Page 39 of Beachcomber Enemy

Zeroing in on her, everything in him went white hot and cold. Shaking off Cap and Joe, he flashed to her side where another officer held a patch to her wound with one hand and called an ambulance with the other. Dane took her in his arms, pressed his mouth into her hair, smelled her sweet siren scent as he squeezed his eyes shut and told her he was sorry.

She held onto his T-shirt with a weakening grip. “Don’t let him get away.”

“Don’t worry. He’s done. I promise you.”

They both watched as the battered Whitey Nash was half carried to the street where two ambulances pulled up. Dane lifted Shana into his arms to carry her to the street, not wanting to waste any time.

“We’ll need one of those ambulances for Sassy,” Joe said. He helped Ronnie lead her to the street. A cop examined Eli’s corpse and then looked up at him, shaking his head. Dane didn’t care. He’d done what he had to do. The cop pulled out his two-way and called for a death wagon.

When Dane got to the ambulance with Shana, he barked at the EMTs attending to Whitey.

“Never mind him. These women need your attention.”

“But he has—”

Dane interrupted in a deadly calm voice. “Either put him in a cop car or call another ambulance because these two are for Shana and Sassy.”

The medics helped Dane lay Shana on the stretcher and immediately went to work on her, taking her vitals and putting an oxygen mask over her mouth. She kept her eyes on Dane.

Cap led Whitey toward the cop car nearby until Whitey collapsed in a heap.

“Damn, we need another ambulance,” he said.

“We can put two stretchers in this one,” the medic said as he directed the driver to help get Whitey on a stretcher.

“No damn way is he going in the same ambulance—”

“Not your call,” the man said to Dane. He was either exceptionally brave or extraordinarily stupid.

“Dane, it’ll be okay. He’s not in any shape to do anything,” Cap said.

Dane looked Cap in the eye and said, “Maybe not, but I am. And I am going in that ambulance with Shana. Don’t try and stop me.”

Cap paused a beat with a worried frown then, after darting a glance at Shana, now hooked up to an IV, he nodded.

“She’ll be okay. You go with her.”

* * *

Dane sat alongside Shana and held her hand while the EMT worked to keep her wound covered and asked her questions. He prayed to the unholy gods of heaven and hell to save her. The medic hooked her up to a bag of blood and encouraged her to stay awake and alert. Dane kept light pressure on her hand with his, willing his life and warmth into her cold, pale fingers. He kept his eyes connected with hers except when she closed them.

“Hey, what about me?” Whitey rasped.

No one paid attention to Whitey as he lay with his face swollen and bruised and his hands cuffed in front of him.

Dane figured he’d broken the bastard’s ribs. The thought barely registered as mattering one way or another. He put Whitey out of his mind now. He would have an opportunity later to take care of the man permanently. This wasn’t the time or place. He could only focus on Shana, stay calm and strong for her, make sure they sewed her up, that she survived the knifing.

“You know I didn’t want to kill Sassy.” Whitey spoke in that singsong voice again. Dane refused to look at him, didn’t respond. The EMT turned to Whitey, giving him a wary look.

Dane put his hand on the EMT’s arm with an unfriendly grip. “Never mind that excuse for a human being. You keep your attention on her,” he said. His voice vibrated with warning,

They had to be close to the hospital. The driver drove with unrelenting speed, taking corners fast, making them sway where they sat.

“I never wanted to kill the girls. I loved them. But I didn’t want them to become evil.” White continued to speak in that crazy man’s voice and Dane continued to focus on Shana. He could tell by the distress in her eyes that she heard him, that she didn’t like what she heard.

“I was saving them from the evil because I loved them, you know.” Whitey’s voice had become more urgent and that made Dane’s hairs stand, sent a warning through his system. He flicked a glance at him in time to see him try to sit up.

Dane moved so fast, the EMT screeched like a girl. He was over Whitey, pushing him back down on his cot, holding him by the throat, shutting him up.