Without warning, Blake’s full weight is in my arms. Grabbing her under back and legs, I walk her over to the closest emergency vehicle. A paramedic helps me sit her down on the tailgate, and he hands her a bottle of water.
She gulps and unties the cloak around her neck, a bit dazed. “I’m fine. It just got a little too warm.”
Diamond sits down beside of her. “Are you feeling better, Doctor?”
Of course, she’s not. However, just as I take a deep breath to send him packing, Blake puts a finger to my lips. “I’m fine. I just got weak in the knees. I have to tell them where to find Philip so they can get him out of the tunnel.”
“Philip? He got a last name?” Diamond’s got his tablet out, typing madly.
“I would assume so but if he said it, I don’t remember. I gave him my gun but who knows how long before the rest show up. Hurry. Please.”
Again, she points into the deep round hole in the street. “There’s a tunnel then a big opening with huge steel pipes and broken machines.”
A fully armed officer from ESU listens intently. “You saidthe rest,miss. Exactly how many were down there with you?”
“When I started, there were three but I shot one in the stomach. I’m pretty sure he’s dead. I shot another one in the leg.”
She frowns. “He was alive when I left. That’s not why I’m worried. Philip said there were a lot more. Maybe a dozen.”
“You shot two?” I give her shoulder a squeeze. “That’s my girl.”
Her mouth goes even lower as she shakes her blond locks. “No, no, I shouldn’t’ve missed. It was an easy shot.”
Diamond grimaces and she catches the look. “Hey, they pulled their guns on me, I had no choice.”
“It’s okay. They know, hun.”They damn well better.
While we sit on the tail of the rescue truck, the FBI agent gets distracted by the ESU team leader. They check out a blueprint online, discuss tactics, then a team of armed men descends into the tunnel.
“I hope they get to Philip in time.” When they’re gone, she looks up at me brows creased and biting her lower lip.
“I wouldn’t worry. They’re the best.” Diamond pats her back, hands on his hips, surveying all the commotion like the King of England.
Then, he turns to me. “She’s going to have to answer some questions.”
Hell no, I’ve waited too long as it is.“Hospital first, you can talk to her after.” I stand and stare him down, daring him to argue.
Blake raises her pretty blue eyes, intertwining her small fingers with my large ones. “How about I answer a few, just a couple?”
Above our clasped hands, for the first time, I note the angry welts from where she was bound.
“No.”I’m putting her needs first.
She cups my cheek. “Let me explain how it all happened. It might help them find Philip faster.”
The paramedic takes off her blood pressure cup and says, “It’s one-twenty-nine over eighty.”
“That’s a little high.” I pick her up and place her down on the cot inside the vehicle. “Diamond? You can talk to her as she lies down.”
Diamond crawls in, turns on a recorder, and holds it near her mouth. “Tell me everything you remember.”
Blake’s recollection is amazing as she recounts the fake call, leaving an earring, and swapping cars in a garage.
I barely hold my shit together when she tells me how the two guys went for their guns and describe Philip’s bloody face.
Suddenly, I don’t care for the tone of Diamond’s voice as his line of questioning changes. “Do you always carry a concealed weapon?”
“Damn right she does.” I butt right in and answer. Blake clearly shot those two in self-defense.
