Page 18 of Sinner's Sacrifice
“You’re just in time,” Darlene said, her voice hoarse. She glanced at the other woman before saying loudly, “I’ve got like two condoms left.”
Sam opened her bag and gave Darlene a couple of sandwich bags containing ten condoms each. “Do you need any ointment?”
“Yeah, some of those cuts aren’t healing very well.”
“Infected?”
“Hey,” the other woman said, coming up to them.
Sam nodded at her. “Hi, I’m Sam. I’m a paramedic.”
“She’s the one who gives out condoms and Band-Aids and stuff,” Darlene added.
“Oh yeah, I’ve heard of you.” She examined Sam from her tennis shoes on up. “Got anything for me?”
“Sure,” Sam said, handing the woman one of everything she had in her bag. She turned back to Darlene. “Some of those cuts are infected, aren’t they?”
The other woman winced. “A couple of them are, I think. Could you take a look?”
Sam nodded, and Darlene turned around.
There was a series of bandages stuck to the other woman’s back. Sam leaned closer and didn’t like what she saw. The skin looked red and swollen, the bandages crusted with blood and dirt.
“How long has it been since your back was cleaned and rebandaged?”
“I don’t know,” Darlene said after a moment. “A few days, I think.”
“Turn around. I want to take your temperature.”
Darlene did as instructed.
Sam pulled out an infrared thermometer and pointed it at Darlene’s forehead. After a second, it beeped.
“You’ve got a fever,” Sam said, showing both women the readout highlighted with a red light. “And I think some of those cuts on your back are infected. If you don’t get that taken care of, you could end up septic.”
“What’s it going to cost?” the nameless woman asked, her arms crossed and her feet braced for bad news.
“Nothing. I get my supplies from a couple of free clinics. She’ll probably need some antibiotics by IV for a day or so, then take some by mouth for a few days. But that’s only if she goes now.”
“I can’t take that kind of time off,” Darlene said. She glanced over her shoulder at a car parked across the street. It was running, the windows blacked out, which, in a neighborhood like this, meant that the car’s occupants were likely not just out for a drive.
“If you don’t take a couple of days now,” Sam told her. “You could end up in the hospital for a lot longer. Or dead.”
“Can’t you bring the medicine here?” the nameless woman asked. “Give her a shot or something?”
“Are you serious?” Sam glanced between the two women, the one she didn’t know stared right at her. Darlene had her gaze on the pavement between her feet.
Sam studied the stranger. “You’re riding herd, aren’t you? Making sure Darlene doesn’t run.”
The woman made a gesture with one hand. “You ask too many questions.”
The car that had been idling, went silent and the front doors opened. Two men got out and strode across the street.
The limo pulled up, blocking their path. Mason and Yvgeny got out.
The first two men pulled handguns out of their waistbands.
Yvgeny smiled at them. “I have a business proposition for you.”