Page 40 of Hart of Vengeance
“Get out of the way,” a lady paramedic shouted.
It took me a second to realize she was talking to me. I backed up against a wall as a bloody man on a stretcher mumbled cuss words.
Hospital personnel rushed out through the double doors where Jade had disappeared.
A blond nurse spoke to the paramedics. “Maintenance is working on the door to the other entrance. It should be fixed within the hour.”
“The bullet didn’t go all the way through,” the male paramedic said, his voice fading as they wheeled the patient into the epicenter of the emergency wing.
A slew of memories flashed before me.
The night was sticky and humid. The sweat slid down my temples as I hoofed it two blocks to Hector Alvarez’s apartment. I was late, and the fucker was about to cut off my head. Hector hated when anyone was late. As I drew closer, I saw blue and red lights lighting up the rundown neighborhood. I stopped in my tracks, watching the paramedics wheel someone into their rig from Hector’s building.
I slipped into the shadows as cops and neighbors filled the street. I pulled out my phone and called Hector.
“Can’t talk, Hart.”
“What the fuck is happening?”
“Tanya is dead. They killed my girl,” he growled through the phone. “I’m going to kill them.”
A lady screamed, severing my nightmare.
The large woman who’d been sitting next to the man in the ball cap doubled over, holding her stomach. One of the nurses who’d come out to meet the gunshot victim hurried to help the large woman.
I checked on the man in the ball cap, but he was gone.
What the fuck?
I frantically searched every chair and face, but there was no dude in a red ball cap. I scanned the two hallways.Nothing.Wondering if he’d gone to the bathroom, I hoofed it in that direction. If he was the shooter, then I wanted to confirm that it was Tito who wanted me dead.
Something Jade had said stuck with me. “What if the person trying to kill you wants you to believe it’s Tito?”
If this dude wasn’t working for Tito, then I wanted to know who he worked for. Plus, the old adage of “keep your friends close and your enemies closer” had never been more real. If I knew where the ball cap guy was, then I could at least protect Jade.
Fuck.He couldn’t have followed her. The double doors were locked, or at least the nurse had used a keycard to get them to open.
After checking the restroom and finding it empty, I stopped at the information desk. “Did you happen to see a man with a red ball cap walk by?” I asked the young lady.
She lifted her gaze from a stack of papers. “Sorry, I haven’t.”
I’d had my back to the main entrance when the paramedics brought in their victim. The ball cap dude must’ve left.
Clenching my fist, I charged outside like a linebacker ready to tackle my opponent.
A van screeched to a halt under the portico. I slid out of the way in the event someone inside needed emergency medical attention. Two men in bulletproof vests flew out of the back of the van and charged right at me. I wasn’t sure who these two yahoos were. Bulletproof vests made me think they were cops, but gangsters were known to wear them too.
Regardless, I wasn’t in the mood to get tossed into the back of the van. I also wasn’t ready to get axed by Tito or whoever was trying to kill me, although maybe I could reason with my perp or at least draw the attention away from Jade. The farther away from the hospital I got, the less danger Jade would be in.
My reflexes finally kicked in, and I spun around and sprinted through the parking lot.
Heavy footsteps pounded behind me.
Just as I reached the street, the van braked, blocking me.
One of the men chasing me tackled me to the ground. “Move, and I’ll hurt you.”
“Fuck you,” I spat.
