Key West Gone into the Night Elizabeth Hilleren (if you give a mouse a cookie read aloud txt) 📖

in extreme pain. Everyone had gunshot wounds. The EMTs arrived and spread out among the bodies.

Harris pulled up and ran forward. He recognized Stephanie and headed for her. The medic, Max Saxton, was working on her.

“Max, how is she?”

Max looked up and recognized Harris. “Not good. You know her?”

“An ex-wife.” Harris knelt and took her hand. “Stephie…it’s Burt. Hang in there. I won’t let you go.”

“We’ve got to get her out of here,” Max said.

“I’m going with you.”

“Okay, but we’re going to roll out.”

Sharkey saw Harris and ran to his side. “How is she?”

“Bad. I gotta go.”

“I’ll check with you later. I’m praying for her.”

“Thanks, partner.”

Sharkey walked over to where the other woman lay. “She’s gone. One square to the chest.”

“How about the guy?”

“Wounded, but not fatal. We’ll load them up and see you at the hospital.”

Sharkey saw Fitzpatrick taking photos and placing markers where evidence lay on the sidewalk. Jenny pulled up and joined Sharkey. “Was Stephanie here?”

“Yes, it looks bad for her. Harris is with her.”

“Poor Harris. He’s really been put through the wringer lately.”

“That’s for sure. Take more pictures.  I want to talk to the guy that called it in.”

“Sharkey,” Fitzpatrick called, “there’s a bank bag here with fifty thousand dollars in it.”

“Why can’t they trust us?  That was a rhetorical question.”

“There are those who just don’t get it.  The guy had the money bag in his hand.  I play it this way. The woman standing next to the building shot the big woman, then the man shot her, and on her way down, she shot him in the upper thigh.”

“Frank should be here soon. I’m going to check out our caller.”

Sharkey walked towards the young man and woman.

“Jesse?”

“Yes,” he stood up.  “Are they all dead? We never saw them shoot, but we heard the shots and called nine-one-one.  They said not to go near.”  The kid looked scared to be that close to violent death.  The young girl that stood next to him was trying to keep it together.

“You did the right thing. You likely saved two lives.”

“Okay.” He wiped at his eyes.

“It’s okay, you did the right thing. Both of you take a deep breath and relax. They’re in good hands, thanks to you.”

Jesse shook his head. “I’m okay.”

“What direction were you coming from?”

“We were on the Bertha Street side.”

“You were in the wrong place at just the right time to save some lives. That’s all I need, but if you could just fill out this contact card, I’d appreciate it. What’s your age?”

“We’re both high school seniors.”

“Eighteen,” the girl said.

“If I need anything else, I’ll call you. I suggest you head home. This is going to go on for a while.”

*    *    *

Across town Mckenzie and Connor were driving for the location.

“I didn’t know that here was a hockey rink in Key West,” Connor said.

“It’s roller blades, January through May. We cover the games in the paper.”

“Learn something new every day,” Connor said with a shake of his head.

“With all the cops tonight, we won’t be able to get close. Let’s park and walk from here. Damn. Something really big is going on in this town,” Mckenzie said as Connor parked and pulled out their equipment.

“We passed two ambulances and now there’s one more.”

“Three down, was the call,” Connor said, picking up his pace to match Mckenzie’s. They made their way to the corner of the street from where the police were gathered and crossed to the entrance of the park.

“Not much to see. I see Sharkey. Let’s push the edge,” Mckenzie said. They walked over by his cruiser and waited.  “Demonte just pulled up. Must be a fatality.”

Frank Demonte and his assistant Becky walked quickly over to Sharkey and Jenny.

“She’s gone,” Sharkey said. “Two injured.”

Frank knelt down next to the large woman. “Dead with a shot to the chest. Bullseye,” he said dryly.

“The shooter had a laser on her gun. Lucky for her,” Sharkey said.

Frank continued to check out the body and recorded his findings. “Okay, let’s load her up and it will most likely be a straightforward autopsy. I’ll let you know.”

“Fitzpatrick, you find any identification on those two?”

“Yeah. Rita Polly and Kirk Polly. Live here in Key West.”

“Good.  I’ll check them out. I’m on my way to the hospital to talk to Mr. Polly.”

*    *    *

Harris paced the waiting room at the hospital.

How could she be so dumb? She knows better…She thought Carl was dumb for what he did and now she’s laying there on the table…She’s got to make it. She just has to.

Nurse Amy saw Harris and quickly walked in and put her arms around him.

“I’m so sorry, Burt.” He held her close to him.

Harris was surprised to see Amy. “What are you doin here?”

“They called me in. “We have three ambulances, and they were worried about being shorthanded.”

“She can’t die. Too many people have died, and I couldn’t stop any of it.”

“You did everything possible. It’s in God’s hands now. However, you should know that one of her attackers is alive.”

Harris jerked away from Amy. “Where?”

“No way,” Sharkey said from the hall. “We have him under guard. He’s going down for what happened, and you need to not interfere.”

It was like a splash of cold water in Harris’ face. He closed his eyes then opened them.

“I gotta find out about Stephie.” He turned and left.

Amy and Sharkey both thought the same thought. “He’s back in police mode.”

“I’ll see if I can get the doctor to talk to him.” Amy moved quickly down the hall, passing Harris who was leaning against the wall outside her cubicle in emergency.

She went in