Straight Flushed (Hot Pursuit #1)(51)



“What’s going on?” Veronica’s voice said from inside her room.

I crawled to her door. “Stay there. There’s a man with a gun out here. I’ll come and get you when it’s safe.”

“What!” she exclaimed.

Then a gunshot erupted followed by a barrage of screams. I sprang to my feet and ran from the narrow hallway out into the department store. The man who’d been wrestling with Vance was running down the escalator.

“Vance!” I shouted. I didn’t hear him nor could I see him. I searched the floor, looking around all the racks of clothing that had been knocked over in the scuffle. Finally, a few feet from where I’d been standing, I found Vance lying in a pool of blood.

I ran to his side. He wasn’t breathing.





Sixteen



“Someone call 911!” I shouted, squatting next to Vance’s body. A set of heels rapidly clicked across the shiny marble floor. A female clerk was trotting away. I called to her. “Stop! Please!” She stopped and looked around cautiously, evaluating her options. “He’s gone,” I reassured her. The man responsible for shooting Vance was probably already driving away. “Please, help me!”

She took a few tentative steps toward me; the clicking of her heels became muted on the gray carpet surrounding me as I stared down at Vance’s blood spattered face. There was no sign of life. I was about to pinch his nose and start CPR when he gasped his first breath.

He was alive.

The woman stood at my side. Her fear turned to horror when she saw the blood soaking into the carpet under Vance’s body. Her legs wobbled, and she grabbed onto a neighboring rack for support.

“He’s okay,” I said, trying to soothe her, although I wasn’t sure if he was going to live or die. The patch of blood under Vance was continuing to grow while she stood frozen. “I need you to call 911. Can you do that for me, please?”

With wide eyes, she silently nodded and hurried away.

I put two fingers on the side of Vance’s neck and checked his pulse. He was breathing but each breath was alarmingly shallow. I lifted his head, and it flopped back.

“Vance? Vance?” I asked, gently slapping his cheek. “Where are you? Please don’t leave me, okay? Open your eyes.” A hot tear dripped from my eye and ran down my cheek.

I smeared the blood on the side of his face while feeling all around his head for a wound. I prayed he hadn’t been struck there. The back of his hair was wet, but thankfully, I found no gaping hole. I searched on, scanning his body. His black shirt was shiny and soaked. The blood under his body wicked into the carpet beneath him. I had to find the source. I wanted to turn him over and attempted to, but he was dead weight, and I was barely able to budge him.

Suddenly, Vance’s eyes shot open. “Check Veronica,” he croaked.

He came back to me, and I released the breath I’d been holding.

“She’s fine,” I said. “She’s still in the dressing room. Where are you hit?”

“Shoulder. Burns like hell.” He winced through clenched teeth. “Check Veronica.” He repeated.

“Vance, your pouring blood, I can’t leave you.”

“I’m fine. Go,” he whispered.

I laid his head down on a six hundred dollar St. John sweater I snatched off the rack. “I’ll be right back.” I ran into the dressing room, stopping quickly to retrieve my gun off the floor. “Veronica, are you okay?”

After a few moments of silence, the lock on the door slid open, and Veronica peered out. “What the hell is going on? Was that a gunshot? Is someone after me?” Her hands were shaking as she rubbed goose bumps from her arms.

“No, ma’am. This had nothing to do with you. Please, get dressed and gather your things. I’m going to call in another unit to come and get you out. You’re not in any danger.” She didn’t move and gazed vacantly at my bloody hands. “Look at me. Look at my face.” She blinked a few times and seemed to recover. “You’re safe. Get dressed and gather your things.”

She nodded and shut the door.

I ran back out to check on Vance. The female clerk who I’d sent to call the ambulance had returned and a few more people surrounded Vance on the floor. Someone had grabbed a towel and had laid it on top of him. I pushed my way through the bystanders and crouched next to him. His skin was pale. He was in shock and still losing a lot of blood.

“Where the hell is the ambulance?” I asked.

“I-I called them,” the female clerk said from above me. “They should be here any second. The manager is waiting outside to bring them up here.”

“Okay, thanks,” I said. “How’re you doing?” I asked Vance. My heart was beating a mile a minute and our entire relationship flashed before my eyes. We were supposed to be friends until we were old and gray. It couldn’t end like this.

“Hurts,” he grunted. “But I’ll live. Don’t worry. You’re not getting rid of me yet.” The corners of his mouth tugged upward into a weak smile.

I took a deep breath and let it out slowly. “Promise?”

“Promise,” he said, closing his eyes again.

“Then I need you to look at me. Don’t go to sleep.”

“I told you I’m fine. He got me in the shoulder. Nothing vital.”

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