Page 51 of Under Fire

“Navy.”

“Matt Rainer.”

“David Montgomery.”

“Good to meet you, David. Wish I could give you something for pain, but you should be at the hospital in a few minutes.” He shifted his attention to the cut on his forehead. Blood was dripping into Montgomery’s eye.

The injured vet grinned. “Can’t say I like being shot, but this injury will keep me from attending a wedding tomorrow afternoon.”

“Doesn’t bother you to miss the festivities, huh?”

“Are you kidding? I hate weddings. I’m only in town because a brother-in-arms asked me to attend. Now I have a good excuse to beg off. How long will I be down?”

“Depends. What do you do for a living?”

“Cop.”

“About 8 weeks. You’ll be able to return to light duty in 3 weeks if you follow the doc’s instructions.”

Sharp eyes studied him a moment. “Do you always carry your mike bag?”

“Oh, yeah. Never know when I’ll need to treat injuries or be deployed.”

“You still active duty?”

“I’m with Fortress Security now.”

Montgomery whistled. “Tough company to get into. Maddox still CEO?”

“You know the boss?”

“Know of him. He invited me to apply for a job.”

Huh. “Why did you turn him down?”

“Needed to be home. Family crisis. Anyway, thanks for the help.”

Matt pulled a card from his pocket and handed it to Montgomery. “If you change your mind about applying, call me. I’ll put in a good word with Maddox.” He clapped the vet on the shoulder and scanned for more injuries. At the next table, a woman had a napkin to her forehead to staunch the flow of blood from a cut. He knelt beside her chair. “I’m a medic. Let me see if I can help.”

After examining the wound, he bandaged the cut. “You’ll need to go to the hospital for a few stitches. You hurt anywhere else?”

“No. Thank you for helping me.”

“Yes, ma’am.”

The local law rushed into the restaurant, weapons drawn.

“We need the EMTs,” Matt said. “Two gunshot victims, one critical.”

“You a doctor?” the nearest cop said.

“Medic. The shooter never entered the restaurant.”

One of the policemen went to the restaurant entrance and called out for the EMTs to bring two gurneys. A moment later, the medical personnel arrived.

Matt pointed at the man with the chest wound. “He’s critical. You need to get him out of here.” He directed the second set of EMTs to Montgomery. “Leg wound. A through-and-through. He’s lost a lot of blood.”

More EMTs spilled into the restaurant, and Matt went from table to table, assessing injuries while keeping tabs on Delilah and Sasha. Thankfully, the rest of the injuries were minor cuts and scrapes. Amazing considering the number of shots fired into the building.

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