sirens sounded outside as Jim’s eyes rolled back in his head. His body slackened. Devin stared at him, hands shaking. Blood still poured out of Jim’s right shoe, pooling on the floor.
I crouched next to Ellie. She held on to him still. Her entire body was rigid, as if she couldn’t release him. Her teeth dug so far into her bottom lip that I could see her bleeding.
I put a hand on her shoulder. “Let him go, Ellie.”
Her frightened eyes, filled with grief and terror, found mine. “I can’t,” she whispered. “I’m too scared.”
“You can. It’s going to be okay now. He’s going to be in prison for a long time. He’ll never see you again.”
“Am I going to prison?”
“No.”
“Have I killed him?”
“Not yet.”
“Will Devin be in trouble?”
“No.”
I squeezed her shoulder. She panted, looking to me for consolation.
“It’s okay. I’m Team Ellie. I’ve got you. I’ll take responsibility if I have too, but it won’t come to that. All right?”
Chest heaving, she let out a long, shaky breath, then released him all at once. She slid away with a cry, as far away as she could scramble. Shards of glass lay beneath her, but she didn’t notice them. When her back collided with the wall, she looked at Devin. He crossed the room, crouched next to her, and put his arms around her shoulders. Then he sank to the floor at her side, both of them trembling.
Sheriff Bailey appeared in the doorway, gun drawn. “Bethany?”
A lightheaded feeling rushed over me. Everything seemed to move slowly now, every sound amplified. The smell of gunpowder sharp in the air. Lizbeth shuffled up behind me with a low, muted sob.
“Bethie?”
“I’m fine,” I managed to say to Sheriff Bailey. “He . . . he shot himself in the foot the second time. None of us are hurt.”
Sheriff Bailey surveyed the scene, then strode over, glass crunching beneath his boots. After picking the gun up off the floor, he placed a hand on my shoulder. Like a shock wave, my stunned paralysis faded. I sucked in a sharp breath.
The girls. I had to get it together
“You’re going to be okay,” he said, voice low and firm. “We have an ambulance and help on the way. You’re safe now.”
His words echoed in my mind.
You’re safe now.
I whispered, “Thank you,” then reached back and grabbed Lizbeth by the arm. I pulled her into me, and then I held out a hand for Ellie. With a cry, she jumped to her feet and buried herself in my arms with her sister.
The two of them clung to me and cried while I held them close.
The next hour and a half passed in an odd blur.
Sheriff Bailey spoke on the radio. Ellie trembled against me, her teeth rattling like old bones. Lizbeth gazed on as they carried a half-conscious Jim to the ambulance. The sound of crunching glass rang in my ears. Deputies swarmed the shop. Flashing lights. The quiet chatter of people in a subdued environment. It moved around me like a storm. I stood at the center, something inside me ready to break.
My team is coming, I thought. My team is coming.
They came.
I don’t know how much time passed, but Millie appeared first. Devin ran to her, his face ashen. Ellie followed him with a sob, throwing herself into Millie’s arms. Millie spoke quietly with me as I explained, clinging to her son and Ellie. She admonished them both, hugged them, and then cried.
After they both gave their explanation to the deputies, Millie took them home.
Jada showed up next, eyes wide. While Lizbeth spoke with Sheriff Bailey, Jada hugged me so tight it hurt. When Lizbeth finished, Jada retreated to take her home with the promise to take good care of her and stuff her full of comfort food.
“Got plenty for you, Beth-baby,” Jada murmured quietly into my hair. “Come home when you can.”
That left me in the middle of the coffee shop with Sheriff Bailey.
Once the girls left, my composure faded. A low tremor started in my legs. With every passing moment, it crept higher. My knees knocked as Sheriff Bailey asked, “Do you have somewhere you can go?”
Tears clouded my eyes. No Dad. No Pappa. No comfort on this horrifying day. Where would I go now? I didn’t want to be around the girls. Didn’t want them to see me totally shatter and collapse like a dying star. They needed to recover without guilt.
I needed space to think. To breathe. To not think about them, and