie’s Gas Station – Back Alley

  Nick lightly placed a hand on the back of the tiny sobbing girl. She lifted her golden head and looked at Nick with tears running down her face. “It’s okay. Will you come to me?” Nick asked quietly. His heart wrenched seeing the sweet little girl in such distress.

  Sara shook her head no and held tighter to Dan.

  “Please?”

  Another shake no.

  “It’ll be okay, you’re safe now.”

  Sara’s sobbing increased as she held tightly to Dan shaking her head no.

  “Please? I can take you to your mommy.” Nick watched Sara shake her had no again, but more vigorously. “Why don’t you want go?”

  “Safe,” a tiny voice said.

  “You feel safe with Dan?” Nick asked softly.

  “Safe,” and a vigorous shake no as Sara’s sobbing continued.

  Nick was baffled. He thought her one word meant she felt safe with Dan. What else could she mean? She was only three and clearly traumatized. He didn’t want to traumatize her further. How could he communicate to her and understand what she needed right now?

  During Nick’s exchange, Jon had placed his arm around Bram and was trying to get through the haze to him. “Buddy, come on. Shake it off. Bram, look at me. Where are you, man? Focus on my voice. Talk to me.”

  As Jon continued to speak, Bram’s eyes began to focus and come back to the present—his mind regaining control and exiting the haze. Why had Dan shot Ted without even trying to talk? Why would he do that?

  The answer came to him finally. Ted shot Kenny? Ted was an active shooter. Dan had to neutralize Ted before Ted killed Sara, too. Bram gave his head a sharp shake and blew out a ragged breath. Then Bram took a deep cleansing breath and exhaled as he completely returned to the present—his mind crystal clear now.

  Bram looked directly at Jon with ferocious determination carved into his face. The expression could be read as a father protecting his young as Bram stated in a rock-hard, clear voice filled with conviction, “Dan saved Sara.”

  That wasn’t at all what Jon had expected his long-time friend to say. It threw him off balance. “Dan saved Sara?” he repeated back to Bram questioningly.

  He nodded firmly and with conviction stated, “Yes!” Then Bram abruptly stood up and walked to Dan. When he reached Dan, Bram knelt down and squeezed Dan’s left bicep and said in his fatherly voice, “It’s okay. She’s safe. Dan, you saved Sara. Wake up. It’s okay now. Dan, you saved Sara. Sara isn’t hurt, you’re okay.”

  Bram was shocked by his own actions. He wasn’t sure what drove him to react this way, but he had a gut-wrenching feeling it was very important that Dan know this. Dan needed to know that Sara was safe.

  Sara was crying quietly now, but still hanging onto Dan as hard as her little arms would allow. Quietly repeating, “Safe,” over and over.

  Nick needed to know what happened. There might be a clue in it for him to help this little girl. He could forcefully remove her from Dan, but that might cause more trauma. So for now, he would let her stay with Dan.

  Everyone knew something unusual had happened. Otherwise Dan wouldn’t be unconscious on the ground with no apparent injuries. Something caused him to collapse. They needed to understand the facts before they could begin to figure out what needed to be done. Jon and Ray now stood behind Nick all three looking expectantly at Bram hoping to understand.

  “Tell us what happened,” prompted Jon gently.

  Bram started reciting the facts as he knew them to be. “Dan caught up to me just after I exited the back door. We both ran flat-out after Ted. Ted held Sara to his chest facing outward. Dan and I boxed Ted in. There was nowhere for him to go as you can see. No exit. Dan and I were positioned where we could see each other. I was over there.”

  He only had to point out his location because Dan and Ted were still in their original positions. “Ted turned around facing both of us, but more directly at Dan—using Sara as a shield. Ted was solidly in the red-zone when he knew he was surrounded. There was a frenzied look in his eyes and his body movements were jerky and unpredictable. I noticed Dan scanning, assessing the tactical options—you know that calculating expression that comes across his face?”

  Nick and Jon nodded—they knew the look well.

  “Then Ted yelled, ‘You let me leave or I swear I’ll blow her brains out.’ Dan and Sara locked eyes for a few moments. This sounds really weird, but to me it looked like two souls conversing. It was so intense. Their gaze broke as Sara smiled sweetly at Dan.”

  “I was transfixed by her smile, but I noticed Dan looked slightly down. A fraction of a second later he fired. It all happened so fast. We didn’t even get to identify ourselves or tell Ted to drop his weapon,” Bram stated.

  Nick and Jon shared a look that said, ‘this could be a problem with NRB’.

  Bram continued, “Dan must’ve seen some movement or threat I missed in that split second before he fired. Maybe something that indicated that Ted was going to shoot. After all, Ted had already fired inside the station.”

  Nick and Jon sighed in relief and communicated silently, ‘NRB problem averted, that’s right—Ted was an active shooter’.

  “Ted lost his grip on Sara as they both fell to the ground. Then Dan was on the ground with Sara sobbing on top of him. It stunned me. I only heard one shot. My mind got lost for a bit trying to figure out how Dan could be down when there was only one shot, and how or why Sara was on top of Dan and crying. That’s when you guys showed up, I assume,” Bram finished and looked between Nick and Jon—still a bit bewildered by it all.

  As Bram was finishing, Lexa and Loki approached after ensuring the kids were okay and safely with the paramedics and their parents. Lexa looked down at Dan—concern written in he
r eyes. Then she turned her attention to Nick. “Boss, the units have taken over the scene for mopping up. EMS is still busy, probably another ten minutes or so.”

  Nick nodded trying to sort it all out in his head. This call had gone from good to bad to weird.

  Bram looked down at Dan still puzzled by what happened. “I still can’t figure out what caused him to collapse like this.”

  Loki knelt down and placed a supportive hand on Bram’s shoulder as he scrutinized Dan’s face and the quietly crying girl clinging to him.

  Dan’s eyelids started moving. He was struggling to open his eyes. He groaned as his hands clenched into fists and released several times. Then his right hand reached out like he was holding something. It jerked suddenly and dropped limply to the ground as if he’d lost hold of it. He was starting to regain consciousness and the team sighed in relief.

  But that relief was fleeting and turned to alarm when Dan’s voice, in a small and scared tone, quietly uttered, “Sara, no, oh God, please no. Her shoes. Sorry, Sir. My fault. No, Sara, don’t go. Why not me? Hurts! Sara, no, no. Don’t leave me Sara. Don’t go. No, not her, take me. Sorry, Sir, I failed, didn’t protect her. Just gone. Didn’t save her, all my fault. Sir, no, no, sorry, Sir. Stop, it hurts, no, no, Sir. No don’t, it hurts, Sir, stop, it hurts. Sorry, Sir. Her shoes, no shoes. No, no, sorry, Sir, don’t, please stop, it hurts. Yes, Sir. No crying allowed, no crying. My fault, Sir. I didn’t protect her. My fault, all my fault—stop, please stop, it hurts. She’s gone, it’s my fault.”

  They all exchanged horrified expressions and were completely immobile. Dan was stuck in some god-awful memory or nightmare.

  Dan’s eyes flew wide open as he cried out, “Sara,” in a voice filled with abject desolation. He stilled completely, eyes wide open, and stared straight up into the sky—but not really aware of his surroundings.

  What happened next astonished the team. Tiny little Sara lifted her head and scooted her body so she could look directly into Dan’s eyes. Locking her teary eyes with his forsaken ones—seemingly searching for something. She whispered, “Safe,” repeatedly to him in a soothing, lilting, little girl voice as she placed a small hand on his cheek.

  Dan blinked, once, twice, three times. The world began to take shape around him and Dan registered he was on the ground on his back. Then lovely green eyes locked onto his deep blue ones. A soothing little voice was repeating ‘safe’ to him.

  He blinked again—an innocent soul comforted a tormented soul. She was safe. He was safe. Burning tears gathered in his eyes and threatened to spill out. Dan’s muscular arms gently wrapped around the tiny slip of a girl and held her close in a protective embrace.

  “Safe,” Dan whispered tenderly and nodded into her hand.

  “Safe,” the little blonde haired girl with innocent green eyes whispered back then she kissed his cheek.

  Two sets of eyes closed as they both sighed. Sara scooted back down and laid her head in the crook of Dan’s shoulder. She moved her little hand so it was laying over his heart. “Safe now,” she whispered one last time before drifting into an exhausted sleep in his arms.

  Silence reigned. Seconds ticked by, but no one dared move a muscle—afraid to shatter the sanctuary the little girl built for their friend. Dan’s eyes blinked opened again and a single tear escaped from his glistening eyes.

  Dan looked cautiously at each of his teammates in turn, locked eyes with them and searched for something. Searching for what they didn’t know, but whatever he found seemed to comfort him because Dan sighed as a serene expression settled on his face and he soundlessly mouthed, “Thank you.”

  A kindhearted, fatherly countenance appeared on Bram’s face as looked at Dan and gently said, “Safe.”

  Dan nodded. “Safe.”

  Each team member, in turn, quietly repeated, “Safe.”

  They all remained motionless and silent for several more moments. Each was mentally processing what had occurred and contemplating the meaning as they regained their composure. By unspoken agreement no one commented on what had just transpired. Whatever it was that happened seemed to be cathartic for Dan—it showed in the respite that now reflected in his expressive eyes.

  Jon moved first. Drawing everyone’s eyes to him as he adjusted his stance to one of authority. Then a hint of mischief entered his gray eyes and a wide grin appeared as he said sternly, “No napping in alleys either, Broderick.”

  Dan couldn’t stop the grin that appeared on his face. He realized that the unacceptable nap location list would most likely get to be quite lengthy if this kept up. “Copy that.”

  As he started to rise, cradling a sleeping Sara in his arms, six pairs of arms reached out to help him up. Dan’s face lit with happiness—acceptance and belonging felt so good.

  Chapter Fifteen

  July 15

  Outside Bennie’s Gas Station – Front

  It was an impressive sight as seven TRF constables in full tactical gear rounded the corner out of the alley. Flanked by three officers on each side, a handsome, young officer gently cradled a sleeping little girl in his arms. They strode forward with purpose and conviction towards a distressed young couple who were consoling another young girl.

  Loki, Ray, Lexa, Jon, Bram, and Nick stopped a few paces back from the girl’s parents.

  Dan approached the young mother and carefully placed Sara into her waiting arms. He leaned in close and spoke so only the mother could hear. “If Sara ever asks, please tell her Dan Broderick is safe because of her. Sara has a beautiful soul. Thank you.”

  He stepped back slightly as he smiled down at Sara then reached out and lightly stroked her hair. Dan leaned down and placed a gentle kiss on her forehead and whispered, “Thank you, Sara.”

  Then he turned to stride towards the command truck with his chosen family surrounding him. As he approached them, Lexa and Loki each grabbed one of Dan’s arms and redirected him back towards the EMS rigs. “What?” he asked.

  Lexa gave him a stern look. “You were out cold for several minutes. You need to be checked out before going with NRB.”

  She was glad when Dan simply allowed her to turn him around and guide him over to a gurney. He’d scared her twice today. She felt things she’d never felt for a man when she saw him on the ground both times. It was as if her life … no, no, she couldn’t finish that thought. Lexa pushed her emotions down and took a deep breath.

  Dan allowed himself to be steered towards the EMS rig and sat on the edge of an empty gurney. He disliked having to be checked out by EMS. He was okay, only a small bump and headache. But he disliked NRB more, especially if it meant dealing with Dick Donner. So he wouldn’t fight it now and enjoy a small reprieve before having to discuss two shootings with the NRB agent who was now glaring at him from a distance.

  As he waited for the medic to come, his mind mulled over what happened in the alley. Dan knew the team must be wondering about that. They wouldn’t force him to explain, he knew that from the searching looks he gave them. They’d respect his privacy, but Dan didn’t want to hold this secret in anymore. He hoped when he told them that they wouldn’t judge him too harshly.

  Dan sighed and decided that after debriefing tonight, he’d tell them about how he failed to protect his sister Sara and how he was responsible for her death. He would explain that when he noticed that Sara Clarry had no shoes on, that the horrible memory of his sister Sara’s death slammed into his brain.

  He would tell them how in that instant, he couldn’t allow tiny, sweet Sara Clarry to be killed by Ted. How he was glad, truly glad for once that his reaction time was so fast. How if he hadn’t seen in that fraction of a fraction of a second Ted raising the gun towards her head, Sara Clarry would be dead now.

  And he would tell them how if that had happened, Dan feared that he would’ve been irrevocably lost and broken. They were his chosen family. They deserved to know. He would trust them with this memory and that they would keep him safe. He could trust them with this—he’d seen it
in their eyes. It was a small step—no, it was huge step. He hadn’t even told his unit about Sara. Dan hoped he was not being naïve again and that trusting them wouldn’t hurt him again. He was tired of being hurt … but TRF was different … wasn’t it?

  Then Dan chuckled. Man, he was gonna go broke—he got hurt again. He’d be buying the first round tonight at the Pond. Would they consider this to be two times and would he be responsible for two rounds? A thought entered his head—maybe the Pond would be a good place to tell them about Sara. He could get a couple of beers in him, help him relax a bit, and then he could talk about how he failed to save his little sister. Maybe even let them know that was the reason he refused to talk about his family.

  Ten minutes later, Dan was still mulling over how much to tell the team when he was drawn from his thoughts as a medic arrived and started asking him questions. As the medic did his thing, Dan distractedly watched the scene around him and wondered at all the news crews. Must be a slow news day to cover a gas station robbery he thought.

  Several minutes later, as the paramedic completed his assessment, the Boss and Jon approached. Dan thought, Good timing, as he rolled down his sleeve then buttoned his uniform shirt cuff.

  The medic reported, “I disinfected the small cut. No concerns regarding the small bump on the head, no signs of concussion, although it might be tender for a bit. Offered pain meds for the slight headache, but your officer refused. Sergeant, my opinion is that your officer is fit to return to duty.”

  Dan slid off the gurney and glanced at the medic. “Thanks.” He turned to the Boss and grimaced. “So, off to NRB now?” he queried.

  “Alpha Team, Echo Team, all hands-on-deck, Charlie Team needs backup now,” Tia sounded off in their headsets.