Justice for Erin (Badge of Honor: Texas Heroes Book 9)

by Susan Stoker

  Her skin felt tight where she’d been bitten and she could hear herself wheezing with every breath she tried to take. She could also feel her pulse hammering inside her body and she felt extremely dizzy.

  Erin knew she had to move. She didn’t want to pass out and slip back under the tree and water and drown herself, but she also needed to get away from the ants she’d disturbed. She took a deep breath and scooted back into the water. She let the current help push her body out from under the downed log. Once free of the dam, she turned over and crawled on her hands and knees to the side of the stream…checking to make sure she didn’t land in the middle of another fire ant hill in the process. She collapsed on her belly in the mud, gasping for air and praying the hunter hadn’t miraculously made it through the firestorm that had just raged over her. It would suck to have crawled out of her hidey-hole, only to be killed by an arrow through the heart.

  She closed her eyes and tried to concentrate on slowing her pulse. Her body was in anaphylactic shock. She needed her epinephrine shot, but since she was wearing only boots, underwear, and a bra, she obviously didn’t have it with her.

  Erin knew she was dying. Dammit. It sucked. She’d escaped from the clutches of a cyborg madman hunter, and a wildfire, only to die from a fucking ant bite…or a couple hundred.

  Conor’s eyes widened as he and the firefighters made their way around a still smoldering group of trees and saw a stream gurgling happily along in front of them. It wasn’t deep. He would’ve been really surprised if it had been with the lack of rain the area had received.

  The donkey obviously saw the stream at the same time and quickly trotted past Penelope and lowered his snout into the cool water. After a moment, he waded in farther and simply plopped down. He rolled from side to side, the water obviously feeling good against his burnt skin.

  Penelope chuckled at the sheer pleasure the animal was obviously feeling as it rolled around in the water. But Conor couldn’t bring himself to even smile, not while he was so worried about Erin. He turned his back to the water and put his hands on his hips. Where could she be? Where could she have hidden?

  He wondered if there were any caves in this part of the Natural Area. He hadn’t explored this far out, so he had no idea. He was contemplating calling Juliette and having her ask the rangers, but before he could pull out his phone, he heard Penelope say, “No, Smokey, come back here.”

  Conor shook his head. Figured she’d name the animal that. Although he had to admit, it fit.

  Suddenly, the donkey began to bray.

  Surprised—so far Conor hadn’t heard more than a few funny little sounds from the animal—he spun.

  “Conor, get over here!” Moose yelled urgently.

  He’d already been on the move before Moose had said a word.

  The donkey was nuzzling something half in and half out of the water. Conor hadn’t noticed it before because it was covered in mud and blocked by some sticks and debris from the stream.

  Erin.

  He knew before he even got close, it was her.

  She was naked, or nearly so. Moose had turned her over before Conor got to her—and Conor gasped at what he saw. Her face was so swollen, he could barely make out where her eyes were supposed to be. Her neck was bruised and she had scrapes all over her body.

  Then he saw the bites. They looked like little white pimples, and there were dozens on her face, more on her arms and shoulders.

  The fact that she was only in her bra and panties didn’t even register. “She’s allergic to fire ants!” he said in an urgent tone, but Pops was already digging into his pack.

  He frantically sorted through a smaller bag and handed something to Moose. Without pausing, Moose uncapped the EpiPen and slammed the injector into Erin’s thigh.

  She didn’t even flinch.

  “Another,” Moose ordered, and Pops put the pen into his hand.

  Conor kneeled by Erin’s head as Moose injected her with a second round of Adrenalin.

  Penelope put her fingers on Erin’s carotid artery. “She’s not breathing,” Penelope said evenly.

  Conor had no idea how she could be so calm. He was anything but.

  He felt himself being pulled away from Erin as Tank took his place at her head. All he could do was watch with wide, horrified eyes as the firefighters worked on her.

  Dirty-D kneeled on Erin’s other side and injected something into her upper arm while Moose started chest compressions.

  An oxygen mask appeared from somewhere and Penelope placed it over Erin’s nose and mouth.

  Conor watched as if from a great distance as the team did their best to save the woman he loved.

  The more time went by, the more discouraged Conor felt. It was too long. He hadn’t found her soon enough. He turned away from the scene and clenched his eyes shut. He couldn’t lose her. He couldn’t.

  “I’ve got a pulse!” someone said.

  Conor spun around and stared.

  “It’s weak, but it’s there. Give her another dose of antihistamine,” Pops ordered.

  Moose sat back on his heels and wiped a hand over his brow. He turned to Conor and smiled. “Fuck yeah. I knew she was too tough to give up.”

  Conor bowed his head and nodded. Yeah, that was his Erin. Stubborn with a core of steel. She was alive. It was all that mattered. She’d beaten the odds…more times than he could count. She was like a cat with nine lives. First, she’d survived her mother. Then she’d almost killed herself with food. Then she’d been kidnapped and hunted. Then the fire. And now fucking insects. Yeah, his woman was a tough motherfucker.

  And he loved her just the way she was.

  Conor maintained his distance as the EMTs did their thing. He kept his eyes on Erin’s face. Her hair was matted and tangled. Her body was covered in scrapes, bruises, and hives. It was the first time he’d seen this much of her, but he couldn’t take his eyes from her face.

  The team made a makeshift litter and got Erin loaded onto it. Penelope was monitoring her breathing and Moose stood by her side, making sure her heart didn’t stop. The other men alternated between carrying the litter and scoping out the fastest and easiest path to safety.

  Conor marked the coordinates of where the dead body of the man remained, and called it in to Juliette. She informed him the fire was still blazing, but had been eighty percent contained. The fire service had brought in bulldozers to do the work their team had been doing and it’d been effective, cutting off the fuel to the fire. Their only concern now was wind, which was supposed to die down within the hour.

  An ambulance was waiting for them about two miles to the north along a backcountry road. Conor told Juliette that he’d keep her informed of their location and hung up. He pushed his way next to the litter and put his hand on Erin’s shoulder, making sure to stay out of the path of the other firefighters. He wasn’t going to risk Erin’s life by insisting he be the one to care for her. At the moment, he was simply a man who loved her. He’d leave the nursing to the amazing people around him who’d saved her life.

  A loud sound irritated Erin enough to bring her back to herself. She tried to open her eyes, but for some reason, they wouldn’t. She moaned and tried to bring her hand up to her face to see what was the matter, but it wouldn’t move.

  Panicking, thinking she was back in the clutches of the cyborg, she thrashed on the cot.

  “Easy, bright eyes.”

  Conor.

  Erin stilled and tried desperately to open her eyes. When she couldn’t, and everything stayed black, she whimpered.

  She felt a cool hand on her forehead and instinctively knew it was his.

  “Shhhh. You’re safe. I’m here.”

  “Conswfs.” The word came out jumbled. It felt as if she had marbles in her mouth, and she frowned.

  “Yeah, it’s me, Conor. You’re safe. Hear me? You’re in an ambulance and we’re on our way to the hospital.”

  Her brows furrowed.

  “I know, the siren is loud, but it’s get
ting the traffic out of the way. In a couple of minutes, we’ll be meeting a helicopter, which will take you back to San Antonio to the hospital.”

  “Wha happ?” she managed to get out.

  “You decided to bury yourself in a fire ant mound, bright eyes. Your eyes are swollen shut and you stopped breathing there for a while. But you were pumped full of all sorts of drugs and you’re going to be okay.”

  Yeah, she remembered now. “Cybor?”

  “What, baby?”

  She frowned in frustration. She couldn’t get her mouth to work right. “Man?”

  “Was he wearing camouflage?”

  Erin nodded.

  “He’s dead,” Conor told her without beating around the bush.

  “Shur?”

  “Yeah, bright eyes. I’m sure. You did good in hiding under those trees in the stream…even with the fire ants. He wasn’t so lucky to find a place to hide. He’s most certainly dead.”

  Erin nodded and tried to relax. Her chest hurt for some reason, as did her head and arms, but she couldn’t think anymore. She was safe and Conor was there.

  She heard people talking above her but couldn’t understand what they were saying.

  “We’re almost there, Erin,” Conor told her, his lips right next to her ear. “They’re going to take you to the hospital in San Antonio. I’ll see you there later, okay?”

  Erin nodded. She wanted him to go with her, but understood that he probably wouldn’t fit in the helicopter. Besides, she was going to take a nap. By the time she woke up, he’d be there.

  She felt pressure against her forehead, then nothing.

  Hours later, Erin woke up again. She still felt groggy, but she could at least open her eyes this time. She could feel an oxygen mask on her face.

  She turned her head and saw Conor sitting next to her bedside. His chin was resting on his chest and he seemed to be asleep. Shifting on the bed, Erin winced when the sound startled him and his eyes popped open.

  “Hey,” she said softly.

  “Hey back,” he replied, then moved so his chair was right next to her bed. He picked up her hand and held it against his cheek. “How do you feel?”

  “As if I took a nap in a fire ant nest?” she quipped.

  His lips twitched, but he didn’t smile. He brought his free hand to her face and brushed a lock of hair off her forehead. “Fuck, I was so scared,” he told her.

  “Me too.”

  “Can you tell me what happened?” he asked.

  “I think that’s my line,” Erin said honestly.

  “How about this: I call in Cruz’s friend from the FBI and you tell us what you remember. Then I’ll fill in the blanks.”

  Erin nodded. Conor leaned toward her and brushed his lips against her forehead. “I’ll be right back,” he said as he stood. Erin kept her eyes on him as he strode from the room. He was back within moments, with a man she’d never seen at his side.

  Conor introduced him as being with the FBI.

  Then she told them everything she’d been through. What the cyborg man had said, including how he’d bragged about perfecting his kidnapping and hunting techniques.

  “His name was Wayne Everett Humphries. With the help of Conor’s friend, Beth, we’ve been able to tie him to at least a dozen kidnappings. I’m sure with more time, we’ll find more.”

  “Why do psychos always have three names?” Erin asked.

  “What?”

  “Huh?”

  The men obviously weren’t following her train of thought. “Think about it. Donald Henry Gaskins, Charles Edmund Cullen, John Wayne Gacy, and Tommy Lynn Sells. It’s crazy.”

  “Bright eyes, most people have three names. For some reason the press just likes to use a killer’s middle name when reporting on them.”

  “Well, it’s creepy. They should stop it.”

  “And while we’re discussing it…how do you know about those guys?” Conor asked.

  “Who doesn’t?” she asked. “Tommy Lynn Sells is the most dangerous Texan in history. He said he killed seventy people. He liked to stab them. He broke into people’s bedrooms and killed them. Until one night he tried to kill a ten-year-old, but she survived and was able to describe him.”

  “Will you marry me?” the FBI agent drawled.

  “Shut it,” Conor griped, shoving the man with his shoulder. “She’s taken.”

  Erin and the agent laughed. Then he got serious. “Anyway, I’m sorry we can’t make him pay for his crimes.”

  “Oh, he paid,” Conor said without a shred of doubt in his tone. “He suffered more than he would’ve if he’d been locked away for the rest of his life.”

  The agent nodded then turned back to Erin. “Thank you for talking to me. If I have further questions, can I contact you?”

  She nodded. “Of course.”

  With that, the agent shook Conor’s hand then turned and left the room.

  “Can I take this off for a bit?” Erin asked, gesturing to the oxygen mask on her face. “I promise to tell you if I feel short of breath.”

  Conor helped her move the mask away from her mouth until it rested around her neck.

  “What happened to him?” Erin asked.

  “Why did you call him cyborg?” Conor asked back, not answering.

  She sighed. “Because he was so cold and mechanical. He reminded me of some characters in a few books I’ve read.”

  Conor nodded. He sat down and gathered her hand back into his. He told her what he found when he’d arrived at the campsite to find her missing. He told her about calling Beth and the search and rescue teams. He even told her about Penelope’s donkey, Smokey.

  “Right before the commander threw the shelter over me, I looked up and saw Wayne standing there. The heat was so bad it was literally melting him. His scream was what drew me in your direction.”

  Conor leaned forward and put his cheek on her forearm. “It was actually the damn donkey that found you. He brayed as if he was being slaughtered, and you have to keep in mind that the thing hadn’t made one sound when his skin was literally burning from the heat. You weren’t breathing, bright eyes,” Conor whispered. “Your heart wasn’t beating and it was the scariest thing I’d ever seen. Moose did CPR and you had two shots of Adrenalin and two of antihistamine before they were able to get your heart started again. It scared the shit out of me.”

  “I’m sorry.”

  “Don’t. Don’t be sorry. You did what you had to in order to survive both that maniac and the fire. I’m sorry I didn’t find you earlier.”

  Erin bit her lip. “I didn’t tell the agent earlier…but I started the fire, Conor.”

  “I figured as much.”

  “I didn’t want to. But I knew I couldn’t hide from the cyborg forever. He was going to find me. He really was a good hunter. It was the only thing I could think of to try to slow him down, distract him, and get people to where I was at the same time.”

  “It was smart,” Conor told her.

  “But Smokey and other animals suffered.”

  “Look at me,” Conor ordered, standing up and leaning over her, putting his hands on either side of her neck and forcing her to look at him. “You’re alive. That’s all that matters.”

  Erin’s eyes filled with tears and her lip quivered. “I didn’t want to burn down your favorite place in the world.”

  “My favorite place in the world is right here. With you.” Then he leaned down and kissed her forehead.

  Erin couldn’t hold back her tears anymore. She cried because of how scared she’d been and for what she’d had to do. She felt Conor sit back down next to her, keeping a hand on her as she lost it.

  After her sobs had subsided, she wiped her eyes with her fingers and asked shakily, “What happened with Penelope and the donkey?”

  Conor smiled. “She got in the bed of a pickup truck to be taken back to headquarters, and the thing ran down the road after the truck, braying as if his life was ending. Everyone just assumed he would go back to whatever
farm he came from, but apparently, he had different ideas. Penelope made the driver stop, and she and Moose picked up the damn thing and put him in back of the truck bed with them. He followed her around the command post like a fucking dog. She couldn’t leave him behind, so she left a report with the local shelter, in case someone comes looking for him, and she convinced Boone to keep him at his ranch.”

  “Hayden’s boyfriend? The cowboy who runs Hatcher Farms?”

  “One and the same.”

  “Wow.”

  “Yup. And now Penelope wants to find a house she can buy where she can keep him.”

  “She’s that attached to him?”

  “Apparently so.”

  “What does Moose think?” Erin asked, knowing how crazy the man was for the vulnerable firefighter.

  “I don’t think he’s thrilled, but it’s obvious how much Penelope loves that animal, even after such a short time. He would never tell her she couldn’t or shouldn’t get attached. He’s more than aware of her PTSD. Probably more than she is.”

  “True.”

  “And speaking of which…are you okay? He took your clothes.”

  Erin looked over at Conor. “I’m okay.”

  “Bright eyes, it’s okay to be freaked. I mean, you love me, and you hadn’t been able to take your shirt off in front of me before. To have to do it in front of a stranger, one who you were terrified of, had to be quite disturbing.”

  Erin carefully turned on her side so she could see Conor without putting a crick in her neck. “I’m fine. Seriously. He drugged me when he took me, so I wasn’t awake when he took off my shirt and pants. And when I did wake up, I honestly had other things on my mind than what I was wearing. And you know what? When push came to shove, I realized how lucky I was to have this body. I never would’ve been able to outrun him if I didn’t. I thought about it a lot when I was out there running for my life. Yeah, my boobs are a little saggy and I have some skin that isn’t as tight as I’d like, but I was still able to keep ahead of that asshole. I decided that I really needed to give myself a break.”