Page 66

66

Matt

“ANYONE HIT!?” MATT SHOUTED as they skidded across Thornily, nearly taking out two mailboxes on the corner before Matt jerked the wheel in the opposite direction and managed to regain control of the car. “Is anyone hit!?”

Gabby had dropped low in her seat. She quickly checked herself, then the girl. “No … we’re good. We’re okay.”

“Matt …”

Josh’s voice was thin, barely audible from the back seat. Matt found him in the rearview mirror. “What? Did you get—”

It wasn’t Josh, though. When the man twisted, Matt saw the red stain on the back of the seat where Sally had been sitting. She was slumped to the side now, her head resting on the door. Blood bubbled from between her lips and dripped down her chin in a thin stream. She tried to talk, but only a soft cough came out.

Gabby twisted around and gasped. “Oh no, Sally!”

Matt wasn’t ready to slow the car just yet; he wanted more distance between them and Peterson’s people, or this could get worse fast. Keeping one eye on the road, he craned his neck, tried to get a better look. “I don’t see an exit wound. Put pressure on her back—wherever it went in!”

Josh held up his cuffed hands. “Take these off and let me the hell out of here before they get me, too!”

“Cuffs stay on; you can still move. Help her, you selfish prick!”

Josh held his gaze in the mirror a moment longer, then carefully took Sally by the shoulder and turned her body. She was conscious, but barely holding on. Her eyes twisted toward him on a delay, as if she’d only then realized someone was touching her. She tried to speak, but instead coughed up dark blood. Matt knew that meant the bullet hit her gut, maybe her stomach, who knew what else.

The color left Josh’s face as he got a better look. He glanced back at Matt and gently shook his head.

“Where’d it go in?”

Josh swallowed. “About halfway down, left side, looking at her back.”

Liver, stomach, pancreas … Matt tried to picture her vital organs.

Gabby was still wearing her apron from the diner. She peeled it off and handed it back to Josh. “Here, use this to try and stop the bleeding.”

Josh took it from her and slipped it behind Sally’s back. “There’s a second bullet down lower, center of her back. I can see where it went in, but there’s hardly any blood.”

“Did it hit her spine?”

Josh nodded. “Yeah, I think so.”

They were coming up on the turn for Ellie’s street. Matt faced forward, didn’t want to miss it.

“Matt …” Josh muttered.

“Keep pressure on it. We’re almost there.”

“Matt, she’s …”

“Ellie will have some kind of first aid kit. We’ll stop the bleeding, get her stable, then find some way to get her up to North Hollow.”

Gabby was still twisted around in her seat, watching Josh. She turned back to Matt, reached over the silent girl, and gently squeezed his arm. “I’m sorry, Matt. She’s gone.”

When Matt looked back at Josh in the mirror, the man turned away, wouldn’t face him.

Matt hit the brakes, brought them to a sliding stop in Ellie’s driveway behind her old Ford pickup, and beat both his fists into the steering wheel. “Fuuuuuck!”