roses.
“Thank you!” I yelled.
“Kate is great! Kate is great!”
I kept waving.
“I feel ignored,” Officer DeWeise said a few minutes later, when everyone was still chanting “Kate is great!” and applauding.
“So do I,” the governor said, smiling at me in the rearview mirror. “But goodness knows, you deserve it, Kate. Ever thought about running for office?”
I shook my head. No, most of my future plans involved me not being the center of any kind of attention. My stomach was about to implode. Public functions are not my thing. And to make matters worse, I kept thinking about how I had to talk in front of all these people after the parade.
We were starting to get to the part of Main that wasn’t covered by trees, and I decided it was time to pull out the sunglasses rather than risk another squinty picture showing up in the newspaper. Which would happen because everyone had digital cameras out and flashing.
I leaned forward to get my sunglasses out of my purse, but I ended up leaning forward a bit too much and I slipped off the trunk and landed on my knees in the seat, half-crunching my purse.
Something cracked and I just knew it was my sunglasses.
I heard a guttural cry, but it wasn’t me. DJ started yelling and grabbing for his gun. The governor started driving recklessly around the squad car in front, which immediately put on its siren. Patricia was screaming.
I looked up and Officer DeWeise was slumped over in the space I’d just vacated when I fell onto the seat, clutching his chest, eyes swinched tight. Blood was seeping around where his hands were on his chest.
I screamed. People all around us at the parade started screaming and running.
“Kate, get down and
stay down
!” DJ yelled at me. “Down to the floorboards, now!” He grabbed his radio while I scooted off the seat and onto the floorboard. DJ pushed Officer DeWeise onto the seat and then dove on top of him. “This is Officer Kirkpatrick! DeWeise has been shot. Repeat, DeWeise has been shot!”
The governor was still driving erratically. Patricia kept on screaming, covering her head with her hands.
I looked up at the pain-filled face of Officer DeWeise directly above me, one cheek smashed on the seat. “Are you okay?” I yelled. “Get to a hospital!”
The governor seemed stunned, scared, and started fumbling around, mashing the brake instead of the gas, and Officer DeWeise nearly fell on top of me. DJ braced himself against Patricia’s headrest, so he didn’t crush DeWeise.
“We need a driver!” DJ shouted into the radio.
The radio cracked something back and half a second later, someone was pushing the governor into the middle seat and was slamming the accelerator to the floor. The air whooshed around us, sirens blared, and I kept my hands knit together and my face down on the carpeted floorboards.
My heart was racing like crazy. I couldn’t get a full breath in. Someone had been shot, and they’d been shot because I wasn’t sitting where I was supposed to be sitting.
“No, no, no, no,” I mumbled. “Oh no!”
“It’s okay, Kate. It’s okay,” DJ said from where he was kneeling on the seat behind the prostrate Officer DeWeise. “Talk to me, DeWeise.”
“Kid …” he huffed, his eyes tightly closed in pain. “Are … augh, are you okay?”
I was hyperventilating. “I’m okay,” I managed.
“Kate, breathe. Breathe, Kate. In through the nose …” DJ instructed. He scraped his knuckles down his cheek and just looked helplessly at me.
I squeezed my eyes shut and tried to concentrate on the breathsI was taking. But really, all I could see when I closed my eyes was John X standing in the crowd aiming for me and shooting the funny Officer DeWeise instead.
“He’s supposed to be in jail,” I mumbled.
“He is,” DJ said.
“Who did this then?” I looked up past DeWeise’s tortured face and saw DJ’s face get very hard.
He didn’t answer me. We pulled to a stop and DJ hopped out over the
“Thank you!” I yelled.
“Kate is great! Kate is great!”
I kept waving.
“I feel ignored,” Officer DeWeise said a few minutes later, when everyone was still chanting “Kate is great!” and applauding.
“So do I,” the governor said, smiling at me in the rearview mirror. “But goodness knows, you deserve it, Kate. Ever thought about running for office?”
I shook my head. No, most of my future plans involved me not being the center of any kind of attention. My stomach was about to implode. Public functions are not my thing. And to make matters worse, I kept thinking about how I had to talk in front of all these people after the parade.
We were starting to get to the part of Main that wasn’t covered by trees, and I decided it was time to pull out the sunglasses rather than risk another squinty picture showing up in the newspaper. Which would happen because everyone had digital cameras out and flashing.
I leaned forward to get my sunglasses out of my purse, but I ended up leaning forward a bit too much and I slipped off the trunk and landed on my knees in the seat, half-crunching my purse.
Something cracked and I just knew it was my sunglasses.
I heard a guttural cry, but it wasn’t me. DJ started yelling and grabbing for his gun. The governor started driving recklessly around the squad car in front, which immediately put on its siren. Patricia was screaming.
I looked up and Officer DeWeise was slumped over in the space I’d just vacated when I fell onto the seat, clutching his chest, eyes swinched tight. Blood was seeping around where his hands were on his chest.
I screamed. People all around us at the parade started screaming and running.
“Kate, get down and
stay down
!” DJ yelled at me. “Down to the floorboards, now!” He grabbed his radio while I scooted off the seat and onto the floorboard. DJ pushed Officer DeWeise onto the seat and then dove on top of him. “This is Officer Kirkpatrick! DeWeise has been shot. Repeat, DeWeise has been shot!”
The governor was still driving erratically. Patricia kept on screaming, covering her head with her hands.
I looked up at the pain-filled face of Officer DeWeise directly above me, one cheek smashed on the seat. “Are you okay?” I yelled. “Get to a hospital!”
The governor seemed stunned, scared, and started fumbling around, mashing the brake instead of the gas, and Officer DeWeise nearly fell on top of me. DJ braced himself against Patricia’s headrest, so he didn’t crush DeWeise.
“We need a driver!” DJ shouted into the radio.
The radio cracked something back and half a second later, someone was pushing the governor into the middle seat and was slamming the accelerator to the floor. The air whooshed around us, sirens blared, and I kept my hands knit together and my face down on the carpeted floorboards.
My heart was racing like crazy. I couldn’t get a full breath in. Someone had been shot, and they’d been shot because I wasn’t sitting where I was supposed to be sitting.
“No, no, no, no,” I mumbled. “Oh no!”
“It’s okay, Kate. It’s okay,” DJ said from where he was kneeling on the seat behind the prostrate Officer DeWeise. “Talk to me, DeWeise.”
“Kid …” he huffed, his eyes tightly closed in pain. “Are … augh, are you okay?”
I was hyperventilating. “I’m okay,” I managed.
“Kate, breathe. Breathe, Kate. In through the nose …” DJ instructed. He scraped his knuckles down his cheek and just looked helplessly at me.
I squeezed my eyes shut and tried to concentrate on the breathsI was taking. But really, all I could see when I closed my eyes was John X standing in the crowd aiming for me and shooting the funny Officer DeWeise instead.
“He’s supposed to be in jail,” I mumbled.
“He is,” DJ said.
“Who did this then?” I looked up past DeWeise’s tortured face and saw DJ’s face get very hard.
He didn’t answer me. We pulled to a stop and DJ hopped out over the
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