Page 38 of Going Once

Tate grabbed his cell phone.

“Wade! He just attacked Nola. He’s in the gym.” Then he thrust her into a deputy’s arms. “Call an ambulance. Put her in a squad car ASAP, and don’t leave her alone.”

“Yes, sir,” the deputy said.

Nola couldn’t stop shaking, and watching Tate running into the gym with his gun drawn only added to her panic.

Another deputy appeared with some towels and wrapped them around her arm before they put her into the squad car.

* * *

By the time Tate got into the gym, Wade and Cameron were coming to meet him.

“There’s no one here!” Wade shouted. “He ran out with the crowd.”

They did a one-eighty and flew out the door, but there was nothing to see, no one to chase, just a huge crowd of anxious parents and crying children.

Furious, Tate turned and headed around the building to the patrol car. Nola was in the backseat, in obvious pain.

“Where’s the ambulance?” he asked.

“Already on a run outside of town, and something’s wrong at the hospital. They lost power and are having trouble getting the backup generator going,” the deputy said.

Tate opened the door of the squad car, picked Nola up in his arms and headed for the government SUV. Wade was already behind the wheel, and Cameron was holding the door open for them to get in.

Cameron looked back. Laura was trying to quell the panicked crowd. He felt sick. It was their presence that had caused this. They couldn’t stay here again.

Tate could tell Nola was in shock and made a decision he hoped he wouldn’t regret.

“Power is out at the hospital and the backup generator isn’t working. Drive to the police station,” he said.

“But what about her arm?” Wade asked.

“Just drive,” Tate said, and pulled out his phone. He punched in a number and waited for it to ring.

* * *

Don Benton had fallen asleep in his recliner watching the late-night news, and when his phone began to ring, he jumped. It had been a lot of years since he’d gotten a call in the middle of the night, but his reaction was instinctive as he grabbed it on the second ring.

“Hello?”

“Dad, it’s me. Don’t hang up. The killer attacked Nola at the gym. Her arm is cut badly. It needs stitches, and the power is out at the hospital. We’re on our way to the police station. Bring your bag. Please. It’s not for me. It’s for her.”

Don didn’t hesitate. “I’m on my way.”

Cameron glanced over his shoulder at Tate’s face.

“Is he coming?”

Tate nodded. The towel the deputy had wrapped around Nola’s arm was soaked with blood.

“I think I’m going to be sick,” she mumbled.

“Close your eyes and take a deep breath, then exhale slowly,” Tate said. “You can do this, honey. We’re almost there.”

Seconds later Wade skidded to a stop in the parking lot and jumped out, his gun drawn. There was no way of knowing if the killer was hiding somewhere with a gun, waiting to finish her off.

Cameron came out armed, as well, opened the door for Tate and then covered them as he carried her inside the station.

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