Page 91 of Desperate Creed

“You taste like whiskey,” he said, but then he saw the way her arm hung down at her side. She was holding it in place with her other hand.

“You’re hurt! Are you okay? Did I just hurt you?”

“I don’t think you would ever hurt me, Ryder Creed.” She was still smiling even as she winced from the pain.

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Maggie wanted Ryder to stay with her and Frankie in the ambulance, but they said there wasn’t enough room. When she saw them working on Frankie, she didn’t argue.

Ryder promised that he and Jason would meet them at the hospital. She traced the cuts and bruises on his face with her fingers and her eyes searched his.

“Are you okay? she asked.

“I am now,” he smiled, taking her hand and kissing it then stepping back and letting them close the ambulance door.

Now here at the ER, she wished they’d let her stay with Frankie. They might have if Maggie had been better at hiding her own injury.

Ryder had texted her. He and Jason were making their way to the hospital, but the route was clogged with emergency vehicles.

She told him not to rush. To be careful. The hospital was packed. Most likely they’d be turned away to make room for storm victims and emergency healthcare personnel. A nurse had told her that the lobby was even being used as a prep and triage area.

Cell phone service was spotty. Calls wouldn’t go through, so they continued to use text messages.

FRANKIE’S ALREADY IN ICU.

HOW ABOUT YOU?

THEY’RE TAKING CARE OF MY ARM RIGHT NOW.

She didn’t, however, get a chance to tell Ryder how serious Frankie’s condition was. The paramedic and the ER doctor tried to explain crush syndrome. Maggie thought she’d done the right thing by getting the beam off of Frankie’s legs as quickly as possible. But it wasn’t that simple. The impact, pressure and weight would have already damaged the muscle. When the compressive force was relieved, a cascade of events had begun with toxins from the damaged tissue’s cellular components being released. This systemic release could ultimately be fatal resulting in renal failure, shutting down other organs and possibly even prompting a cardiac episode.

Maggie’s undergrad included a minor detour in pre-med. But even so, down in that dark, sweltering bunker she never suspected any of this. And why would she? For a decade now, she looked after the dead, not the living.

The entire time her arm was being worked on, she was distracted by what she should have done differently. Finally, alone again as she waited between x-rays and what came next, she pulled out her cell phone and started reading through Agent Alonzo’s messages. He’d linked a video from Detective Jacks in Chicago, and she debated whether she should watch or conserve her battery. Alonzo’s text said:

THIS WAS TAKEN FROM A SECURITY CAMERA. NOT GREAT BUT SHOWS GATES’ ATTACKERS.

She texted him that she was out from under ground. Both her and Frankie. Then she asked:

ARE YOU STILL ABLE TO TRACK GATES’ CELL PHONE?

If the men who were chasing Frankie had been watching the scene, they knew where Frankie had been taken. Her eyes darted around the small ER room looking for her weapon. They didn’t make her get out of her T-shirt and don a gown, but she did have to remove her shoulder harness. Now, she suddenly felt naked without it.

Her phone dinged with Alonzo’s response. Only then, did Maggie notice that it was almost midnight.

LOST IT WHEN THE STORM HIT.

She shouldn’t have been surprised. It was difficult enough to have a conversation without the call getting dropped.

CALL ME WHEN YOU’RE ABLE TO. SOME INTERESTING DEVELOPMENTS.

Why did people do that? Now all she wanted to do was call Alonzo. But first, she’d take a look at the video, if she could access it.

The connection was slow. A few seconds after the video started it stalled then began, again. Typical security footage. Grainy, but not jerky. No audio. From the angle she could watch the men approach from the opposite direction. Frankie was right. One of the men was huge. Square shoulders, no neck, a block for a head.

Both men wore jogging suits. Gates stopped to talk to them. A few seconds later, he put up his hand. The gun came up close to his forehead and Gates’ head jerked back then he crumpled to the ground. A street lamp blocked part of the view. The other man cocked his head and pointed. He must have seen the earbud in Gates’ ear.

The big guy kneeled to grab the phone while the other man backed away. Maggie had paid little attention to the other man, but now, she watched intently as his head swiveled casually and he started walking up the street.