ONE

      Paramedic Pete Stallings peered through the fat snowflakes in an attempt to find the spot along the Jackie Robinson Parkway where an injured man waited. The bright Christmas lights hanging from the streetlamps were almost obliterated by the falling snow.

      There!

      He yanked the wheel to pull over to the side of the road behind the squad car and threw the gearshift into Park.

      “Let’s go.” Ignoring the wet snow melting on the nape of his neck he hurried to the back of the rig. It was disconcerting to have the crime scene so close to his home in the Forest Hills neighborhood of Queens, but he thrust the thought aside.

      His partner, Kim Turner, was waiting when he opened the side-by-side doors. Together, they carried the gurney over the snowbank to where the uniformed officer was waving them down. As they grew closer, Pete could see the body of a man lying in bloodstained snow with a bleeding abdominal wound covered by a towel placed by the cop on the scene.

      “I need dressings, lots of them,” Pete told Kim. He was worried that an artery had been nicked and if they didn’t stop the bleeding soon, their patient would die.

      Kim opened their pack and handed over large squares of gauze. The man’s eyes were open, and Pete could tell he was trying to talk.

      “Take it easy.” Pete tried to sound reassuring. “You’ll be fine.”

      “Danger—keep her safe...” Their patient’s voice was so faint, Pete could barely hear him.

      “Who?” Pete couldn’t tell if the guy was delirious or not. “Keep who safe?”

      The man opened his mouth to answer, but then his mouth went slack and he closed his eyes without uttering another word.

      A chill snaked down Pete’s back and he resisted the urge to glance over his shoulder into the snowy field beyond. Was the assailant nearby? It was only three in the afternoon, but with the heavy clouds overhead it felt much later. The cops should have cleared the area, but he knew from experience anything was possible. He put pressure on the bleeding wound and leaned down to speak close to the man’s ear. “Who? Keep who safe?”

      Nothing. Their patient was unconscious. From the corner of his eye, he took note that Kim had started an IV. Fluids alone wouldn’t be enough. He quickly checked for a pulse. It was faint and slow, a bad sign. Normally hypothermia helped stop bleeding but it could also be dangerous if the patient’s temperature dropped too low.

      “We’re losing him,” he warned.

      “Logan! What happened? Who hurt him?” A female voice