"Tori, please tell me why the fucking hell the bar is throwing a party in the middle of the week?" my best friend Cora sighs as she leans against the counter.

"I don't know why Miss manager, ask the owner Mr. Rosario whatever his last name is," I sass back at her. "By the way, I need to leave by midnight so I can get some sleep before going in for work."

"Oh yeah, I forgot some of us have a day job," she chuckles. "How's it going at the new place, elementary right?"

"Yeah, the students there are so adorable and so sweet," I gush. Back in January I was transferred to Maple Creek Elementary to be their school nurse and there's so much I've heard about the school, and not everything was in a positive light.

The last principal that was there and a teacher was connected with the mafia and a teacher plus her adopted son was caught up in the whole mess. That teacher I haven't seen yet because she's apparently on maternity leave but I have seen her kid, Wren Beckett.

"I can't believe the school board just transferred you all of a sudden," she points out.

"I don't see why you're complaining. Since I had to move back to Toronto, you call me whenever you need a hand at the bar," I say pointing a finger back at her.

"Yeah, I'm taking advantage of this as much as I can," she snickers.

"You're lucky that we're best friends otherwise I wouldn't step outside for you," I say rolling my eyes. Being friends for the last couple of years entitles her to ask me for some favours. "So what's this party for?" I ask, wiping a glass and placing it on the counter.

"I don't know, but the owner said that a client of his is throwing a birthday party or something along the lines. He just told me to bring out the best alcohol for him," she answers.

"It's amazing how you were able to keep this job until now," I sigh.

"Everyone listen up," a voice calls out. The owner walks onto the bar floor, dressed in a dark suit a commanding aura surrounding him. Whenever I see him I always feel like he might be in some shady business. As nice as the bar is, there are times I worry about Cora's safety. "Tori, I didn't realize you'd be helping tonight," he says in a gruff voice once he notices me.

"Cora said you guys might need a hand tonight though I'm only here until midnight," I reply.

"That's fine. As for the rest of you, we're getting an important client tonight, and I want the service to be top class and if any of you try to pull some fucking shit, you'll be cut from the job," he threatens. "Get back to work, they'll be here soon."

"Have I ever told you you're boss can be a bit scary," I tell Cora once he leaves.

"He's a total softie girl. I know he might look intimidating and he is pretty much all the time but honestly, he's a good boss so you don't have to worry," she tells me as one of the employees calls her name. "Duty calls, I'll be back in a bit. You know Cruz right? You'll be bartending tonight with him," she says nodding to the guy that's putting bottles of wine behind the counter. He gives me a head nod before going back to what he's doing.

"Got it, now you get out there and deal with your bosses guests," I say shooing her away as I fix my white button-down and back skirt. People start to enter the bar and after an hour passes the room is packed with people dressed in the most skimpiest of clothes to business wear. I see the owner sitting in the v.i.p section of the bar with an asian man, looks to be the same age as him.

"Tori, can you shake this and then pour it in the glass?" Cruz questions as he passes me a cocktail shaker once I've passed a glass to one of the patrons sitting at the counter.

"Yeah, I got it," I tell him as I take the shaker. The only reason I help Cora out with the bar work is because she knows I did a bit of bartending a couple of years back when I was c so it's not something new to me.

"You got some fine skills miss," a man sitting across from where I'm standing tells me. "Mind telling me where you learned?" he says with a drunken leer. Damn, are people already getting drunk?

"Sorry, I don't share secrets," I tell him with a coy smile.

"We can go somewhere else later and we can share secrets then," he says with a smirk. Fuck, fucking disgusting.

"I'll have to decline on that sir, sorry," I tell him as I pour the drink from the shaker into two glasses. I slide the drink over to Cruz who passes them to a couple sitting across from him.

"Tori, I need your help with something. You mind taking this up to the v.i.p section?" Cora asks as she holds up a bottle of alcohol.

"Yeah sure, it'll give me a small break. I'll be back in a bit Cruz," I tell him as I leave the counter.

"You're a lifesaver. I would have done it, but I have something else to do so I'll leave this to you," she says as she passes me the bottle before sauntering off into the crowd. I weave through the people in the bar, some that are making out, other's dancing to the music.

I'm five steps away from the lounge when a single shot goes off in the bar. The music is cut and everyone is running around. Employees are running to hide and everyone else is running out of the bar. I quickly move to hide and after a couple of minutes, I peek over the table.

I look around the empty bar, the only people left now are us, employees. My eyes fall near the front of the bar and as soon as I see who's slumped onto the floor, I'm up and running. I hear Cora screaming my name from somewhere behind me but at this moment, my nurse instinct kicks in.

"Hey owner, can you hear me?" I ask moving his suit jacket.

"What happened?" I hear Cora ask from behind me.

"Call for an ambulance, I'm going to try and stop the bleeding," I instruct. I unbutton his shirt and see the wound on his upper rib. "Does anyone have material, could be anything but preferably a long one?" I yell out. I hear someone say they do, and they pass it to me.

"Need me to lift him a bit?" Cruz asks stepping up beside me.

"Yeah, I need to wrap this around him and tighten it's pressured as we wait for the EMS to come," I tell him. Cruz lifts his upper body a bit, and I make quick work wrapping the material around him and tie it as tight as I can. I put my fingers under his neck, and I count his pulse. "Shit, it's getting weak, where the fuck are they?" I mutter to myself. Just as I say that I hear sirens coming down the street. It's not even a minute later the EMS are rushing into the bar with a stretcher and their machines.

"Is this the victim?" the female EMT asks me.

"Yes, he has a bullet wound at the ribs and I did a tourniquet to put some pressure on it," I tell her as she and her partner lift him onto the stretcher.

"Are you a doctor?" she asks as she quickly straps and oxygen mask and heart monitors on him.

"I'm a nurse," I say correcting her as I stand up.

"Do you mind coming with us then?" she questions.

"Yeah, I'll go," I tell her. As we're rushing out Cora hands me my phone gesturing for me to call her later. No doubt she'll also be busy answering police questions. The EMT quickly loads him onto the ambulance and once we're all in, we're soon speeding down the street.

"His pulse is dropping," the female EMS announces.

"It was dropping in the bar too. I don't know if the bullet severed something major," I tell her. Just as I tell her that the heart monitor flat lines and the EMT quickly jumps into action, throwing the small keyboard she had in her hand as she gives him CPR.

"C'mon owner, you never seemed like a quitter so don't quit now," I say under my breath as I watch the female EMS continue to give him CPR. Two minutes pass of her pressing on his chest before the heart monitor comes back to life, the heartbeat weak.

"We're almost there, another thirty seconds," the male EMT driver tells us. The ambulance turns into the emergency section of the hospital, parking at the front door. He quickly gets out opening the back door and helping me out as they make haste to get the stretcher out. We push the stretcher and nurses and doctors meet us at the front door as they rush him off to surgery.

"You know, if it wasn't for you giving him first aid at the scene, I don't know if he would have made it," the female EMS tells me once they're out of sight.

"I am a registered nurse and if I wasn't able to do something like this, I might as well have my license revoked," I tell her.

"That is true, do you know the information of the victim?" she questions.

"I don't since I only go there occasionally but my friend is a manager there so she should know," I reply as I unlock my phone. "Nevermind, she already texted me his information," I tell her as I hand my phone over to her. She takes it from me as she notes down all the necessary information. As I wait for her to finish, I hear my name being called and I see my other friend Haruto, Cora's boyfriend, looking at me in surprise.

"Victoria, what are you doing here? And is that your blood?" he asks looking me over in concern.

"No, not mine. There was a shooting at the bar, and the owner was the victim. Cora is okay though so don't worry," I say to reassure him.

"Shit, I'm going to call her now but did you want to change out of your clothes? There should be a spare uniform in your locker right?" he asks. Besides occasionally helping at the bar, I'm also an emergency on-call nurse. After I finished my internship here back in college they offered me a job here to become a full-time nurse after university. I declined but I told them that if I was ever back in the city, I'd contact them about being an on-call nurse and here I am.

"Yeah, I'll do that," I tell him. "Am I good to go then?" I ask the female EMS as she hands me back my phone.

"You can go change but a police officer is coming here to question you. What's your name?" she questions, pen still in hand.

"Victoria Marshall."

✘✘

"You heading out now?" I ask Haruto as I take a seat in an empty corner of the waiting room.

"Yeah, I need to go see Cora but I will keep you posted on the owner's surgery," he tells me. "Besides, I think the police officer that's suppose to talk to you is coming this way." I look around him to see a tall structured man with a stony face, tattoo's crawling up his neck and onto the side of his head.

"Oh shit," I say under my breath.

"I see that face Victoria," Haruto tells me.

"Not the right situation but he has to be the sexiest man I've ever seen," I mutter to him.

"And now you'll be talking with this sexy man, best of luck," he says with a wave of the hand. He nods his head at the officer as he walks past him and the tattooed officer stops in front of me.

"Victoria Marshall?" he asks, his voice so husky and low I feel my face flush. Down girl, not the fucking time. "I'm Officer Jason Carter. I have some questions for you."

✘✘

A/N What's up everyone! Just twelve hours ago The Ex-Convict ended but I surprised you all with the fact Jason would be getting his own story. Now I know some of you probably thought I'd write from Jason's p.o.v but I decided to go with Victoria's. I know you're all wondering what's going to happen from here, well, you'll have to wait and see.

So far we've met Victoria's friends Cora and Haruto and Jason finally arrived but just at the end of the chapter. Don't worry my loves, we'll see more of him in the next chapter.

What did you guys think of the chapter? Be sure to leave your thoughts in the comments!!!