{"id":8159,"date":"2016-08-26T21:22:11","date_gmt":"2016-08-27T03:22:11","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/moriahjovan.com\/talesofdunham\/?page_id=8159"},"modified":"2026-02-22T19:00:49","modified_gmt":"2026-02-23T00:00:49","slug":"47th-broadway","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/moriahjovan.com\/talesofdunham\/extras\/vignettes-outtakes\/dirty-little-secrets\/47th-broadway\/","title":{"rendered":"47th & Broadway"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

JULY 2003<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

GISELLE STOOD IN the breezeway of the bookstore holding the door open, waiting for her boss, a late-middle-aged woman with a completely reasonable fear of walking to her car late at night. Once they had sandwiched themselves between the inner and outer sets of locked doors, Giselle bent to dig in her backpack.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat\u2019s just unreal,\u201d Judy muttered as she watched Giselle perform the same ritual she performed every night they closed together: Ripping the Velcro. Wrapping the wide elastic bands tight around each thigh. Checking to make sure rounds were chambered.<\/p>\n

Giselle chuckled as she stuck one gun in each holster. \u201cYou know what they say. Better to have and not need than to need and not have.\u201d<\/p>\n

Judy snorted. \u201cI s\u2019pose you\u2019re right. I needed those last summer and didn\u2019t have.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m sorry, Judy,\u201d Giselle murmured. Finished with her task, she straightened and shrugged into her backpack and Judy unlocked the outer doors. Giselle preceded her out into the oppressive heat and humidity of a July night in Kansas City. \u201cI do appreciate your understanding about this.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cOpinions change once you\u2019ve been assaulted. I just don\u2019t want to get dragged into\u2014\u201d She waved a hand toward Giselle\u2019s legs and shuddered. \u201cWhatever it is you\u2019re involved in.\u201d<\/p>\n

Giselle chuckled. \u201cI\u2019d tell you the story, but you wouldn\u2019t believe a word of it.\u201d<\/p>\n

Judy laughed, and with the snick of the lock and the arming of the security system, they set out toward Judy\u2019s car. Giselle walked on the outside of the sidewalk and at Judy\u2019s pace. By the end of a twelve-hour shift, Judy could barely make the two blocks to her parking spot.<\/p>\n

\u201cJudy,\u201d Giselle said gently, \u201cmaybe it\u2019s time for you to find something different to do.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cAh, I can\u2019t, Giselle. I\u2019m trapped by my salary and benefits. I couldn\u2019t make this kind of money anywhere else and I have to have health insurance.\u201d<\/p>\n

Giselle said nothing; she certainly knew what it meant to be overeducated, overqualified, underemployed, and with few immediate options. She laughed wryly. \u201cI\u2019m a Post-hole Digger, working second shift as a clerk at a bookstore.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cMmmm, I know what you mean. PhDs in literature don\u2019t leave you a lot of choices if you won\u2019t head straight back into academia.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI would, but the publishing part gives me hives.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cSame here.\u201d<\/p>\n

Giselle\u2019s humor faded and the familiar melancholy of all she had lost overcame her, interrupted when Judy gasped. Giselle glanced at her. \u201cWhat\u2019s wrong?\u201d<\/p>\n

Judy gestured weakly ahead, her body stiff with fright. Two men sprinted toward them and Giselle said, \u201cJudy, you\u2019ve met them. They\u2019re my cous\u2014\u201d<\/p>\n

Tingle.<\/p>\n

Giselle whirled, whipping her guns up out of their holsters and into her grip.<\/p>\n

There, a man crossing the street and striding purposefully toward her, his hand behind his back to pull out a weapon.<\/p>\n

\u201cDon\u2019t even think about it,\u201d Giselle snarled, both guns pointed at his chest; he stopped short in surprise. A dark figure to her right caught her attention. She snapped that gun in his direction. One gun in each hand, she stood for a microsecond, her arms outstretched, her feet spread wide, instantly calculating distance and height. She saw a flash out of the corner of her eye and pulled both triggers.<\/p>\n

She hit the ground conscious, but twisting and in agony. She took in the whole scene, dissociated and watching the aftermath of what she had done as if in a dream. Two men, dead. By her hand. It had taken only a second, possibly three, from the time she\u2019d turned to the time she\u2019d pulled the triggers to the time she\u2019d gotten blown off her feet.<\/p>\n

Somewhere behind her, her terrified boss cowered and sobbed at the base of a wall.<\/p>\n

Somewhere above her, a bullet had embedded itself in the tree trunk behind Giselle, probably the same one that had bored through her shoulder.<\/p>\n

Somewhere beside her, Knox flipped open his cell phone and called 911.<\/p>\n

In front of her, Sebastian ripped off his tee shirt, dropped to his knees, and frantically wrapped the fabric around her shoulder, held it tight, made her hurt worse. She groaned.<\/p>\n

\u201cC\u2019mon, Giz,\u201d he murmured when she couldn\u2019t hold her eyelids open anymore. \u201cStay with me, princess. C\u2019mon. Hey, do you remember that kid who bet long odds on the wildcard spot for the \u201983 AFC playoffs and couldn\u2019t pay up?\u201d<\/p>\n

Yeah, that wasn\u2019t something she was going to forget. Ever.<\/p>\n

Knox now squatted behind her, working to get another wad of cloth between her right hip and the sidewalk. She grimaced when he lifted her and whimpered when he gently settled her weight back onto that hip.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat happened to him, Giselle?\u201d Knox asked, stroking her hair.<\/p>\n

Sebastian took a baseball bat to his knees.<\/em><\/p>\n

\u201cWhat? I didn\u2019t hear you. Talk, Giselle. Stay with us.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cS\u2019b\u2019s\u2019n broke legs,\u201d she whispered, her teeth beginning to chatter. \u201cCold.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cShit, she\u2019s going into shock,\u201d Sebastian muttered, \u201cand so\u2019s her boss. Knox, go see if she\u2019s hurt.\u201d Giselle missed the warmth of Knox\u2019s body behind her, his hand in her hair. \u201cHow much did he owe me on that bet, Giz?\u201d<\/p>\n

Ten thousand dollars.<\/em><\/p>\n

\u201cWhat?\u201d<\/p>\n

She swallowed. She could barely move her mouth. \u201cTen K.\u201d<\/p>\n

Sirens wailed through the night, coming closer and closer. She still couldn\u2019t open her eyes, though tears began to leak out.<\/p>\n

\u201cHurts.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI know, princess. Stay with me now. We\u2019ll get you to the hospital, get you warm. What was my most outrageous vig ever?\u201d<\/p>\n

A hundred and seventy-five percent on three days.<\/em><\/p>\n

\u201cC\u2019mon, Giz, talk to me. What\u2019s the answer?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cUhnse\u2019nfye, f\u2019ree.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cRight. Good.\u201d<\/p>\n

She had a vague awareness of the sound of an ambulance parking and people rushing, but underneath, she heard Knox hiss, \u201cShit. Fen was watching.\u201d<\/p>\n

She felt Sebastian start. \u201cWhat?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cLook. That\u2019s his Alfa. He was up on the garage roof. He must have seen the whole thing.\u201d<\/p>\n

I\u2019m gonna kill him.<\/em><\/p>\n

\u201cDon\u2019t say that again, Giz,\u201d Sebastian whispered in her ear just as the paramedics shooed him away from her. \u201cAt least not where some random cop can hear you.\u201d<\/p>\n

She was covered with a blanket, lifted onto a gurney, raised into the air, wheeled to the ambulance, slid inside with a thump or two.<\/p>\n

\u201cDo you guys want to go with her?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cYes,\u201d they answered simultaneously.<\/p>\n

\u201cOh, no, you don\u2019t, Hilliard,\u201d barked an unfamiliar voice from far away. \u201cYou\u2019re staying right here and help me sort this shit out.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cYeah, and you\u2014 Get rid of the piece. No firearms in the bus.\u201d<\/p>\n

She opened her eyes enough to see Sebastian sitting near and he picked up her hand again. She had never seen his handsome face so \u2026 not handsome. Old. Haggard. Like Uncle Charlie.<\/p>\n

\u201cJooey?\u201d she whispered.<\/p>\n

\u201cShe\u2019s fine,\u201d Sebastian murmured, his voice tight. \u201cScared. In shock, like you.\u201d<\/p>\n

He\u2019s taken everything I have away from me, Sebastian.<\/em><\/p>\n

\u201cNot important right now, Giz. Concentrate on getting through this. Just think, you\u2019ll have some nifty new scars to brag about later on.\u201d<\/p>\n

Oh, that\u2019s true.<\/em><\/p>\n

\u201cShe\u2019s still got a slug in her hip,\u201d said another voice. \u201cShe\u2019s going to have to have surgery to get it out.\u201d<\/p>\n

Sebastian said nothing else, but squeezed her hand. It was a fast trip to Truman Medical Center\u2019s emergency room\u2014<\/p>\n

\u2014and an equally fast trip to the Jackson County prosecutor\u2019s office once she was discharged three days later. Executive AP Craig Wells had denied Knox\u2019s request to take her there himself, so she was cuffed and stuffed in the back of a squad car, her hands in front of her only because her arm was in a sling.<\/p>\n

The prosecutor was in court, so Wells took it upon himself to put them in a conference room and annoy the hell out of Knox. In the presence of two other APs, he began to run down what Giselle would be charged with. She only watched and listened with detachment, half asleep, too drugged with pain medication to speak and too tired to care. She\u2019d take a jail cell cot at this point if it meant a few hours of sleep.<\/p>\n

Finally, Knox said, his voice as hard as she\u2019d ever heard it, \u201cIf you charge her, I\u2019ll defend her and I\u2019m quite sure that\u2019s the last thing you want.\u201d<\/p>\n

Two of the APs in the room reared away from Knox, but the executive\u2019s face lit up with the scent of challenge.<\/p>\n

Even in her dazed state, she understood what a political nightmare that could turn into: the elected prosecutor of one county representing a criminal defendant in a neighboring county.<\/p>\n

Knox leaned back in his chair. \u201cOh, I get it now. You want to make your name on me. Okay. I\u2019ll play that game with you and I\u2019ll even play it on your terms. But. Think of it,\u201d he said. \u201cBeatrix Fucking Kiddo. Bet you got a hard-on looking at the pictures and thinking about what she must\u2019ve looked like that night. Lemme tell ya, she was hot. I<\/em> got a hard-on watching her whip out those big guns and pull the triggers. And now that she\u2019s survived two gunshot wounds, think what a jury will do when I get finished drawing the whole picture for them in Technicolor\u2014the men\u2019ll come in their jeans and the women\u2019ll all start carrying guns on their thighs.\u201d<\/p>\n

The EAP reddened and gulped. Knox laughed wickedly.<\/p>\n

\u201cWells!\u201d barked a man from the doorway. \u201cWhat the hell is wrong with you? I specifically told you I\u2019d handle this personally. Get out.\u201d<\/p>\n

So. This was the prosecutor. He came in and shook Knox\u2019s hand like the old buddy he apparently was and sat, flipping the file open on the table to read it. His remaining two APs watched their boss warily for a long few minutes.<\/p>\n

\u201cOkay. She can go.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cOwe you, Kevin.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cSave it.\u201d He slid a look at the two APs and they left at a jerk of his head. Once the door had closed, the prosecutor looked at Giselle and said, \u201cYou managed to get a couple of thugs I\u2019ve been trying to put away for three years now.\u201d<\/p>\n

Knox fell back in his chair laughing. Giselle felt about as much satisfaction as she could muster, given her condition.<\/p>\n

\u201cMiss Cox, you\u2019ll need to stick around town until the investigation\u2019s wrapped up\u2014\u201d He speared Knox with a glance and Knox nodded his acceptance of the responsibility. \u201c\u2014but otherwise, you\u2019re free to go. I don\u2019t expect we\u2019ll find anything different from what your boss told us.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cGiz,\u201d Sebastian said the minute Knox practically lugged her in the house, \u201cdon\u2019t do anything. Let me take care of him my way.\u201d<\/p>\n

She said nothing for a moment, then whispered, \u201cI\u2019m tired and I hurt.\u201d<\/p>\n

Knox herded her into her bedroom and carefully undressed her, then turned her bed down and helped her maneuver into a comfortable position. Sebastian raided the Den of Iniquity for extra pillows. Knox brought her a glass of water. \u201cMore,\u201d she said once she\u2019d finished that. He looked at her for a moment before coming back with two fresh liter bottles. She finished off one completely.<\/p>\n

\u201cI want my mom,\u201d she finally whispered, tears welling in her eyes and running down her cheeks. He finished tucking her in then and she closed her eyes.<\/p>\n

\u201cShe\u2019ll be home from Alaska tomorrow. We\u2019re going to tell her you got caught in a drive-by.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cJudy?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI got her a job up in the county clerk\u2019s office. Pay\u2019s not quite as good but the hours and benefits are better and it\u2019s a desk job.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cMy guns?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cStill in the property room at KCPD. I\u2019ll go pick them up this afternoon.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cMy job? Hospital bills?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI have a line on a couple of jobs for you. Fen\u2019ll take care of your medical bills and he put you on OKH\u2019s health insurance.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThat\u2019s so fucked up,\u201d she sighed and fell asleep.<\/p>\n

★<\/p>\n

20260222<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

JULY 2003 GISELLE STOOD IN the breezeway of the bookstore holding the door open, waiting for her boss, a late-middle-aged woman with a completely reasonable fear of walking to her car late at night. Once they had sandwiched themselves between the inner and outer sets of locked doors, Giselle bent to dig in her backpack. […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"parent":39,"menu_order":4121,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-8159","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/moriahjovan.com\/talesofdunham\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/8159"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/moriahjovan.com\/talesofdunham\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/moriahjovan.com\/talesofdunham\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/moriahjovan.com\/talesofdunham\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/moriahjovan.com\/talesofdunham\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=8159"}],"version-history":[{"count":14,"href":"https:\/\/moriahjovan.com\/talesofdunham\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/8159\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":23482,"href":"https:\/\/moriahjovan.com\/talesofdunham\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/8159\/revisions\/23482"}],"up":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/moriahjovan.com\/talesofdunham\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/39"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/moriahjovan.com\/talesofdunham\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=8159"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}