They strode past the entrance to anotheralley, and Aiden stiffened beside her. He clasped her elbow anddrew her so sharply against him that she staggered to the side. Sheopened her mouth to yell at him, but when she spotted the ambulanceparked against a chain-link fence at the end of the dark alley, herwords died off. No lights were on, and no sounds came from thevehicle.
CHAPTER 14
Maggie frowned at the ambulance, not surewhat was going on. Why was it here? Where was everyone? Then itsank in that she was staring at the ambulance Glenn and Walt hadbeen riding. The ambulance they had stuck one of thosecreaturesin.
“Glenn, Walt,” she breathed.
She leapt forward so fast she yanked her armfree of Aiden’s hold before he could stop her. Her arms pumped asshe raced down the alley. Skidding to a halt at the back of theambulance, she saw the doors were cracked open and flung themwide.
Arriving at her side, Aiden wrapped his armaround her waist and spun her out of the way before something couldlaunch out at her.
“What are you doing?” she demanded,squirming to break free of his hold.
When nothing sprang out of the back, he sether on her feet but grabbed her again when she went to jump inside.Maggie spun on him. “They’re my friends!” she snapped. “Let mego!”
“You don’t know what happened here,” hereplied. “There’s a reason why the ambulance is here and not at thehospital, and it’s not a good one. You have no idea what you couldbe running into.”
Maggie eased her struggle as she gazed intothe back of the ambulance. The interior light illuminated the emptystretcher within. Blood coated the stretcher and the floor, but shesaw no bodies or signs of a struggle. The stillness mixed with allthat blood gave her the strangest sensation of having just steppedinto the Twilight Zone.
“He was eviscerated. Look at the blood helost,” she said. “There’s no way he would have been capable ofattacking Walt and Glenn.”
He sensed Maggie wanted him to reassure herthat her friends were okay, but he wouldn’t give her false hope.“You didn’t think I would heal so fast either,” he said gently.“And ten Savages jumped me in that alley. I killed two in the alleyand injured this one, but only five came after me again in theambulance. The two others either went back to the alley to clean upthe mess they created with the humans, or they followed thisambulance so they could stop the ambulance before it reached ahospital.”
He’dbeen the one to eviscerate theman? She didn’t know why that surprised her. She’d seen him tearthe heart out of a man, but she hadn’t fully put it together thathe’d also killed those other two and incapacitated this one. Shedid now.
She didn’t look at Aiden as she gazed at theblood-streaked walls and floor. Her nose wrinkled at the familiar,coppery tang of blood mingled with garbage. “Why does it smell liketrash?” she muttered as she pulled herself into the back.
Aiden glanced at the nearby dumpster beforefocusing on Maggie again. He didn’t detect the pungent stench of aSavage nearby, but there was a faint aroma of refuse from thedumpster and the drying blood of the Savage.
Careful to avoid stepping in the blood,Maggie made her way to the front of the ambulance. She wasterrified of what she’d find there, but she couldn’t stop herself.She glanced behind her and froze when she saw Aiden was gone.
Through the open doors, she watched two carsdrive past. She didn’t breathe while she searched for Aiden. Had heleft her? She should be jumping for joy, but she didn’t feel anyjoy.
When one of the ambulance’s front doorsopened, she almost shrieked as she spun toward the front. She bitback her cry as the ambulance sagged and Aiden’s head appearedbetween the seats. His blood-streaked face was a welcomerelief.
“Stay back there. You don’t want to seethis,” he said to her.
“No, I don’t, but I have to.”
She covered the remaining distance betweenher and the cab in one step. Two bodies were in the front seats.Tears burned her eyes, and her hand flew to her throat when sheidentified them. Walt leaned against the passenger window, hisglazed eyes open and his throat torn out.
Her gaze turned to where Glenn lay slumpedover the wheel. She couldn’t see his face, but gashes sliced histhroat and blood stuck his khaki shirt to his neck. Roger would bedevastated when he learned of Glenn’s death. They may not worktogether anymore, but Glenn was Roger’s best friend. Both divorced,they bowled on Monday nights, went to baseball games every summer,and argued politics.
She’d never seen Roger cry before, but sheknew he would cry for Glenn. Roger was the closest she’d ever cometo a father figure in her life, and the idea of anyone hurting himmade her itch to claw their eyes out. Glenn and Walt had dedicatedtheir lives to helping others and somemonsterhad killedthem. They’d deserved so much better than this.
Lifting her gaze, she met Aiden’s overGlenn’s back. “Whoever did this, can’t be allowed to live.”
“They won’t be,” he promised, hating thesheen of tears in her eyes.
“I can use the radio, call for help, andwait for it to arrive,” she told him. “They’ll take me tosafety.”
“I can’t be here when they arrive, and I’mnot leaving you.”
She had expected as much, and she wasn’t upfor arguing right now. “The ambulance has a GPS, but I can’t leavethem here like this until they’re noted as missing andlocated.”
“We have to,” Aiden replied. “If you use theradio to call someone and aren’t here when help arrives, you couldbecome a suspect. It’s unlikely that anything will stick to you,but is it a chance you’re willing to take?”
Her gaze fell to Walt and Glenn again beforeshe bowed her head. “No,” she whispered.
