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“Marco,” Andrea replied.
“What about the kids?”
“Pete and I are getting them out of the rooms now. We’re going to bring them downstairs and leave the johns tied up in the rooms. Dante is standing guard over Marco and Gabe.”
“Got it,” I said.
I ran down the street, my heavy medical bag bumping against my leg, hampering my stride. I went around the back of the house because that door was open. I raced through a sorry excuse for a kitchen, down a narrow hallway into a living room. Four men lay on the floor in various stages of consciousness, hands and feet tied with zip ties and mouths stuffed with cloth. I raced past them and up a flight of stairs.
I reached the top just as Andrea and Pete led a group of children down the hall. The oldest looked to be no more than twelve. The poor little things looked so scared, but I couldn’t stop to comfort them. Two more men were lying on the floor, also bound. One looked like he had been punched in the face several times.
Marco knelt on the floor next to Gabe, doing chest compressions, then stopping to do mouth-to-mouth. He looked up when I knelt on the other side of his fallen teammate. “You have an AED in there?”
“Yep. Keep going while I set it up.”
I got the AED out of my medical bag and got it set up and started. I pulled out a cloth and scissors and said, “I need his shirt cut off, and I’ll have to wipe him down so the pads stick.”
Marco took the scissors without question and cut straight up Gabe’s T-shirt. I handed him the cloth, and he wiped down his friend’s chest. I placed the pads on Gabe’s chest while Marco resumed compressions. Once the AED was charged and ready, I called out, “Clear.” The shock caused Gabe’s body to jerk. I checked the small screen. His heart rhythm was better, but he was still in ventricular fibrillation. “Go back to compressions, but no mouth-to-mouth,” I said to Marco while I recharged the unit.
The longest two minutes of my life went by until I called, “Clear,” again. This time the shock brought back sinus rhythm, and I heard Gabe take a gasping breath. “Oh, thank God.” I breathed. “Get him into recovery position.” Marco rolled Gabe on his side while his friend continued to rise closer to consciousness.
Finally, I heard Gabe rasp, “Ow. Shit, that hurt.” Marco laughed, but there were tears in his eyes.
“We really should call an ambulance,” I said.
I could see the conflict in Marco’s eyes. “We can’t be here.”
“No ambulance,” Gabe croaked.
“You have to go to the hospital,” I insisted.
“We’ll drive him there,” Marco said. He looked up at Dante, who was standing behind me. “Have Pete and Andrea take the two Escalades with the kids and bring them up to that hospital in Little Egg Harbor. They’re waiting for us.” He tapped his comms unit. “Michael, reach out to our contact and let them know they can move in. And call the officer who gave us the tip and tell him to meet us at the hospital here. We have to have a cover story. Dante, you’re with us.”
“Aye, aye, Chief.”
I sighed. I knew I wasn’t going to win this argument. “Fine. But I get to drive the Charger back home.”
A shadow of a smile touched Marco’s lips. “Deal.”
27
Marco
I had just put the last of the cans of Guinness in the refrigerator when Gabe walked into my kitchen with a bakery box. “Where do you want the cake?” he asked.
“Set it on the counter for now,” I replied. “I’ll put the candles on it later.”
Gabe saw all the Guinness in my fridge and said, “It’s pretty funny that the Irishman has his birthday on St. Patrick’s Day. Do you think his mother planned it that way?”
I shrugged. “I suppose she could have. She is a nurse.”
“When is Liam supposed to get here?”
I checked my clock. “I told him to get here at eight. He thinks we’re going to be watching a movie.”
“Uh-huh,” Gabe said with a smirk.
I glared at him. “What’s that supposed to mean?”
