Nolan firmly pressed the towel into Gene’s side, and the man winced. “I’m sorry, Gene.”

“No, kid. I’m sorry. I didn’t know what they wanted. I thought you were in danger.”

The bleeding wasn’t slowing, despite Nolan’s efforts. He heard Tara rummaging through her rent-a-fed vehicle for something.

“Try to rest, Gene.” Maybe relaxing would help slow the bleeding. Gene was in danger. No, is in danger. Thanks, in part, to his call to the sheriff’s office. Nolan sighed. He didn’t really believe Gene would intentionally put him in danger. He pursed his lips when he saw the other man’s blood on his hands. This wasn’t the time to worry about whose fault this mess was.

“Move,” Tara called as she came through the doorway. She pushed Nolan to the side and placed a gloved hand over the towel he was holding. A small cloth bag clinked to the floor.

“What can I do?” Nolan asked as he stood.

“Call an ambulance.”

“Seriously?” Nolan asked. His trust in the city’s municipal systems was at an all-time low.

“Yes. Unless you want your friend to die on his kitchen floor.”

Gene dug in his jeans pocket.

Nolan stooped and slid the man’s phone from his pocket. The screen lit up when he flipped the lid up. He stepped through the ruined screen door and onto the porch.

“9-1-1, what’s your emergency?”

Nolan swallowed and spoke quickly. “I just heard gunshots and yelling coming from the Baptist church on route 20. Two men sped away in a dark Ford.”

“Sir, I need some information. Can you give me your name?”

Nolan laid the phone on the wicker chair and stepped back in the kitchen.

Gene’s eyes were closed, and his head lolled to one side. A stab of fear jolted Nolan, and he darted forward. “Is he…?”

Sleeping,” Tara said, warding Nolan off with an up-raised hand. “I gave him something to make him relax.”

“Relax? Tara, he’s bleeding to death!” Nolan was pretty sure you didn’t want a patient that was losing blood to nod off.

Tara snatched her little cloth bag off the floor and put a hand on Nolan’s shoulder. “I took care of it. He’s gonna be fine as long as that ambulance doesn’t take all day.”

Took care of it? Nolan looked at Gene’s wounded side. There was a clean, white bandage covering the area. He wasn’t a doctor, but also wasn’t an idiot. Gene had a wound you could put a thumb into. Tara couldn’t have just fixed it.

“Nolan.” Tara said firmly.

Nolan met her serious gaze.

“We’ve got to get out of here. You killed a sheriff’s deputy. And I’m either your hostage or your accomplice.”

Nolan shook his head. “No. He was wearing armor. Something that would stop a .40 caliber. I hit him twice in the chest before he went down, but there is no blood.” He gestured to the spot where the deputy had fallen. “And kidnapping a federal agent is a crime.”

Tara pursed her lips and huffed out a breath. “They will be back.”

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Nolan didn’t argue. And he had pulled the trigger before he knew about the body armor. He felt like a married man who had slipped off his wedding band before stepping into a club. There had been no hesitation, and he felt no regret. His ingrained instincts took over, silencing his moral qualms when the first shot rang out.

“Were these the same two you saw at Nikki’s?”

“Pretty sure. Hard to tell for sure,” Nolan said. “But you are right. We need to get out of here.” He looked over Tara’s shoulder at Gene. His chest rose and fell rhythmically. “Are you sure he’ll be alright?”

“He’s fine. C’mon. We’ve got to get somewhere else. Quick.” Tara moved past Nolan in the narrow doorway and hustled to her SUV.

With one last look at his friend, Nolan trotted after her.

At Nolan’s instruction, Tara took a one lane road about a mile from the church. Right after taking the little road, a siren drew his attention, and he looked out the back window to see an ambulance fly past, lights flashing.

Nolan took a little comfort in knowing it was heading for Gene. His racing mind shuffled through the many questions from the night. It was difficult to decide which problem to tackle first. So he started with the one most fresh on his mind.

“Why didn’t you call for backup?” Nolan looked at Tara’s face, illuminated by the lights of the dashboard.

“Nolan, you are the one who said those were sheriff’s deputies shooting at us. I don’t think we should have called them back.” Tara didn’t take her eyes off the road. “Where does this road go? It’s more like a bicycle path.”

“Don’t change the subject. You know what I mean.” Nolan stared at her.

Taking her eyes off the road for a moment, Tara gave him a look that said she did. But she didn’t answer.

Nolan clenched his jaw and cycled a deep breath. “I have a hard time trusting people. We all have our secrets. I get that. But none of this makes any sense. My friend is dead and the people I thought I could count on are letting me down. Give me a reason to trust you.”

Tara huffed. “I can give you several. First, I’ve protected you from the sheriff and his men. Twice. Second, I’ve ferried you around instead of slapping bracelets on you. Third, I used some classified med-tech on your friend, who attacked me, by the way, instead of letting him die.”

Classified? Is that what she meant by ‘took care of it’? Nolan’s father had worked on some things that were mind blowing when he was alive. He had also worked on some stuff he wouldn’t even talk about.

“Fourth, I want to figure out what happened to Nikki, same as you. Besides, if I wanted you dead, why wouldn’t I just shoot you down and dump you in a ditch somewhere?”

Nolan looked at Tara, deciding how far he could trust her. He turned to look out the window as they rolled through the countryside. “Because your gun is empty, and I’ve got eighteen in the mag and one in the hole.”