Lizzie peered down the street and saw that people were starting to gather again on the sidewalk in front of the old hotel. It looked like the action was over.
She decided to walk down and check it out for herself. She slipped into a group of people standing directly across the street from the hotel. Lizzie could see a couple of people on the ground. At least one of them looked like he was handcuffed. A big guy with a cowboy hat in hand was sitting a few paces away from the people on the ground.
Just as she was thinking of going back in the direction she’d come from, Lizzie noticed the men who had blocked her way. The one she’d kicked in the balls was walking funny. The others were scanning the area, probably looking for her.
Lizzie decided she was safer right here in the big group, where she could hide behind people if she had to. She also wondered if maybe it was time to move back to San Antonio.
CHAPTER83
I KEPT MYeye on the handcuffed man who’d shot Alain. But I was still focusing on trying to stop the bleeding with the palm of my hand. I kept trying to speak softly to Alain. He faded in and out of consciousness.
A fit man in his early forties jogged up to me from the crowd. As he approached, he yelled, “I’m a paramedic. Let me help you.”
I did a double take when the man took a protein bar from his backpack and carefully stripped off the packaging, then put the wrapper directly on the wound and held it in place, shouting to a kid in the crowd to go into the hotel and get him some tape. He gave me a quick, reassuring grin. “Don’t worry. I’m legit. This is a tactic I learned in the Army as a field medic to help stop a sucking chest wound. Without a first aid kit, you have to improvise.”
It worked much better than just my palm alone.
As Alain still labored to breathe, I tried not to think of the damage a 9mm slug might do to his lungs. At least there was no blood coming from his mouth.
With the paramedic taking care of Alain, I was free to turn andtalk to Tex for a moment. I used my head to nod toward the handcuffed man. “Who the hell is this?”
Tex realized he could be in real trouble. He wasn’t going to waste time with lies. “He works at the hotel. I kick money to him most evenings. I guess he thought I needed the help.”
At that moment, I really wanted to punch Tex. I swallowed my emotions and checked my watch. It felt like four hours had passed since Alain was shot. In fact it’d been only about four minutes. I glanced around the area. The crowd had stayed back a respectful distance. There were still no cops on the scene, but I could hear sirens in the distance.
The ambulance arrived at exactly the same time as a couple of marked patrol cars. I told patrol officers to keep the crowd in check. One of them took my prisoners and I gave my car keys to another so he could bring my Explorer to the hospital. I jumped into the back of the ambulance with Alain.
Just as the ambulance pulled away from the sidewalk, I glanced out the rear window. Standing in the crowd, with her long black hair draped down over her shoulder, was Lizzie Nunez.
There was nothing I could do about it now.
CHAPTER84
IF WAITING FORthe ambulance had felt like it took hours, waiting at the hospitalactuallytook hours. I was put in a comfortable “family” room on the same floor as the emergency room. There was a blue microfiber couch, four padded recliners, a couple of small tables, and a box of toys and games in the corner. I’d seen a lot worse in hospitals over the years.
I took the time to call Joe and fill him in. He wanted to come join me at the hospital, but Julie was asleep and I convinced him not to bother Mrs. Rose this late at night. In the end, he agreed.
Rich Conklin stopped in about an hour after I’d gotten there. “You made the news,” he told me. I winced. I’d purposely avoided turning on the TV or looking at anything on my phone.
Not long after Conklin arrived, Jackson Brady strolled into the waiting room. He was wearing a cardigan, something I wasn’t used to seeing. His huge frame pulled at the weave.
He had only one question for me. “Are you all right?”
I nodded.
“Then it’ll all work out. From everything I’ve heard, you did a super job in the Tenderloin.”
“If I’d really done a super job, Alain Creasy wouldn’t be in surgery right now. It just all happened so fast.”
“It always does. We can’t stop people from doing stupid things. But we get paid to stay focused when they do. You subdued the threat, secured the scene, and delivered lifesaving first aid. I’d call that a super job.”
I appreciated his support. I also knew it was sincere. He didn’t say things like that unless he meant them. I’d rather be around someone who tells me honestly what they think than someone who constantly praises me.
I said, “I can’t get any information on Alain’s condition. I’ve tried, but I keep getting stonewalled.”
“That’s why you have a useless administrator like me here.” Brady winked. “Give me a few minutes.” He turned and marched out of the waiting room with purpose.
A few minutes later, a nurse led Brady back into the waiting room like she was a teacher from an old movie pulling a naughty student by the ear. She pointed to a chair and simply said, “Sit down and stay out of our way.”
