Staff Feature: Laura DeBow
Detective Cole Landrum smoothed his hair, waiting for the elevator to open to the sixth floor. His murder witness was out of the ICU, awake, and ready to be questioned after surgery to remove a bullet from his stomach and the timing couldn’t be better. Nurse Maggie Hawk was on shift, and Cole planned to ask her out after talking with his witness.
With several mutual friends, Cole and Maggie crossed paths often. His favorite crossings included dancing with their friends—especially when he had Maggie in his arms. Every time they were together, his attraction grew, and he was ready to take their friendship to the next level.
The elevator doors parted, revealing pandemonium. An overhead page announced a Code Blue, and medical personnel rushed to a room down the corridor with a uniformed officer assigned to it—his witness’s room. Dread pooled in Cole’s gut. He pulled his pistol from his waistband holster and charged into the chaotic hallway.
“Stop him!” Officer Judson lunged toward a wiry man in ill-fitting scrubs fleeing the commotion only to freeze when the man yanked a passing Maggie to his chest and lifted a knife to her neck.
The dread clawed up Cole’s throat as Maggie’s face blanched with horror. Her panicked eyes locked on him as the man backed them away, using her as a shield. Cole couldn’t let anything happen to Maggie. She was kind, funny, and smart. And her shoulder-length dark brown waves, forest green eyes, and freckle-dusted creamy skin were exactly Cole’s kind of pretty. His affection for her ran deep.
He’d finally found the woman he wanted to pursue a life with. One strong enough to handle a relationship with a detective, with his crazy hours and work-related stressors. Maggie related because she had them herself. It was one of the things they connected over.
“Easy, man. I’m leaving, and you’re gonna let me, or I’ll cut this pretty little nurse.” The villain tightened his chokehold around Maggie’s neck and stroked the edge of his blade down her cheek. He flicked the knife and drew blood at her jawline. “Just in case you think I’m not serious.” The man dragged Maggie toward the stairwell door, and they disappeared through it.
Rage surged in Cole as recognition clicked in his brain. The man who’d taken Maggie was Reynolds Peet, the chief suspect in his case. Peet was a well-known enforcer of the Terrores Nocturnos gang. He’d already likely murdered Cole’s current victim and now possibly the witness. Peet personified evil. What would he do to Maggie if Cole didn’t rescue her in time?
Judson’s nod urged Cole after Maggie while the officer moved to restore order. Adrenaline pumping, Cole shot forward, gun gripped in his outstretched hands. He tuned out the sounds of resuscitation efforts filtering from his witness’s room mixed with the cries of Maggie’s colleagues standing dazed in the corridor.
Cole crept through the stairway door and listened. A door slammed some floors down. Cole ran down each flight, peeking through every landing’s door window. On the second floor, he saw the wake of chaos. He pulled the door open and charged through, his gun still drawn. When he made eye contact with a nurse huddled against a wall, he motioned to the badge on his belt, and she pointed toward the chapel down the hall.
Cole darted to the chapel door and peered through the small window. Peet’s back was to the door as he searched for another exit. Cole slipped inside, and Peet whirled to face him, Maggie still gripped tightly.
Possible ways to separate Maggie from Peet flew through Cole’s brain as his rival’s eyes drilled into him.
“Detective, you’ll want to drop that pistol, or I’ll paint the floor with this nurse’s blood.” Peet tightened his grip on Maggie, and she lifted her chin higher, inadvertently exposing more of her neck to the knife.
The motion jogged loose a memory in Cole’s mind, one of him twirling Maggie around a dance floor, her head thrown back in laughter in a way that had made him want to plant gentle kisses down her neck.
That same night, he’d taught her a few other moves that might help them both now.
“Alright, Peet.” Keeping his eyes on the pair, Cole slowly crouched and lay his weapon on the floor, inching back to standing with his hands up. “Mags, remember that fun night of dancing at The Ranch? All those wild moves I showed you?” Understanding flashed in her eyes and hope washed over Cole.
“Shut up!” Peet backed down the aisle, dragging Maggie with him.
Before they’d moved a foot, Maggie flew into action. She shot her right arm straight out from her side then pulled back fiercely, jamming her elbow into Peet’s side. As he flinched, she quickly flicked her foot up behind her as if to kick her own rear. She hit the mark because Peet grunted and started to fold forward, and Maggie slammed her head back, crushing Peet’s nose. His grip loosened as blood spurt forth, and she twisted away and ducked into a pew.
With lightning reflexes, Cole reached back, whipped his secondary gun from the small of his back, and shot Peet in the shoulder. The criminal dropped the knife, and Cole rushed him, taking him to the ground and cuffing his wrists behind him.
Cole turned and helped a trembling Maggie from the pew. He led her farther away from Peet’s prone form and pulled her into his arms. He buried his head into her neck and sent up a prayer of thanks as she clung to him.
“Maggie, you were incredible. Thank God you’re okay.”
“And thank you for showing me those self-defense moves that night. Even though we were just horsing around, they ended up saving me.”
“Maggie—”
“Cole, I’ve got a different move to show you.” She took his stubbled cheeks in her hands and pulled his mouth to hers.
When not dreaming up characters, figuring out plots, or tinkering with words, Laura can be found spending time with her husband of 21+ years, cheering on their teenagers in multiple sports, reading, cooking, or doing something active.
Connect with her on Facebook, Instagram, or her website.
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