“Did she shoot you down, bro?”
“I need you. In the alley. Now!”
Easton ended the call without another word. He stopped his delicate search of Bailee’s body to place a call to 9-1-1. He rattled off the pertinent information to the dispatcher as Jackson and Luke came busting through the bar’s side door, guns drawn.
“Clear,” Easton shouted at them. “Shine a light over here. She’s hurt, but I can’t see what I’m up against.”
Luke used his phone’s flashlight to illuminate Easton’s hands as they searched for injuries. When he didn’t see anything obvious on her body, he tilted her gently and found blood matted in her hair.
“Head wound. Heavy bleeding.”
Easton whipped his T-shirt off and pressed it to the back of her head to staunch the bleeding.
“What the hell happened?” Luke demanded.
“A guy ambushed her. He had her knocked to the ground when I found them. I went for him. He pushed me off, and then Bailee got in a couple of good licks before he pulled a gun. Ithought he was going to shoot, but he bolted. I was about to go after him when she went down.”
“So either he gave her the blow to the head, or she hit her head when he knocked her down.”
Jackson was on his phone, but Easton didn’t care who he was calling. His focus was solely on Bailee. The ambulance siren pierced the air.
“I’ll wave them down, get them back here.” Luke hurried to the parking lot.
Jackson was by his side, pocketing his phone as he stared into Bailee’s pale face. “Go with Bailee in the ambulance. I’ll send Ray and Mel to the hospital too. They’re holding everyone inside, so we don’t have a bunch of looky-loos. Luke and I will file a report with Tater.”
The brothers knew the police chief, Andy “Tater” Tatum, well enough to entrust him with the assault investigation while they concentrated on Bailee.
“Her grandmother,” Easton began.
“I’ll have English and Becky reach out to her.”
Easton started to thank his brother, but the paramedics appeared before he had a chance. They quickly checked Bailee’s vitals while assessing her head wound. Handing Easton his blood-soaked T-shirt, one paramedic wrapped her head in enough gauze to at least slow the bleeding down while the other one connected an IV of fluids to her arm. At that point, her eyes fluttered open, and relief coursed through his body.
“Hey, beautiful. You’re safe. These guys are taking you to the hospital to get checked out, and I’m riding along for the hell of it.” He forced a smile as he studied her for signs of confusion.
“Gran. Don’t let him get to her.” Her voice was shaky, but her words didn’t slur thankfully.
“My brothers are taking care of it. Don’t worry. They’ll make sure she’s safe, and they’ll bring her to you. I promise.”
“Ma’am, can you tell me your name?” The paramedic flashed a small flashlight in her eyes, causing her to moan and wince.
“Bailee Anne Maxwell. I’m from Louisville, Kentucky. I’m in Fire Creek, Alabama. I’m pretty sure I have a concussion. My head hurts like hell.”
The paramedic smirked as he reported no confusion to his partner. “I’m guessing this is not your first rodeo, Ms. Maxwell.”
“I’m a detective with Louisville PD. So no, this isn’t my first concussion.”
“Then you know that we won’t give you any pain medication until a doctor has a chance to check you out. We’ve started an IV of fluids to keep you from going into shock from the blood loss. Head wounds bleed quite a bit.”
“Let’s get her on the stretcher,” his partner said.
They readied her for transport. Easton’s heart squeezed to see the pain etched on her face, but she didn’t lose consciousness again. Easton hurried after them to the ambulance, and soon they were on their way to the hospital. He expected the paramedics to give him grief for riding in the back since he wasn’t family, but they never said a word.
Bailee’s eyes found his, and she held her hand palm up until he grasped it lightly.
“I’m not falling asleep, but I’m going to close my eyes. It helps my head not to hurt so much,” she explained softly.
“Go ahead, beautiful. You’re in good hands.”
