by Desiree Holt
His own house was quiet, the only light coming from the bedroom. He’d make himself known, report on his nonexistent meeting, then help himself to a beer. Lord knew he needed one.
But as he made his way back to the kitchen and took a bottle from the fridge, a new rush of excitement coursed through him. Tomorrow would be his finest hour. Tomorrow his prize would be Dana Moretti. Little Carrie Nolan herself.
And once he had her, there would be no rushing. He intended to take a great deal of time with his little flower. No quick session in the truck with her. Like Leanne and Shannon. Oh, no. He’d bring her to the cabin where he could take his time with her. He was going to enjoy himself and he’d make certain she did, too.
Twenty-five years ago, she hadn’t cried out like the others. She’d been quiet, defiant, beautiful. Tomorrow, he would make her cry out in all kinds of ways. He was damn hard thinking about how she’d scream and yell. Maybe, if she was really good, he’d take the tape off her mouth and let her beg.
The idea of his little Carrie begging him to stop hurting her almost made him come and he had to grab hold of the counter to hold himself together.
Oh, he wanted her. Wanted her like he’d never wanted her when she was just a little bloom. Now, she was a full blossom, a flower that had matured just for his pleasure. He could hardly wait to see her again face to face. To watch her eyes grow wide with knowledge and fear when his hands wrapped around her throat and his thumbs squeezed the life from her. At last, he would finish the job he’d left undone twenty-five years ago.
Chapter Thirty-Four
The scene near Gaby’s house was organized chaos. The FBI agents had finally arrived and two men in dark blue FBI issued coveralls immediately went about their job with neat efficiency. Additional lights illuminated every area of the scene. In the center of it all was Gaby’s broken body. Blood-stained and bruised, it bore the signs of unbelievable sexual torture. Like the others, she’d been arranged with her head at an angle to show her broken neck.
Cole walked off into the shadows, pulled out his phone, and made the call he’d been putting off.
“We found Gaby,” he told Dana when she answered, not knowing any way to soften the news. He heard the hiss of an indrawn breath.
“Please tell me she was still alive.”
“I wish I could, darlin’. I wish I could.”
“Oh, Cole.” He could hear the tears in her voice. “I am so very, very sorry. How is her family taking it?”
“She doesn’t have much family,” he told her. “Her parents are both dead. They were killed in an auto accident a few years ago. No sisters or brothers. All she has is Grace and her uncle. And her friend Stacy, who found her.”
“Oh, my God.” Dana’s voice trembled. “How did that happen?”
Cole explained about the phone call, telling her how the perp had lured Stacy over to the house. “Nita called an ambulance for her, and she’s in the hospital, heavily sedated, under the watchful eye of her distraught husband and Barry Engler, Nita’s clinic partner.”
“That poor woman. Both of them.” She paused. “Are you still there? At the scene?”
“Yes. I wanted to let you know what happened and tell you again to be sure every door and window in the house is locked. Do not go out unless it’s with me or one of my deputies. Or someone I call you about.”
“I can promise you that. Believe me.”
“I’ll cut someone loose as soon as I can. I promise.”
“I’m fine. Really. They all have more important things to do right now, and I don’t plan to go anywhere.”
He wished he could be there with her, comforting her. Taking comfort from her. But he knew he’d be tied up here and then back at the station for hours. The FBI was present now in full force and everyone would have to be brought up to speed.
“I have no idea what time I’ll be through here. I was planning to head home when we’re done but that could be really late.”
“Cole, I can assure you I don’t think I’ll be doing much sleeping tonight.” A pause. “I’ll be waiting for you.”
A warm feeling coursed through him. “Then I’ll see you whenever.”
“Cole?”
“Yes, darlin’?”
“Be careful.”
“Always.” He clicked off.
Eventually he left Scott and Gaylen supervising the scene and went back to the station. He was weary in every bone in his body and the night was far from over. One of the rookies was manning dispatch and coordinating everyone out on the road. He sought out another young deputy, the one who was searching records for isolated buildings in the county.
“Find anything?” he asked.
“It’s kind of hard to tell, Sheriff,” she explained. “I have to pull up the property listings, then the topographical maps and try to match properties with aerial locations.”
“Get as much as you can,” he told her. “The FBI will have a chopper here first thing in the morning to start a search by air. I’d like to have a list going by then.”
“I’m working on it. The problem is, the county’s just full of ranches, big ones that have all these line shacks and cabins that haven’t been used in years. Mostly people have forgotten about them.”
“That’s just the kind of place our guy would look to use.” He sighed. “I know it’s a tedious job. Let me know when you need a break.”
“Yes, sir, but I’m fine.” She turned back to the computer.
He sat down behind his desk, put his feet up, tilted back his head and tried to sort out everything they knew. He ran down a quick mental list of the ranchers whose property held the most out-buildings and line-shacks. It was actually fairly small.
The first three people were, to his mind, the unlikeliest of the lot—Tate, Jed Nickels and John Garrett. John was more into the newspaper than the ranch these days, leaving it to his two sons. Besides, he’d been in town near or with Cole or Dana when at least one of the murders was taking place. That had his mind circling back to Jed and, much as he hated it, his Uncle Tate. Both men used ranch managers now to do most of the work, especially now that both of them were pushing seventy.
He cringed as the words of the profiler came back to mind, ‘sixty to seventy years of age.’ But Jed and Tate were the last men in the community who would ever get involved in something like this. They were pillars of the community. Visible and popular with everyone. He couldn’t see either of them committing these heinous crimes. Or, for that matter, being involved in a sex slave business.
Reaching in his drawer, he pulled out the current list of members of the chamber of commerce in High Ridge. Even people who didn’t live in town belonged to it. It was the ruling social organization of the entire county.
Flipping it open, he began slowly going through the list, using a pen to tick off names he’d go back to later. He was still engrossed in the list when there was a tap at his door and Scott came in, closing the door behind him. He dropped into a chair across from Cole, looking weary enough himself.
“I’d give a year’s pay for five minutes alone with this bastard when we catch him,” he spat. “This goes beyond sickness. This guy is insane.”
“Is Nita finished with the body?”
“Only the first pass. My guys and I followed her to Drowdy’s so I could hear what she had to say. The forensics men are still at the scene and the other two are waiting with Nita until she’s finished.” He raked his fingers through his hair. “Cole, this time it’s the worst. I’ve never seen anything like it, and I’ve seen a lot. “
“He’s escalating, and I think he’s getting desperate.”
“I think he’s losing control,” Scott added, “and won’t be satisfied until he gets hold of Dana. Then he’ll stop. She’s his final target.”
“Here’s another guess for you.” Cole showed him the book in his hands and explained what they were doing about properties. “Think about this. If he’s the one skimming from the human deliveries to feed his lust, he has t
o have a place to take them. A place to hide the bodies when he’s done with them.”
Scott stared at him. “I must be more tired than I thought. That should have occurred to me.”
“We need not only an isolated outbuilding, but a place to dump bodies without drawing attention. Or wild animals.” He dropped his feet to the floor and strode to the door. “Kelly!”
The young deputy doing the property search turned at the sound of his voice.
“Yes, sir?”
“We need you to check locations for one more thing. Wells. Not the kind with the pump above ground but the old ones. Those not used any more. Is there such a place to look?”
“Yes, sir. The water district should have a list going back fifty years. They’ve been tracking those old wells to seal them.”
“Good enough, Deputy. Don’t let me keep you.”
She grinned at him. “Yes, sir.”
He was still standing in his doorway when the front door to the station opened and Harry and Wanda came in carrying a huge coffee urn and a stack of boxes.
“Thought y’all could use some decent coffee,” Harry announced. “It’s all made and hot. We just need to plug this thing in. And that’s all the donuts and rolls I had. Lean pickings for breakfast tomorrow, but they’ll survive.”
“Harry, if you weren’t so ugly I’d kiss you,” Cole said.
They carried everything into the conference room and set it up on the long table. He and Scott each drew a cup of coffee and went back to his office. The two men drank in silence, just staring at each other across the desktop.
The hot brew settled through Cole’s system, washing away some of the fatigue and giving his brain a kick-start. But he felt as if he’d been up for days and discouragement sat heavy on his shoulders.
“Why don’t you take a break?” Scott suggested. “My guess is you’ve been short on sleep since the Pritchard girl’s body was found. Gaylen’s going to need a break pretty soon and if you’re dead on your feet, you won’t be able to give it to him.”
“I don’t know if I feel right about that,” Cole protested.
“Why not? My guys are wrapping things up at the Marquez house, and they’ll be back here before long. I’m going to the High Ridge Motel to crash myself.” He gave a short laugh. “Maybe if I close my eyes as soon as I walk in, I won’t have to look at that godawful spread. So go on. I’ll need you back here when the chopper arrives.”
“You’re right.” Cole drained his cup, crushed it, and tossed it in the trash. “I think I’ll do that. I’ll get someone to spell Kelly on the computer, check in with Gaylen, then get an hour or two of sack time.”
He stopped to call the hospital and learned Stacy Corona was still under heavy sedation. She’d woken up once and was so hysterical Barry had to put her under again. Her husband hadn’t left her side, sitting in the chair next to the bed clutching her hand in a death grip.
“I’ll check back in the morning,” Cole said before hanging up.
The circle of lives being damaged by this whole thing just kept widening.
After telling the deputy handling dispatch to call him in four hours, he finally headed out to the parking lot. He had to force himself not to speed as he headed for his house. In front of the house, he speed dialed Dana’s number on his cell and she picked up at once.
“Cole?”
“There better not be any other man calling you at this hour of the night.” He tried to inject a little humor in his voice.
She laughed softly. “Where are you?”
“In front of the house.” He beeped his horn twice.
“I’ll be right there.”
He wanted to see her. Needed to see her. He felt steeped in filth and needed her presence to cleanse him.
The front door opened, and she stood there in her sleep shirt, holding the phone to her ear, a smile playing on her lips. “You gave the right signal so get yourself inside.”
He was out of the truck and on the porch in seconds, stuffing his phone into his pocket. As if they’d been doing it forever, he reached for her and she wound her arms around his neck. The kiss was so full of fire he thought they would burn up just from touching each other. Lips and tongues and teeth collided. Hands explored bodies that pressed hard against each other. When they broke the kiss, they were both breathless.
“I think the first order of business is a shower,” she told him. “Let’s get the traces of the crime scene off of you.”
How had she known that was exactly what he needed? He let her lead him to the bathroom—his bathroom. Her small hands tugged at his clothes, unbuttoning buttons, unzipping zippers, unbuckling buckles. When his clothes lay in a heap on the floor, she let her eyes roam over him, taking in every detail. When she got to his erection, her eyes widened and she wet her bottom lip with her tongue.
“I had a little more than staring in mind,” he said with a touch of humor.
The pulse at her throat was beating harder. She reached around him and turned on the shower, then waited for him to step inside.
“Go on,” she urged. “It will feel good.”
“I know something that will feel better,” he teased.
“I’ll bet it will. Go on now.”
He stepped into the shower and was just lathering himself up when the door slid open again and she stepped inside, completely naked. The sight of her took his breath away. He remembered how those full breasts with their wide, dusky nipples felt in his hands. The soft curls covering her pussy sparkled with droplets of water, and he itched to slide himself into her hot channel again. When she turned to adjust the spray, he decided she had the finest ass he’d ever seen in his life.
Her hand trembled slightly as she took the soap from him, but when she looked at him, her eyes told him any fear she’d had was gone now. Slowly, she began to spread the lather over his skin.
Oh, lord. Oh, Jesus.
Whoever’s watching over me, I’ll be thanking you for the rest of my life.
Memories of the previous night washed through Dana as she looked her fill of Cole’s naked body. The sight of it made her mouth water—wide shoulders, narrow hips, flat abs, sculpted muscles. The heavy dusting of dark brown curls on his solid chest. And that magnificent cock rising from its nest of thick curls at his groin.
All these years, all the nightmarish episodes, and this man had walked into her life with the key to unlock her hidden sexuality. Not once had her body frozen into its protective mode, defying any attempt to coax a response. In the midst of this horrific situation, she had finally been able to get past her fears of intimacy. Because she’d found a man she knew she could trust implicitly not to hurt her.
His eyes burned on her skin as she stepped into the shower, but she didn’t try to hide from his gaze. Starting with his shoulders, the highest point she could reach, she worked the lather down the rich hair covering his hard chest and his dark brown male nipples. Down past his navel where she twirled her finger in the soapsuds, into the wiry hair surrounding the biggest erection she’d ever seen. When she reached his cock, she slid her soapy hands up and down, cupping his balls and teasing them with her fingers.
Drawing a strangled sound from him. “Maybe one of these days when I’ve had enough of you to take the edge off, I won’t be so much like a horny teenager the minute I touch you.”
He grabbed the bar from her and began to return the favor, soaping every inch of her. He lathered her breasts, pinching her nipples lightly. Moved his hands down her rib cage and forward over her stomach, then down to her already quivering pussy. When he slid two fingers inside her and she clamped down on him, he grinned. “You’re sure ready for me, darlin’.”
Ready? She wanted him to throw her down on the shower floor and take her there. She rocked back and forth on his fingers, lost in the waves of pleasure. She didn’t even tense when he slipped one hand past her hip to the curve of her ass and trailed his fingers through the hot crevice there. The dream burst into her head the moment he tou
ched the ring of her anus and a dark thrill coursed through her. Not tonight, but maybe soon.
They dried each other with frenzied haste. And then they were in his bed, exploring each other, touching every intimate place. He teased her with his fingers and his mouth, drawing moaning pleas from her. With two fingers inside her pussy, he rubbed his thumb back and forth over her clit. The heat building inside her was like a trapped animal screaming for release.
And then, when she was already half out of her mind with need, he stretched out between her thighs, gently opened the pussy lips with his thumbs and lapped the length of her slit.
Every pulse point in her body pounded, her nipples ached, her blood raced with electrified intensity. But then he closed his mouth over her clit and sucked. Hard. And without warning, her orgasm broke over her and she poured into his mouth.
He held her while she shook and trembled. His lips and tongue working her, drawing every last response from her. She was still panting when she pushed at him and moved so she could slide a hand down to find his cock, so thick she could barely wrap her fingers around it. Her thumb brushed lazily over the broad head, swiping at the tiny pearl of liquid. She lifted her finger to her mouth to lick his essence, drawing a groan from him.
“Better quit that, darlin’, or it’ll be over before it starts.”
Moving her hand away, he went back to teasing her, touching her everywhere. He kissed the line of her jaw, the column of her neck, the curve of her shoulder. He licked the hollow of her throat where her pulse had ratcheted up again.
He palmed each breast in turn, gently squeezing as he sucked her nipples, nibbling on them with his teeth and licking them with just the tip of his tongue. He cruised his tongue to her navel and licked the furled flesh before moving his mouth lower again.
“Do you like this?” He traced the crease of hip and thigh with his tongue then kissed the inside of each thigh.
“Yes,” she breathed, her hands fisting in the sheet.
“And this?” He lifted one leg to nibble the back of her knee.
