Page 54 of Pretty Broken Dolls
Katie hurried down the hall, listening intently, stopping at the corner with her gun held out in front of her. She moved slowly at first, and then continued on when no one appeared.
It was strangely quiet.
Her main concern was the safety of those in the waiting room and her partner. She knew that McGaven was capable and would do whatever it took to protect the people.
Reaching the end of the hallway just before the reception area, Katie slowed to a stop. She saw Rita on the floor in a crouched position. Her eyes were wide and face pale.
Katie caught her attention and made a motion with her hand to move back into the internal rooms.
Rita crawled until she was out of sight and then got up and hurried down the hall to safety and wait.
“No! Someone is going to pay!” yelled a man’s voice.
“Take it easy. I’m sure we can work this out,” said McGaven calmly with his gun drawn but not aimed at the man. “Just put the gun down.”
Katie inched forward and spied around the corner, relieved that her partner was okay and was calmly confronting the situation in the waiting-room area. She saw the man that had been sitting out front when they arrived, now without the heavy blue coat. He had a handgun and was waving it around while pacing. It was clear that he was under pressure and felt that someone was responsible for his distress. She didn’t see the other blue-coated person and wondered where she could be.
Pulling back, she looked down the hallway in both directions to check no one was around. Her instincts told her that she needed to assist her partner. There was no other way around to get into the waiting area. The other door was the emergency exit and it would be locked from the inside.
“You’re going to arrest me! Me! I didn’t let her die! They did!”
“Tell me what happened. We can straighten this out,” said McGaven, still sounding composed and measured.
“She’s gone! Someone is going to pay!”
Another gunshot rang out.
Katie was ready to move forward when she saw that the man had shot at the ceiling. He wasn’t going to kill anyone, she thought.
“That’s not the way to do it,” said McGaven.
The man was still pacing, fretful and highly strung.
“Put the gun down before someone gets hurt.”
Katie crouched low and scanned the area. From what she could see, there was a maintenance door near where the man was pacing.
She turned and raced down the hallway, opening doors. Several people were huddled and hiding.
“Stay here, you’re safe,” she whispered, flashing her badge, and moved on until she found Rita with two people. “Rita, can you tell me how to get to that maintenance room in the lobby?”
Rita nodded. In a quiet voice, she said, “Down the hallway until you see a room marked ‘Storage’, at the far end of that room is a maintenance door.”
Katie mouthedthank youand turned, taking off at a full sprint as fast as she could to the storage door. Opening it, she entered. It was noticeably warmer inside and there was a hum of the heating system as dim lights lit the way. There were controls lit up with green buttons, which didn’t mean anything to her. She prayed that she wouldn’t run into anyone in maintenance because she didn’t have time to explain.
She followed instructions straight and then it turned sharply, but it also narrowed to an uncomfortable space. Gasping hard as her heart hammered in her chest; she caught her breath and pushed her focus. There were no sirens yet, but the police would soon be racing into the parking lot and that might push the man to do something he couldn’t take back.
Finally she reached the end where the door opened into the large waiting area. It felt as if she had been running for half an hour when in fact it was barely forty-five seconds.
Resting her hand on the doorknob, she felt for a locking mechanism and slowly turned the device. Pulling the door open a crack, she could see the man had his back to her about six feet away. McGaven still had his gun drawn but it was aimed downward, so as to not provoke the distraught man.
Katie pulled the door a little bit wider and hoped that it didn’t make a sound.
Three women were huddled in the corner shielding two children. They saw Katie as she slowly showed them her badge. It was unclear if it made them feel better or not.
The man was beginning to get more enraged now, taking aim at various people and things around the room.
Through the large window Katie saw two police cruisers enter the parking lot without lights and sirens—so as to not stoke the pressure and aggravate the shooter. They crept closer and parked. Two deputies got out and began to make their way toward the health center’s door.
