The Vendetta Read Free Page A

automatically sorting through emergency scenarios in her head.
    “Not pain, exactly,” he said, his voice a mere croak.
    She played a hunch. “Do you have any allergies? Peanuts, shellfish, berries? Do you carry epinephrine or an inhaler for asthma?”
    “I don’t know,” he said, gasping, “Well, yes…peanuts. But I’ve never had a, you know, reaction…”
    Lisa looked into Sam Berger’s eyes, saw his panic and confusion. She leaned over to take his hand, squeezing it gently. “Don’t worry, Mr. Berger. You’re going to be fine. We’ll take care of you.”
    She released him and stood, looking for Kimmi. She spotted her by the photo gallery and motioned her over to speak quietly in her ear. “Kimmi, please call 911, now.”
    Kimmi’s eyes grew wide but she kept her cool and turned to the counter where the phone was. Good girl .
    The bell on the door jangled. Her boss, Ty Reynolds, walked in and Lisa’s heart sank. Ty was the worst person to have around in any kind of crisis.
    “Lisa, Kimmi, is there some sort of—”
    A choking gurgle came from Berger, and everyone in the room looked over as he slid to the floor. Lisa felt a jolt of panic stab at her stomach. She knelt and struggled to pull Berger flat on the floor next to the bench. With two fingers on his neck, she felt for a pulse. There it was, faint and thready. Come on, Cappuccino Man . She bent down, hoping to feel even a tiny bit of breath on her cheek. Nothing. She looked up and happened to meet Nick Carnavale’s silver-gray eyes.
    “He’s stopped breathing,” she said.
     
    * * *
     
     
    “Let’s move him over where there’s more room.” Ms. Schumacher— Lisa —spoke in a calm, firm voice. Nick positioned himself to slide his hands under the sick man’s shoulders. He and one of the other men lifted Berger and settled him on the floor so Lisa would have more room to maneuver.
    Nick backed out of the way as Lisa knelt and spread Berger’s shirt open across his chest. She leaned over him, her ear close to the man’s mouth. Positioning herself over his chest, she pressed his breastbone with a series of short, shallow compressions. Nick could hear her counting softly to herself.
    Lisa looked up again, but not at him. “Kimmi, I need you to take over CPR while I continue rescue breathing.”
    Nick glanced over at the other barista. Kimmi stared transfixed at Berger’s limp form. Nick tightened his jaw and held back, acknowledging to himself that he didn’t know what to do, and clearly the young girl did.
    Lisa leaned over Berger and breathed into his mouth. The man’s chest rose once, twice, and Lisa sat back.
    “Kimmi.” Lisa’s voice sounded sharp. She continued the chest compressions. “I need you. I can’t do this by myself. The EMTs could be as much as ten minutes away.”
    Frustrated by the girl’s hesitation, Nick opened his mouth to offer what assistance he could, but Kimmi finally broke out of the shock that had been holding her back. She stepped forward and knelt opposite Lisa. Lisa placed Kimmi’s hands on Berger’s chest while her steady gaze held the younger girl’s eyes.
    “Just think of it as another training exercise,” she said.
    Kimmi nodded and then closed her eyes briefly before she took over the shallow compressions from Lisa.
    Reduced to the role of spectator, Nick rubbed the back of his neck as he watched the two women at work. One thing he could say for sure, Lisa Schumacher was not at all as he had expected. As if she felt his eyes on her, she turned and looked right at him.
    Dio , that jolt of electricity zapped him every time her green gaze met his. It had hit him earlier too, when she had glanced up from her coffee preparations behind the bar.
    He wanted her .
    He rubbed a hand across his mouth in automatic denial. No .
    Her sunny smile and long honey-colored hair had intrigued him from the moment he’d walked into this little gallery-café, but it was the determined set of Lisa Schumacher’s