Page 29 of Shadow Break

“I’m going to call for backup.”

He handcuffed the injured man, who had a gunshot wound to his upper thigh and was losing a lot of blood. Aaron pressed his hand against the wound to slow the bleeding while he called Lewis to give him instructions.

“Syd, can you come over here?”

The clack of her shoes echoed on the pavement as she moved slowly around to his side of the van. She was pale and her eyes were unfocused.

“Hey, Syd. Look at me.” She didn’t. “Syd.”

She breathed out a shaky breath, and her eyes continued to drift around the scene.

“Sydney. I need you to look at me.” Her eyes finally found him again, and he saw the frightened girl he remembered. “It’s going to be okay.” He may not have been able to do much back then, but he had the skills needed to protect her now.

A car jerked to a halt at the end of the narrow street and Agent Lewis jumped out, jogging toward the scene. “Whoa. I saw you take off when I came out of the building. I tried to follow, but — ”

“Don’t worry about it. You’ve got the ambulance on its way? We can’t lose this guy.”

“Yeah. Should be here any minute.”

“Can you take Sydney and put her in your car?”

“No.” She pulled back from Lewis when he took a step toward her.

“Sydney, go sit in the car. I’ll come see you in a couple of minutes. It will be okay. I promise. You don’t need to keep looking at this scene. You’ve been through enough.”

“Okay. But I don’t want to leave without you.”

“No. I’ll take you home.”

Agent Lewis touched her arm gently. “This way. It’s safer.”

Once she was out of earshot, Aaron slapped the side of the guy’s face. He had to get information from him before he passed out. “What’s your name?”

The guy spat on the ground.

“At least you’ve got enough energy to show animosity, but I’m going to need more than that.”

“Go to hell.”

“Not likely. You know, I could let go of this wound and let you bleed out.”

“Good.”

Aaron lifted his hands to show he meant it.

“Isn’t that illegal? You can’t let me die.”

“If you die, who’s going to tell?”

“Okay, what do you want to know?”

Aaron covered the wound and the guy groaned in pain. “I want to know who hired you.”

Aaron could tell by the commotion behind him that the paramedics had arrived. The injured man saw them. “Mickey Mouse,” he slurred, knowing Aaron couldn’t follow through on his threat.

As the paramedics dropped their gear to the ground, Aaron tried one more time before moving out of their way. “Last chance. The next guy you meet might not be so nice. He might not be as interested in saving your life.”

The man’s eyes slipped closed. “I’ve got nothin’ to say.”

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