Page 3 of Goodnight, Sinners

Jozef strode up to the man and just as he turned to see who was behind him, Jozef put a bullet in his head.

Shaun tried to swallow her shocked scream, but a garbled shout slipped from her lips.

Jozef swung an icy gaze toward her, his expression impatient. He wouldn’t stand for her judgment when she’d insisted on coming with him.

“I’m fine,” she said, rushing to his side. She avoided looking down at the man. There wasn’t any point in checking him for a pulse. Jozef was an excellent shot.

Shaun went to step past Jozef, but he blocked her, pushing her back. He reached out and knocked loudly on the wall leading to the main part of the offices. His fist hit the wall in a booming pattern. Morse code, she suspected.

“’Bout fucking time you got here,” came an answering shout.

Shaun recognized Havel’s deep voice and when her gaze met Jozef’s he nodded. They carefully made their way through the maze of desks until they found Jozef’s second-in-command.

“Shit,” Shaun breathed out, clutching her med kit.

Havel’s big body was leaned back against the door to a cage with one arm propped in his lap and a gun clutched in his other. Blood poured from a wound on his shoulder, thick and steady. The pulse point in his throat was beating a rapid tattoo.

Shaun dropped next to him and immediately set about unzipping her medical kit.

“Good thing we kept you alive, eh doc?”

Shaun’s head snapped up as she looked at him in disbelief but catching the humour in his eyes realized he was joking with her.

She took a handful of gauze and pressed it against the wound hard enough to make him flinch. “You might not think so by the time I’m done with you.”

He barked his laughter, then coughed. She didn’t like the gurgling sound he made.

Jozef kept one eye on the hallway as he signed,I thought you were wearing a vest.

“Asshole got a lucky shot,” Havel grunted. “It went in under my arm. Think it’s lodged against a rib somewhere.”

I have to secure the club.

“Go.” Havel waved his gun. “I’ll be fine.”

Jozef reached for Shaun, but she lurched back and stared up at Jozef.

He pressed his lips together and shook his head.You promised you would stay with me. You promised you would listen to every word I say. I’m telling you to move your ass now.

She signed back,if I leave, he could die. He doesn’t have the strength to keep enough pressure on the bandage.

“I’m plenty strong, doc,” Havel argued, proving his point by flipping his gun into the air, sending it end-over-end before catching it and pointing it.

Shaun couldn’t help herself, she laughed, shaking her head. She quickly sobered. “Please go without me. I’ll be safer here than in the club anyway.”

Jozef looked torn until Havel said, “I’ll take care of her, bro. You know I will.”

Finally, Jozef nodded and without a backward glance, ran down the hall.

Havel swiveled his head toward her, his eyes taking on a terrifying glassy sheen. “Now tell me what you wouldn’t tell him.”

Shaun stood and removed her sweater, exposing her bulletproof vest. She glanced around and, spotting a desk lamp, flipped the ‘on’ switch and dragged it over to Havel, propping it up beside him so the light shone down at the carpet. Reaching into the medical kit, she pulled out a bottle of disinfectant, and used it to wash her hands and arms, then pulled on a pair of gloves.

“We have to remove your shirt and vest and lay you down,” she said briskly, reaching for him.

He grabbed her fingers. “Tell me.”

She looked him in the eye and said, “The bullet nicked an artery. You only have a few minutes before you lose consciousness and maybe five more before you die. I have to stop the bleeding.”

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