He groaned as he clung to her. Curling his left arm across his body, he held it tight, trying to minimize the movement of his chest and the blade sunk close to his heart.
“Come on,” Angela coaxed. She slipped his right arm over her shoulder and started pulling him away from the table. She glanced at the door the other had gone through. They could be back any movement. And if her father had anything to do with this, they could both be in major trouble. “Let’s get out of here.”
The man leaned on her and staggered along.
She guided him to the steps and propped him against the wall. “Wait here,” she ordered before dashing up the stairs. Her keys were tucked in the top of her purse. Fumbling through the darkness, she grabbed her purse, pulled it over her shoulder, found her car keys, and rushed back down the stairs. Thankfully, her guy hadn’t died while she was away. He slouched against the wall breathing heavily. “Come on,” she said slipping back under his arm and taking his weight again. They needed to find help fast.
Cracking the door open, she peered out. No signs of life stirred the night air. She shoved the door open the rest of the way and forced the man into motion again. “We need to get you to a hospital.”
The man didn’t fight, but he did shake his head as he stumbled along. “No hospital.” Blood colored his lips as he spoke.
Angela’s heart raced as she helped him to her car. That wasn’t a good sign. “But you need help,” she insisted. Opening her car door, she placed the man inside.
“Not the hospital,” he said as he leaned back against her passenger seat. He cupped his hand around the knife in his chest
She stared at the blood soaking the front of his shirt. Moving him from the table had been a bad idea. She needed to call the cops. Could he last long enough for an ambulance? She looked over at the barn and then to the house, wondering how deeply her father was involved. Was calling for help a wise idea? Unsure of the circumstances, she turned back to the guy. He was starting to look pale. She didn’t have time to debate what to do. He needed help. Now. Shutting his door, she rushed around to her side of the car and got in. “Then where?”
The man drew in a few ragged breaths before answering. “The Dragon’s Wing.”
Digging in her purse, Angela pulled out her phone and punched the name into her navigation app. Surprisingly, the place wasn’t that far away. Should only take forty minutes at the speed limit. Jamming her phone into the pocket on her dash, she started the car and took off. She wasn’t going to be driving the speed limit tonight.
5
Every second that ticked pass rammed slivers of anxiety into Angela’s heart. She glanced at her uncomfortably still passenger. His face was the color of unprinted newspaper and the blood on his shirt was spreading. He wasn’t going to last much longer. “We’re almost there,” she said as they sped along the two-lane country road. “Just hang in there.” Reaching down, she rested her hand on his. Her heart jumped when his fingers curled around hers. Good, he’s still alive.
The electronic voice of the navigation app cut through the silence in the car. “In 500 feet, turn right.”
Releasing his hand, Angela slowed the car to look for The Dragon’s Wing. They were close enough that she should have been able to see something, but there were only dark fields and forests. Squinting, she finally found the gravel drive that led into a break in the tree line.
“You’ve arrived at your destination.”
As she turned off the main road, the headlights flashed over a hand-carved wooden sign. A green dragon wrapped around the name of the place. The car bounced over a pothole making her wounded passenger groan. “Sorry,” she hissed through gritted teeth. She continued on, trying to miss the other divots in the driveway. After a few yards, the woods opened up on a huge clearing and she finally saw the building. It looked like an old barn. There weren’t any cars in the parking lot, but the light shining from the small windows gave Angela hope.
Pulling the car up to the building, Angela threw it into park and killed the engine. “Hang on,” she said as she popped her door open. “I’ll get help.” Forgetting to shut her door, she rushed out praying there was someone inside that could save her mystery man.
Angela yanked open the wooden door and stepped into The Dragon’s Wing. She paused long enough take in the tin signs covering the walls of the little entryway. It’s a pub! Hopefully someone inside could help. Letting the door go, she rushed into the main room to the sound of bells. She stopped again to orientate herself to the new room. Sweeping her eyes over the quiet space, she found what she needed. Two men sat at a booth in the far corner of the room.
They looked up at the sound of the bells.
“Help me,” she cried as she ran across the room towards them. “He’s dying.”
Both men stood up from the table. One was a stout man with dark hair and a mustache. The other was a tall blond in a leather jacket.
“Who?” the stout man asked.
Tears clung to the corner of Angela’s eyes as she grabbed his arm and tugged him into motion. “I don’t know,” she said sounding pathetic. In the whole time he’d been in her car, she hadn’t bothered to ask him his name. “Please. They stabbed him,” she pleaded.
Her captive looked over his shoulder at his friend and the two men started for the doorway.
The tight pressure around Angela’s chest eased as they ran outside, and she pointed to her car. “There.” She stopped as the two men hurried over.
“My Lord!” the stout man cried as he saw the figure in the car. He ripped the door open and looked inside. “It’s Kyle.”
The tall blond stopped and spun on his heel to face Angela. “What happened?”
Angela cringed back from the intensity in his voice. “I don’t know,” she cried. Tears poured down her face as the man’s outrage pushed her back.
“Later,” the stout man ordered. “Get over here and drive.”
The tall blond shot Angela a sharp look but turned away to follow the order.
Angela watched as the stout man closed her passenger door and came over to her.
“Come with me, my dear,” he said. His voice had lost the sharp edge he had used to order the other man around, but it didn’t give her the option to argue. He caught a gentle hold of her elbow and pulled. “You’re not safe here.”
Fear raced up Angela’s back and she glanced around looking for danger. She stepped forward, letting him lead her to her car. “Where are we going?” she asked.
The man opened the back door of her car and placed her in. “Someplace safe,” he reassured her before climbing in beside her.
Angela slid across the seat, giving him more room.
As soon as the door was closed, the blond man put the car in gear and took off.
Panic closed up Angela’s chest as the gravity of the situation hit her. She was locked in a moving car at the mercy of three strange men. One possibly dead. This was not how she had envisioned her night going. Her hand found the handle on the door. Would it be better to jump out? She mulled over that answer as she watched the stout man check on the wounded man. He didn’t seem like the kind of person to kidnap a defenseless woman. Plus, she had come to them for help.