Chapter 48

“What happened after that is like some fearful dream.”

-Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, The Adventure of the Second Stain

Morgan pulled the trigger on his Glock as he fell. The bullet narrowly missed Grace Dunbar and lodged in the wainscoting on the wall behind her.

Morgan’s warm blood spilled on my left arm. I dropped to my knees. He was still breathing. The bullet wound close to his heart was bleeding profusely. I suspected the bullet must have torn through one of his main arteries.

I ripped off my jacket and crammed it onto his chest with both hands, trying to staunch the bleeding

“Don’t you die on me, dammit,” I begged and kept pushing down. I plucked the 3-D camera out of the jacket pocket so I could apply more pressure.

Blood kept spewing no matter how hard I pushed.

Philip and Tom stared at the scene. I’m sure they both were in shock. I know I was, but I was on a mission to stop the bleeding. Wolfie was behind me, breathing very loudly and shallowly. I think he wanted to growl but was stifling it.

As I bent over Morgan, my knee knocked the video cam. I flicked it on with one finger and concealed it under a jacket sleeve. She wasn’t going to let us go after this, and who knows what might help us survive.

“DD,” Morgan croaked as blood poured from his lips. I gently cradled his head in my lap.

He coughed. “The... random... factor,” he gurgled.

“Don’t try to talk.” I rubbed his forehead. “Stay quiet. I’ll get help somehow.” More blood ran from the corners of his mouth. His eyes got very wide. “Sorry,” he whispered and went completely limp in my arms.

“You’re a nurse,” I screamed at Grace Dunbar as she picked up Morgan’s gun. “Help me.”

“Help him,” Tom cried out. “For God’s sake, don’t let him die.”

“He’s bleeding badly. Do something,” Philip Green pleaded.

Nurse Holder put Morgan’s gun in her pocket. She stared at Morgan and bent over him, placing her fingers on his neck. She had a strange look in her eyes. I recoiled, fearing she was going to shoot again. I prayed she wouldn’t spot the 3-D cam.

Finally she stood up. “Don’t worry about him. He’s dead.”

“No,” I cried, feeling for a pulse while I continued to apply pressure.

Nurse Holder took Morgan’s gun from her pocket and pointed both guns at us. “I was hoping that asshole wouldn’t recognize me. Sometimes brains don’t mean you’re smart,” she said with a nasty smirk.

Wolfie didn’t like the way things were going either. He growled.

She waved one of the guns at Tom. “Hold onto that dog and shut him up, or I’ll shoot you all right now,” she threatened.

Tom patted Wolfie and told him to sit. Wolfie didn’t want to, but he did. I think the blood and hostile pheromones were getting to him. He whimpered and did his best to be quiet, but I was sure he sensed the threat.

Grace Dunbar licked her lips and said, “Unfortunately you’ll all have to pay the price for his being so smart.”

I could feel no pulse. There was nothing. When I touched Morgan’s hand, it was cold and hard and heavy like a gray stone. A terrible feeling welled up in me.

“Is he really gone, DD?” Tom asked.

“I think so.”

Grace Dunbar looked at her watch. “He’s dead all right,” she said. “And you three snoops are next.”

We all heard the front door open and close. Footsteps came toward us. I hoped it was the Rangers finally arriving. They’d get us out of this nightmare.

James Doddwalkedinto the room. Myheart raced. Maybe there was a way out of this.