Diamond in the Rough (Precious Gems) (14 page)

The small woman looked odd with a gun in her
hands.  Cheyenne fearfully followed her direction and began walking.  At the top of the stairs Cheyenne heard the gun fire.  It shocked her senses and she bolted.    She made it into the dining room and found a suitable hiding spot.  Peering around the corner of the large hutch she could see a limited area. To her left was nothing but to the right stood the small figured women she had suddenly come to fear.  All four foot nine of the women was evil, of that, Cheyenne was sure.  She had to get word to Brian before it was too late. 

“I know you’re here, Cheyenne,” Maria taunted.  “If you come out now, I will not hurt you. 

Cheyenne knew that she could not trust her but she also knew that her cell phone was upstairs and she knew that she didn’t have a lot of time.  She could see the pistol in Maria’s hand.  It looked so foreign in this petite, seemingly gentle woman’s grip.  She tried to think of all of her options but the only one that seemed feasible was to fight.  Suddenly, Cheyenne saw her opportunity to gain a bit of leverage.  Maria was mere feet from her position and Cheyenne seized the opportunity.  She leapt from her hiding spot onto the older woman’s back.  Both crashed to the floor and Cheyenne saw the gun fall from Maria’s hand and skid to a stop several feet from both of them.  She grabbed Maria in a choke hold but the tiny woman had far more strength than Cheyenne initially thought.  Maria pried Cheyenne’s arms from around her neck and pushed the younger woman off of her.  She lunged for the gun just as Cheyenne crashed down on top of her again. 

“Maria, why have you done this?” Cheyenne grunted as she fought for her life.
  Cheyenne tried to reach for the gun that she had tucked into the waistband of her jeans but just at that time Maria flipped her off of her again and the gun skidded across the floor in the opposite direction of Maria’s. Cheyenne grabbed a vase from the in table and brought it crashing onto Maria’s back.  It stunned her, but did not have the effect Cheyenne had wanted.  Before she could react, Maria had the gun back in her hands. 

“I never wanted to kill him but he would not listen to reason.  For twelve years I watched Jason weasel his way into your place.  I had to put a stop to it,” Maria exclaimed. 

“You killed my father to get rid of Jason?” Cheyenne said in disbelief.  He was firing me and I could not let that happen.  I loved him but he was about to ruin everything” Maria cried.   “When he was firing me he cut me out of the will.  I have worked here for over twenty five years and was not leaving empty handed. 

Cheyenne saw another opportunity and lunged yet again at the old women.  This time Maria was ready and fired her gun.  Cheyenne heard the shot but did not instantly realize that she had been struck by the bullet.  As the pain set in though, she painfully came to terms with what had happened.  Her blood poured quickly from her wound as she slipped from consciousness. 

Chapter Thirteen

Brian was parking his truck when he heard the gunshot.  Instinctively he reached for his service revolver and bolted for the front entrance.  He peered through the window and didn’t see anything.  After realizing that the front door was locked, he kicked it in and immediately saw Cheyenne.  Brian could smell the fresh aroma of gun powder and immediately thought the worst. 

He knelt by her side and rolled her over.  Crimson seeped from a hole in her chest and he heard gurgling sounds.  Brian ripped off his shirt and put pressure on Cheyenne’s chest as he called for backup and an ambulance. 

“Please Cheyenne, baby stay with me!  You have to stay with me.”

Tears rolled down his cheeks as he checked for a pulse and found a faint one. 

“Thank you God!” He screamed to the room as he cradled her head in his lap.

Until this moment he had not realized the extent of his feelings for her.  It took her getting shot for him to realize that he loved her. 

“Oh god she has to make it….”  Brian could not fathom going a single day without her in his life.  He needed her, not a memory. 

He called into his shoulder mic for an eta on the ambulance. 

“Detective Russell it is about thirty seconds out.” The dispatcher stated crisply.

Brian heard the wail of sirens approaching the house.  The paramedics rushed in and began working on Cheyenne.  So many things were going on and it scared Brian.  He was used to crime scenes but never with a live victim and never one who he loved.  His senses were on overload and it wouldn’t take much to push him over the edge. 

Just then, his back up arrived and another detective approached him with a hurried step.

“Detective Russell?”  The young detective asked.

“Yes.”

            “I found a woman walking a few blocks from here after your call went out over the radio.  She looks like she has been through hell so I detained her in the back of my squad car.  Do you want to take a look?”

               “Yes I would.  Where is she?”

              The detective led Brian to his car and when he opened the back door, Brian’s eyes squinted in anger.  His fist balled at his sides and for a moment he wasn’t sure if he could control himself. 

             
“Do a gun powder residue test on her hands now!  Do not let her out of your site!”

             
With that, he ran back to Cheyenne.  The medics were loading her onto a gurney and were about to transfer her to the hospital. 

             
“How is she doing?”  Brian asked as he wrung his hands together.  They were covered in her blood as were his clothes.  He needed to hear that she would be okay but was terrified that he would not get the answer he sought.

             
“She is in bad shape.  The bullet pierced her lung and she has lost a lot of blood.  We will do everything that we can, but she has got to get to the hospital.”

             
The news was not great but there was hope.  He would accept that for now. 

             
“Detective Russell?”

             
Brian turned to find the young detective approaching him with a GSR kit.  He could see that the swab had turned colors from where he stood. 

             
Without saying a word, Brian’s worst fears had been realized.  He had left Cheyenne unprotected and she almost lost her life because of it.  Hell, he wasn’t sure if she would even make it.  She may have already lost her life and if she did, it would be his fault.  He would never be able to live with himself if she wasn’t okay.

             
“Take her in and book her for attempted murder.  Don’t let her out of your site until she is behind bars.”  Brian ordered.

             
With that, he peeled out of the driveway and raced to the hospital. 
 

Chapter Fourteen

              Brian paced the halls of Mercy Hospital.  It was one of the best in the country but that did little to settle his nerves.  In the five hours he had been there he had not spoken to anyone except the doctors and nurses.  Cheyenne had been brought into emergency surgery four hours ago and he had been given no new information.  The paramedics had been correct with their assessment of her condition. 

Brian took a break from pacing to grab a cup of coffee and to check in with the chief.

“Chief, this is Russell.  Has Maria given any indication why she shot Cheyenne?”

“None.  She had refused to speak to anyone, including her own lawyer.
  If anything breaks I will let you know.  How is the Wingate girl doing?”

“There is still no news.  She is in surgery.”

Brian hung up, disappointed and wanting vengeance.

How stupid had he been to think that he could just walk out on her that morning and never look back.  It would be laughable if it weren’t so heart breaking.

After another two hours, the doctors came out of the surgical suite.

“Detective Russell, Ms. Wingate is out of surgery.  She is going to be touch and go so we will keep her in ICU.  Is any of her family here yet?”

“Cheyenne does not really have any family.  I am the closest she has for now.  She does have a brother in North Carolina who is military.  I will contact the Red Cross to see if we can get a notification to him.  Can I stay with her?’

“Normally, we only allow family but I think we can make an exception in your case.
”

For the next three days, Brian Russell sat beside Cheyenne’s bed without flinching.  Occasionally he would leave for a bathroom break but the nurses had begun delivering him a lunch and dinner plate.  His devotion was unquestionable.  Maria was still refusing to speak and the case was at a standstill.  There was no question who did it, but to Brian the why was just as important. 

Daily, Brian brushed and braided Cheyenne’
s long hair, put lotion on her hands and feet and prayed like he had never prayed before. 

“Detective Russell, we have the results of the testing that we have been doing.  There is really not much else that we can do until her brother gets here, but so far there doesn’t seem to be much brain activity.  She is being kept alive by the ventilator but her prognosis is not good.”

“I won’t accept that.  It’s only been three days, give her time.  We can’t give up on her; she is going to come out of this.”

The tears welled up in his eyes.  Brian had not truly cried since he was a child but today was the day.  Sobs escaped his lips as he touched Cheyenne’s hand to his face.  For a moment it felt as if she caressed his cheek.  Brian’s heart surged with hope.  He screamed for the nurse who bolted into the room.

“She moved!  She responded when I put her hand on my cheek!  The doctor is wrong…”

“Detective Russell, it is common for loved ones to think they see movement.  Sometimes we want it so bad that we actually convince ourselves that we see it.  It’s only setting you up for disappointment.  I know that you want it badly but test results don’t lie.”  The concerned nurse clearly had a soft spot for him and rubbed his shoulder as he sat back down beside the bed.

For the next two hours he didn’t take his eyes off of her hand.  He begged her to move it, willed her to move it but nothing happened.  It lay perfectly still and he began to convince himself that the nurse was right; he had imagined it.  But, a small part of him knew what he felt.  She was still in there and he would bring her back to him.

Suddenly, a man appeared in the doorway.  As he opened the door he introduced himself as Cheyenne’s brother Matthew.  Brian extended his hand to shake Matthew’s and both men stared at her helpless body
lying in the bed. 

“Has there been any improvement?”  Matthew asked.

“The doctors say that there has not been but I swear to you that she caressed my face today.  As sure as I am standing her, she responded to my touch.  I don’t like the direction they are heading with their test and I am begging you to not give up on your sister.  She is a special person.”

“Detective, are you in love with my sister?”

“Yes, I am.  I didn’t realize it until she was shot but I am more in love with her than I have ever been with anyone in my entire life.”

“My sister is strong and has endured a lot during her life.  She can beat this.”  Matthew said full of conviction.

“I guess that you have some questions as to how all of this happened.  Take a seat and I will fill you in.”  Brian said as he gestured to the chair on the other side of the small room.

Hours later, Brian had finished his story and Matthew sat in silence.  The story was unbelievable but was obviously true. 

“Are you going to be here a while.  I didn’t want to leave her alone and I need to go to the office.  I haven’t left here in three days and the chief is getting pissed.  I will be back as soon as possible.”  Brian said.

“Yes, I will be here for the night.  Thank you for staying with my sister.  I got here as quick as I could but it was comforting to know that she had someone with her.”

Brian
arrived at the office about twenty minutes later.  He brushed off the concerned stares of his coworkers who obviously knew about Cheyenne.  Brian knocked on the chief’s door and walked in. 

“Chief, Cheyenne’s brother just flew in on emergency leave so I came in for a bit.  I want to interview Maria.”

“If you think that you can get her to talk then have at it.  Brian, I know that this girl mean something to you.  Try to be objective and not ruin the case.”

“Okay Chief.” Brian said as he walked out of the office.

              He headed straight for the holding area.  His stomach was in knots and his body felt like he had pulled a drunk even though he had not drank in days.  With his palms sweaty he pulled his badge out of his pocket and flashed it at the jailer.