Chapter 55 – "The Shot"
Mid-Wilshire Precinct – Start of Shift, 7:03 AM
The soft morning light filtered through the windows of the police station. The weather in Los Angeles was pleasant, without that cold breeze or the intense heat. It was an ordinary day for many, but no one at the station knew that, in a few hours, everything would change for Gustavo, for Angela, and for a victim on the brink of tragedy.
Gustavo adjusted the holster on his hip, his vest tightly adjusted. Lopez appeared through the door of the equipment room with two coffees in her hand.
"Your fuel," she said, handing him one of the cups.
"Saving lives since 2013," he replied with a half smile, taking a sip.
They both walked to the police car. A soft background music played on the radio. It was another shift, another patrol, another chance to make a difference.
"Today's schedule?" — Angela asked as she put on her seat belt.
— "Hopefully it'll be okay. Maybe stop by Hailey's store if there's time."
— "If it'll be okay, you'll pay for lunch."
— "Done."
8:21 AM – Code 10-33 – Hostage Situation – High Alert
The voice on the radio cut through the silence like a crack.
— "All units, hostage situation active, corner of Melrose and La Brea. Armed man holding a woman at risk inside a closed store. Suspect visibly altered, possible psychotic."
Lopez exchanged a serious look with Gustavo.
— "Let's go."
They were one of the first squad cars to arrive. The store was a small boutique with brown paper-covered windows. Inside, they could see shadows moving. A muffled scream sounded behind the glass.
08:28 – Siege set up
Angela was talking to the command center on the radio while Gustavo analyzed the side of the building. Through the gap between the wooden panels, he saw the man: white, disheveled hair, sweaty, with a gun pressed against the woman's temple. She was crying, her eyes wide with terror. There was blood on the floor, perhaps from a cut on her arm.
The negotiation dragged on. The tension was intense.
The clock seemed to stop.
Everything happened too quickly.
The man freaked out. He shouted something incomprehensible and began to pull the trigger. The gun went up towards the woman's head.
Gustavo reacted out of pure, trained instinct.
He raised the pistol in fractions of a second and aligned the sights on the center of the man's forehead. Controlled breathing. Tension in his fingertips. A clean, precise, lethal shot.
The man's head threw back and he fell, dropping the gun on the ground.
The woman screamed, but she was alive. ALIVE.
SWAT and paramedics arrived. The woman was removed in shock, but without serious injuries. Gustavo remained still, his arm still steady, the gun still in his hand, even after the threat had ended.
Angela called out to him:
— "Gustavo... Gustavo!"
He turned slowly, his eyes fixed, his breath held.
— "You saved her. You did what had to be done," Lopez said, his voice low and careful.
But Gustavo didn't answer. He just nodded slowly.
10:37 AM – Captain Anderson's Office
Gustavo was sitting across from Zoe Anderson and Sergeant Grey. The scene had already been reviewed by security cameras and the first reports from witnesses.
— "It was a precise shot," Grey said. — "You prevented a tragedy."
Zoe watched carefully. But her posture was cautious.
— "You know that even with everything clear, protocols need to be followed. Internal Affairs has already been informed. You will be temporarily removed from patrol. You will also have to undergo a mandatory psychological evaluation. Do you understand?"
Gustavo nodded.
— "I understand."
She stared at him for a long moment.
— "Are you okay?"
Gustavo hesitated. He took a deep breath.
— "I don't know yet."
Zoe rested her elbows on the table, her expression soft.
— "Gustavo, you saved a life today. But you also took one. That weighs on you. Even for the best."
He stared at the floor. Then, slowly, he stood up.
— "I will cooperate with everything. Just let me know the day of the evaluation."
Grey nodded calmly.
— "We'll take care of it, son. You're not alone."
1:00 PM – Police Psychologist's Office
Dr. Marlene Reyes was a woman in her fifties, sharp-eyed but kind. Her office was decorated in soft tones, with paintings of forests and oceans, and no visible clock. She wanted her patients to lose track of time there and focus on themselves.
Gustavo sat in the chair, still wearing his scrubs. His shoulders were rigid, his jaw clenched.
— "Gustavo, I'm Dr. Reyes. I'll be with you throughout this evaluation. The goal here is not to judge, but to understand."
— "Understood, Doctor."
— "Can you tell me how you felt right after the shooting?"
Gustavo hesitated.
— "It was instinctive. I didn't think. Training took over."
— "And after that?"
He took a deep breath, looked up at the ceiling.
— "After… I thought about the woman. And only then did I realize I had killed a man. And that there was no other way."
— "But even though you knew it was the only way... did you feel bad?"
— "Yes."
— "Guilt?"
— "Maybe. But more... weight. Weight on my shoulders. As if something had entered my body and would never leave."
She wrote it down, without judgment.
— "Have you ever had to shoot someone before?"
— "Never to kill. I've worked in SWAT operations, I've seen shootings in the DOD. But never... this moment. My finger, my decision."
Dr. Reyes folded her hands.
— "Have you slept since it happened?"
— "I tried. But I kept seeing his face again. And the woman's. Her eyes. Her screams."
She nodded, understanding.
— "That's absolutely human, Gustavo. Even the most prepared suffer. What you've been through is not normal, no matter how much the uniform tries to convince us of that."
— "So... will this pass?"
— "With time, conversation and support. Yes. But it will leave marks. And that's okay."
Gustavo looked at her for several seconds. Then his voice was low.
— "I don't want this to harden me. I want to remember why I got into this. For whom I got into it."
The doctor smiled.
— "Then you're on the right path."
Chapter 56 – "Home is where the heart is"
Los Angeles – Sherman Oaks Neighborhood | 11:45 AM
It was a quiet Wednesday morning. With the temporary distance from the streets, Gustavo began to see the days through a new lens: time seemed to slow down. For the first time in years, he woke up without the alarm of the police radio, without putting on his uniform, without adjusting his holster.
He was home. And strangely, he didn't feel guilty about it.
The house of his parents — Leandro and Carla — was a cozy beige-fronted townhouse with a small balcony where his mother grew pots of lavender and rosemary. Inside, the smell of fresh coffee and freshly baked cheese bread mingled with the low sound of a Brazilian soap opera playing on TV.
"Did you sleep a little better last night, son?" — Carla asked, placing a slice of cornmeal cake on his plate.
Gustavo, still in his sweatshirt, smiled sideways.
— "Better than the last ones."
Leandro, sitting at the head of the table with the newspaper open, looked over his glasses.
— "You're home now. Enjoy it. Let your head rest."
Gustavo nodded. His face was still a little marked by the emotional exhaustion of the last few days. He had accepted the need for a break, but it wasn't easy to disconnect from everything. He was used to being in control, in the center of the action.
The doorbell rang.
— "Let me get it." — he said, standing up.
He opened the door and came face to face with Angela, wearing jeans, a basic t-shirt, sunglasses in her hair and a friendly smile on her face. She was holding a kraft paper bag.
— "Surprise visit."
Gustavo blinked, surprised, and then smiled.
— "Lopez... I mean, Angela. It's good to see you."
— "I brought empanadas. I didn't know if you were hungry, but Latinos always accept food, right?"
He laughed.
— "You're right."
— "Can I come in?"
— "Sure! My parents are here."
Angela took a step into the house and immediately felt the human warmth of the environment. The smell of food, the soundtrack of the television and the typical welcome of a Brazilian family home.
Carla appeared from the kitchen with a dish towel in her hands.
— "Hi! You must be Angela. I'm Carla, Gustavo's mother."
— "It's a pleasure, Mrs. Carla."
— "No ma'am here, you can call me Carla. And you're beautiful! Gustavo only speaks well of you."
Angela gave a light, somewhat shy laugh.
— "Thank you. I just came to say hello, to see how he was."
— "You did very well. Sit down, stay with us."
Gustavo turned to his father.
— "Dad, this is Angela, my TO. I mean, my partner."
Leandro stood up to greet her with a firm handshake.
— "Leandro Silva. Nice to meet you. I've heard a lot about you too."
— "How are you, Mr. Leandro. It's my pleasure."
Carla was already setting the table again, like any good mother.
— "She brought empanadas! Look how wonderful! We have coffee, cheese bread, cake. Today's menu is international!"
Angela sat down next to Gustavo. He smiled when he saw her there, so natural in that environment. It was a scene he had never expected his TO, now sitting at his table, between his parents.
— "I didn't know your mother was so lively," she said in a low voice.
— "Now you understand where I got it from."
— "Arrogant." — she replied, laughing and taking an empanada.
— "How are you, Gustavo?" — Angela asked sincerely.
He paused before answering.
— "Still processing. The shooting... wakes me up sometimes. But being here helps. Being with them, with Hailey too."
Carla, who was listening from the kitchen, added:
— "My son is strong, but no one can handle everything alone. It's good that he has real friends."
Angela looked at Gustavo with a softer look.
— "You know you can count on me, right?"
— "I know." — he replied, sincerely.
Lunch went on. Angela talked to Leandro about American politics, to Carla about the difficulty of keeping children far away and independent. At one point, Carla showed photos of Gustavo as a child, dressed as a Power Ranger, or holding a little law book when he was six years old.
— "Mom, for the love of God..." — he murmured, embarrassed.
— "She had to see it." — Carla said, laughing.
Angela laughed out loud, wiping a tear from her eyes.
— "This is worth its weight in gold. I never imagined seeing the 'Harvard lawyer' in a blue Power Ranger suit."
— "It was a dark moment in my childhood."
— "It was adorable."
At the end of lunch, with the sun already setting, Angela stood up.
— "I have to go. But it was amazing to be here. Thank you so much, Carla, Leandro."
Carla hugged her affectionately.
— "Come back anytime. And thank you for taking care of our boy."
— "He takes care of me too, Mrs. Carla."
Gustavo accompanied Angela to the door. They stood face to face for a few seconds, in silence.
— "You didn't have to come, but... I'm glad you did."
— "I needed to see with my own eyes that you were okay."
— "I'm better now."
She smiled, squeezed his hand, and walked down the porch steps. When she got into the car, Gustavo was still standing there, watching her go.
It was comforting to know that even outside the uniform, outside the patrol, he was still part of something bigger: a web of love, friendship, and loyalty.
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