Dark Justice(2)

I bounded out of my Ford Escort, dropping my keys in the pocket of my coat. Then I remembered my cell phone. I whirled back and opened the rear door to fish it from my purse.

“You think he’s okay?” Mom was turned around in her seat, her face pinched.

“Don’t know, I’ll see.”

My cell phone fell into the same pocket as my keys. I ran toward the man and sank to my knees beside him. He looked to be in his late seventies, his face gray. On more than one occasion a patient in the cardiologist’s office in which I served as receptionist had collapsed in the waiting room. I was used to helping the infirm and elderly. My heart ached for every one of them, even as I snapped into a no-nonsense, medical mode.

“Sir?” I placed the backs of my fingers against the man’s neck and felt a pulse. “Sir, can you hear me?”

His eyes fluttered open. His mouth moved to talk, but no sound came.

“Do you hurt anywhere?” I checked down the length of his body. His legs looked normal, nothing torqued at an odd angle. Had he been thrown from his car? I glanced at the vehicle. The open window of the driver’s side gaped up at the sky. Could he have been thrown out of such a small space? Maybe he climbed out.

The man’s lips tremored. “M–my . . .” He lifted a shaking hand and slid it over his heart.

“Your chest?”

“Unhh.” He winced.

I pulled my phone from my pocket and punched in 911. The man’s hand raised, reaching for my wrist.

“Nine-one-one, what is your emergency?”

“Auto accident on Tunitas Road, off Highway 1. One victim, male, late seventies. He’s outside the car, lying on his back. Complaining of chest pains. I see no other obvious signs of trauma.”

“Is he breathing?”

“Yes. Trying to talk.”

“All right, stay on the line, please.”

The man’s cold fingers fumbled for me. “Lis . . .”

“It’s okay, it’s okay.” I grasped his hand. “Help will be on the way. I’ll stay with you.”

“Nnnn . . .”

“Shh, it’s okay. Let’s have a look at your chest.”

I eased his arm toward the ground and fumbled one-handed with the buttons on his coat. His hand shot up and grabbed mine again. “Lisss!”

His strength startled me. Abject fear etched his face. I stopped all movement.

“Ma’am, ma’am?” The woman’s voice came through my phone.

I held the man’s hand, my eyes on him as I pulled the cell close to my ear. “I’m here.”

“Is he able to move his legs?”

The man’s fingers tightened over mine. “Pleease . . .”

Such fear in his eyes. I’d seen it before in a patient who knew he was dying. Did this man feel that? I tried to give him a reassuring smile, but it came out twisted. “Shh. It’s all right.” Into the phone I said, “I don’t know. When will you get here?”

“Help’s on the way from Half Moon Bay. Five to ten minutes.”

The man gasped in breaths. “Raaaalll . . .” His fingers sank into my palm, his determined expression shooting right through me. He must be feeling himself slip away. Did he have a final message for someone? If so, I would move Earth to deliver it.

I knew I was supposed to stay on the phone. Report what vital signs I could. But this panicked man was alone and terrified, and I was all he had.

“I have to put the phone down for a moment,” I told Emergency. I laid it on the grass without waiting for a reply.

“Raalll . . .”

With both hands, I grasped the man’s fingers. Shifted my body so he could see my face more easily. “Ral?”

His head tried to nod. “Ral . . . ee.”

“Raleigh?”

“Unhh.” His nails sank into my skin. “In . . . Ral-leigh.” The last syllable sank like a sigh.

“In Raleigh.”

“Yeah.” Tears sprang to his eyes, as if he couldn’t believe he’d gotten it out. My own eyes watered in response. His emotion rolled off him like fog, wrapping around my shoulders. Making me shiver.

Pain crimped his face. He closed his eyes, a tear running down each temple. “F-find. Please. S-save.”

Find what? “Okay.” I nodded. “I will.”

He looked at me once again, his gaze piercing. “Prom . . .”

“I promise.”

“Im . . . port . . .”

“It’s important?”

“Uh.”

“Is he okay?” My mother’s voice drifted from behind me.

Oh, no. I half-turned. “Mom, I wanted you to stay in the car.”

She gazed down at the man, her cheeks red. Her hat was about to slip from her head. “Oh, the poor thing.”