Tara Sivec: Shame on Him

“But, hey, if you’re in the mood, feel free to shoot him,” I tell Melinda, nodding in Dallas’s direction.

“Lorelei? What the fuck?” Dallas asks in confusion as he stands back up.

“I wasn’t born yesterday. Kick your gun away from you,” Melinda tells him.

Dallas huffs and uses the toe of his boot to slide the gun across the room.

“Now, let’s have ourselves a little chat and see what we’re going to do about this situation,” Melinda says.

“Oh, that sounds like fun. I think he should go first. He could tell us all about how he’s a lying sack of shit,” I say angrily, staring at Dallas.

“What in the hell is your problem?” Dallas fires back.

“MY problem? That’s rich coming from you. Hmmm, let me think.” I tap my finger against my chin and pretend to contemplate. “I don’t know what I’m doing, you only slept with me to make sure I didn’t screw anything up—am I forgetting anything? Oh, that’s right! The sooner you can solve this case, the sooner you can stop babysitting little old me.”

The anger on Dallas’s face melts away and he closes his eyes.

Melinda whistles next to me. “Wow, that’s pretty low, dude.”

Dallas sighs and finally opens his eyes, ignoring Melinda and looking right at me. “You heard Ted and me talking.”

I roll my eyes at him. “Don’t even think about denying it. I was standing right there.”

I refuse to let the pain in my heart show. I will not be broken by another man.

“I’m not denying it. I said every word,” Dallas admits.

I think my heart might actually still be intact right now if he had tried to deny it. Hearing him openly admit what he really thinks of me makes it shatter into a million pieces.

“The chakras in this room will never be the same. I’m going to have to move,” Stephanie complains with a sigh. “At least your aura isn’t gray anymore, Lorelei. It’s a lovely shade of pink, so that means you’re in love. Congratulations!”

My eyes widen and I quickly glance at Dallas, hoping he didn’t hear that last part. He’s staring at me with a smile.

“You’re in love with me?” he asks.

“Oh, please! She has no idea what she’s talking about. You can go right to hell!” I yell at him.

“I’ve studied auras for years. I definitely know what I’m talking about,” Stephanie adds.

I roll my eyes at her and cross my arms over my chest.

“Lorelei, I didn’t mean what I said to Ted. I swear,” Dallas confesses.

“You expect me to believe that line of bullshit?” I shout.

“Yes, I do! After what’s happened between us, I sure as fuck expect you to believe that I’m in love with you, Lorelei, and I would never do that to you,” he argues back.

My jaw drops at his admission, but it doesn’t change anything.

“Miles actually went to the department and said something about us working together. Ted headed him off, but he was worried the guy would just go talk to someone else. I was covering for you. I didn’t mean any of those things I said to him. He suspects we’ve been lying to him, but as long as he’s not sure, there’s nothing he can do.”

I shake my head and look away from him.

Could he be telling the truth? I don’t know what to believe.

“Um, hello? Can we get back to the important matter at hand? I’m the one with the Goddamn gun here!” Melinda yells.

“Honey, just put the gun down. We can pack up some things and run away together,” Stephanie tells her.

Melinda looks at Stephanie for a moment and then back to me. She forcefully shoves me away from her and I stumble, falling to my hands and knees in front of Dallas while she runs over to Stephanie and scoops her up in her arms.

Smacking away Dallas’s outstretched hand, I push myself up from the ground and watch as Stephanie and Melinda embrace.

“Do you mean it? We can just leave and go wherever we want?” Melinda asks Stephanie excitedly.

“Holy shit, are we in a porno?” Dallas mutters next to me as he stares at Stephanie and Melinda while they kiss.

I start to laugh and then realize I’m still pissed at him. Dammit!

“I meant it, you know? I love you, Lorelei. Think with your heart and not your brain for once. You know damn well I was lying when I said all of those things to Ted,” Dallas whispers. “You didn’t need me to solve this case. You never needed me to look after you. You beat the shit out of your attacker last night and you solved this thing. I’m so fucking proud of you.”

I bite down on my lips and refuse to look at him. I know if I look at him, I’ll be lost.

“Put the gun down and we can leave right now,” Stephanie tells Melinda.

There’s a few feet separating Dallas and me right now and his gun is even farther away. Out of the corner of my eye, I see him slowly inching his way closer to where he kicked the gun.

Melinda suddenly looks over at him and the smile falls from her face.

“Were you going for your gun?” she asks.

Dallas just shrugs.

And then everything happens all at once. Melinda raises her gun, Dallas crouches down to spring across the floor to his own weapon, and I throw myself toward Dallas right as the thundering boom of a gun going off fills the quiet room.

My body slams into him and in his crouched position, he falls to the ground with me on top of him. Pain radiates through my body when we hit the floor and I know I must have jarred something loose from my scuffle with Melinda last night.

Dallas wraps his arms protectively around my body and rolls me onto my back, cradling me close to him as shouts fill the air and a stampede of police officers with guns drawn comes flying into the house.

Dallas lifts his head away from me and we both watch as Melinda and Stephanie are taken to the ground and handcuffed.

“You guys okay?” Ted asks as he flies into the room with his gun in front of him, heading over to the chaos across from us.

“Yep, we’re good. Lorelei here just saved my ass. I’m pretty sure that proves she loves me too,” Dallas tells him as he looks down at me and smiles.

I try to smile back, but I feel a little woozy. I must have slammed into Dallas a little too hard. The room is starting to spin and I blink quickly a few times to try and settle everything.

Dallas pulls away from me a little bit and I stare in shock at his shoulder.

“Oh, my God, you’re bleeding. You’ve been shot,” I mutter.

His face scrunches up in confusion and he looks down at himself. His gaze slowly makes its way back to me.

“That’s not my blood,” he whispers.

I watch as he quickly pushes himself off of me and his eyes widen in horror.

“TED! Get an ambulance here NOW!”

Dallas presses his hands to my shoulder and I yelp in pain.

“Ouch! Not so hard,” I complain, closing my eyes.

“No, no, no. Lorelei, open your eyes, baby. Stay with me.”

This feels like déjà vu. Hasn’t he said this to me before? It suddenly strikes me as funny and I start to laugh. I feel drunk again. But I’m pretty sure I’m not drunk.

“I’m right here; I’m not going anywhere,” I laugh. “I’m so tired. And my shoulder really hurts.”

I close my eyes again and hear a flurry of activity all around me. People shouting, footsteps pounding on the floor by my head, and Dallas whispering close to my ear.

“Come on, open your eyes and tell me I’m a pompous asshole. Tell me I’m a pigheaded jerk. I don’t care what you say, just talk to me. The ambulance is on its way.”

I don’t know what the ambulance is for, but Dallas makes me laugh.

“You’re so silly. I love you. You’re not that much of a pompous asshole,” I tell him.

I struggle to open my eyes and look up at him. The smile he gives me is tinged with sadness.