Midnight Vigilante, Leonor Bass [top business books of all time .TXT] 📗

thought was how much she appreciated her friend lifting her as she fell to her knees. Paige pulled her inside and closed the door.

“My God, Riley! What happened?” Paige asked. Riley managed to sit on a chair, struggling to catch her breath, but didn’t reply. Seeing the way Paige was looking at her outfit, Riley knew it would be only moments before her friend realized the truth.

“Oh my God . . . it’s you. You’re the one the guys have been talking about, aren’t you?”

“Paige,” Riley whispered, only to be immediately attacked by a wave of pain, forcing her to close her eyes and focus on her breath.

“I can’t believe this. All this time, you’ve been right here, with us,” Paige continued, more to herself than Riley.

“Paige,” Riley gasped, “I don’t think it’s the right time. I’m bleeding out . . .”

Paige hurried deeper into the bar, toward her father’s office, returning with a first aid kit in her hand. She pushed Riley’s stained shirt up, revealing a deep laceration. Riley prepared herself; she had dealt with this sort of pain in the past. While Paige put on sterile gloves, Riley looked away, already smelling alcohol and feeling dizzy.

“This is gonna sting a little. Be brave,” Paige said.

Riley bit her lower lip as Paige began cleansing her wound. Paige made a sound, and Riley turned to look at her, finding worry on her friend’s face.

“What is it?”

“You need stitches. I can’t do it here. You need to go to the hospital.”

“I can’t go to the hospital! Not like this.”

“Then you shouldn’t have done this in the first place!” Paige snapped, pushing herself back, and starting to pace around the room. She rubbed at her temples with a gloved hand. “Look what you’ve gotten yourself into. Look what you gotten me into!”

“I didn’t mean for you to be involved. This is a battle I have to fight on my own.”

“What battle are you talking about? This isn’t a war, Riley.”

“It is to me!” Riley yelled. “Julius Martinson is a problem for this town, and so are his men. Someone has to stop them.”

“That’s what the police are for!”

“The police? The same police who refused to investigate my sister’s death? The same police who didn’t want to file a complaint against the men who attacked Adrian? Please, Paige, what world are you living in?”

“Well, this isn’t something you should be doing. Risking your life for what? Revenge?”

“Justice.”

“What’s the difference?” Paige shook her head and rolled her eyes. “You’re still gonna end up killing those men anyways, right?”

Riley sighed. “Listen, I’m not asking you to understand. Just know that I’m not doing this for me. I’m doing this for everybody. I don’t care if I have to risk my life, or get beaten up on a daily basis if at the end this town will find peace.”

“You’re being reckless. I mean, look at you! They could have killed you.”

“Well, this isn’t my first time, and they’re way too clumsy–”

“What do you mean this isn’t your first time?”

“It’s a long story. It doesn’t matter right now. What matters is that I can’t go to the hospital, and you’re gonna have to stitch me up.”

“What, here? I don’t have the instruments. I don’t have the right needle, and the chances of you getting an infection are very high. I can’t take risks.”

“I can’t take risks either. I can’t go to the hospital, and you’re the only who can help me. Grab a needle and thread, stitch me up, then I’ll be on my way. Take me as someone you can practice your nurse school lessons with.”

“God, Riley.”

“Or you can call the police. Maybe they’ll handcuff me and drag me to the hospital, then to a cold little prison cell. I mean, after all, I’m a criminal.”

“Fine! I’ll stitch you up,” Paige said.

Riley allowed herself to take a deep breath and to rest a little as her friend disappeared again in search of more supplies. Now that she had taken a moment to let all the pain dig in, she realized how exhausted she was. Just when she was about to succumb to a quick nap, Paige came back with a box full of needles and thread.

“Ready if you are,” Paige sighed.

“I don’t think ‘ready’ is the right word here.” Riley winced as Paige wiped her wound again, not wanting to complain about the rough way she swabbed the injury.

When the time came for Paige to begin stitching, Riley closed her eyes, feeling how the needle went through her skin each time, sending shivers down her spine. She was sweating profusely, and feeling as if she would pass out if Paige didn’t finish quickly.

Ten long minutes passed, and Riley kept her eyes closed, listening to every sound around her.

“Done. You should take some painkillers, and make sure you keep it clean so it won’t get infected,” Paige said, her voice stoic.

“Thank you.”

“You’re welcome. Don’t ask me to do this again, though,” Paige responded harshly. Riley sat up straight, pulling her shirt down, covering the bandage Page had carefully put on her wound.

Riley nodded. She wished she hadn’t gotten Paige involved in her mess, but she knew plans didn’t always unfold the way she’d intended.

“Don’t worry, this is the last time you’ll see me like this.”

Paige laughed bitterly. “You’re a terrible liar.”

Chapter Twenty-Four

The wounds on Riley’s body healed quickly. Paige had helped more than she’d originally promised, changing Riley’s bandage whenever needed and providing remedies for her to heal properly.

Still, Riley never uttered a word about how the wound was made, nor the discussion they’d had. Paige pretended she was just another patient who had an accident of some sort. The killing was never mentioned.

Mr. Eaton never suspected anything, and neither did Julius.

The rumor had spread, though, that Julius’s men were dying, slowly and painfully, at the hands of an assassin. Some said it was a mercenary who came to settle up things with Julius and, since he had refused to come to good terms, the