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I moved the heavy barstool out of the way and squatted down beside her. There was a lot of broken glass around the bar, mostly from glassware and bottles. I hadn’t noticed her while we’d been eating, but the bar had been at least three people deep the last time I checked.
Her body was curled protectively around the corner of the bar and all I could see was crimson. There was a good amount of blood spatter arced across the front of the bar, and I shot into action.
I looked around to see if Sheldon had made it back with my medical bag, but it was hard to see anything from my current line of sight and Denaro was blocking most of my view while standing guard.
“If you see a small guy with glasses come in with a black bag tell him I need him fast,” I said to Denaro. “And if you see the medics pull up tell them I need them faster. I need towels and something I can use for a tourniquet in the meantime.”
I didn’t wait to see if Denaro followed my instructions. He was cool under pressure, and I knew he’d get things taken care of.
The woman’s eyes wheeled up at me and I could see she was going into shock from blood loss. I placed two fingers at the base of her neck and felt the rapid pulse.
Denaro handed me a stack of dish towels from behind the bar and a scarf he must’ve taken from one of the other patrons.
“This’ll do,” I said. “Thanks.”
I got to work. There was three inches of glass protruding from her arm, and she had several deep-level lacerations that had most likely penetrated to the bone. The blood spatter on the front of the bar was from the brachial artery being severed.
I didn’t even have a pair of gloves with me. I moved quickly, removing the glass and simultaneously applying pressure with the dish towels.
The woman whimpered with pain and I said, “I know that hurts, but I’ve got to press hard.”
“Can I help?” Denaro asked.
He’d moved back from behind the bar and was kneeling across from me.
“Apply pressure,” I said, elevating her arm and demonstrating how I wanted him to do it. “Harder than you think it needs to be. The artery needs to press against the bone. She’s already lost too much blood.”
Once he took over applying pressure, I tied the scarf around her arm tightly.
“Pretty handy having you here tonight,” Denaro said casually, but I could see the sweat dotted on his forehead.
“The Lord works in mysterious ways,” I said, making him chuckle. “This wouldn’t normally be my Friday night hangout.”
I didn’t think anything of it. Cops laughed over crime scenes all the time. Not in a disrespectful way, but because it was a natural way for the brain to deal with trauma. They called it gallows humor for a reason.
I kept my fingers on her pulse, and my brow furrowed with concern. She needed to be in surgery. There wasn’t much else I could do for her.
“I didn’t think I’d ever seen you here before,” he said. “But I recognized you and the sheriff. Next time let me know you’re coming. Your whole night will be on the house. I got a soft spot for first responders.”
I heard the sirens and breathed out a sigh of relief. “Just hang on,” I whispered to the woman. “Help is on the way.”
I looked up at Denaro and said, “You’ve handled this like you’ve done it before. There aren’t many people who can get shot at, have their business destroyed, and still keep their wits about them long enough to keep people calm and help where it’s needed.”
He smiled, showing square white teeth and bringing some charm to his stoic nature.
“Yeah, well, let’s just say my family has a few Italian mob ties. This isn’t the first time I’ve seen something like this.”
“You think this was mob related?” I asked.
“Nah, I don’t think so,” Denaro said. “I’ve been out a long time. My family and I live a quiet life here.”
I nodded, but tucked the information away so I could share it with Jack. “Anyone else you can think of that could do something like this?”
“Hard to say,” he said, shrugging. “I haven’t always been an upstanding businessman, but I keep my nose clean now and haven’t had any issues for a dozen years or so. We bought a place in Bloody Mary last year.” He rolled his eyes. “My wife watches too many of those home and garden shows. Thought we’d do better buying some old place in the country we could fix up. But I’m a city boy at heart. This place was my attempt to feel a little more at home.”
“It’s a great place,” I said and then I looked toward the door and saw Sheldon. The paramedics were right behind him.
“Madi!” I called out to the woman in the navy BDUs and matching zip-up shirt. She wore a ball cap to hold back her dark ponytail. I’d worked several scenes with her and her partner, Jeff. “We’ve got a critical!”
