All of a sudden, they heard what sounded like someone kicking on a door, and a woman screaming and children crying, and realized the perp had discovered the residents’ hiding place.
Sam gave his officers the signal. Their movement muffled by the ongoing chaos in the back bedroom, they came out of the shadows and stormed down the hall and into the bedroom, flooding the room with lights.
Startled, the armed perp spun, saw three cops with their guns pointed at him, and froze.
“Drop your weapon! Drop your weapon!” Sam shouted, and when the perp glanced toward the windows, Mike shifted his position, blocking that exit.
The man cursed and dropped the gun.
Delroy kicked it out of the way and took a step closer, backing into Sam who was moving forward now, continuing to shout at the perp to get down on the floor. When the man was too slow in obeying, they took him down and cuffed him.
Sam retrieved the weapon as Mike and Delroy walked him out to a patrol car, then Mike took him to jail, leaving Delroy and Sam on the scene.
As soon as the house was clear, Sam knocked on the bathroom door.
“This is Chief Youngblood. You can come out now. The intruder is in custody.”
The door opened slowly, and a young woman emerged, carrying a toddler on her hip and with a boy of about eight holding her hand. Sam knew her from her job as a teller at the bank.
“You’re Alicia, right?” Sam said.
She nodded. “I thought he was going to kill us,” she said, still shaking and crying.
“Is there someone you want to call?” Sam asked.
“My husband, Charlie. He went night fishing with his dad and brother.”
Sam took the toddler out of her arms.
“Call Charlie, and then let’s go to the living room where you and the kids can sit. We can take your statement there.”
So while Alicia’s story unfolded, her husband, Charlie, was in an all-out panic, climbing out of a boat and jumping in his truck, leaving his dad and brother behind, while a drifter named Truman was getting booked into jail.
It was a good three hours before Sam finished up his report at the station and headed home. He was tired and worried about what Katie would think of all this, but then he turned the corner at his street and saw the porch light.
Suddenly, there was a lump in his throat.
Shelly used to leave the light on for him at night, and no one had ever done it since. He’d never thought of it. It was just call Roxie and run.
He pulled up into the drive, his feet dragging as he went up the steps and unlocked the door. The house was quiet. He didn’t want to wake Katie, so he took off his boots at the door and washed up in the kitchen before returning to his bedroom, expecting to see her peacefully asleep.
Instead, he walked in to find her moaning in her sleep, her hands clenching and unclenching as her feet moved beneath the covers. And then it hit him. She was dreaming about the attack!
He put his weapon in the lockbox, eased down on the side of the bed and stretched out beside her, then started talking in a calm and steady voice.
“Katie, honey…wake up. You’re not in school. All of your children are safe. There is no shooter. Wake up, darlin’. It’s me, Sam. I’m here, and I love you.”
Katie moaned, then sighed as she turned toward the sound of his voice.
He slid his arm beneath her shoulders and pulled her to him. The thrashing subsided, the moaning stopped, and she was no longer crying.
“That’s my girl,” he said softly, then wrapped his arms around her and closed his eyes.
***
Katie woke in Sam’s arms. He was still asleep, still in the clothes he’d left the house wearing, and still in one piece. She’d been baptized in the fire of cop life, and all she could think was she was in love with a man who risked his life every day for others, just like the police who took down the shooter in Saguaro Elementary.
Sam stirred, opened his eyes, and saw Katie looking at him.
“Hey…how’s my baby this morning?” he asked.
The softness in his voice was Katie’s undoing.
“So in love with you,” she said.
Sam stilled, and then a slow smile spread across his face.
“Does that mean I have passed the Katie test?”
“It means you have broken down my last wall. I give up. I give it all to you. It will be up to you if you can deal with my ghosts.”
“I dealt with them just fine last night, and I’ll deal again and again until they’re gone.”
Katie blinked. “Last night? What do you mean? What did I do?”
“Nothing worse than having a bad dream. We snuggled. It went away.”
“Oh my God,” Katie said, and started crying.
“Hey, hey, hey…nothing to cry about,” Sam said. “I’ve been chasing away the boogeyman for years. I got your back, Katie girl.”
She rolled over on top of him and buried her face against his neck. Crying for the broken child she’d been. For the wounded soul she was. Betting her life that this was the man who would never let her down.
Conviction washed through Sam in waves. The certainty that she would stay the course was now embedded in his heart. He had nothing more to prove. She’d given him everything when she’d given him her trust.
***
The girls came home by midafternoon, sporting gaps in their big grins. Their grandparents handed over the prize teeth and offered many thanks for letting them have the kids for the weekend, said their goodbyes, and drove away.
The girls ran straight to their room, just like they always did when they’d been gone. Like they needed to reestablish their ownership in the place, while Sam took their bags to the laundry and dumped their clothes in the washer.
He already missed Katie in his space, but making it permanent was only a matter of time.
The girls came bouncing back through the house, still trying to settle, and looking to see if there was anything new in the way of snacks that had been added to the pantry.
“Daddy! We want to show Miss Katie our teeth!” Evie said.
Sam chuckled. “You mean you want her to see you lost one?”
“No! We want to show her our teeth. Can we? Please?” Beth said.
Sam wasn’t sure about carrying two tiny teeth across the street to show off and started trying to dissuade them.
“I don’t know. What if she’s busy?” Sam asked.
Evie shrugged. “You could call and ask.”
“You could,” Beth added.