Page 53 of Devil's Vengeance

“Wait, don’t–”

I hung up before she could argue and raced after Riley. She was gone from the second floor by the time I came out, and it was creepy tiptoeing through the dark, but no one jumped out to get me and I followed the sound of voices to the top of the stairs, where Riley was shouting at the cops.

“I’m a nurse and he’s bleeding out! Let go of me!”

Blood turned to ice in my veins, and my stomach tightened painfully. Who was bleeding out?

“Ma’am, were you the one who called 911?” an officer demanded, ignoring her.

I hurried down the stairs, throwing my hands up, so they knew I wasn’t armed. “I was. I called. But she was with me. She’s not lying.”

I froze, gaping at the scene in front of me as I stopped at the bottom of the stairs. There were bullet holes all over the walls and through the windows. A few were shattered completely, and blood dripped along the walls like someone cut themselves trying to get through. There were a few unmoving bodies on the floor, but none I recognized. Not until I turned toward the back, where Riley was fighting against the officer holding her arms. At her feet lay a familiar face, and my mouth fell open in shock.

“Oh god. Is he dead?”

CHAPTER 32

MARIAH

“No, he’s not fucking dead,” Riley snarled. “But he will be if this asshole doesn’t let me go! I’m an ER nurse at Sierra Vista Medical Center! Let me help him, damn you!”

She sounded pissed, but I could hear the panic in her voice. The crew was more than just her husband’s people. They were her people too, and she was scared. I took a step closer, my hands still above my head.

“Please. Let her help him. We didn’t have anything to do with this. We were just upstairs on the phone with the 911 operator. She said someone needed an ambulance, so we came down to help.”

“She was fucking armed,” the officer snapped.

“And she’s not anymore,” I pointed out. Riley’s gun was on the floor by her feet. I gestured to it with my chin. “Take it away. Pat her down. Hell, pat me down. But don’t stop her from doing her job. She was just trying to defend herself.”

He was jumpy, and I got the feeling he knew exactly what crew he was dealing with, because he didn’t move to release Riley until someone else came inside to help. The new officer picked up her weapon, patted her down, and made the man release her before turning to me.

“Ma’am. Can you tell us what happened?”

“Shit. Shit!” Riley interrupted, whipping her head around to glare at us. “Where the hell is that ambulance?”

“Two minutes out,” the newer officer answered. “Are you a medical professional?”

She didn’t answer, her focus on Nevada as she barked out orders. She told the cop where to get towels and demanded I join her, shoving my hands against Nevada’s chest where blood seeped constantly. My heart pounded rapidly in my ears and I had to strain to hear Riley’s choked out demands.

“Harder, Mariah! You need to put more pressure! Tell the ambulance to come here first! He won’t survive if we don’t get him to the hospital now!”

The cops showed up with towels just before the paramedics charged in. They nudged me out of the way, listening to Riley’s rapidfire report as they worked to help her save him. I could only stand off to one side and stare. There was so much blood.

“Mariah? Mariah!”

My attention snapped back to Riley, who was holding pressure while looking up at me. “Huh?”

“Go get Cleo. She’s down the block. Hurry!”

“Who is that?” the cop behind her demanded.

“Go, Mariah!” She wasn’t interested in explaining, and I knew better than to argue. If she was asking for Cleo, she needed to get here fast. I took off out the door, the second cop hot on my heels as he followed me down the block. He didn’t stop me, though. He kept pace and diverted the other cops from following me. I went straight for Lacey’s front door, pounding on it with my fist. Blood from my hands left a mark on the wood, taunting me with the reality of what was happening. Did they follow me to Riley’s? Or did they follow Chase? Would he have shown up there if I’d gone with Lacey instead? Or would the attack have happened at Lacey’s house with her son in the next room?

It felt like everywhere I went, I made things worse for Chase and his people. And now, someone might die because of me.

The door ripped open and Lacey stood on the other side, a gun in her hand but not pointed at me. She must’ve seen me coming.

“What is it?”