Jameson (In the Company of Snipers #22) - Irish Winters Page 0,45

who’d told her about the women’s shelter in Roanoke. Hop, skip, and jump a couple months forward, and she was tossing greasy fast food into tiny bags, going home to a warm bed in her very own small but affordable apartment, and attending night classes at the local community college.

Now was the time to put that first-aid class to use. Maddie turned back to face the farmhouse, her one chance to save Jameson gone and another man to rescue. What to do now? Rescue two guys? Two big men? She could almost hear Jameson telling her, “Well, yeah! One step at a time, Maddie. That’s how we get the tough jobs done. You can do this. I have faith.”

“I sure hope you’re right.” Before she could move him, she needed to patch the hole in Mr. Vlad’s side. With what? There was nothing clean enough in this barn except—her clothes. Even they were sweaty and smelled of smoke. But okay, then. Another decision made.

She unbuttoned what had once been her own crisp white shirt and laid it on Mr. Vlad’s wide chest. Turning her back on him, she slipped out of her white padded bra. It was the cleanest thing around. It would have to do. Still facing away, she put her shirt back on and buttoned up.

Again, she called up other details from that long ago first-aid class. Mr. Vlad groaned a lot more this time, but after she’d cut her bra into small squares, Maddie used her fingertips to push just enough of it into his ugly bullet wound to stop most of the leakage. By the time she was through, she was desperate for a good long cry. Her nerves were shot, and she wasn’t sure anything she’d done would save either Mr. Vlad or Jameson. But plugging the hole wasn’t good enough. That much she knew. For Mr. Vlad to live, she had to make sure those bits of bra didn’t pop out.

He reached out and patted her arm, then stroked it almost affectionately, as if telling her, ‘Good girl.’

“You’ll live now,” she told him in case he didn’t know. “But I need to cut your shirt off to use it for a bandage. I won’t cut you, I promise. Hold very, very still.”

His chest heaved and he stroked her arm again. He certainly seemed to have a lot of faith in her. Glad someone did.

“Well, okay then.” She blew a loose strand of hair out of her face. “Let’s do this.”

Breathing through pursed lips to slow her rising panic, Maddie lifted the fabric away from his chest, then slipped the blade of her knife into his shirt. Pop, pop, pop went those tiny shirt buttons as she made quick work of removing as much of the cotton material as she could reach. The blade was extra sharp, so she was extra careful. At last, she had enough material. She cut the pieces into long strips, then tied them into one long bandage.

He’d need real medical care soon, and he’d get it. She’d make sure of that. Okay then. If a blind man who couldn’t see his hand in front of his face had faith in a scaredy-cat woman with wide-opened eyes, she could get Mr. Vlad to safety. Then, she’d come back, start the barn on fire, and rescue Jameson.

It took a bit getting Mr. Vlad upright and sitting, but he seemed as eager to get away from Shade and her murderous friends as Maddie was. He assisted as much as he could in getting his shirt wrapped around his chest, then tied off to hold her makeshift bandage in place.

“OhGodOhGodOhGod, that was really scary,” she muttered to herself, wishing her heart beat would slow down. But I did it, by heck. I just saved this guy’s life. Getting him on his feet took more effort. Maddie knew she was hurting him, but he seemed made of the same stuff as Jameson. Pure determination. She just wished he’d hurry a little faster. Jameson needed her, too, and any minute now, he’d create a diversion. She needed to be ready to jump into action then.

Mr. Vlad stumbled along until, at last, she had him flat on his back in the limo’s spacious rear seat. Maddie folded his long legs inside, then carefully, silently, closed the door. In seconds, she was behind the wheel again, and they were on their way.

Maddie drove extra slowly out of the barn, along the long, dirt driveway, away from the farmhouse,