Ally knew in her gut another poor victim had just been delivered from that warehouse. She texted the location of the massage parlor to Luckey. This was how Martin did it. He brought in girls from the airport and took them to the warehouse. From there they were driven to whatever vile place he picked. Yu Tan had been held at that warehouse. Before she could be taken to a place like this, she’d tried to escape and had been shot.
Those poor girls...
Wild with fury for what he’d done to them, Ally took off for the warehouse once more, to keep an eye on Martin. But when she reached the service station and pulled in, she saw that the black Ford Explorer had gone. Were there any girls being held in there tonight? Filled with anguish, she was too slow to realize two Caucasian men had approached her from the shadows. They were armed with assault rifles. “Get out of the car!” they ordered.
Her hands froze on the wheel. Time to use her wits. “I’m lost, looking for someone. Please let me go.”
Suddenly one of the men shattered the side window with the butt of his rifle and opened her door. Glass grazed her cheek. The other man dragged her out of the car and tied a foul-smelling cloth around her mouth. He pulled her across the highway to the gate, which he unlocked with a remote device. The man who’d broken the window held her purse and phone. She’d stumbled into a nightmare.
They took her into a small office and tied her to the chair behind the desk. The man holding her purse ripped through her bag and tore her wallet apart. “Well, look who we have here. Allison Forrester Duncan, age 28, five foot seven, eyes blue, address Crystal Mountain Road.” He whistled. “Ritzy. What’s a gorgeous babe like you doing slumming around here this time of night in that fancy car?”
Ally made sounds while the other man checked out her cell phone. “I’ll tell you what she’s been doing. She’s been spying on the boss and sending messages. He’s not going to like it when he hears about this. I’ll call him while you take her out back. Don’t rough her up too much until he tells us what he wants done with her.”
“We don’t have any more empty rooms.”
“Then throw her in with one of the girls.”
The man untied her hands and dragged her through another door. After leading her down a long hallway with doors on both sides, he unlocked one and threw her inside, knocking her to the cement floor. She heard a shuffling sound in the room before the door clanged shut.
A small vent to the outside near the ceiling prevented the space from being completely black. Over in the corner huddled a figure. Ally got up on her knees and made her way to her. In a minute the girl undid the cloth and it fell away.
“Xie xie,” Ally said to her in Mandarin. “My name is Ally. I’m here to help you. The man I’m going to marry is a policeman. Soon he will come and get us out of here. While we’re alone, tell me everything you can about what has happened to you.”
The girl broke into a spate of Chinese, speaking so fast Ally had trouble following her. They must have been there, talking, for an hour before they heard the door open. Someone shone a flashlight in their faces. Ally was jerked to her feet and dragged down the hall to the same office as before.
This time a light had been turned on. She found herself looking into the cold hazel eyes of a tall, dark blond, athletic-looking man. “So you’re Robert Martin, the dragon with the split yellow tongue. To refresh your memory, you’re wanted for murder, armed robbery and female trafficking. You’re without a doubt the most depraved man on the planet,” she spat out.
He gave her a stinging slap across the face that cut her lip and would leave bruises, but her outrage was stronger than her fear.
“You know how I can tell?” she asked, baiting him. “You reek of garlic from the cream you use. I can smell the stench from here. That’s what gave you away.”
His eyes narrowed to slits. “You’re the woman who duped my grandmother on the phone.”
“What happened to your adoptive father and aunt? Did you kill them, too? Does your grandmother know about that? Your days of rounding up female gymnasts like cattle has come to an end. You can kill me, but it won’t stop the Texas Rangers from putting you away for the rest of your unnatural life.”
He screwed up his face. “The Texas Rangers don’t know squat about me.”
“Want to make a bet? Who do you think received all those text messages I sent?”
A nervous tic played havoc with the corner of his mouth. “You’re lying,” he growled. “Who are you?”
“I’m the daughter of Lawrence Duncan, former ambassador to China for fifteen years, until last summer when he was recalled to the States. Your entire operation throughout Asia is going to be closed down, sending the hundreds of evil kidnappers who work for you to prison.
“Surely by now you must know you’re the top man on the FBI’s most-wanted list, Bobo. Or shall I call you Momo? Perhaps your greatest act will be to face the death penalty for your crimes against humanity. Thousands of families of female victims will cheer.”
His skin grew mottled with rage. He lunged for her and knocked her against the wall. Just before she blacked out, Rangers swarmed the room. She cried out Luckey’s name before everything went dark.
* * *
THE PARAMEDIC IN the ambulance finished putting in the IV. “She’s coming to, sir.”
Luckey hunkered next to her, holding her free hand. He kissed it. “Ally, sweetheart? I’m right here.”
Her head moved back and forth before her eyes opened. “Luckey...” Her voice broke with emotion. Tears streamed out of the corners of her eyes.
“It’s all over. You’re going to be fine, thank God. Do you know you captured Robert Martin single-handedly? Everyone from the warehouse is in custody.” Luckey had so much to tell her, he didn’t know where to start, but right now she needed rest and quiet.
“You got all my messages?”
“Every one of them. But I didn’t hear from you again after I reached the massage parlor, and I couldn’t figure out where you’d gone. By then the Rangers had taken over and had followed your leads. All I could do was obey my instinct and meet the guys at the warehouse.
“When I saw your car and heard you baiting Martin, I couldn’t get to you fast enough. You’re the smartest, bravest woman I ever met, but if you ever do this to me again, I swear I’ll die of a heart attack.”
“Please don’t do that. Now we can get married, right?”
He sucked in his breath. “Right, but I’d like to live long enough to enjoy the honeymoon.”
“Where shall we go?”
“I don’t know yet. I can’t think.”
“Wherever we go, let’s take the horses.”
“You’re a girl after my own heart. Now try to rest. We’ll be at the hospital in a minute. I’ve already notified your parents. They’ll meet us there.”
“I don’t want to go to the hospital. Just take me back to your house.”
The paramedic grinned. “You’re one lucky dude,” he said.
“You can say that again,” Luckey whispered back, before squeezing Ally’s hand. After kissing her cheek, he told her, “You need to be checked out by a doctor first. You took a big risk confronting Martin on your own.”
“When I thought of what he did to Yu Tan, something inside me snapped.”
“It certainly did.” Luckey smiled through his tears, so proud of what she’d done he was ready to burst. “I’m sure he’s never been taken on by a woman like you in his whole evil life.”
“I was thrown in a back room with one of the young girls. She gave me a lot of information.”
“I’ll get it from you later. You probably have a concussion and need to stop talking. Tonight Cy told me he thinks you’re in the wrong profession and need to come work with us. But I told him I prefer calling you Dr. Duncan. You’re the only woman I want.”
“All that matters to me is to be your wife.”
The ambulance pulled into the hospital entrance and she was rushed inside the emergency room. Luckey hung back while Beatrice and Larry ran over to her, before she was wheeled into a cubicle so the doctor could examine her. Her father lifted his head and the two men exchanged glances.
“Your daughter is one in a million. She brought Robert Martin down and deserves all the praise in the world.”
“Our daughter has always seized the moment. That’s her nature, to go where angels fear to tread. But it takes two to pull off this kind of a coup. She’s more than met her match in you, Ranger Davis. I don’t know how to thank you enough for saving her life.” Larry walked over and hugged Luckey. The moment turned out to be an emotional one for both of them.
Beatrice came out from behind the curtain and threw her arms around Luckey. “You wonderful man.” Her quiet sobs warmed his heart.
“If you’d seen and heard her stand up to Martin, you’d know where the definition of wonderful comes from.” He eyed both Ally’s parents. “I know it’s only been two weeks, but do I have your permission to marry her when she’s all better?”
“Do you even have to ask?” Larry murmured.
Luckey breathed a sigh of relief. “Just making sure.”
His three best buddies walked into the emergency room with smiles, and headed for them. There were more hugs all around. When her parents left to go join Ally, Kit pulled Luckey aside with the guys.
“I don’t think you know what you’ve done. We went into the grandmother’s house with a search warrant. That killer has a whole porn site set up for his base of operations, to the tune of twenty-five thousand clients.”
Luckey whistled.
“So far we’ve discovered he owns a dozen spas and massage parlors from here to Houston,” Vic interjected. “The one off Lamar Boulevard is being closed down as we speak. Twenty girls have been given their freedom.”
“That’s where he gets the money to keep funding his operations,” Cy theorized. “His poor grandmother had no idea. This is the biggest ring ever to be brought down. TJ is higher than a kite over what you’ve done.”
“Ally’s the one who led us to him, but there are two people who deserve the greatest credit.” The guys stared at him. “Dr. Wolff and Stan. I swear that our forensics experts help us get our man every time. Dr. Wolff found the DMSO cream on the girl’s sleeves. Stan found where it was manufactured. Those two deserve a medal.”
Vic eyed Luckey with a gleam in his black eyes. “Before this whole business is finished and put to bed, I suspect a whole lot of medals are going to be given out.”
Luckey got a lump in his throat. “Thanks, guys.”
Kit smiled. “We’ll get out of your way. Let us know when you decide to tie the knot. We want to be there. Unless you pull a Cy and get a judge to marry you on the sly.”
Luckey’s brows lifted. “I’m all for it, but that’s up to Ally.”
“TJ said for you to take off all the time you need.”
“Thanks, Kit. I’ll call him after the doctor lets me talk to Ally.”
He watched them walk out of the emergency room. No man ever had better friends.
In a few minutes Ally’s parents hurried toward him. “The doctor is sending her to room 312,” Beatrice explained. “You can see her up there. He’ll keep her in the hospital through tomorrow night for observation. She has a light concussion, but he’s certain she’ll recover without complications. Larry and I are going home, but we’ll be back tomorrow.”
The good news helped him to relax. Luckey gave Ally’s mom another hug before they left the emergency room. While Ally’s parents headed for the parking lot, he found the bank of elevators and pressed the button for the third floor. When he reached the nursing station, he asked if housekeeping could bring a cot to room 312. He had no intention of leaving Ally for any reason.
She still hadn’t arrived when he entered the room. Deciding to take advantage of the time, he texted TJ to let him know he was at the hospital with Ally and all was well. It was 5:30 a.m. His boss had to be asleep, but he’d see the message when he woke up.
Next, Luckey texted his parents and Randy to let them know the case he’d been working on had been solved and he’d get back to them later in the day with all the news. There was no point telling them about Ally. They’d hear everything later.
Finally, he fired off a text to Art, the teenager next door, asking him to take care of Persey until further notice. Luckey had barely finished it when Ally was wheeled into the room.
“Luckey...” Her smile lit up his universe.
It didn’t matter that she had a cut lip. She was so breathtaking he would always marvel.
“Sweetheart.”
“I have to stay here until tomorrow. Please don’t leave me.”
“As if I would.” No sooner had he spoken than his cot was delivered. While he set it aside, a nurse came in to make Ally comfortable and take her vital signs and check the IV put in during the ambulance ride. After typing the information into the computer, she left them alone.
Luckey drew the chair over to Ally’s side and clasped her free hand, kissing the palm. “I just spoke to your parents. They’ve gone home to get some sleep, but they’ll be back later.”
“I know. I’m glad we’re alone. If you don’t mind, I want to talk to you about something very serious.”
His heart lurched. “What is it? Did that monster do something else to you I don’t know about?”
“No...” She shook her head. “This has to do with you and me. Please hear me out.”
Ally... “Tell me.”
“Tonight I realized how fast a life can be snuffed out. In an instant anything can go wrong. That girl at the warehouse. One minute she was walking home from school. The next minute she was kidnapped and her world turned upside down.” Ally squeezed his hand hard. “Every moment is so precious I don’t want to waste a second. If you really want to marry me, would you be willing for us to get married here in the hospital?”
His mind reeled back to Kit’s earlier comment about Cy getting married to Kellie on the sly because they couldn’t wait.
“What if you and I only have a few days together before something happens to one of us?” She lifted her head off the pillow and turned to him with urgency. “What if we only have a week or a month? I don’t want to plan a big wedding that takes forever. The important thing is to be your wife right now. When the doctor releases me, I want to go home with you to your house, belonging to you in every way. We can use the nurses for witnesses. That way no one in our families, on either side, gets hurt because we didn’t include them.”
Ally was deadly serious. He felt it and saw it. They were soul mates. The joy her words brought left him close to speechless.
“Tell you what. If you’ll go to sleep now, I’ll see what I can do to arrange it.”
“Promise?”
“What do you think?” He leaned over to kiss one side of her mouth.
Before long he could tell she’d fallen asleep. He pulled out his cell and called information for his friend Judge Montoya. Good old Montoya always helped out in a crisis. This was Luckey’s biggest one to date.
His call rang through to the judge’s office voice mail. Luckey identified himself and asked him to phone back ASAP about performing a quick marriage for him and Ally at the hospital. He knew it would be on a Tuesday, but would he do it? That would get his attention in a big hurry.
After clicking off, Luckey opened the cot and pulled off his boots. He whipped the pillow into shape, then stretched out with a deep sigh, facing Ally.
The judge called back late the next day, while Luckey and Ally were eating dinner with Ally’s parents. After he explained his dilemma, the Judge said he could arrange for a spec
ial license for them. But the ceremony would have to take place tomorrow morning at eight before he went out of town. Luckey thanked him and clicked off before letting out a whoop of excitement.
“Will he do it?” she cried.
“Eight o’clock in the morning.”
“You’re serious.”
“It’s too late to take back what you asked for.”
“I can’t believe it!”
“Ally—while your parents are still here, I’m going to leave to do some errands and run home to shower. I’ll be back tonight.”
“Okay. But hurry!”
He brushed her lips gently with his own before he left the hospital. His world was about to change forever.
Chapter Twelve
By six in the morning Ally was wide-awake. This was her wedding day! She felt fantastic. The bump on the back of her head was disappearing. Her IV had been removed. She looked over at Luckey, who lay sleeping on the cot.
Her clean-shaven Ranger had come back to the hospital late last night. He was wearing a cream-colored shirt and black pants she hadn’t seen before. They’d said only a few words and kissed before they’d both fallen asleep.
One of the nurses came in with a new flower arrangement and handed Ally the card. It was written in Luckey’s hand. “For my beautiful bride on our wedding day.” She buried her face in the flowers and shed tears of joy before the nurse put them on one of the carts.
Ally’s parents arrived. Her mother had brought a fresh change of clothes for her to wear home from the hospital. A clean pair of jeans and a print blouse would be her wedding attire. With the other woman’s help, she went to the restroom and showered. When she came out, they ate breakfast. They arranged that Luckey would take her home from the hospital.
Ally told the nurse that a circuit court judge would be arriving soon, because she and Luckey were getting married within the hour. Would she please find another nurse and both stand as witnesses for the ceremony?
At twenty to eight Luckey woke up. He sat up with a jerk, as if disoriented. Ally’s parents smiled.
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