Chapter 87
After the show was over, Paul, Montana, Brian and Mariah made their way to the car to after saying goodnight to Shaun.
“Where are we eating?” Brian asked.
“Leave it to you to think about food,” Mariah laughed.
“Hey, I worked hard tonight. I didn’t get it off unlike some people.”
“Yeah, Kiss Cam took a lot of effort,” Mariah quipped.
“Smart shit.”
“More like he worked up his appetite from Paul chasing him around backstage,” Montana nodded.
“And I still owe you an ass kicking, Midget,” Paul added.
“Right, old man. You couldn’t even catch me in the arena.”
“Old man?” Montana asked, amused. “Bri, you’re a year older than he is.”
“And smokes like a forest fire,” Paul reminded them. “Go figure.”
“Yeah, and to think I can still run from Mr. Clean Living Family Man here,” Brian laughed. “So who’s driving?”
“I am,” Paul replied.
“Nice. It will be two hours before we get food and another two hours before we go back to the hotel.”
“I will have you know I am a safe and defensive driver, tam bien.”
“Yeah, for an old woman maybe.”
“I’m not the one with a glove compartment full of traffic tickets,” Paul countered. “I drive the speed limit. Not one mile above, not one mile below. Oquela.”
They had just gotten to the car when a loud bang got their attention. “What the hell….” he wondered.
“Probably some truck backfiring, dude,” Brian responded.
“No, that was pretty loud for a backfire. And no trucks passed by. I’m checking it out.”
“I’m going with you,” Brian nodded. “It’s probably nothing, but better to go in pairs.”
“You’re a nosy shit anyway, but yeah, you’re right.” Paul turned to the women. “You girls stay here and watch the car. We should be back in a few.”
They headed in the direction of where the noise had originated, seeing nothing at first, before Brian saw a figure out of the corner of his eye running and Paul spied a woman on the ground.
While Brian took off after the runner, Paul went to what appeared to be someone seriously injured.
“Montana!” he yelled at the top of his lungs. “Call 911! This lady’s been shot!”
A short time later:
“Oh my God, Paul, this woman’s pregnant,” Montana gasped, working quickly to make the unconscious and bleeding woman comfortable as possible.
Quick on his feet as always, he had ripped off his shirt, not caring about the chill in the air, and made a tourniquet, wrapping it around the wound to stop the bleeding. So far, he had been successful.
“Where the fuck are the medics and the cops?” Paul asked anxiously, before swearing in Spanish.
“I think I hear them now,” Montana answered. “And where did Brian go?”
“He saw someone run from here and went after them. I just hope to Christ he didn’t do anything stupid and get himself killed.”
“My God, Paul, that could be the shooter!”
“Exactly my point.”
Montana bent over the woman. “She’s still breathing. The bleeding’s stopped too.”
A few feet away, Mariah directed the ambulance toward where the woman lay, heading down toward Paul and Montana. She too was holding her breath that things would turn out for the best.
Meanwhile:
Brian had flagged down the first police car that arrived at the scene as the man groaned underneath him.
“One more move, asshole, and you‘ll live to regret it, if I let you live that long,” he seethed. “I don’t take kindly to people who shoot women.”
Two officers came over. “This the guy?”
“Yeah, this is who saw running and went after him. My buddy is over there with the person this scum shot. He heard the blast and went to check it out. That’s when I saw this guy running.”
Another groan came from the suspect.
“Go ahead, motherfucker, and you’ll get drop kicked again. Now, make no scene, go with these officers quietly and there will be no problems,” Brian said.
“You know, you took a big risk tackling this guy,” one officer warned him.
“I’ve kicked asses of guys bigger than that loser,” Brian nodded as the suspect was cuffed by the second cop. “It’s part of my job.”
“Hey, wait a minute. Aren’t you….”
Brian nodded, smiling. “Yes, sir.” He stuck his hand out to shake. “Good to make your acquaintance, though too bad it wasn’t under better circumstances, Officer….”
“Sergeant,” the man replied, returning the handshake. “Sergeant Todd. My daughter is a big fan of yours. She’s ten. Listen, do you think I could….”
“No problem. I have some photos in my bag back at the car as soon as your business is taken care of.”
“Great,” the sergeant nodded. “In the meantime, you’re going to need to go over and give a statement to the detectives before we haul this guy down to the precinct. You got lucky this time. We usually don’t encourage citizens to go after suspects, especially when they’re armed.”
“Well, better me getting killed trying than letting that poor woman suffer and not knowing who was responsible,” Brian replied, heading back to the scene to speak with detectives.
A few hours later:
“How is she?” Montana wondered.
Detective Marilyn Fontana was touched by the concern of the woman in front of her; doctors had already told Detective Fontana and her partner that if Paul hadn’t acted as quickly as he had, chances were good the victim would not had survived at the scene, much less made it to the hospital and through surgery. The baby had been delivered via C-section, but it was a full term and healthy boy.
“The baby’s all right?” Montana asked with concern.
“Both mother and baby are going to be fine, thanks to your husband’s quick thinking,” Fontana smiled at her. “It’s probably going to be a few days before my partner and I can talk to her and find out what happened, but the doctors are optimistic she will recover.”
Montana sighed with relief. “Thank goodness. Does her family know?”
“My partner was able to contact her husband. He’s on his way here.”
“Why would anyone want to shoot a pregnant chick?” Brian asked. “I don’t know about anyone else here, but that’s fucking pathetic in my book.”
“More than pathetic,” Mariah added. “It’s disgusting. I hope that scumbag you caught gets the book thrown at him.”
Brian jerked his thumb over at Paul, who had dozed off. “Looks like our hero’s rough night finally caught up with him.”
Montana smiled over at Paul’s sleeping figure. “Let him sleep. You know, I should check on the kids first thing in the morning. This whole thing tonight just makes me want to go home and hug all three of them.”
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