30 Seconds

by Chrys Fey

  Maybe he’s not inside. Maybe he got stuck in traffic on the way to work. Maybe he was patrolling the streets when they attacked the station.

  So many maybes…

  She continued to watch as police officers from neighboring cities joined the chaos. They surrounded the building, stood beside their fellow men and women in arms, but no one went inside to help the officers fighting for their lives. They were waiting for the battle to end, for the shooters to come out. By then, it would be too late to help the officers inside.

  “We just got confirmation of the police officers who are inside the police station.” The footage went back to the newsroom where a man and woman sat behind a glossy table. “Dominique Anderson, Phillip Bane, David Briggs, Steven Corbin, Jonathon Dane, Vincent Evers, Thomas Farris, Blake Herro—”

  When she heard his name, the walls around her caved in, burying her alive. She couldn’t even hear the names of the other officers. All she could hear was his name over and over again in her head. She stamped her hand over her mouth to stop a cry from flying free.

  In thirty seconds, her life had flipped upside down.

  I didn’t confess my love to him to lose him now! I don’t want one night with him, I want hundreds. God, please protect him. Keep him safe. Bring him home to me!

  “We’re being told S.W.A.T. is moving in.”

  She hugged the remote to her chest when the live chopper feed came on and she saw a group of S.W.A.T approach the front door. They stood there, hunched behind their shields. Seconds later, they scrambled back to take cover. Then the front door blew up and they ran inside. The blaze of gunfire grew louder. She held her breath.

  “Please get Blake out safely, get them all out of there safely.” She couldn’t help but cry out to the walls around her.

  All of a sudden, a blast blew out the front windows of the building. Flames rolled out of the empty windowpanes and screams filled the air. She watched in horror as the police officers surrounding the building lifted into the air. The camera for the station she was watching shook violently and fell to the ground. Static erupted over the screen before it turned black.

  She grabbed the sides of the TV. “No!”

  The stricken reporters who were safe behind their news desk blinked into the camera lens. “We are sorry, but we have lost footage. We will work to re-establish communication with our team on location and get back to you.”

  “Ah!” She collapsed onto the floor, feeling helpless and sick. She clutched her hands over her heart. Her body vibrated in terror as endless sobs broke from her body.

  A moment later, she dragged herself off the ground, sought another channel with live footage, and watched the jittery feed from the camera in the chopper hovering above the scene. The shooting had spread into the parking lot where the mobsters were making a stand; snipers were taking them out left and right. Police officers were crowded behind cars, trees, and walls and were shooting for their lives.

  At six o’clock, the news anchors at the station reported that two out of the twenty something assailants were still alive. The odds were against them, but they weren’t giving up. The camera in the chopper zoomed in on one of the men as he took out a grenade, but a sniper shot him before he could pull the pin. Only one remained then and he refused to die. He shot two S.W.A.T members and three police officers before he was finally gunned down. By eight o’clock, the death toll had mounted to forty-seven and was climbing.

  Not feeling safe enough to venture out of Blake’s house, she called her hospital, demanding to know if a police officer by the name of Blake Herro was there. If he was, they didn’t know. Many police officers had been brought in, but names hadn’t been processed on all of them yet. She hung up the phone and turned to the TV only to hear the names of the fallen officers weren’t being released yet.

  Minutes crawled by. She paced back and forth, waiting for nine o’clock to come. When it did, she held her breath for a whole half hour. One minute past nine-thirty, a tear rolled down her cheek. Blake would’ve been home.

  She sat on the couch as fear took its toll on her body. She hadn’t done anything but worry and pray since the news had first broken. She hadn’t eaten, gone to the bathroom, or taken a moment to breathe. She fell asleep when her exhaustion became too much.

  Hours later, a sound snapped her awake. Lying in the darkness, she could have sworn she had heard the front door close. She sat up slowly, her hand on Blake’s gun, and eyed the hallway. Was Red coming for her now? Would she even care if he wanted to kill her?

  She pushed to her feet and lifted the gun as the sound of someone approaching grew closer. Then a dark figure stepped into view. She had to blink to see clearly. When she could see, her mouth dropped. She tossed the gun on the couch and threw herself at Blake. They kissed urgently.

  “I was so scared,” she said as she smothered his face in kisses. “Oh God, Blake.” She looked into his eyes. “I thought you were dead. I thought they got you.”

  He shook his head. “You have me.” He held her tightly. “When I was trapped in the station with guns going off all around me, my men dying left and right, I told myself I was coming home to you and no one, not even Red, was going to stop me. I love you, Dani.”

  Her heart skipped a beat. “I love you, too.” She pulled him to her, demanding his lips while her shaky fingers unbuttoned his black uniform. She paused at the Kevlar vest. Tears welled in her eyes. She tugged at the vest. “Take it off.”

  He ripped off the Velcro and dropped the heavy vest on the floor. He took her into his arms and covered her mouth. She clutched his white T-shirt. With her hands still shaking, she pulled the shirt over his head. Her palms slid up his abs, down his back, and took his hands.

  “Come here.” She pulled him to the fireplace and tugged him to the floor. She trailed hot, greedy kisses down his chest, whispering, “I’m going to savor every second with you.”

  Chapter Nine

  All the exhaustion from yesterday kept Dani asleep for hours after Blake left to return to the police station. She didn’t want him to go back, but understood why he needed to be there.

  When the phone rang, yanking her out of her sleep, panic settled in. What if something happened at the police station while she was asleep? She answered it with her heart banging in her throat.

  “Hello.”

  No reply.

  “Hello?”

  When the other end stayed silent, she yanked the phone from her ear and slammed it down. She sprang out of the bed, wrapping the white comforter around her naked body, and hugged herself in reassurance. The phone rang again. She spun about, eyeing it with big, frightened eyes. She stepped slowly toward it as though it were a ticking bomb. She lifted the receiver, her hand shaking.

  “Hello?”

  “Hey, beautiful.”

  She closed her eyes. “Blake, it’s you.”

  “Of course it is. I’m calling to check up on you.”

  She smiled. “That’s very thoughtful. I just woke up.” She paused. “How are things at the police station?”

  “It’s a disaster. Red’s men killed a lot of officers yesterday. All the police departments in Cleveland are on high alert.”

  “Can you do me a favor?” she said.

  “Anything for you.”

  “Stay safe.” It wasn’t a request, it was a demand.

  “I will. I promise.”

  She took his promise and held it to her heart.

  “I have to go,” he told her. “I’ll be back around seven-thirty. I love you.”

  “I love you, too. Bye.” She hung up the phone with a smile and got up to take a long, hot shower to melt away the stress from the previous day. After she changed into a sweater and jeans, she made herself some pancakes and a giant cup of hot chocolate to enjoy on the couch in front of the fireplace. She felt good. For the first time since the Mob exploded into her apartment, everything felt okay.

  She spent the rest of the day trying to find something to do as she anxiously wait
ed for Blake to return. She missed being at the hospital, yearned for the chaos of the E.R. She still wondered about Tara, the girl who had been in the terrible car accident.

  To keep busy, and to keep her mind off Blake and Tara, she did what any woman would do. She dusted, polished, and swept to loud rock music. When the whole place was spotless, she baked cookies.

  Hours later, as the sun dipped from the sky, she roamed restlessly from room to room. That was how she found an office at the top of the stairs which she had always assumed was a storage closet.

  She scanned the books on a mahogany bookcase. Most of the titles were of crime novels and thrillers. She even spotted a few supernatural thrillers about a god and an angel. She took one off the shelf and flipped through it with a smile. She hadn’t expected this to be a part of his reading collection. She slipped it back into place and continued to roam.

  She looked at the pictures scattered around the room. One was of him as a rookie, clean-shaven and proud. She moved to the desk positioned in front of the window, looked down at the book spread out in front of the laptop, and grinned when she realized it was a yearbook. The heading on the two-page spread indicated the pictures were of the senior class. She picked it up.

  “Where are you, Blake?”

  She ran her finger down the list of names on the left and paused when she saw the name Blake Junior Harding. He had the same cute curls and blue eyes. “Gosh, you look like a heartbreaker,” she said to his smiling portrait. “I bet all these girls had a major crush on you.” Her gaze moved over the two pages, over the many faces of pretty girls, to the corner of the right page. A note was written there in a girl’s handwriting.

  “Blake,” she read aloud, “you didn’t even have to ask. I wouldn’t want to go to the prom with anyone but you. Love, Elle.” The second she read the name, she stopped breathing. Her mind flashed back to the moment in the woods after their snowball fight when he had called her Elle.

  With her heart thumping, she looked at the names. Her eyes widened when she saw her name in print. “Oh my gosh,” she gasped. Her eyes fastened onto the picture of herself at eighteen, her red hair rolling over her shoulders like ocean waves. She looked from her picture to Blake’s, her eyes misting. Suddenly, pain shot through her skull and she was whiplashed into the past. She was eighteen again. Insecure, young, and totally in love.

  ****

  Arms encircled her as she closed her locker. She smiled, turned in the embrace, and wrapped her arms around Blake’s neck. He was wearing a Letterman jacket and was handsomely young.

  “Hey, you,” she said. “I can’t wait for our date tonight. This’ll sound very girly, but I’ve been dreaming about prom ever since I was twelve.”

  Blake kissed her lightly on the lips. “Without sounding too cheesy, it’s going to be magical.”

  “Going with you makes it magical,” she admitted.

  Blake pressed his lips to the back of her hand. “Tonight a chariot is going to pick you up and bring you to the ball. Like Cinderella.”

  A big smile bloomed on her face. “I can’t wait to dance with you all night long.”

  The memory transformed and now she was in her childhood bedroom with the pale-yellow walls and a purple bed. She was sitting in front of her vanity and her heart was racing. She had waited for this night for so long. She may be the fastest track runner in the whole county and she may prefer to wear jeans and sneakers, but she had dreamed about wearing a glamorous dress and slow dancing with Blake beneath a glittering disco ball.

  “Danielle, come quick,” her younger sister shouted. “You have to see what pulled up in front of the house.”

  Curious, Dani left her room. When she stepped into the living room, three gasps hit her at once—one from her mother, one from her father, and one from Ashlynn, who had been staring out the window. She twirled for them, receiving applause and words of praise.

  “Come here,” Ashlynn beckoned her to the window. “You have to see this. He sent you a limo!”

  Dani’s jaw dropped. Sure enough, a black limo was out front. When she told Blake she wanted a Cinderella experience, he promised she’d have one. The limo was her carriage and it was going to whisk her to the ball where Prince Blake would be waiting for her.

  “Come on, Danielle,” her mom called. “I want to get a picture of you outside.”

  She walked carefully across the lawn, trying to keep her heels from digging into the grass. She stood in front of an oak tree and smiled so her mom could take a picture of her, to document this monumental moment of her adolescent life.

  After she hugged everyone, she slipped into the back of the limo. She fiddled with her fingers nervously, thinking about Blake, and saw the semi seconds before it slammed into the limo.

  ****

  Pain shot through every bone and muscle in her body as she was jerked back to the present. The yearbook fell out of her hands and hit the desk with a loud bang. She clamped her hand over her mouth as tears flowed from her eyes.

  “Everyone called you Elle in high school.”

  Dani’s head jerked up. Blake was standing in the doorway wearing his uniform and his utility belt. “I thought your name and hair was a coincidence then I started to piece it together after you told me about the car accident. I didn’t want to believe it but…” He glanced down at the yearbook. “It’s hard to deny it when the evidence is right there.”

  He stepped closer to her. “Dani…” He reached out to her, took her arms, and rubbed them. “We met in twelfth grade English class and started dating in October.”

  She closed her eyes, squeezing out fat tears, and drew in a shaky breath, “I remember everything. Everything I had forgotten about my senior year, prom night…” She opened her eyes and looked deep into his hopeful gaze. “You. I remember you. I remember the first movie we saw together was a horror film. I remember our first kiss was in your car. I remember I gave you my virginity and you were so sweet and thoughtful the whole time. I remember prom night, and being so nervous as the limo brought me to you.”

  “Being a doctor, I don’t believe in miracles as a rule. Sometimes I don’t even believe in fate, but this is both.”

  Blake kissed the top of her head. “Yes, it is,” he agreed.

  “I have something for you from that night. Stay here.” She hurried into the bedroom and reached under the bed. “My mother took this picture of me before I left. I had completely forgotten about it,” she told him when she came back and held out the old photo.

  He took it. “You were gorgeous.”

  “You can have it.”

  “Thank you.”

  “And since we never got to dance at the prom.” She turned on the radio. A rock ballad was playing. “Now we can finally have our dance.”

  Blake set the photo down, took off his utility belt, and draped it over his desk. “We’re going to have many, many dances to make up for the ones we missed that night,” he promised, as he took her into his arms.

  The music throbbed and the lyrics aroused Dani. Her lips began a tasting tour along Blake’s jaw and down his throat where her tongue teased his Adam’s apple. Her hands roamed over his back. She tugged his shirt from his hips, unbuttoned it, and stripped it from his shoulders. He pulled his undershirt off to let her hands roam up his chest. She looped her arms around his neck and brought her mouth to his shoulder. Her teeth scrapped seductively over his muscles.

  “I want you,” she breathed against his skin. “All of you. Forever.”

  He cradled her in his arms. “Always,” he vowed and kissed her so deeply her soul sighed.

  An hour later, they lay in each other’s arms, their bodies’ slick with sweet-lovemaking sweat. When her heart calmed, Dani spoke, “I think I love you more now than I would have if my accident had never happened.”

  Blake’s arms tightened around her. “So do I.”

  She nestled against him “I want to make dinner for you tomorrow.”

  “You’ve made dinner for me plenty of times,
” he reminded her.

  “Not a special dinner. There’s going to be wine, music, and candlelight. And I am going to wear a dress.” She smiled thinking about the icy-blue dress and matching high heels. She had never worn them before, never had any reason to, but she did now.

  “But you can’t be late.”

  “I won’t.” He kissed her temple. “I promise.”

  ****

  Dani spent all day preparing for the dinner. She set the table with white candles, linen napkins, and silverware. It took her hours to select the music before finally settling on Phil Collins. She poured over the cookbooks she found in his kitchen, scrounged in every cabinet for the ingredients to make her dinner, and slaved in front of the hot stove.

  As the peach cobbler baked, she soaked in a bath, bubbles up to her neck, and then slathered on rich cream from toes to earlobes. Back in the kitchen, wearing Blake’s robe, she continued to cook. With the steaks marinating in a beer and brown sugar marinade, she did her hair and makeup. She applied a bit of blush to her cheeks, swept mascara over her eyelashes, and smacked on lipstick.

  Trying to stay away from the heat, she pan-fried the steaks to a perfect medium-rare, slid them onto white plates, and covered them to keep them warm. She carried all the dishes to the table then hurried upstairs to finish getting ready. She checked her makeup, making sure her mascara hadn’t run down her face, spritzed perfume on her wrists and the backs of her knees, slipped on the silk dress, fastened her feet into the two-inch heels, and slung her grandmother’s pearls around her neck.

  Happy, excited, and feeling beautiful, she descended the stairs and sat at the table to wait for Blake.

  Chapter Ten

  The candles had burned down to little stubs of hot wax. The flames flickered. In another minute they’d be out. The steaks were cold and hard. Inside the gravy boat, the gravy had a thick, dark layer of skin over it. The asparagus was wilted, the seasoned and diced new potatoes were shriveled, and the peach cobbler had dried.