by Karen Leabo
“Not Marcy. We know she died of natural causes. I’m talking about the other four. Henry says he killed four women and stuffed the bodies down a well. He was trying to strangle Amanda Arkin when we caught up with him.”
Odell felt the blood drain from her face. Dizzy, she staggered before regaining her balance.
The man moved forward again. Odell tightened the grip on her revolver and pointed it at him. “No closer.” She could see the indecision playing on his face; he thought she was bluffing. Aiming just past his shoulder, she squeezed off a shot. The gun’s report was deafening. The bullet lodged in a wall, sending bits of wood and plaster flying through the room. Then all was silent. Even the baby stopped crying.
Now they knew who was in charge here, Odell thought smugly as she viewed the three pairs of wide, startled eyes. “Move away from the door,” she said to Marie—or whatever her name was.
The lady cop held her ground. “No,” she said. “If you know your way around guns, you know either Austin or I could shoot you without injuring the baby.”
“You wouldn’t risk it,” Odell said, although the gritty determination in the woman’s eyes worried her. Good Lord, how in the world had she ever assumed this cop was a young girl?
“Try firing that gun again and you’ll find out,” the man called Austin said, his voice grim.
“You would shoot me in cold blood for trying to save the lives of unborn children?” Odell said, shaking her head in disbelief. “What kind of people are you?”
Odell watched the lady cop closely. An understanding seemed to come over her face. After a tense silence, during which the players in this deadly game watched one another, sizing one another up, the lady cop spoke again. “If this is about saving lives, you wouldn’t shoot anyone,” she said. “You could kill all of us and escape with the baby, but escape to what? You can’t return to your home. Your girls are gone. Your nephew is in jail. Your brother has fled the country. You have nothing to gain by running and everything to gain by cooperating. As a fugitive, you can’t save any more babies.”
Odell weighed the cop’s words. If she ran, what would she be running to? She couldn’t start up her operation again, not without money, a home, or Travis’s help.
The baby began crying again, as if on cue.
“You’ve saved this one,” the woman said. “And Marcy’s baby. Doesn’t that count for something? Isn’t it enough?”
“I’ve saved three others, too,” Odell said, raising her chin in defiance. “But it’s not enough. Thirty-four. I must save...thirty-four....” The enormity of her task hit her then. She would never reach her goal now. It truly was over. And trading on this baby’s innocence by using it as a pawn wasn’t going to make her path to heaven any smoother—or slow her descent to hell. Before she even realized she’d given up, the gun slipped from her limp fingers.
The two cops rushed forward at once. The baby squalled, and Terri screamed again.
In seconds it was over. The baby was stripped from her grasp and given to its mother. Odell abruptly found herself facedown on the floor with a knee pressed into her back. Her wrists were cuffed behind her back with a strip of plastic.
Adding insult to injury, Bella trotted over and sniffed at Odell’s prone form, whined in confusion, then looked back to the man. The man absently scratched the dog behind her ears and, apparently reassured, she licked his hand. Damn dog. Loyal as a whore, Odell thought irreverently.
* * *
They were a strange little procession hiking through the woods. Odell was in front, silent and stoic. Caro walked slightly behind and to the side, holding Odell by the arm both to support her and prevent her from making any sudden moves. Austin followed, carrying Terri and the baby. Bella the German shepherd brought up the rear.
A legion of lawmen and two paramedics with a stretcher met them about halfway, much to Caro’s relief. She was more than happy to turn mother and newborn over to the medical experts. But she kept a firm grip on her prisoner, never mind what that did to her hands. Odell was her responsibility, and she wouldn’t let up until the woman was safely behind bars.
Austin fell in step beside her. “You’ve read Odell the Miranda, right?”
“Yes.” Ordinarily Caro would have taken offense at what would appear an obvious lack of confidence in her abilities. But in this instance she knew better. Having come this far, Austin was entitled to double- and triple-check every detail.
Besides, he was the lead detective in this case, a fact she’d rather conveniently forgotten when the tension was high. Letting her instincts rule, she’d run roughshod over everyone in sight, Austin included. But it certainly wasn’t because she didn’t believe he was capable.
She hoped he understood that.
When their procession emerged from the cover of the woods, cheers and whistles rang out. Amanda, who probably would have returned to the shack if the sheriff had allowed her to, now ran up to the stretcher and awkwardly embraced Terri and the baby. But the hug lasted only moments as the paramedics shooed Amanda away and headed for the ambulance.
Sheriff Fowles, easily identified by his shiny gold badge and a certain seasoned look, approached Caro. “Good work,” he said tersely.
“Thanks.” Caro wondered if perhaps they’d stolen his glory by capturing Odell and Henry without his aid.
“We’ll take her now,” he said, reaching toward Odell.
“No! I mean, I’d like to be in on the—”
“She’s all yours,” Austin interrupted, relinquishing his hold on Odell.
Caro turned to object, but the adamant look in Austin’s eyes silenced her. She watched as the sheriff escorted the prisoner to a squad car and assisted her into the back seat. A sinking feeling settled in her stomach—the comedown from her adrenaline high, no doubt.
“Our job’s done for now,” Austin said.
“Who’s going to interrogate them?” she asked.
“I will. Later. We’ll let the locals book them here for whatever, and then we’ll get Odell extradited to Dallas for the kidnapping charge.”
“I’m sure a few other police departments across the state will want to take a crack at her, too,” Caro said. “She’s kidnapped girls from all over Texas.”
“Don’t worry, we’ll get her first. But meanwhile...” He nodded toward the ambulance, where the paramedics were closing the rear doors on Terri’s stretcher. “You have an appointment with the hospital, I believe.”
“Hey, I’m okay—”
“Don’t even think about arguing. Unless you’d rather retire from the force with a disability. It’s kind of hard to be a detective when your hands have rotted off from gangrene—”
“Okay, okay.”
Austin waved down the paramedics. They took one look at Caro’s hands and stridently insisted she come with them to the emergency room.
A smug smile flashed briefly across Austin’s face but was immediately replaced with a look of concern. “I’ll clean up here and then I’ll join you, okay?”
“Don’t bother yourself,” she said, just to irritate him. “Do what you need to do.”
He refused to be irritated. “I’ll be there inside an hour. Don’t go anywhere. I don’t plan to chase you all over Texas a second time.” Then he leaned over and brushed her lips with his.
The kiss was unexpected, not to mention unprofessional. She was about to berate him for it, but somehow she couldn’t find the words. A few minutes later, as she rode in the back of the ambulance with a talkative Terri and her bawling infant, Caro realized she felt too relieved and happy to be mad at anybody.
The next few hours went by in a blur, thanks to painkilling wonder drugs. Caro vaguely remembered doctors and nurses working on her hands and her back, cleaning, medicating, bandaging her up like a mummy. She remembered dozing for a while in a waiting room. When she’d awakened, feeling a bit more lucid, she’d decided to visit Terri and the baby.
That was where Austin finally found her. He’d been gone much longer
than the hour he’d promised, but Caro didn’t begrudge him the time. Given the pandemonium that was reigning as she’d been carted off in the ambulance, she was surprised he’d broken away before midnight.
Austin took a brief statement from Terri, but her answers were less than complete. Clearly she wanted to put the ordeal behind her and focus on the future—her baby.
“Her name’s Sally,” Terri offered proudly. “Do you want to hold her?”
“Uh...”
“Oh, go on, Austin,” Caro said, hiding her smile.
Unable to weasel out of it, Austin cradled the infant clumsily against his chest, a dopey grin on his face, and Caro thought he’d never looked more appealing.
Promising to check on Terri soon, Austin and Caro left the room and headed down the long corridor toward the hospital’s front entrance. Now that they were alone, Austin had fallen oddly silent. It almost seemed that, without a life-and-death situation between them, he was ill at ease.
As they exited the hospital, two people waved at them from the parking lot. It was Amanda on crutches...and Russ, Caro realized with a start. She almost hadn’t recognized him with that big smile on his face.
“Daddy, that’s them, the ones who saved me,” Amanda said excitedly as she hobbled closer. She was smiling, too. In fresh clothes and wearing makeup, she looked much more like her picture. Other than a sprained knee and some bruises on her neck, she didn’t appear to be badly traumatized by her experience. “I’d introduce you,” she said, “but I don’t even remember your names.”
“We’ve met,” Russ said. He shook hands with Austin. “Thank you, Corporal Lomax. I understand you did a helluva job with this thing.”
Austin actually scuffed his feet. “Hey, no charge.”
For a moment Russ just stared at Caro. Then he opened his arms and enveloped her in a bear hug. “Thanks for bringing my girl home safe,” he whispered in her ear.
Caro awkwardly hugged him back.
“How’s Terri?” Amanda asked.
“She’s fine,” Caro replied. “I’ve never seen such a doting mother. She won’t let go of that baby for a minute.”
“She’s going to come live with us until she gets her life straightened out,” Amanda announced proudly. “Daddy said it was okay.”
“Sweetheart, she might not even want to come to Dallas,” Russ pointed out.
“Well, she’s not going back to live with her father, that’s for sure,” Amanda huffed. “He beats her.”
“No, we won’t let that happen,” Russ agreed in a soothing voice.
They all exchanged a bit more small talk before going their separate ways. Caro started to open the passenger door of Austin’s Bronco, then drew back in alarm. There were two huge dogs in the back. “Oh, Austin, you didn’t...”
Austin shrugged apologetically. “The sheriff was going to have them destroyed. They’re not bad dogs, once you get to know them. And I think Shadow might like having a couple of girlfriends.” He opened his door, reassured the dogs, then indicated that it was safe for Caro to get in.
She did. Oddly, she wasn’t the least bit afraid. If Austin said they were okay, she believed him.
They remained silent for the next several minutes. Caro’s hands were starting to sting again, and she took that as a sign that she was coming out of her painkiller fog. She had a bottle of prescription pills in her purse, but she decided not to take any. Better to put up with some discomfort than to feel like she had cotton batting wrapped around her head.
“I didn’t even ask you how everything came out,” she said, breaking the silence. “I felt kind of bad, cutting out like I did and dumping the cleanup detail in your lap. Then again, it is your case.”
“Is it? Could have fooled me earlier today when you were shouting out orders like a marine drill sergeant.”
Caro bit her lip. He was right. Without even thinking about it, she’d blithely taken over the situation, making decisions without even consulting Austin. And damn if he hadn’t let her, now that she thought about it. “Er, sorry about that. I guess I was going on instinct.”
He surprised her by laughing. “Caro, believe it or not, I didn’t care who was running things so long as the job got done—which it did. Being in charge ain’t all it’s cracked up to be. And if there’s any glory to be had, you can have it. I’m just glad it’s over.”
Caro could hardly believe her ears. Was this the same hot dog who’d resented her offer of help less than two weeks ago?
“I talked to Chief Raines,” Austin said, grinning. “He was pleased to hear you’d jumped in with both feet. He thinks he’s going to lure you back to CAPERS—maybe Homicide Section this time.”
She snorted. “Yeah, right.”
“So you’re just going to go back to your nice safe little Missing Persons work?”
Now that he mentioned it, the prospect was not all that appealing. After the mental and physical challenges she’d met since working on this case, the idea of sitting at a desk with a phone in her ear all day was less than alluring.
“You didn’t answer right away.”
“Yes, I’m going back to Missing Persons,” she replied testily. And she would think about putting in an application for transfer to CAPERS. But she wouldn’t tell anyone—not Austin or Tony or Chief Raines. This was a decision she had to make on her own.
Chapter 20
Phoebe the bloodhound nuzzled Caro’s ear from the back seat. Irritated, she elbowed the dog away. But she found it endearing that Austin had discovered a soft place in his heart for a couple of mutts who earlier today had threatened to eat him.
“Did you get Odell and Henry magistrated?” she asked, now that her mind was functioning again.
“Yeah. The judge charged them with kidnapping and false imprisonment, then gave me authority to transport them back to Dallas for questioning.”
Caro shook her head, confused. “Then why aren’t you there, questioning them?”
“Odell won’t say a word until she has a lawyer, and that will take a while. Henry...well, he’s not exactly in touch with reality. We sent him to the psych ward at Parkland for evaluation. Besides, I told you I would come to the hospital, and I wanted to do that.”
“I would have waited,” she said offhandedly. But it touched her that he’d thought it important to keep his word. “Any idea who has jurisdiction over this thing?”
“I imagine Clemson County will get the trial for false imprisonment. As for the kidnappings, all of the various DAs involved are going to get together and decide where the best place would be to try the case.”
“I hope they opt for one big trial rather than multiple trials all over the state. Otherwise we’ll spend the rest of our natural lives testifying.”
Austin nodded. “I think that’s the plan—one big trial.”
“What about the murder charges against Henry?”
He hesitated before answering. “Unless we can come up with some bodies, he probably won’t be charged. When I brought up the subject again, he acted like he didn’t know what I was talking about. He might have made the whole thing up. Like I said, he and reality are only passing acquaintances.”
“If he didn’t kill those girls, where are they?”
“Tony’s checking into it. Unfortunately, we don’t have their full names—Odell’s not talking.”
Caro mulled this over. Her gut told her there was something to Henry’s impromptu confession. If she could just talk to Henry for ten minutes, she would know. Maybe they would put him on medication at Parkland that would make him lucid again. Then she’d like a crack at him. She’d find out where those bodies were if she had to—
My God, what was she thinking? Images of Charlie Northcutt assaulted her. She could still hear the echo of her own voice... “Let me take a crack at him. I know he’s guilty as hell, I don’t care what his mother says. I’ll get a confession out of him if I have to pull it out his nose.”
“You okay?” Austin asked. “We can stop some pla
ce and get something to drink if you need to take some of that Darvon.”
“No, I’m fine.”
“No thanks to me, right?” He gave a halfhearted laugh.
Caro’s heart constricted at the thought of Austin blaming himself for her injuries, the kidnapping, the whole foul-up this morning. Although during her captivity she herself had harbored fond plans to punch Austin’s lights out, her anger had been fleeting—probably manufactured so she could focus on something other than her fear. Since she had learned what happened in the grocery store parking lot, she knew Austin wasn’t at fault.
She peered at him surreptitiously through her lashes, and what she saw on his face made her whole body ache, obliterating even the pain of her burns. He didn’t just feel guilty; he was consumed with self-blame.
At that moment she felt a connection with him so strong it took her breath away. As if she’d crawled right into his head, she knew exactly what he was feeling. She’d felt the same crippling emotions when she’d learned of Charlie Northcutt’s death. For four years she’d let the guilt rule her life, paralyze her, separate her from the work she loved. She couldn’t stand it if Austin allowed that to happen to him.
“I know it wasn’t your fault,” she said softly.
He looked like he’d just tasted something sour. “It was my operation. I was responsible for your safety. If not mine, whose fault could it possibly be?”
“No one’s. It’s just one of those things. What could you have done differently?”
“I could have gone after you the moment I lost voice contact with you,” he said harshly. “But no, I was so damn concerned about blowing our cover and ruining my brilliant plan that I let that crazy woman snatch you off the street right under my nose.”
“What did Tony want to do?”
“That doesn’t matter. The decision was my responsibility.” He took a deep breath and continued. “When I realized you were gone this morning, you can’t imagine what that did to me. I was really scared that something awful would happen to you, that I would never see you again, never get a chance to tell you—”
