False Pretenses - Kathy Herman [61]
“Gil, I want you to coordinate the perimeter. I’ll secure the park and set up the command post. Chief Norman’s officers should be here soon. Go.”
“Stone, I need you to stay with the boy and control the bleeding until the paramedics arrive. Have you got a clean handkerchief?”
“Yes, sir. I think I do.”
“Here, take mine, too.” Jude took a clean handkerchief out of his pocket and handed it to Stone, then looked into the wounded boy’s eyes. “What’s your name, son?”
“Deshawn … Macey.” The kid lay with his head turned sideways and resting on his hands.
“How old are you?”
“Sixteen.”
“You’re going to be all right. Deputy Castille is going to apply pressure to the wound to help slow the bleeding until the paramedics arrive. It’s going to hurt a little, okay?”
Deshawn nodded, his eyes narrowed, his lips tightly pressed together.
Stone placed the folded handkerchiefs, one on top of the other, over the gunshot wound, then knelt over the boy and pressed down on the handkerchiefs with his palms.
Deshawn whimpered as the white handkerchiefs almost instantly turned red. “Will someone call my mom?” The young man was panting, his eyes wide with fear.
“Sure we will.” Jude peeled off his uniform shirt, then pulled his T-shirt off over his head and handed it to Castille.
“My m-mom’s a nurse,” Deshawn said. “At Hargrave. She’s on duty tonight.”
“Then she’ll probably want to meet the ambulance.” Jude made sure his voice sounded reassuring. “Deshawn, try to relax. Deputy Castille is going to have to press harder to get the bleeding under control.” God help us if he can’t.
Jude gave a nod, and Castille bore down harder, the T-shirt quickly soaking up the blood.
Deshawn winced. “I-I know your son. Saul. We were in the same science class. He’s cool.”
“Thanks. His mother and I think he’s pretty special.” Jude buttoned his uniform shirt and avoided looking into Deshawn’s eyes. He could only imagine how he would feel if it were his son lying there, dying. He glanced over at Castille. “Keep pressure on the wound. I’m going to go make sure the paramedics are cleared to get in here and then set up a command post. Let’s hope Chief Norman sends enough extra personnel to help process twenty-nine drunk teenagers. And that we get the shooter before he strikes again.”
Deshawn took hold of Jude’s wrist. “Am I going to die? I just want to know.”
The boy’s bluntness cut through all his defenses. Jude shook his head. “Not if I can help it, son.” But it’s really out of my hands.
CHAPTER 19
Zoe heard the bathroom door open and Pierce’s footsteps moving down the hall in her direction. She clutched tightly to her pillow, her heart banging so hard she felt as if it might explode. How did she even begin to tell him the truth about herself?
God, help me, or I’m going to die of a heart attack before I can say anything.
Pierce crawled into bed and draped his arm over her. “Are you awake?” he whispered.
“Yes. I’ve been waiting for you. There’s something we need to talk about.”
“Oh?” He gently stroked her hair. “Am I in the doghouse?”
“No, I am.”
“You?” He sounded amused. “Why?”
Zoe wiggled out of his embrace and sat up on the side of the bed. She turned on the lamp, her back to Pierce. “Before I tell you, I just want to say that I love you with all my heart. What I’m about to reveal will be easier to handle if you can remember that.”
Zoe turned and pulled her legs into the bed and sat with her back against the headboard, her pillow held tightly to her chest.
“Good grief, what happened to you?” Pierce raised himself up on one arm. “Did you wreck the car?”
“No. Just hear me out. I’ve tried to imagine how this conversation should go. There just isn’t an easy way to deliver this news.”
“For crying out loud, Zoe. You’re my wife, the other half of my heart. You can come to me with anything. What is it?”
“I’ve lied to you … all these years.”
“About what?”
“For starters, the name you knew me by, Zoe Benoit, wasn’t the name my parents gave me. I was born Shelby Sieger. And my parents aren’t the deceased Pierre and Violet