• 8:17 p.m.
    December 11, 2003
    Clouds engulfed the sky. The rain poured down against the white windows. Lila’s fingers danced against the window whilst she watches the rain pound against her window, her boyfriend watches her twirl around in her yellow sundress. She looked like a ray of sunshine, ‘My only sunshine.’ He thought to himself.
    “Dance with me.” She pleads, grasping his hand. They danced under the moonlight on the balcony in the pouring rain. Until…until…he stops her. The movement alone breaks her heart. Her gentle free loving heart. It breaks his heart that he’s breaking her heart. Soon tears trickled down her cheek, falling onto her chin. She was crying and the sound of it, poured into his soul. Ripping at the seam of his existence.
    “Lila, stop.” He tells her, pulling her into his arms. She smiles, her smile dazzles, dancing with his heart. He leans as she leans, softly kissing in the moonlight, shadows bouncing off the walls landing on the soft green grass. She is the first to pull away and break the suddle spell.
    “No. I can’t.” She whispers, walking away never once thinking it would be her last. He follows her, never once thinking it would be his last.
    I am a stranger to her, the Arizona famous realtor, Lila Brooks. A beautiful woman, smart, dark-haired and dark-skinned with eyes like jewels as a deep green shade. I was pacing slowly around the familiar rent control apartment that had once belonged to my father, a past that is remaining silent until…until now. The young female landlord walked beside me completely unaware of the danger that lay ahead. The growing danger of her death…her own death was the victory I had in store for the Valiant, a cult, the only connection I had recently found between my father and me.
    “Yes. I’ve always loved this tiny apartment. I in fact, had recently sold it to the man behind the Satanist crimes just two months ago.” She tells me in a strange sense of foreign pride, before she crosses her arms. Her body language showed that she had a complete lack of interest towards me as the man who was to be a potential buyer to keep the apartment within the family. My own messed up family. ‘Damn it Jack.’ I thought to myself as she follows me into the next room, the family room, how ironic. This house was never meant to house a family.
    “I always thought he was a wonderful man.” She confesses in a harsh whisper as if, as if confessing some terrible secret. I pat the fire mantel sending freshly born ash into the air already sick of her talking about my father as if she herself knew him as the monster he really was. I change the subject watching my anger as it implodes throughout every pore in my body.
    “How much is the rent here?” Her gaze falls upon mine. Her eyes had been growing big with disbelief at the sight of me taking out my checkbook out of my backpack.
    “Two-twenty a month, plus utilities.” She said, twirling her mane of dark brown hair. I shook her hand, sealing the deal of the brand-new apartment.
    “Thank-you, let’s go downstairs to the kitchen and make some coffee.” I state, with a smile of false charm. Trying to lure her into my own trap, I follow her down the stairs when her wedge caught on to the metal end of the stair, she frails her arms landing in mine. ‘Perfect.’
    “Be careful. The next time you fall, I’ll catch you.” I murmur into her ear, pushing her hair back from her neck to collide with the back of her shoulders.
    “I can’t stay for coffee.” She suddenly tells me with fear, large amounts of fear staining her pupils. The eyes connect for the first time and with a gentle wave of my hand, she was hooked…under my unbinding spell for the final time. My lips gently brushed against hers, the kiss reflecting each other’s needs, wants, and desires. Her soft, muscular legs wrapped around my strong and stable hips. I carried her to the kitchen, the most destructive room in the entire house. The room where the most accidents occur. Grabbing the rope from the blinds across the windowsills, I tied a strong yet perfectly stable noose, letting it fall around her throat. Strangling the life out of her, she began to turn red, then purple then a pale, pale pink. She was dead. My silhouette disappearing out of the apartment. For no one had witnessed the deed done in apartment 4B.
    4:00 a.m.
    Dec 15, 2009
    The nightmares are back with a fighting force of vengeance.
    Jack leans into Alexis’s arms telling her that he is sorry.
    “No Jack!” I hear her scream. The shot rang out throughout the room. I hear myself scream. Running inside the room, other cops stare at the lifeless body of Jack White.’
    It was the sound of my own scream that had awakened me from a loose light sleep.
    “Damn it. Another sleepless night.” I whisper to my German Shepard Dante. He barks as if he understood me. I walk out to my car starting it; I drove the fifteen minutes to the precinct. Where I had seen Detectives Leonardo McCellean and Kayleigh Roberts were busy discovering each other’s tonsils. They were a magnificent couple they blended together as one with such a passion and became two with that same passion. I could only imagine that someday he will fall in love with a girl like me.
    6:00 a.m.
    Stepping back from the large blank whiteboard, I quickly glance around the large and empty room. No regular cop came in at 6:00 a.m. on a Wednesday morning. Then again, I was no ordinary cop. Two months wasn’t enough time for anyone on that task force. The Satanist crimes task force. The very task force I had been on.
    I had just erased the board grasping the large black eraser; glancing at the obituary left behind on the board,
    Sergeant Jackson Crownwell-White 46, 2646 S. Washington Street was pronounced dead on October 30th, 2009 with a fatal gunshot wound to the head. Surviving is a sister Sergeant Alexis Marie Crownwell-Montana. The service will be held on November 2nd, 2009.
    Suddenly, I heard loud footsteps coming from the elevator. My partner, Detective Allen Noble, emerged from the shadows that played on the walls.
    “Don’t grip too hard, McHolt.” He begins to clutch at his stomach while he laughed. “You’ll break the eraser.” Noble teased, holding out a paper bag. I turn around in fright holding on to the comfort of my service weapon that I wore around my waist.
    “Don’t scare me like that. I was concentrating.” He apologizes and states,
    “I brought you breakfast, a black coffee with two sugars and a small chocolate donut with sprinkles. Leo said that you’ve been here since four-thirty. You need to eat.” He ushers me to my chair. I sat down, twirling my mane of bright-red hair. He notices the scratches on my arms. Pointing to them, he asks,
    “Do you want to talk about them?” He gave me a look of concern lingering in his big brown eyes; the notion makes my heart do a little leap of faith in my chest. I was in love with my partner, a love that could never be.
    “No.” I whisper, when I could find the words to speak and when I felt a small grin appear on my face as I sip at the coffee and take a bite out of the donut. The taste of it melted in my mouth, silencing the sound of my empty stomach. I was just about to thank him for my breakfast when I heard the simple cell phone tone ringing in my ear, groaning, I answer,
    “Katrina McHolt.” I barely recognized the voice that played on the other line.
    “Katy? Katy. I need to talk to you.” I glance at my watch, dodging Allen’s curious glare by going into the other room.
    “Sure, Zack. What’s on your mind?” I ask, hoping to God he wasn’t into any trouble.
    “Not over the phone. I’ll be there in twenty minutes.” He abruptly hung up. Frowning, I glance across the sea of desks over at Allen,
    “Thank you for breakfast. It was sweet of you to think of me.” I tell him, grabbing my coffee. He smiles at me. I watch my breath catch in my chest, I feel my cheeks heat up. ‘Could he see that?’ I watch as he smiles, placing a hand on my shoulder, kneading away at the stress and tension.
    “No sweat McHolt. Who’s meeting you here?” Curiosity pouring in his brown eyes, I laugh at the sight.
    “My older brother Zack. Why do you ask?” His face turns serious. I knew that look. More often than not, it meant trouble for me.
    “The one who had been arrested on domestic and narcotic charges against you?” He frowns. Wrinkles furrowed on his face. I cannot believe he’s being like this.
    “Noble, he’s my brother! Why can’t you respect that fact?” The words tasted foul in my mouth as I yelled at my colleague and my crush. ‘I could only imagine him ever loving a girl like me.’ He places his hands on my arms, steadying me. I felt the air catch in my throat and chest. I swallow hard, hoping to God he wouldn’t notice I was blushing hard scarlet.
    “McHolt, I do respect the fact, that the two of you are related. But you have to be aware of the other facts too, Detective. He beat you to a pulp when you were 22 years old. You were in the hospital for a month.” I glance into his eyes, watching the flashbacks play in my mind.
    I had been a rookie cop at the time writing up traffic tickets, and jaywalkers. After a long and hard ten hours of work, I had driven home. My brother had surprised me by already being in my kitchen. I could instantly tell he was high and drunk. After he began ranting on about his day, he just started beating me over and over again. My vision was dotted with black dots; I grabbed the phone and dialed 9-1-1 myself. I had met Sergeant Noble that same day in the hospital. We became fast friends as he stayed with me in the hospital every day. Since my birth parents were no longer living and my brother had gone to jail; he even switched out of the 43rd precinct to the 13th where he had plenty better friends to keep, his other friends had jumped him the same day he had met me. I tell him,
    “Noble, I know Zack did that. It was the past. I let it go. I finally forgave him after…” I saw Zack in the reflection in his eyes. The reflection I had seen was scary. He was drunk. This was going to be bad, very very bad. Zack pushed me down to the ground, catching Allen at the collar, he hissed at him with a slight slur.
    “You b*****d, I never meant to hurt Kate. I was an a** drinking and doing drugs.” I picked myself up with emotion lodged deep in my throat. Noble glances at me, I stare back at him then at Zack who was already backing off of Detective Noble.
    “You said you wanted to talk?” I ask, wondering why he was even here in the first place. Zack and I never got along after he was hooked on drugs. Day Two of three long years of misery and abuse. I had ran away to Phoenix never knowing he would find me here.
    “My girlfriend is missing. It isn’t like her to disappear and not tell me.” He explains, pulling a picture from his wallet, he turns it around showing it to me with a frown on his face,
    “Lila Brooks. She’s was… is a realtor downtown. She shouldn’t have sold that apartment. I haven’t seen her since that night. I just don’t know where to turn Katy.” Zack pounds the desk. Scouring against the floor, I move behind Noble out of harm’s way. He puts an arm around me, protecting me from Zack. It had felt almost natural. Almost right.
    “To whom did she sell the apartment to?” Detective Noble asks, vaguely staring at the blank board, tearing a blank page out of his notebook his eyes never once looking back at me. Over his shoulder, I saw that he had written ‘Check out apt. complex,’ Zack bangs on the countertop again.
    I groan at the sound of that name, flashbacks came back to haunt me, I collapsed into my chair.
    “What?” Allen asks, noticing my sour mood towards the name spoken aloud. I ignore him as I glance at the computer, typing in the name.
    “McHolt talk to me. If you have valuable information about him, it could be of use to the case.”
    “I arrested him a few years back when we were narcs.” I stare at his sheet. I grab my coat taking another bite out of the donut.
    “It says here that he was moving,” A silence had descended around the room before I continued,
    “He had to tell his parole officer Captain Joseph Timpani.”
    “The Italian Stallion?” Noble asks, pointing to the screen.
    “Yes, I need you to go talk to him while I have to make sure Zack gets home safely.” I tell him grabbing my coat as it fell to the floor, polishing off the rest of the donut.
    “Really Kate?” Zack questioned, pointing at the donut crumbs that lay on my desk. I laugh, honestly it felt good to laugh and feel happy. It had been one of those rare moments that made life worth I don’t know living I guess.
    “I’ll see you later.” I tell Allen as he begins to walk away. I began to walk ahead when he grabs my forearms as his beeper went off. He glances at the screen his eyes sparkling like diamonds.
    “Officer Joe Parker found a body on 24th and Jefferson. You up for it?” I nod.
    “Bring it on.” I watch as he calls Alexis only to get her voicemail.
    “Alexis, its Allen. We’ve got a DB on 24th and Jefferson. Call me back.” He left a message. I tighten my scarf around my shoulders.
    “Here’s an idea, how about we both take your brother home and then go to the scene. Last, we’ll go to the Italian Stallion and see what he knows.” He explains, taking my arm. Inside the parking lot of Zack’s apartment complex Vantage, my instincts went up. The hairs on the back of my neck stood up, my stomach knotted at the core. I clutched my stomach rubbing it side to side. Allen notices this.
    “McHolt, are you all right?” He asks me, steadying me with one hand.
    “No, I’m not. Something’s wrong. I can…” I stop, pulling out my gun. Noble does the same.
    “Easy, Kate, put the gun down.” A voice called from the shadows.
    “Show yourself.” Allen cries, pointing the gun at the shadows, Harper.
    “Harper.” I shriek, pulling the hammer back on the gun. Noble stops me and places a hand on mine.
    “He can’t protect you forever Kate.” He whispers, walking then running away. I begin to sway from side to side.
    “Katrina?” He asks, steadying me with two hands.
    “Can we leave? I have a bad feeling about this place.” I tell him arriving to his car. I have learned from past mistakes to listen to my instincts.
    “Yeah, we can leave. I also get a vibe from this place and it ain’t good.” He whispers opening my door. I thanked him.
    He weaves his red unmarked impala around the neighborhood. A chill runs through my veins as I glance at the victim hanging from the fire escape. She looked beautiful even in the stage of death.
    8:24 a.m.
    “Sergeants Allen Noble and Katrina McHolt, miss. Can you tell us anything about the victim?” Allen asks, all in cop mode, flipping to an open page in his notebook while I watch as the woman squirms and explodes,
    “She’s hanging in front of my parlor window and you’re not doing anything about it!” She shrieks, punching Noble over and over again.
    “Elizabeth!” Her husband pulls her back as Noble glances at himself through my portable mirror. I can’t bear stand the sight of him.
    “This is just my luck, ain’t it McHolt?” He smiles in a sneaky, cynical tone before writing something down in his notebook.
    “Can you tell us anything about the victim?” I ask, ignoring Allen.
    “I’m sorry. I don’t know anything about her. I was at work when my wife called hysterical,” I noticed his body language was closed, his eyes darting away never once looking at us. ‘Liar.’ I thought to myself writing this down in my notebook. After a few more questions, we left. The body was rushed off to the morgue when I decided to call Alexis myself.
    10:00 a.m.
    “Hand me your phone. I want to call Alexis.” I tell him, once we got back to the precinct. ‘Funny,’ I thought to myself when I glanced at my desk. There was a ringlet on my desk. Normally, I used a coaster. Leo sat down at his own desk, munching on a bag of potato chips.
    “Was there someone sitting here?” I called out to him. He shook his head.
    “Kate, no one comes in at ten’ o’clock when half of the department is on holiday break.” He snaps, holding up a brandy bottle.
    “Why do you ask?” Allen wonders glancing up from a file he had been reading. Staring at my desk when he spots the ringlet, he knows me so well. He knows I use a coaster.
    “Something just seems off. Or maybe I’m just being paranoid.” I tell them, circling the old oval ringlet that lay in the wood of my desk. Detective Noble begins to laugh. He then became serious by stating,
    “Here are the alibis to Elizabeth and Zack I need you to check them out.” I groan not wanting to check out my own brother’s alibi for a murder I know he wouldn’t commit. Allen sees this.
    “McHolt, if you don’t want to do Zack’s alibi, I’ll be willing to check it out.” He offers, placing a hand on my shoulder.
    “Thanks but no thanks. I need to do this for myself Noble.” I tell him, almost wishing I hadn’t. He smiles, grasping my hand squeezing it tight. I let go, the suddle spell broken,
    “I need another cup of coffee. I’ll be back.” I tell him, as I head towards the break room. The room had been dark. I listen to the depths of the silence. It almost felt like harmony.
    “She didn’t answer. She really must be out-cold since that poker game last night.” Allen tells me, “Go see if Elizabeth and the others alibi out.”
    “Aye-aye, I can’t make any promises that I’ll find anything.” I said to him as I went walking towards my computer. I put my coffee down on my desk. Sitting in my chair, when suddenly my chair breaks I cry out in surprise when I landed on the floor.
    “McHolt! What happened?” Noble calls running towards me, Leo came running from his desk; I noticed my leg was bleeding. He came to me, asking if I was alright. Leo and Noble together help me up. I fell back down unstable as I was. Leo began to laugh, walking back to his desk.
    “I don’t know. One second I was fine, the next I’m on the floor.” He helps me up, noticing the blood. He hands me his handkerchief, before taking it back, wiping the blood away himself.
    “Thank you.” I tell him, gently moving my wrist. It was broken. I could tell.
    “Is it broken?” He asks, tending to the wrist. His touch almost felt natural. It somehow felt right to be touched by him. It felt amazing.
    “No. Just a little swelling.” I lied. He smiles, going back to his desk. He comes back with his chair.
    “Here have my chair. I’ll just use my visitor’s chair.” He tells me, wheeling the chair over. Placing me down into the chair without a fight.
    “You don’t have to do this.” I said, as he blushes. He goes to call Alexis one more time with a slight skip in his step.
    10:30 a.m.
    “Oh man.” I said, glaring at the alarm clock lying on the nightstand.
    “I’m late; Captain Ortehga’s going to kill me.” Leaping out of bed grabbing a white t-shirt and faded Levi’s, as my fiancée sighs, letting the comforter fall revealing only dark blue boxers. Scars lay on his chest. I let the water run as I brush my teeth. Shaun grabs a white dress shirt, dark blue tie and dress pants. His own professional hazard as the work of a FBI agent, he kisses me full on the lips. My arms wrapped around his neck massaging the stiff muscles that lay in his back. He wrapped his arms around my waist picking me up with all the strength in his body. He put me down, stating with glee.
    “Go. Make sure to kick Allen’s a** for winning that poker game last night.” I smile, heading for my red Lexus.
    En route to police headquarters, I heard my phone ring, thinking it was Shaun, I answer it.
    “Alexis Montana, Homicide.” I heard the caller immediately hang up. I was confused. Impatient horns blared as the light turned green. ‘The call’ I thought to myself as I zoomed through the intersection parking close to the elevator, I punched “4” homicide floor. Once I got to the fourth floor there was Allen standing there, waiting. His face had been swollen one eye was already blackening. His lower lip had been split leaking blood.
    “Allen! What happened to you?” I ask him, he shrugs his shoulders replying,
    “A woman scorn.”
    “You don’t have a woman to scorn.” I point out.
    “We have a new case.” He explains, handing me a file. Leafing through the file, I noticed the label had read ‘Jane Doe’. Reading through the facts, I came across a page. ‘Check Zachary McHolt’s alibi for December 13-15.’ Hiding the page, I ask,
    “You haven’t found out her identity yet?” Staring at her picture.
    “No. Her purse is gone. No phone, no ID. This part gets weird; Dr. Dmitri O’Brian says the body has been dead for six years. We do have a theory though; McHolt is talking about it to her brother. It might be his girlfriend.” Kate had just ended her interview with her brother when he grabs his coat and hat.
    “Zack identified the body as Lila Brooks.” Kate said, tears crawling out of her eyes. Allen placed a hand on her shoulder.
    “Then the woman scorn?” I ask, fingering through the file out of boredom and curiosity.
    “A man and his wife found the body. The wife said there is a lot of gang violence in that area. I doubt they did it though, because another witness stated that they are there regularly.” Katrina walks over to us, explaining what had happened during the interview with her brother.
    “How much do you want to bet she was a pro?” She asks, nudging Allen. He automatically started laughing in disagreement with her.
    “McHolt, she wasn’t a…Oh what the hell twenty.” He shakes her hand sealing the deal.
    Driving back to the precinct, Kate and Allen begin small talk, until silence descended when Kate whispers,
    “I hope Zack’ll be all right.” Opening her door when Allen grabs her arm when she starts to fall, he pulls her into his arms, he blushes as she blushes a marvelous streak of color added to her face. As soon as the elevators opened, we headed to Shaun, Leo and Kayleigh’s desks catching them up on what had happened on the course of this morning. Shaun is standing over my desk, telephone in hand and a wide smile on his face. He had a new lead and was ready to share it with the world.
    “Guess where the husband was when his wife found the body hanging from the parlor wall?” He asks, slamming the phone back on the hook.
    “Please tell me it wasn’t an affair.” Katrina pleads, rolling her eyes. Shaun nods, looking surprised that she already knew.
    “I’m telling you Al. True commitment is a thing in the past.” Leo whispers into my ear. Alexis looks at us with a look that could kill. She hands her magnificent orange opal ring towards us almost bragging about her successful relationship with Shaun.
    “So he’s having an affair. It doesn’t mean he killed Lila.” I state, crossing my arms.
    “But it does make a juicy story.” Kathleen Chavez states with glee as she walked into the room carrying a newspaper in one hand and her tote bag in the other. She grimaces, showing us the front page of the paper,
    ‘Officers conclude the slaying of Lila Brooks could be the work of the fallen sergeant from beyond.’ We all glanced at the page groaning,
    “Did anyone really say it was Jack to the press?” Allen asks, glancing at Katrina, she glances at him for a split second before breaking eye contact. We all shook our heads.
    “That still leaves Harper, and we all know he enjoys talking to the press. He enjoys the limelight while the rest of us would gladly crawl under a rock if it meant hiding from the press.” Katrina says, holding out her hand to Allen who agrees with her. Forgetting about it, Kathleen asks us,
    “You guys doing anything tonight?” I raise my hand,
    “Sorry Kathy, rehearsal dinner tonight. What did you have in mind?”
    “Oh I completely forgot!” She shrieks, a hand colliding with her head. I begin to laugh shaking my head.
    “You were writing again, weren’t you?” I ask, handing her another invitation. Kathleen had left soon after.
    ______________________________________________________________________________
    I pull him towards me as he starts to go for his desk. He looks at me with concern in his eyes.
    “There’s something strange about all of this Noble. No, not strange. Familiar. You saw where the scene was, Noble.” I pause, letting my breath catch in my throat,
    “The killer chose that scene for a reason. Us. It all makes sense. But what I don’t understand is why would he pick Lila as his victim?” I pause yet again, releasing a sigh; I glance at him when I glance down blushing bright scarlet right along with him.
    “Whatever you do, I wish you’d keep it away from Alexis. She’s just getting her life back from…well…you know.” Allen stutters,
    “Okay. I promise.” I tell him, before asking,
    “Hell’va deal huh Noble?” He pulls out my chair for me.
    “Yeah. Hell’va deal McHolt.” He states in a melancholic tone. I sat down in the chair that he pulled out for me.
    “Thanks. You’re such a gentleman. You should teach my ex.” I tell him as he laughs a harmonious sound.
    “No problem, McHolt. I’d be happy to teach Harper how to be a dying breed.” I quickly turn around in my chair, grasping his hand.
    “What? What’s wrong?” He asks me, kneeling so we see eye to eye brown on blue.
    “Has Dmitri called it a suicide yet?” I ask him when he begins to smile knowing where my train of thought is going.
    “Come on, let’s take a ride.” He tells me, grabbing his keys and my arm calling Dmitri before we got to his office.
    Once we got there, Noble badges the receptionist, Paige Warwick, who tells us,
    “Dr. O’Brian is in room three and is expecting the both of you.” She walks away with Mark McFadden, the day manager, whilst a man walks in to the office. Turning around, lazily looking at the artwork that lay on the walls covering the walls in color and style. My mind seems to have emptied, feeling absolutely nothing when I hear a heart wrenching scream. The sound of it breaks my heart as I somehow someway knew it was McHolt.
    “Noble!” She screams, turning around, I glance at her, worming her own way out of his arms. He held her at gunpoint, he whispers into her ear as he holds on to the trigger, I hoped for Katrina’s sake it was a heavy trigger.
    “The man I seek wears only the color of tin as he entrusts his life of sin.” The small voice sent shivers down my back, yanking the small semiautomatic from my belt loop.
    “Noble.” She whimpers, trying to grab the pepper spray she kept with her weapon.
    “She’s the one he needs in order to live his life with ease.” He tells me, stroking the trigger with his pointer finger. He turns the gun towards me as I prepared to fire, when I heard the sharp click. The bullet rushed from the gun to grazing my right arm. I screamed out in excruciating pain, falling to the floor with a thump.
    “Noble!” She screams as the man separates her from him, she runs out to me, kneeling to the floor. I held her behind me as the man dashed out of the door with one final shot to my chest.
    “No, Noble.” She whispers, as the dreadful sound of a gunshot ended, holding my hand my other clutching at my wounds. I love her, and I’m too much of a coward to admit it.
    “I need help. Call 9-1-1.” I order. She grabs her phone. I felt my heart pump harder and harder. My eyes flutter open and closed until I passed out.
    12:20 p.m.
    Alexis isn’t speaking and it scares me.
    “Are you okay?” I ask, silently hoping I would get a response. Staring at me with big hazel eyes with tears clinging to her lashes. She doesn’t say a word. The barriers she had spent three years building had come crashing down in a matter of two months.
    Arriving at the lab, she walks up to the big tinted glass door wiping the tears when she stops. Her hand touched my chest, warming my stone cold heart.
    “If you tell anyone I cried, I’ll break your heart Shaun.” I laugh amused by her tone.
    “I won’t tell.” She barely heard me. The doors had been swung open and there in a puddle of blood on the ground was Allen.
    “Oh my God.” I whisper. Two paramedics were prying Katrina away from Allen.
    “No! No! Noble!” She screams, shaking her way off of the paramedics; her shirt and jeans covered in blood. I grasp her arms, pulling her towards me. She folds herself into my embrace, her tears staining my coat.
    “Katrina, Katy, listen to me, who shot Allen?” Alexis asked her, grasping her shoulders when Katrina tried to go back to Allen. He was her partner, closer to him than her own parents. She loves him, and she’s too much of a coward to admit it.
    “He…he came out of nowhere. Started talking in rhyme and when he separated us, he shot Noble.” Her eyes looked swollen with redness and tears. The tears that she cried is breaking Allen’s heart as the paramedics brought him to us on the gurney. He touches a hand to her cheek,
    “I’ll be fine. I’ve come out of this before.” He tells her, her tears ceased to fall down her cheek. She came back to us, wiping away the reminisce of tears. She appears stronger. She loves him and what he had been through is breaking her heart.
    “Kate, he’ll be fine.” Alexis tells her pepping her up. She gives her a hug.
    “Come on, we’ll drive you to St. Mark’s.” She smiles for the first time her gratitude showing from ear to ear.