Chapter 11
The fifteen-minute travel from Dawn’s to my destination was enough time to take a much longer trip in my mind, one that put ten months in my rearview mirror.
I remembered pushing Archie away after my hospital stay and slow recovery. I remembered ignoring phone calls and trying to avoid running into him. I couldn’t stand the thought of putting Archie through the suffering I’d endured all those years after Dougie’s death. Either way, Archie wound up hurt. Still, in my mind, admittedly damaged in many ways, being kept apart from someone who was still alive was far less cruel a fate than being kept apart from someone who pledged his love for you and then died.
* * * *
“I can’t guarantee I won’t get shot at again.”
Archie showed up at headquarters every day once I was back to wo
