by Desiree Holt
Even letting the monster grope her wasn’t so bad as long as she let her mind go somewhere else. Pretend it wasn’t happening. She looked at the ceiling made of chinked logs and began counting each of the logs. When she’d counted them twice, she began on the walls.
“If you think your lack of response will make me stop, little girl, you’re very much mistaken. It does, in fact, urge me to more bizarre actions to stimulate you.” He gave that high cackle again she was familiar with. “But that will be lots of fun, won’t it, little girl? I didn’t tape your mouth like I did the others, you know. If you are to be my last enjoyment, I want to hear every exciting scream.”
He walked over to the dresser, opened a drawer, and took out a large box. When he came back to the bed and showed her his toys, she finally knew real fear.
****
They crept slowly through the trees, watching for the sensors through the NVGs. Cole said they’d be on the surface, made of metal and easy to spot with the goggles. As they got closer to the cabin, the little dots of titanium began to glow in the green light.
Calling on memories from years before, Cole led them in a zigzag pattern avoiding the sensors and taking them around to the front of the cabin, which faced away from them. Tate’s truck was parked in the small clearing. Light from one lamp spilled into the woods, and they crouched low, scuttling below the window to avoid being seen.
They had just tiptoed up to the porch when a scream split the night and Cole’s blood turned ice cold.
****
Dana watched the man as he moved about the cabin. Every so often, he’d stop by the bed, reach over and pinch her nipples. The pain was so bad she couldn’t stifle the scream that ripped from her throat.
“I love that sound,” he crooned. “And I’ve just gotten started. Oh, yes, I expect you’ll be screaming until the lovely little throat is raw.”
When he picked up a single razor blade, Dana felt the nausea rise at the back of her throat.
“There was a little girl who had a little curl, right in the middle of her forehead…”
Tate Bishop was so busy focusing on her, he never heard the door crash in until it was too late.
Cole leaped on him like a madman, knocking the razor blade loose. His hands were around Tate’s throat, squeezing, squeezing, squeezing. Tate tried to grab his wrists and pull him away, but Cole just squeezed harder.
Dana tried to turn her body to hide her nakedness from the stranger who entered with Cole, but he got to her first and covered her with his jacket. Tears rolled down her cheeks, tears of relief as much as pain.
“Cole. Cole, damn it.” The stranger pressed his arm around Cole’s neck to pull him back, at the same time yanking his radio from his belt. “Come in, everyone. Jesus, get your asses here right now.”
“I’m going to kill the bastard.” Cole’s voice was rough and thick. “I’m going to fucking kill him.”
“Think of Dana.” The man pulled harder. “Cole, look at her. She needs you. Come on, man.”
“Cole?” The word came out as a croak from her raw throat.
Cole blinked hard, looked at her then slowly released Tate and moved to the bed, leaving the stranger to cuff Tate. “Oh, Dana. Oh, sweetheart. Jesus, God. Let me get you out of here.”
He pulled out a pocketknife, opened it, and sliced through the ropes binding her. Then he picked her up gently in his arms.
“Scott.” He shouted at the other man in the room. “Get that damn chopper to land in the clearing. I need to get her to the hospital. Now.”
“On its way.”
Cole’s lips landed all over her face, showering her with soft yet desperate kisses.
“I’ll be all right,” she tried to assure him. “I just need…a little time to heal. I held on for you, Cole. I knew you’d come for me.” More tears ran down her face.
She could tell he wanted to hug her so tightly neither of them would be able to breathe, but he was restraining himself, not sure how badly she was hurt. And the rage in his eyes was a terrible thing to see.
“I told you,” she assured him, her voice still raw. “I’ll be all right.”
“Why isn’t that chopper here yet?” he yelled.
Even as he spoke, they all heard the whir of the rotor blades and the roaring sound as the bird set down. Then Cole was running from the cabin with Dana in his arms, protecting her from the rotor wash as he lifted her into the chopper, setting her on the seat while he climbed in after her.
“Get this thing up in the air,” he told George. “You can radio Salado General. They’re set up to accept Life Flite so I know they can handle us. Do you need their frequency?”
George shook his head. “Gaylen got us all set up just in case.”
Just before he increased the speed of the blades, they heard Gaylen yell, “Hey, Scott. Your men need to see what’s back here. If you aren’t sick yet, you will be in a minute.”
****
A medical team was waiting at the helipad on the roof of Salado General hospital when the chopper set down. They raced forward and literally pried Dana from Cole’s arms, placing her gently on the gurney. Before he could climb down himself, they’d rushed her through the glass doors. He waved at George before hurrying after them. He had to stop someone to find out where the trauma center was, then fumed impatiently as he waited for the elevator.
He nearly wore out the tile in the trauma waiting area pacing in front of the treatment room where doctors were checking Dana over. Luckily, they’d gotten to her before she suffered any real injuries, but they wanted to make sure the chloroform was out of her system and that none of her bruises were serious. He was sorry Scott had pulled him away from his uncle. When he saw Dana on the bed, tied and naked, the killing need in him had been so strong a red haze clouded his vision.
The agent had been right, of course, to point out that Dana needed him. A lot of good he’d do her sitting in jail for murder. But now they’d been at the hospital for more than an hour and no one would come and tell him a thing. About the time he was ready to storm the room and to hell with the consequences, a woman in scrubs and a white lab coat came through the swinging door.
“Sheriff Landry?”
“Yes.”
“I’m Dr. Hallowell.”
He was almost afraid to hear what the doctor had to say. “How is she?”
She gave him a tired smile. “She has a lot of bruising over her body from her breasts to her thighs. But from what she tells me, you got there before he could do any real damage to her. Any worse damage,” she corrected herself. “I gave her a shot for pain, just in case.”
Cole had to swallow twice to keep from being sick.
The doctor shoved her hands in her pockets. “She told me she was the only survivor of his victims twenty-five years ago. I’d recommend she see a therapist after she’s released. This is a shattering experience for anyone. In her case, she’ll need all the help she can get just to get through it.” She tilted her head and looked up at him. “May I ask what your relationship is with her? It’s obviously well past the official stage of sheriff and victim.”
“I’m going to marry her.” He hadn’t known it until that moment, but he felt the rightness of it clear through him.
She gave him a hard look. “I see. Well, then. I hope you’ll be able to give her the love and support she’ll need. She’s been through a horrendous ordeal. She may have some latent issues resurface…”
“I’ll do whatever is needed to help her on the road to recovery. Both physically and mentally.” His voiced grew louder. “Are we clear on that?”
“Sheriff, I have perfect hearing. It’s not necessary to shout.” She smiled. “I get the message.”
“When can I see her?” he demanded.
“She asked for you several times. I think she’d feel better if you were with her. You can—”
Cole brushed past her and pushed his way into the room. Dana was lying on a treatment bed, eyes closed, her skin whiter than the she
ets. He pulled a rolling stool over, sat down, and took her small hand in his.
“We got him, darlin’.” He lifted her hand, kissed the knuckles. “He’ll never hurt you or anyone else ever again. And it’s all because you wouldn’t quit. Because you came back here and stirred things up. You get full credit for this.”
She moaned softly.
“I’m so sorry I sent him to you. I didn’t know. I swear it. I thought I was keeping you safe. I love you, Dana. Is it fast? Sure. But it doesn’t have to take a long time to fall in love. My plan is to take care of you for the rest of your life.” He squeezed her hand.
She squeezed his hand back. “I know. I love you, too. And Cole? Your uncle? That’s on him, not you.”
Cole Landry felt his heart crack. He was emotionally battered and physically drained. The man who’d been like a second father to him had turned out to be the vilest of creatures. He felt as if the heart had been ripped out. He had no idea how he’d face his aunt or his cousins. Or if the town and the county would think he was tainted by his uncle’s actions. He hated to even think that Tate had helped him get this job so he could control any investigation that popped up into the old cases. Except for Dana, his entire life as he’d known it had disintegrated like wet tissue.
He leaned his arm on the side rail of the bed, put his head down on his forearm, and finally let himself fall apart. Clutching Dana’s hand, he cried harder than he had since he was ten years old.
He was just pulling himself together when the doctor came back in.
“I assume you’re going back to your office?”
He nodded. “In a little while. I have a lot to wrap up.” He glanced at Dana. “But not just yet.”
“My opinion is, she shouldn’t be alone right now. If there’s no one to stay with her I think we should keep her here until you can pick her up.” She smiled. “And you can check in with me whenever you need to.”
Two hours later, he was in the office, having been literally forced from Dana’s side so she could sleep. Fortifying himself with Harry’s coffee, he sat with Scott and Gaylen, answering questions about Dana’s condition and getting a full report from them.
“Bishop’s on his way to San Antonio to federal lockup,” Scott told him. “His wrists and ankles are flex cuffed, and I sent two men with him, fully armed. I don’t trust that bastard for anything.”
“Andi, Mickey, and the two federal CSI’s collected every bit of evidence.” Gaylen looked as if he had a bad taste in his mouth. “Fingerprints, his so-called toys. Can you believe the son of a bitch even took pictures? We found his stash.”
Cole swallowed some coffee, wishing it was something stronger. “I’m sure he thought he was safe. He has been all these years.”
But it was the gruesome discovery in the back that had everyone losing whatever they’d had for dinner.
“There was a dry well back there,” Scott told him. “It was a pile of bones and rotting flesh, some so new the stench was nearly unbearable when the cover was lifted.”
“I had two deputies tossing a coin to see which one had to go down into the well,” Gaylen added, “and send up the remains.”
“We’ll need a forensic anthropologist to sort all this out,” Scott added. “I called Clark and put in the request. We’ve got two of my men and two of yours out there until George gets back with enough body bags for all the remains.”
Nita Sanchez walked into the room, cursing steadily in two languages. “I hope they give that son of a bitch a three-hundred-pound roommate in jail who wants a piece of his ass at least twice a day. Even that wouldn’t be enough.”
“A lot of people are going to be shocked when this comes out,” Cole said in a heavy voice. “Has anyone talked to my aunt?”
Gaylen nodded. “I roused her pastor, filled him in, and sent him over there.”
“I’m sure she’s in shock. I’ll have to make time to get over there today.” He rubbed his face. “I just don’t know what to say to her. What about the girls?”
Scott stared at him. “What girls?”
“He has two daughters. My cousins.”
“I know they’re your relatives, Cole, but how the hell could a man with daughters of his own do this to so many innocent little girls?”
“Makes one wonder doesn’t it?” Nita said.
“Yeah, and then some.” Scott grimaced. “I tell you, it doesn’t matter how long I do this job, there are still some things that will never stop surprising me.”
“Me either,” Nita agreed.
“The pastor can get their numbers from Adele’s phone book. He knows them. I’m sure they’ll fly in right away. God.” Cole shook his head. “What a mess.”
“My guys found his cell phone.” Scott pulled it from his pocket. “Lucky for us, all the numbers he calls were still in the history and they led us right to the trafficking ring. I’m sending everything back to my boss. He’ll get a task force together to start rounding up all the people involved.”
“Keep us in the loop, okay?”
“Not a problem.” He paused. “Go on, Cole. Get back to your lady. We’ve got things under control here.”
By the time, Cole returned to the hospital Dana was in a private room. Cole pulled up the big armchair and reached through the rails to capture her hand. She slept fitfully through the night, panicked each time she woke then relaxing when Cole squeezed her hand and murmured to her reassuringly.
Early in the morning, Gaylen and Scott stopped in to bring him up to date.
“George brought us back a load of body bags and a forensic anthropologist to supervise moving the remains. There’s no telling how many bodies are down there.”
“God.” Cole wondered if he’d ever get rid of the sick feeling.
“Some are so old there are just bones. After we get all of them out, she and the bodies will go back to San Antonio and begin the work of trying to identify them.”
“That may be impossible if they were smuggled over the border,” Cole pointed out. “What about my aunt? How’s she holding up?”
“I went out to the ranch,” Gaylen told him. “The pastor was smart enough to get Barry Engler out there who gave her a sedative. Your cousins are already flying in. I’m sending deputies to pick them up.”
“Thanks. I appreciate it.” Cole scrubbed his eyes. “My God, I don’t know if they’ll ever recover from this.”
Scott cocked an eyebrow at him. “How did you figure out who it was? Nothing specifically pointed to him.”
“It was the song?”
“The song?”
“Dana finally remembered. When he had her and Kylie in the barn, he sang that old nursery rhyme song. You know. There was a little girl?”
“And?”
“I remembered when I was a kid at the ranch hearing Tate sing that to his daughters all the time. Then he’d laugh and pinch their butts. Until they got older and told him it was stupid.” He stared at Scott. “Jesus. You don’t think he molested his girls, do you?”
The agent shook his head. “Not from the reaction Gaylen had from Adele. But he obviously spent a lot of time directing his energies elsewhere.”
“Shows you just how little you know about someone.”
“Well, we’re digging into his background. Someplace there, we’ll find the trigger.”
Because he knew he’d be at the office until morning, catching a nap whenever he could, he agreed with Dr. Hallowell that Dana should stay at the hospital over night. It was late morning by the time he got to her room.
“You look like shit, Sheriff. Go home, shower and change. And get a cup of something besides this hospital coffee.”
“Why can’t I take her now? Is she…?” Cole swallowed, afraid to ask any questions.
“She’s doing fine.”
“Hello,” Dana broke in. “I’m right here. I can speak for myself. I’m good to go.”
“And I want to take her,” Cole insisted.
The doctor laughed. “If she’s willing to w
alk out of here with someone looking as mangy as you do, it must be true love.”
At his house he insisted on carrying Dana inside, even though she protested that she was more than able to walk. When he had her settled in his bed, he stripped off his clothes and headed for his bathroom.
By noon, Cole was showered and shaved and dressed in jeans and T-shirt. He scrambled eggs and fixed toast for himself and Dana, insisting she eat in bed.
“I’m not an invalid,” she told him.
“Just humor me today, okay?” He kissed her lips, doing his best to restrain himself from leaping into bed next to her.
Finally, he called the office and asked for Gaylen so the man could bring him up to speed.
“We’re set here,” the deputy told him. “Tate will be tried in a federal court. SAC Clark Lorimer is rolling the task force to take down the trafficking ring.”
“I just can hardly believe it,” Cole said for what must have been the hundredth time. “I’ve known this man for years. Spent summers at his ranch. God, my mother will have a stroke when she finds out.”
“Cole, I hope you don’t mind, but I already called her. She’s flying out today to be with her sister. She said she’ll call you when she gets in. Your father might come, too.”
“Oh.” Cole was startled. “Thank you.”
“I probably should have waited for you, but I didn’t know when you’d leave the hospital and your aunt and cousins were falling apart in little pieces. And I figured you could use a shoulder yourself.”
“No, no. That’s all good. My mother’s a tiger. She’ll handle things just fine.”
“You might be interested to know that Tate Bishop’s father died when he was about five. He was left alone with his mother who always wanted a girl. She’s the one who taught him the song, tried to put him in dresses. Made him the object of bullies.”
“We never knew. Adele met him when he came to work on a ranch here. One he eventually bought. He told us all his relatives were dead.” Cole shook his head. “I don’t give a shit what happened to him when he was a kid. There’s no excuse for what he is. He’s a sick coward who tormented little girls. Nothing that happened could ever justify what he did to those girls or their families.”
