Page 111 of Finding a Melody
Suddenly there was a lot of yelling. And gunfire. Each shot made me jump and I couldn’t take my eyes off the stairs, expecting Rick to come back and shoot me. There was a lot of chaos up top with the screaming, shooting, and moments where the building felt like it was shaking.
Then quiet. Complete silence.
It wasn’t long until footsteps were over me, walking slowly before stopping. I counted.
One.
Two.
Three.
Four.
Stopped again.
One.
Two.
Started up again. Each step only added to my dread, my breathing growing heavier with each thud. My chest ached from how hard my heart was pounding.
The steps didn’t stop until I heard the door fly open. I let out a small whimper as I shook hard. The steps creaked, and I realized there were multiple people coming down now. I bit down on my lip hard. My ending was coming. It was finally here.
“Cadence?” It took a moment for the voice to register. And then for the person now in view to become clear.
“Roman?” I gasped.
Roman Davies quickly came over, kneeling in front of me, working on the bindings. “We got you. You’re safe now.”
I sobbed then as all the tension inside of me released. As soon as I was free, I didn’t care. I practically tackled the man to the ground as I hugged him, crying hard.
He rubbed my back in such a way that made me ache for my dad, and I only ended up crying harder as he picked me up carefully and carried me out of hell.
Chapter Thirty-Five
It was dark outside, and yet so bright. So many lights were cast all over the place. It felt like every inch of the space was taken up with flashing vehicles and people bustling around. A medic stood in front of me, her mouth moving, but I couldn’t register any of her words. My brain refused too as it kept playing over the last few hours over and over again. The fear felt like it was becoming a part of me as I gripped at the small blanket they gave me to wrap around myself. My body refused to stop shaking, feeling like I was holding on to a jackhammer.
Then suddenly, Amy was standing in front of me, saying my name as she rubbed my shoulder. I blinked slowly before meeting my lawyer’s gaze.
“What are you doing here?” I finally asked.
She frowned hard. “Emergency contact, and good thing too. Are you okay? How are you feeling? They want to take you to the hospital to help you deal with the shock.”
“No. I want to go home,” I said.
Amy sighed as she turned and said something to the EMT who had been helping me. While they talked I looked back at the chaos around me. It just seemed like there was an excessive amount of people here. Or maybe not enough. I wasn’t sure. When a body bag was pushed to the ambulance near me, I glanced away, not willing to think about it too much.
I still wasn’t sure what happened. I just knew the police raided the house and it resorted to a shooting. People died. Others were arrested—including Rick.
“How is she?” Roman asked, coming over, hands shoved in his pocket as he stared at me and looked like he actually cared.
“Scared. I’m going to take her home, away from all this.” Amy waved her hand to encompass the chaos around us.
“Fair enough. Police will escort you back. We got most of the people tonight. Only a handful slipped through, but it’s only a matter of time.”
“Will they come after me?” I asked, suddenly scared again.
“No,” Roman said. “You aren’t worth it for them anymore. At this point, they’ll be focusing on burying as much evidence as they can and getting away.”