When McCoy called, Cole had been shocked to learn that Robo was injured and on his way to the clinic. The news that Mattie remained unhurt and that Isaac King was in custody steadied him, letting him think and move quickly.
McCoy had said there’d been serious blood loss, so Cole didn’t waste any time. He called Tess at her home, woke her up, and asked her to come to assist. Taking the stairs two at a time, he went to awaken Mrs. Gibbs. With King under arrest, he no longer feared for the safety of the kids, but he wanted her to be awake and alert just in case anyone came to the house.
Assured that Mrs. Gibbs had things under control, he started to head for the garage, but he paused when he spied Bruno waiting at the bottom of the stairs. Cole feared he might need a blood donor and decided the big dog should be close at hand.
McCoy had said Robo was in bad shape, so sedatives would need to be avoided. Tess would be busy assisting him, which meant he needed another person to handle Bruno.
Torn, he debated for a split second. On one hand, he wouldn’t want Angie to have to suffer watching Robo die if things headed south, but on the other, his daughter would be able to keep Bruno calm.
He knocked softly on her bedroom door, making Sassy bark from inside while Hannah told her to be quiet. Within seconds, the door opened and Angie peered through. “Have you heard from Mattie?”
She was still awake and fully dressed, as were the other girls. “I need help at the clinic for an emergency. We’ve got to leave right now. Can you come?”
Her eyes widened. “Sure. Let me grab some shoes.”
“Do you need me too, Dr. Walker?” Riley said, getting up from where she’d been sitting.
“No, you girls stay here and take care of Sassy. Riley, Mrs. Gibbs is awake if you have any concerns. Keep the outside doors locked.”
“Have you heard from Mattie about my parents?” Hannah said, coming to the door.
Cole had no information to share, and he needed to hurry. “I don’t know anything, Hannah. You girls stay here and try to get some rest if you can.”
Angie and Bruno followed Cole to the garage. After they all climbed into the truck, he shared more details. “I really need your help with this one. Robo’s been hurt, and he’s in bad shape.”
“Oh no! Dad, is Mattie okay?”
“She isn’t hurt, but I doubt if she’s okay, if you know what I mean. Robo is everything to her.”
“I know.”
Cole drove the short distance to the clinic. The cloudburst from earlier had slowed to a drizzle. Bruno hopped out of the truck, trailing after Cole as he hurried through the rain to unlock the front door. “Angie, if you’ll get a leash for Bruno and keep him close and calm, that would be great. We might need him as a blood donor.”
Angie grabbed one of the leashes they kept hanging near the door in the lobby and called Bruno over to her. After she snapped it onto his collar, he leaned against her for petting.
Cole flipped on the yard light that lit the front doorstep and then made his way through the clinic to the treatment room, turning on overheads as he went. By the time Tess arrived a few minutes later, he had his supplies lined up on the counter.
Tess headed over to their rack of lab coats. “Headlights coming down the lane. They’re here.”
Cole hurried outside, meeting the K-9 unit as it pulled up to park. Brody hopped out of the driver’s seat and ran for the back while Cole followed. As Brody opened the hatch, interior lights flicked on and revealed Mattie holding her dog. She was drenched, her dark hair framing her pale face in wet tendrils, blood smeared across her cheek where she’d probably swiped at tears that were still evident. She was applying pressure to blood-soaked gauze on the wound.
A quick assessment of Robo told Cole what he needed to know. Gums—blanched white. Demeanor—conscious but shut down in survival mode. Heart rate—rapid and thready. Breathing—rapid and shallow. Time was of the essence.
He squeezed Mattie’s upper arm in a gesture of support and tried to project confidence. “Has Robo ever had a blood transfusion?”
“Not that I know of. No, I’m sure he hasn’t. They would’ve told me.” She sounded terrified but steady.
Mattie will keep it together, he thought. It’s in her nature. “We’re going to have to give him some blood, and we don’t have time for blood typing. His first transfusion shouldn’t be a problem, and we really don’t have a choice.”
“Do whatever you need to, Cole.” Her breath caught.
He turned to Brody. “Let’s get him inside.”
Brody stepped forward. “I can carry him.”
“Let me take over with the wound, Mattie,” Cole said, ripping open a packet of fresh, sterile gauze. “You’ve done a great job.”
Brody hoisted Robo out of the back of the vehicle, and with Cole applying pressure to the wound, they walked in tandem toward the clinic while Tess held open the door. Cole directed Brody to the surgical table in the treatment room, where they laid Robo on his side. Mattie came around to hold him, smoothing the wet fur on his head.
First, Cole needed to staunch the blood flow. He removed the gauze, dabbing at the blood as it refilled the wound. He could see several of the wormlike vessels that had been severed. Grabbing hemostats from a nearby tray, he used gauze to soak up enough blood to locate and clip off the bleeders.
“Tess, let’s insert an IV.” Cole looked into Mattie’s dark, frightened eyes. She would probably do better if she had a task. Being careful not to dislodge the hemostats, he placed fresh gauze in the wound. “Take over the pressure again here.”
He showed Mattie how much pressure he wanted her to apply. Tess turned on the razor, which whirred as she shaved a patch on Robo’s foreleg. Cole grabbed the IV supplies from the kit he’d opened earlier.
“Hold the leg,” he told Tess. But when she grasped the foreleg to occlude the vein, it didn’t plump like it should. Robo’s veins were starting to collapse.
Cole clasped the leg himself, exerting maximum pressure while probing with the needle to try to enter the vein. He felt a wave of relief when blood dripped from the needle’s end. He snatched a pipette and took a sample, handing it to Tess. “Run a packed cell volume on this.”
Tess set up the test, and the noise from the centrifuge filled the quiet room while Cole concentrated on securing the IV catheter in Robo’s vein. When finished, he attached a bag of saline fluid to the tubing before hanging it from an IV pole.
The PCV test took about sixty seconds to complete, and the news was grim. Red blood cells per volume were below ten percent. He needed to start the transfusion now.
He looked up to find Angie, her face pale, squatting against the wall, holding Bruno and stroking his delicately shaped ears. She was doing a fine job, because the usually rambunctious Doberman was standing stock-still, watching his fallen buddy.
Cole grabbed a strappy red nylon muzzle and slipped it onto Bruno before the big guy knew what was happening. Cole murmured soothing sounds, stroking Bruno’s head and patting his chest.
“Let’s put him here on the treatment table,” he said to Angie, and they both lifted the dog up to the table. He went without protest while Angie took over the petting. Cole snatched up the contents of the other IV kit and found a full, plump vein underneath the short hair on Bruno’s foreleg.
Tess grasped the leg to stabilize it. Bruno flinched when Cole inserted the needle, but Tess held him steady, and it took mere seconds to establish the IV. Healthy, red blood flowed through the tubing and into the collection bag that Cole attached.
“Great job, Angie,” he murmured to his daughter, relieved that he’d made the right decision to ask for her help. “Tess, keep an eye on Bruno while I tie off some bleeders.”
“Give me a job too, Doc,” Brody said.
“Stand by, Ken. I might need to.” Cole hurried back to Robo.
The saline solution was building some volume in Robo’s veins, which would help carry the blood after they collected it. The gauze beneath
Mattie’s hand had become saturated with blood.
“I can’t sedate him,” he said to Mattie. “We’ll use a local.”
He injected lidocaine to numb the area around the gash. Robo’s limbs trembled, but he’d retreated into that space where wounded animals go to suffer. He didn’t even flinch as Cole pricked his skin numerous times.
He used internal suture to tie the clipped vessels one by one, removing the hemostats as he finished.
“We’ve got enough blood,” Tess said from across the room.
“All right.” Cole pressed the edges of skin together with gauze and looked at Mattie, reaching for her hand to place on top. “Light pressure now, here.”
At Bruno’s side, Cole stroked the Doberman’s head, telling him what a good boy he was as he closed off the IV flow valve and disconnected the bag of life-giving blood. Bruno looked a little sad about the whole situation, but he was bearing up while Angie stroked him.
“You’re going to be Robo’s blood brother now,” Cole told him, before turning to Tess. “Let’s leave the IV intact in case we need it.”
Cole hung the bag of blood on the pole, attached it to the IV tubing, and started the flow that he hoped would save Robo’s life.
“This should give him what he needs,” he said, trying to reassure Mattie.
Her tears had stopped, and the look she gave Cole was so full of trust that it set him on his heels for a moment. He considered the pressure he was under when taking care of this dog. Not only did he love this valuable animal, but he loved his handler as well. How could I ever forgive myself if I made a mistake?
He pushed the thought aside, unwilling to be distracted by it. “Let me take a look again,” he said, pressing her hand as he took over.
When he lifted the gauze square, the wound seeped slowly, but he felt certain he’d found and tied off the main vessels. He worked with needle and suture to repair the muscle layer, dabbing at the small amount of blood and feeling satisfied that he’d staunched the major flow. He asked Tess to get him the right suture for closing the skin.
By the time he finished placing the external stitches, enough of the new blood had dripped into Robo’s circulatory system that his gums were starting to show a light shade of pink.
Cole prayed the procedure would be successful, but they weren’t out of the woods yet.
“Mattie,” he said quietly. “Everything looks positive so far, but he could still have a reaction to the transfusion. I’ll need to watch him here at the clinic tonight.”
“I’ll stay with him.” She ran her hand down Robo’s side in long, firm strokes.
“Do you think you’ll need my help, Doc?” Brody asked.
“No, we’ve got this under control. Thanks.”
Brody was pulling his cell phone from his pocket as he spoke to Mattie. “Then I’ll have Garcia come give me a ride to the station and leave your unit here for when you need it. Call if you need me to come back.”
“Thanks for everything, Brody,” she told him, tears brimming in her eyes.
Brody shrugged, muttering, “He’s one of us,” as he stepped away to make his call.
Cole checked in on Angie. She’d succeeded in keeping Bruno on the table, calm and at ease while he lay there and watched the flurry of activity around Robo. “Well done, Angel. I’ll take out his IV, and you two can go home.”
“I’ll stay and help you clean up.” Her eyes were filled with nothing but respect, giving Cole hope that they’d found new ground to meet on. “Maybe I should make some hot cocoa for you and Mattie while you wait.”
Tess was busy cleaning, but she glanced up at Cole and gave him a quick smile. He figured she knew how much Angie’s turnaround meant to him.
Murmuring a thank-you to Angie, Mattie glanced down at her hands and clothing, a stunned look appearing on her face as if she was only then becoming aware of the bloodstains.
“I’ll lay out a pair of my scrubs that should fit you,” Tess said to Mattie. “You can clean up in the utility room.”
Cole headed for the kennels in back to get a dog cushion for Robo. While he was at it, he’d bring a few for them to sit on too. It was going to be a long night.
* * *
Mattie sat on a thick dog cushion, her back against the wall and Robo stretched out beside her. Cole had disconnected the bags of blood and fluid that had dripped into her dog’s veins, though he’d left the capped IV in place. Robo seemed to be asleep and breathing in a normal rhythm. Cole had covered him with a blanket, and he’d quit trembling. She rested her hand on his chest, relishing the slow, steady thump of his heart.
Cole sat on her other side, snoring lightly as he rested his head back against the wall. The others had gone home and all was quiet, but Mattie couldn’t sleep. She couldn’t shut down the adrenaline surge from the events of the evening, and she wondered how Stella’s interrogation was going at the station.
A knock resounded from the outside door, and Cole startled awake. “I’ll see who it is,” he murmured, getting up from the cushion beside her.
Within seconds, he ushered Stella into the room.
“How’s the champ?” Stella spoke quietly, as if not wanting to disturb the sleeping dog.
“He’s doing well.” Cole pulled up the rolling stool to offer Stella a seat. “I think it’s safe to say he’s going to be fine. Should be healed up within a few weeks.”
“I thought you’d want an update,” Stella said as she sat on the stool.
“Thanks for coming by,” Mattie said. “I was wondering how things were going.”
Stella nodded. “I figured you’d still be awake. Isaac King clammed up and won’t say a word, asked for a lawyer. But Solomon Vaughn has been singing like Frank Sinatra. He and King have both been charged with two counts of first-degree murder.”
Mattie was stunned. “Solomon confessed to killing both Luke and Tracy Lee?”
“That’s right.” Stella looked like she couldn’t have been more pleased.
“So what did he say?”
“Killing Luke Ferguson and Tracy Lee Brown was King’s idea.”
“I guess that isn’t a surprise,” Cole said.
“True, but Solomon did admit to his part in the murder. They sedated Luke with the xylazine and took him to Hanging Falls. By the time he came out of it, they forced him to climb to the area above the falls, tortured him with the whip and the letter carving on his chest, and then killed him with another dose of the drug. They buried him up there.”
“And their motive was Hannah?”
“It was more than that. Evidently Luke broke the laws of their society when he tried to tempt Hannah away from the group. That’s what he had to pay for—blood retribution, according to Solomon. Supposedly men have free will to stay or not, but women don’t, especially if they’re destined to become the leader’s child bride.”
“Good grief,” Cole muttered, his disgust evident.
Nodding, Stella went on. “Tracy Lee was in the wrong place at the wrong time. They knew someone had seen them taking Luke up to Hanging Falls, but it took a while to find out who it was and where he lived. That’s why we can charge them with premeditated murder for him too. They literally hunted him down to kill him. Sedated him with the xylazine and hanged him from a tree.”
Anger fueled by guilt shot through Mattie. “I wish Tracy Lee had told us what he knew. Things could have been different.”
“I know, it’s frustrating,” Stella said. “My guess is that Tracy Lee didn’t realize they’d seen him.”
“Don’t tell me we led them to Tracy Lee’s campsite.”
“They’d ridden up there trying to find him before. It’s possible they found his campsite while we had him in jail.”
Mattie felt defeated. It would take some time to work through her feelings about this one. “What will Solomon get for his confession?”
“He says he was coerced and wants leniency, but I guess that will be up to the prosecutor. I think he’s as manipulative, secretiv
e, and dangerous as King, so I’ve put in my two cents to go as hard on him as they can.”
Mattie hoped he would get enough years to last his lifetime. After all, this was two counts of first-degree murder they were talking about. And she never wanted him free to threaten Hannah again.
“Were any of the other men involved?”
“Solomon says not, but they were willing to give a false alibi for those two the day they went after Tracy Lee. We’ll probably file charges against several of the others for interfering with a police investigation.” Stella stood up from her chair. “I need to get back to the station. We brought in the entire community and are still in the process of interrogating them. Jail’s full to the brim. Ephraim and Abel Grayson seem the most willing to cooperate. They’ve been unhappy with King’s leadership for some time now. Brody and Garcia are still at the property, searching for evidence to build a solid case. They haven’t been able to find the records yet.”
“I should be out there helping them,” Mattie said.
Stella’s reply was quick and firm. “Your job is to keep our K-9 quiet so he can heal. We can handle the rest of it. We’ve gathered up riding boots from both men’s closets that should match the prints at Tracy Lee’s crime scene, and we’ve sent a half dozen whips of various sizes to the lab. Surely one of them will have Luke’s DNA on it. The case looks good, Mattie. We’ll be able to put these two scumbags away, even if Solomon recants his confession.”
Mattie stroked Robo softly on his side. “That’s good.”
Stella looked at Cole. “So you’re keeping Hannah overnight?”
“She’s welcome to stay as long as she needs to.”
“We’ll work that out with Child Protective Services. We plan to hold the men while we sort this out, but unless we find evidence of complicity, I think we’ll release the women and children as soon as we can. It’s different with Ruth, though. She might be charged with child abuse or conspiracy to commit child abuse. We’ll know soon.”
Hanging Falls Page 27
