She was halfway to the doors when she heard a scream. Mel jumped and glanced at Ray, checking to see if he’d heard it, too. His eyes went wide and as one they hurried to the doors.
Mel yanked the door open and stepped inside. Angie had hopped off of her stool and was hurrying towards the back of the bar. Mel followed. As she turned the corner, she saw Cassie standing beside a booth on the opposite side of the room. A brown-and-white scarf was just visible, hanging off of the bench seat.
“Mel, it’s Elise,” Cassie cried. “I think . . . oh my god . . . I think she’s dead!”
Eight
Mel ran, noting in her peripheral vision that Angie and Ray did, too. She got there first and one look into the booth and she knew Cassie was right to freak out. Elise was slumped forward onto the table, her face pressed against the wood, her eyes closed. The fancy pen she had been using to sign books was lodged right in her back.
Mel dove into the booth, thinking that maybe she had a chance to save her. How long had Elise been ahead of them? Five minutes? Ten? How long did it take to stab someone? Not that long.
She unwrapped the scarf from around Elise’s neck, she checked her pulse, she patted her cheek, trying to bring her back. Angie climbed into the booth on the other side. She put her hand in front of Elise’s mouth and nose, feeling for breath.
“I can’t tell if she’s breathing,” Angie cried. “No inhale or exhale, nothing.”
“Move aside, move over,” Ray ordered. “And call 9-1-1. We need to get her horizontal so that she doesn’t come to and have a fainting spell.”
He lifted Mel up and put her outside the booth. Then he carefully lifted Elise up into his arms and walked over to an empty pool table nearby.
Angie fumbled with her phone making the call while Mel and Cassie followed Ray, trying to be of help.
“Her wound needs to be above her heart, so she has to be on her side,” Ray said. Mel arranged Elise’s feet while Cassie adjusted her arms.
“Good,” Ray said. He moved the lamp hanging over the pool table so he could see Elise’s back. He hissed out a breath at the sight of the blood. Mel thought he looked a little woozy, but he shook it off. “Come on, author lady, don’t die on me. Not today.”
“The pen! She was stabbed with her own pen?” Cassie cried. “Should we remove it?”
“No,” Ray said. “Right now it’s staunching the blood flow from the wound. Someone get me a clean towel. We need to put pressure around it.”
Cassie rushed off towards the bar. Mel watched in fascination as Ray went to work, checking Elise’s airway, her breathing, and her circulation.
“I think she fainted,” Ray said. “Not a big surprise, and she’s likely gone into shock.”
Mel could hear Angie telling the emergency dispatcher the name of the resort and where they were. She stayed on the line while the dispatcher asked her questions.
“How did you learn to do all this?” Mel asked.
“I used to be a lifeguard at the public pool,” Ray said. “We had to take a lot of first aid.”
“What the hell is going on here?” a shrill female voice demanded.
Mel turned around to see Detective Tara Martinez standing there, looking furious at the scene in front of her.
“What are you doing here?” Mel asked.
“Stan sent me,” Tara said. “He’s on his way. What the hell happened here?”
“This is Elise Penworthy,” Cassie said. She handed Ray a clean towel. “Someone tried to kill her, and he’s trying to save her.”
Ray took the cloth and pressed it around the pen in Elise’s back. Then he patted her cheek, trying to bring her around. Tara bent over the table next to Ray and glared at him.
“DeLaura, what do you think you’re doing? You can’t just manhandle a person—”
A gasp, a cough, an enormous sucking sound came out of Elise’s mouth and Ray grabbed her shoulder to keep her from moving. As if he’d fished Elise out of the ocean, she began to suck in air. The color didn’t return to her face and her mouth twisted in pain, but she was definitely alive.
“I’ll be damned,” Ray said. “That stuff on the Internet really does work.”
“Sweet chili dogs,” Tara said. “The Internet? Are you insane?”
“Hey, I saved her, didn’t I?”
“Cassie,” Elise croaked. “Cassie.”
“Yes, I’m here.” Cassie knelt down to be level with Elise. She took her friend’s hand and asked, “Are you all right? Do you remember anything? Who did this to you?”
Elise’s eyes shone with a fierce light as she stared at the bookseller. “You did!”
Cassie’s eyes went wide. “What? How could you think— Elise!”
Elise’s eyes rolled back into her head and her body sagged.
Ray moved forward and checked her pulse and her breathing. “It’s all right. I think she just passed out again, probably from the pain.”
“Hey, over here!” Angie jumped up and down and waved her arms. “The ambulance guys are here!”
“Thank god,” Ray said. “I don’t think I can do this again.”
The emergency medical technicians took over for Ray and the group backed off. Tara moved so that she was standing beside Cassie. Mel knew that wasn’t a coincidence. Cassie, however, was so riveted on her friend’s condition that she didn’t notice.
They stood huddled in a group, watching as the medical professionals took over Elise’s care. They checked her vitals, and left the pen right where it was. She was hooked up to several machines, and then they were lifting her onto a stretcher. Once they were on their way, Cassie snapped out of her vigil.
“Wait! I’m coming with you,” she said.
“I don’t think so,” Tara said. “I’ve got some questions for you Ms.—”
“Leighton.
