“Sounds perfect to me.” Baker beamed.
BAKER
The words ‘I do’ rang from my lips, and I felt like I literally heard bells start to ring.
Though, it took me a few moments to realize that I was hearing bells ring, seeing as all of my dreams had just come true.
It was officially noon, and I was a married woman.
The judge had to raise his voice to be heard over the loud clanging of the bells.
“With the power vested in me by the state…” Dong. “Of Texas.” Dong. “I now pronounce you husband.” Dong. “And wife. You may.” Dong. “Kiss the bride!”
I pressed my lips against Copper’s, and fireworks exploded all around me.
My kiss with Copper lasted half a second, max.
I was so lost in the way his mouth tasted—how my husband’s mouth tasted—that I hadn’t been aware that I wasn’t actually floating on cloud nine.
In fact, I was pressed against something hard, by something equally as hard.
The pain of my back meeting the concrete made itself known seconds later.
Disorientation and confusion warred for supremacy in my psyche, and I blinked my eyes open to find myself eye level with the patch over Copper’s heart.
Bird.
It was in hot pink stitching.
There was a small part in the pink stitching that had a gap, and the black of the patch underneath shone through.
I swallowed hard and said, “What’s going on?”
Soft pops were filling the air right along with the dongs.
Pop. Dong. Pop. Pop. Dong. Pop. Pop. Pop. Dong.
“Someone’s shooting with a silencer,” Copper growled.
That’s when understanding dawned. “Holt!”
“Cutter’s got him,” he promised. “I heard him crying. He’s okay.”
The chiming of the bells abruptly stopped, but the soft pop, pop, pop didn’t.
Following every soft pop there was a kick of dust that rained down on us.
That’s when I remembered the concrete planters.
I’d chosen this specific location outside the courthouse because of the Black-Eyed Susans and Zinnias that were filling the concrete garden beds.
There was six feet of dirt and concrete between us and the shooter.
“Is everyone okay?” I cried out.
“The judge has been clipped,” came some man’s reply. I wasn’t sure who, since it sounded so damn tense. “SWAT is on their way. Police band is saying that it’s someone in an armored vehicle.”
“Thanks, Carter,” I heard Webber reply. “What are you doing here, anyway?”
