Page 74 of Last Chance

With trembling fingers, she stroked the hair away from his forehead. “Oh, David. Come on. Wake up.”

Max ended the call to the dispatcher. “Ambulance is five minutes out. Cops will be right behind them.”

Tears burned Janie’s eyes. “I don’t understand. Why did they hurt him? Wouldn’t it be simpler to take what they wanted and get out as fast as possible?” She looked at Sawyer. “Burglars don’t waste time beating people. This took a lot of time, didn’t it?”

He knelt beside her and wrapped his arm around her shoulders. “They took their time working him over methodically.” Sawyer pointed to David’s swollen and bloody mouth. “If you look closely, you’ll see finger marks. They didn’t want David to attract attention when they broke his fingers. One of them clamped a hand over his mouth so his screams wouldn’t carry.”

“They? You’re saying more than one person did this to my brother?”

He nodded. “At least two men worked him over.”

Bile surged into Janie’s mouth as she contemplated the pain her brother must have endured while she’d eaten lunch and placed an order for the shop. If they’d come sooner, Sawyer and his friends could have prevented the worst of the injuries.

How many internal injuries did he have? He hadn’t roused to consciousness. Did he have a concussion, or a fractured skull? Janie wished Jesse had come with them. He must be exhausted after staying awake all night to watch over her, but his medical expertise would be invaluable right now.

Nearby, sirens cut off abruptly.

“Come on.” Sawyer stood and drew Janie to her feet. “We need to move out of the way so the EMTs can help David.”

“Why doesn’t he wake up?” she whispered.

“I don’t know, baby.” He drew her into the circle of his arms as Brody went to the door to direct the EMTs inside the room. “The county hospital is good, and the facility is only minutes away. He’ll receive the best care.”

“They’ll let me see him, right?”

“They should. You’re his only relative in the area.”

Janie groaned. “Oh, no. I’ll have to call Maria and tell her what happened.”

“Let the police handle the notification. His wife will want details you can’t provide.”

“Right here,” Brody said to someone in the hall. “We have a victim, David Moran, who has been beaten and is unconscious.”

Two EMTs rushed into the room and assessed Janie’s brother, taking his vitals and contacting the hospital.

At one point in the conversation, one of the EMTs asked, “Does anyone know if Mr. Moran has any allergies?”

“None,” Janie said.

As the medics resumed their assessments, two policemen arrived. Immediately, they pulled their weapons and pointed them at Sawyer and his friends. “Drop your weapons,” the taller cop commanded the Fortress operatives.

“Take it easy,” Brody said. “We’re licensed to carry, and we’re on duty.”

“What kind of duty?”

“Bodyguards. The victim’s sister has been threatened several times over the past few days,” Max said. “We also used to be on the job in Texas.”

“We’re going to reach for our identifications and carry permits,” Brody added.

“Slow,” the shorter man snapped. “Keep your hands where we can see them.”

As Sawyer reached for his identification, he placed his body between the twitchy cops and Janie. When he and his teammates handed over their credential wallets, Janie waited to see if they’d end up in handcuffs and stuffed in patrol cars. That would be unfair. They had done nothing wrong.

Finally, the cops handed back the cred wallets and introduced themselves. “What happened here?” Officer Wallace asked.

“The victim, David Moran, is the brother of our principal, Janie Moran. Janie is also Sawyer’s girlfriend,” Brody said.

Although Max glanced at Sawyer, he didn’t question Brody’s statement. Good thing. If he had, the cops would have separated Sawyer from Janie and taken him in for more intensive questioning. Since he was responsible for her safety, he wouldn’t allow that to happen. The idea of Sawyer being stuck in an interrogation room for hours while the cops grilled him caused Janie’s stomach to tighten into a knot.

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