“It’s all right, Will, no need to explain it to us right now,” his sergeant said.

“There was no time. No one was close, sir. Trudy needed immediate help. I’d dealt with Lyle before. I knew him. I thought I had this, but he opened fire on me. I returned fire. It was dark. I never saw Billy and Daisy behind him. I swear to God, I never saw them.”

His commanders let a long silent moment pass, their faces grim as they eyed Fortin.

“Go home, Will,” his superintendent said. “We’ve got someone ready to drive you. You’ll go on admin leave. You’ll be called on what comes next.”

-Chapter 9-

Southern Alberta

When Fortin got out of the car, Cathy flew out the door and welded herself to him, holding him tighter than she’d ever held him before.

He glimpsed the man and woman standing near, two members from the force, Tarnicki and Brant from Lethbridge.

“Will, we’ve got the chaplain on the way to talk with you,” Tarnicki said.

“Thanks but no,” Fortin said. “I don’t want to see him.”

“Are you sure, Will? What about tomorrow?”

“No, please. I’ll let you know.”

“Okay, we’ll tell him to stand down,” Tarnicki said.

“Will, is there anything we can do?” Brant asked.

“Why don’t you send the chaplain to the Dolan family members coming in to get Lori, her aunt and uncle? They’ll need the chaplain.”

“Victim Services is taking care of all that side of things, Will,” Brant said. “Is there anything we can get or do for you?”

Fortin shook his head.

“I just want to be alone with my wife.”

Tarnicki and Brant understood and left, as if they’d felt uncomfortable being there. After they’d gone, Cathy hurried to switch off the TV.

“No, wait, I want to see this,” he told her.

The incident was already being reported on the early-morning national breakfast shows. Live feed from the scene showed the Dolan house behind yellow tape and the wall of flashing emergency lights. The graphic headline at the bottom of the screen reported: “2 Children Among 4 Killed In Mass Shooting At Alberta Family Farm.” Stunned neighbors talked to reporters. “Our hearts are broken,” Wayne Starner told the camera while holding his wife.

“Those poor children. Those innocent babies. Trudy was such a good mom to them,” Edna Starner said into the camera before she buried her face in her husband’s chest.

Fortin watched the news while Cathy sat in silence with him on their couch rubbing his back, entwining her fingers in his hand. Finally after ten minutes, he shut the TV off.

“Will, do you want to talk?”