“I have no idea how good the quality of the recording is, though. We were behind a wall, so who knows what was actually captured,” Sam said.
“We’ll have to take your phone as evidence,” Officer Martin said and held out a hand.
“Of course.” Sam handed over the phone without blinking, even though his entire life was no doubt linked to it.
“Okay, so Wayne stated he was going to kill Annie. What led up to the shooting?”
“Wayne pointed the gun at Annie and put his finger on the trigger. Jake and I confronted him, but that just delayed things a little. Jake identified himself as a trooper and told Wayne to drop the weapon and that he was under arrest.”
“So, Trooper MacDonald clearly stated that he was a trooper? Clearly told him to drop the weapon?”
“Yes, to both. That should be clear on the tape. Jake told him multiple times to drop the weapon. Wayne was mulling over the odds of being able to shoot all of us and get away. He finally got mad and pointed the gun at Annie again, but at the last second swung it around to Jake. He probably thought once Jake was down, Annie and I would be easy. Jake didn’t shoot until Wayne had the gun pointed at him.”
“Anything else we need to know?”
“Not that I can think of,” Sam said. “I can’t get a new phone until tomorrow, but once I do, you can call with any other questions you have.”
They took contact information for both of them and then asked Annie if they could take a look around the house.
“Of course, whatever you need,” she said. Once they left, she turned to Sam. “Sam, I’m so sorry about all of this. I never wanted you to get mixed up in all my drama. I tried to stay away from you to protect you, but that didn’t help anything.”
“Shhh,” Sam said. “Don’t worry about any of that right now. Are you okay?” His look of concern was her undoing, and she began to cry.
“He killed her, Sam. He killed her.” The crying turned to sobbing, and she couldn’t stop. He held her tightly and rubbed a hand up and down her back.
“I know, honey. I’m so sorry.”
For a while, so caught up in her own misery, Annie forgot Sam was there. The tears just kept flowing. Her precious angel didn’t have to die. It wasn’t SIDS. It was an angry, arrogant husband. Annie didn’t know if she could ever forgive herself. She never should have let Wayne near the baby.
How could she have known, though? If she thought he was capable of murder, she never would have married him in the first place. Or had a baby with him. Of course, without him, she never would have had Avery in her life for the short time she did. It was all too much to think about right now.
She wasn’t sure how much time had passed when Jake finally stuck his head in to let them know it was okay to come out. She translated that to mean the body had been removed.
“Come stay at my house tonight, and we’ll have this cleaned up tomorrow morning,” Sam said. “I’m sure Jake can find out who to call to clean up stuff like this.” He looked at his brother as he said it.
“I’ll have someone here first thing tomorrow,” Jake said.
“Thanks, guys, but I don’t want to impose any more than I already have. You’ve done so much. You saved my life.” She hugged Jake tightly.
Who knew what kind of toll it would take on a man to shoot and kill someone? Even someone in law enforcement who was trained for the possibility. Because of her poor decisions, Jake’s life was irrevocably changed. She would be forever grateful to him.
“I’m going to find a hotel for tonight and then put the house up for sale as soon as possible. I can’t stay here.”
Sam made a face at Jake, who then slipped out of the room, closing the door behind him.
“Annie, please come stay with me. I want to make sure you’re okay.”
“Sam, you don’t know how much I appreciate what you’ve done. I can’t believe you came back from New York early to check on me and that you put yourself in harm’s way to protect me. But nothing has really changed between us. You can’t take back the things you said the other day. You don’t trust me, and I can’t be with a man who will doubt my every motive.”
“Annie, I love you. I’m sorry I said those things. I didn’t mean them. I went into your office without thinking anything through and have regretted it ever since. Please forgive me?”
“I love you too, Sam. But sometimes love isn’t enough. You don’t have to worry about me telling anyone about us. I would never do anything to hurt you.”
“I know that, Annie. I do. Please don’t do this.” His voice cracked, and she couldn’t take anymore.
She stood and left without looking back. After checking with the officers still left at the scene to make sure it was okay to leave, she grabbed her purse, made sure the spare key was still in her pocket, and fled. Someone would lock up. Or not. She didn’t care if the place burned to the ground overnight. She wouldn’t be coming back.
Without a phone, she couldn’t put much effort in to finding a place to stay. She pulled into the first hotel she saw, walked to the lobby, and booked a room for the next couple of nights. As soon as she closed the door, she flung herself onto the bed. It was late, and she was mentally, emotionally, and physically exhausted.
She thought she’d be awake half the night, reliving the whole thing over and over again, thinking about what she could have done differently, but mercifully, she fell asleep almost
