Page 17 of Reclaiming Chaos
Bile rose as I crossed the room. I touched his neck, checking for a pulse. There was none.
Panic made my gut clench as I hurried to Melony’s room, the one next to mine, and this time I didn’t knock. I shoved the card in the slot and pushed it open. Melony was lying on the floor with a towel in her hand as if she’d been heading into the bathroom. She was lying face down with a bullet wound to the back.
“No,” I growled and crossed the room. Resting two fingers to her neck, I closed my eyes. There was a faint heartbeat beneath my fingertips. Weak, but it was there.
Taking the towel, she had, I held it to her back. “Hang in there, Mel. Help is on the way.” I yanked the phone out of my pocket.
“If they know they didn’t succeed, they’ll kill her at the hospital.” Carlee’s voice was quiet in the room. The security guard was standing next to her.
“She needs help. I’ll have to take my chances,” I growled and dialed 911. The sirens sounded up the road as if they’d already been notified.
She turned to leave when the security guard stepped in front of her. “I’m sorry, miss.”
Carlee glanced back over her shoulder. “I’m just going to grab your bag and put it in the SUV. You won’t be coming back here.”
I tossed her the card key and nodded to the guard to let her pass. “Don’t make me chase you again,” I ordered as she turned the corner.
Melony moaned, pulling my attention back to her. I leaned down so she could see my face. “I’ve got you.”
“You found her?” Melony asked and coughed blood simultaneously.
“She found us. Don’t talk. Just save your strength.”
The next hour was a blur. I had no one to trust to send to the hospital with Melony, and I couldn’t leave without forensics and others showing up on site.
As if seeing the pain on my face, Carlee offered to go with the ambulance. She said, “I’ll see it coming before you will.”
I followed them to the parked ambulance, where the gurney holding Melony was loaded. I pulled the medic aside. “She goes in as Jane Doe until I can get someone I trust to the hospital to guard her.”
He nodded. “And who do I tell the ER doctor that her companion is?” he asked, glancing at Carlee.
“She’s a witness, and I don’t want her to leave my officer’s side. Do you understand?”
“They’re not going to let her into surgery,” the EMT said.
Carlee rested her hand over mine. “We’ll be fine. We’ll work it out. I’ve got your phone if you want to reach me.”
“I thought you said they could trace it,” I asked.
“Keep the burner on you. We’ll ditch this one when need be.”
Every fiber in my gut was yelling at me to go with them. To keep them both safe. I’d been failing at that and unless I turned it around, I’d be a dead man. Carlee saved my life, and I’d sent them off with a target on her and Melony’s backs.
The red lights flashed, and siren wailed as the ambulance pulled out of the parking lot. Anger stirred through my gut like a hurricane trying to break free. I’d been too preoccupied to see this coming. Was that the excuse I would tell their families?
