by Stacy Eaton
“Is this what you want, Mitch? This? Us?” I whispered, praying he would say yes but scared that he would.
“Yes. I know now that this is what I want. You are what I want.”
Mitch had kissed me slowly and then we watched the sunset. We walked to our cars shortly after darkness descended. No promises were made, no other words were spoken, but in our hearts we both knew that what we had was something unique and special, and we both wanted it.
My sleep was peaceful that night. I had found what I had been searching for, the second half of me, the one who held my heart above all else and completed me totally. I had found my soul mate.
The sky reflected my mood as I drove into work the next day. The sunrise, brilliant in the bright blue sky, mirrored perfectly one of the things I loved most about him. I could not wait to hear his voice on the radio or to see him after work. Nothing could destroy the happiness I felt as I put on my gun belt and signed on to my computer.
Sunday mornings were generally very peaceful. I spent some time having coffee with a friend at a local coffee shop and then traveled through the neighborhoods, stopping to talk with residents and letting kids check out the inside of the patrol car.
Mitch and I had spoken a few times via computer, but the city appeared to be busier than usual this early in the day. Around lunchtime, I stopped off at my friend’s café and grabbed a roast beef sandwich to eat on the outside porch.
As I was finishing up the last of my meal, I listened apprehensively to my radio. Mitch was being dispatched to an armed robbery, with the subjects fleeing. They had a full squad and some extra cars on the street today, so I knew I would not be needed right now.
I watched three kids cross the busy street and head into the café, the oldest about nine and the youngest about six. I rolled up my deli paper and squeezed it into a ball in my hands.
“Subjects just got into a black Nissan sedan. Heading east on the highway. I’m in pursuit.” The muscles under my skin tensed at Mitch’s words coming through my speaker.
Pursuits never ended well, so often one or more of the cars involved would crash into innocent people or other motorists. Most departments had a policy against traffic pursuits. Unless a violent felony had occurred, you did not engage in a pursuit. You obtained the most information you could about the vehicle and called it out for others to watch for. This one met the criteria where most departments would allow for it, as long as you made the pursuit as safe as possible.
“We’re turning right on Main.” His voice was tense, the sounds of the siren almost as loud as his voice. Other patrol cars were joining in on the chase now. I listened, the tension in my body growing by the moment. If the car made one more right onto First Avenue, they would be coming my way. I stood up and threw my trash away, intent on getting to my car and ready to jump into action if they came into my township.
Just as I was about to climb into my car, I heard a yell and a thump. I spun around to see that an elderly woman had fallen onto the ground and lay still.
I ran over to her and dropped to my knees just as Mitch called out on the radio, “Right on First Avenue.”
Damn.
I bent down to the woman who was lying unconscious, a little pool of blood under her head. I spoke into her ear trying to rouse her.
“Twenty-nine Paul Six,” I called out over the radio, dreading that I was tying up airtime while the pursuit was going on.
“Twenty-nine Paul Six, priority only.” Yeah, I know that!
“Paul Six, I need ambulance and medics to Carol’s Café for an elderly woman who fell and is unconscious.”
“Copy Twenty-nine Paul Six.” As soon as he cleared the radio, Mitch’s voice came back over.
“We are now south on Riversdale.”
Crap! They were coming this way. I could hear the sirens in the distance and they were moving fast, multiple sirens, too many to count, some running in different pitches.
My hand gripped the wrist of the woman. Her pulse was strong and steady.
The door to the café opened and the three kids came out. The sirens grew closer.
The kids moved toward the road, one of them looking both ways. Finding it clear, he urged the other two on. The sirens continued to grow louder.
I released the woman’s wrist, standing to watch the kids. I saw something drop from the youngest one’s hand, but he didn’t seem to notice. They all kept moving.
The sirens closed in, and I started towards the road.
“We are approaching Snyder Boulevard.” Mitch’s voice was hard, solid, steady.
The kids made it to the edge of the road and I released the air I was holding. All the kids stood on the side of the road waiting to see the action as it came speeding past.
I started to turn when the youngest glanced down at his hand and noticed he had dropped his piece of candy. He turned to the roadway. The green and pink wrapper lay in the middle of the street right beside the double yellow line. He stepped back into the road.
“No!” I yelled and started moving towards the road.
The older boy tried to reach out for the child, but the kid ran into the street. I ran towards him. The sirens almost on top of us, I entered the road and saw flashing lights coming my way from the corner of my eye.
The child bent to grab his candy and stood, turning to the side. There was no way he was going to make it. I heard brakes start to squeal, more than one pair. I was so close, I could save him.
I threw myself at him with outstretched arms, my palms out to push him with every ounce of force that I had in them. I felt him lift off his feet from my shove. My alarmed glance met the frightful one of the older boy in the second before the black Nissan slammed into me.
The impact of the car struck me in the ribs as I flew forward. I heard a snap, felt my body thrown into the air. Screams were coming from around me while sirens blared everywhere.
Pain radiated from every inch of my body as I rolled down the road, finally coming to a stop, but the pain did not.
The sirens and the screams continued around me for a moment, and I fought to open my eyes and stand, but I was numb. Someone screamed a word, but just as my mind started to process it, there was nothing but silence.
~ Brock ~
I watched the scene in front of me. Corey was bent over the woman on the ground assessing her injuries, but her head was not there. Her thoughts were anxious, and her adrenaline started to spike as the kids moved towards the road.
She stood and stepped away from the woman. I was powerless to stop her. This was meant to happen. I had a decision to make now, a decision that would affect many lives.
The child moved back into the road and Corey did as the Maker had said she would. She ran to the child, throwing herself at him. He almost made it out of the road before the car slammed into Corey. The bumper had come in contact with the child’s leg; he would heal.
Corey went airborne and rolled over and over down the hot asphalt. I now had to make my decision. A man’s voice broke into my thoughts when he screamed her name. I turned to see his pale face as he stood outside of his patrol car, his hand gripping the metal of the door, holding him upright as he realized who had been struck.
My decision made, I stared at her intently and brought her home.
“No, Brock! It’s not time.”
Montgomery put his hand on my shoulder, and I turned to glare at him.
“I made my decision, this is the right time.”
Montgomery shook his head and dropped his hand.
I turned back to the scene. She stood with her back to me, silent, watching what was in front of her. Calm surrounded her like all that crossed over.
A glance past her found my stare locked with another. Tension ran like a lightning bolt between us, but I smiled a slow winning smile and turned my attention back to her.
“Welcome home, Coralenna,” I called out softly. Her shoulders tensed slightly and she turned to face me.
~ Mitchell ~
&nbs
p; My mind felt refreshed when I woke up. The feeling that a weight had been lifted off my shoulders, a burden I had carried for so long alone, was a relief. Telling Corey about Chase and the lies that Beth had told me for years helped me deal with my anger.
Knowing that Corey and I would find a way to make this work, that I would have the woman I loved by my side, an incredible woman who cared about me and would not lie to me, filled my heart with hope. Would I finally have what I had always wanted?
With a spring in my step, I left for work and stopped on the way into the station to pick up the Sunday morning donuts. Yeah, everyone gave us cops a hard time about eating them, but nothing was better on a Sunday morning than a cup of coffee, a Boston crème donut, and banter with the guys—well, maybe one thing, but I could wait for that.
Something was in the air today. The calls were coming in faster than normal for a Sunday morning, and my time to chat with Corey was limited. That was alright, I knew that I would get to see her after work.
Just before I went on my meal break, I got dispatched to an armed robbery in progress with possible shots fired. The subjects were seen running from the scene and getting into a black sedan. I drove around the area, while Joe, who was closer to the business, stopped to get more information.
The sedan peeled out around a corner just as I rounded another one. I accelerated and took off, calling out our location. Game on!
The feel of the gas pedal under my foot engaging and the hard surface of the steering wheel kept me grounded. My right hand was on my microphone so I could call out our movements as needed. A quick glance in my rearview mirror showed more of my cars catching up, three right now.
We moved forward at speeds not safe for these city roads. The sedan wove in and out of traffic. I held my breath that it would not clip anyone. The thought of the amount of paperwork I was going to have to complete blinked through my mind for a split second.
When we made the turn onto First Avenue, I briefly thought about Corey. I knew that if we entered into her jurisdiction, she would jump into the fray. I didn’t recall her being on any call before this, so, knowing her, she was already moving towards the action.
I was focused on the vehicle, praying that it would not strike any other vehicles. When we turned onto Riversdale, I knew we were totally out of the business district. As long as the cars stayed out of the way up near the café and store, then we would be out in straight county roads where it would be less likely the robbers would crash into someone else, more likely they would lose control on a turn and crash themselves.
A quick glance into my mirror showed at least five other cars behind me, some crossing the double yellow to get a view of what was ahead of us, our spacing safe for the speeds we were traveling. I glanced down at my speedometer: seventy-five, damn.
I glanced up as the brake lights on the car we were chasing lit up, its tires locked up, and the car started to fishtail. I slammed on my brakes as the cars behind me did the same. The sirens were competing with the sounds of the tires trying to find purchase on the road.
I watched in horror as I realized the sedan had struck someone. A person had flown in the air in front of the car. I could only see the legs. Dark navy pants and heavy tactical boots lay on the roadway completely still. My heart, which had already been beating at an accelerated level, now surged forward into my throat.
I slammed the column shifter up into park and threw open the door. As my line of sight came around, I saw the white and blue patrol car in the parking lot. The realization of the victim’s identity stabbed me in the chest like a knife.
My knees gave out and I grabbed the door to hold me up as I saw her lying on the ground, not moving.
I don’t remember saying anything, but the scream that echoed through my mind must have come from my own mouth.
I heard feet pounding on the ground behind me. Sirens were being turned off, car doors were closing, more feet.
I watched Joe run past me. Two other people ran to the sedan and pulled the driver and passenger out of the car at gunpoint. I stood staring down the street.
Joe bent down beside the still figure. A few other people ran to her, civilians who were trying to help. I took a step forward, barely able to lift my foot, another. I had to get to her, had to see that the body was not hers.
It couldn’t be her. Oh my God, please don’t let it be her.
Joe spun in his crouch towards me, his face intense, his jaw locked. Our lines of vision met and then broke as he considered something behind me. No. No! I moved faster, and he stood up to come to me.
I was almost there when he threw himself up against me, holding me back.
“Mitch, she’s gone.”
I pushed at him, I needed to get to her. She was alright. She had to be alright! “No! Let me get to her, Joe!”
“Mitch!” He grabbed me by the shoulders, stopping me, and put his face into mine. “She’s gone, man, she’s gone.” His voice softened as the words exited his mouth.
I shook my head, my knees threatening to give out under me. The sound of an ambulance siren reached my ears, and I turned to it.
“No! The ambulance is here! They can help her! Move, Joe, I need to get to her.”
“Mitch! Her neck was broken, she’s dead. She’s dead man…she’s dead.”
The words did not reach me, but the appearance of pain and anger in his face did. No longer could my legs hold me up. I staggered, and Joe put his arm around me and pulled my arm around his shoulder.
He walked me back to my car. My lungs burned, and I couldn’t breathe. I felt like my life had just been sucked out of me.
“I killed her. Oh my God, I killed her,” I mumbled as Joe stood me next to the hood of my car.
“No, you didn’t, Mitch, they did.”
There was no voice of reason I would listen to. I knew in my heart that I had killed her. I buried the heels of my hands into my eye sockets and bent over. I choked on the spit in my mouth and started coughing. The coughing turned to a strangled yell, and I dropped to my knees. With my hands on the ground in front of me, I hung my head as the tears began to fall.
Part 3 – The Realm
~ Corey ~
Lights flashed around me and people ran past. All of their faces displayed shock of one degree or another. A woman held her hand over her mouth while she tucked a child’s face into her stomach. A man dressed in dark blue pants and a light blue shirt ran past to a body lying on the ground. The items wrapped around his waist made him wider than he was. He seemed familiar, but I couldn’t recall his name.
My attention turned from the familiar man to the person lying on the asphalt. Who was lying there so still? There were too many people around, and I could not see the face. As I stood there, I felt like I should be doing something, yet I had no idea what.
I panned the area; cars with flashing lights were parked haphazardly on the roadway and shoulder. I realized then how quiet the area was. The people before me appeared to be talking or even yelling, yet no sound came to my ears. It was disconcerting to know that I should be able to hear something, and yet the only sound that came was a deep husky voice from behind me.
“Welcome home, Coralenna.” The sound shocked me; I spun to face the voice.
Two men stood about twelve feet away. One of them was about fifty with gray hair and a friendly but concerned expression on his face. His shoulders were broad, and his body displayed a solid athletic build.
Intense light green eyes stared back at me from the other man who appeared to be in his thirties. I had the distinct feeling that I should know him, but again I could not place him. He was shorter than the other man, with wide shoulders and short, wavy light brown hair.
“Do I know you?”
“Not really.” His deep voice was calming, although I felt tension coming from him even at the distance where we stood.
“Then how do you know me?”
“Because I have been watching you for years,” his voice was smooth and very masculi
ne.
“Stalking me?” I glanced to my side as someone ran past.
“Protecting you. My name is Brock, this is Montgomery.” He motioned to the older man beside him. I glanced at his companion and nodded.
“Coralenna, come with us, and we will explain everything,” the older man said.
“Why are you calling me that?” I cocked my head to the side as I spoke.
“It is your God-given name at birth. Come, we have much to teach you.” His voice was soft and kind. He held his hand out to me, but I wasn’t ready to go just yet.
I turned to study the scene behind me. “How come I can hear you, but I can’t hear anything else?”
“You are on the other side now. You will learn to hear them again soon; it is one of many things we will teach you.”
A tremor passed down my spine as I realized what he must mean, “I’m dead.” I spun back to the younger man, his fierce sea foam gaze observing me closely.
“Yes, you are.”
I swallowed and turned away. I watched a man fall to his knees, the pain on his face so evident that I wanted to comfort him. I felt like I had to help him, and I took a step forward.
Brock materialized in front of me, blocking my path. “Not now, Coralenna. We must go.”
I jumped back into a fighting stance, my arms up, my hands lightly fisted. “How did you do that?”
A small chuckle came from behind me before Brock answered, “I just can, you will be able to soon, too. It is time to leave.”
“Where are we going?”
“Home, Coralenna, we are taking you home.”
Montgomery stepped up beside me and smiled pleasantly. Without thought, I returned his easy smile, feeling at peace until I glanced over the scene again.
“Did anyone else die?” I watched people running around. The man was now on his hands and knees, his head bowed as if he were crying. Was he crying for me? Why?
“No, you saved the child,” Montgomery answered. He pointed to the side of the road where people sat around a young boy who was crying and holding his leg.