Healing Fire (15 page)

She did as he said but could do
nothing to calm her galloping heart.

She listened to the tinkle of gems as
they fell from the bag into Melor's hand, and he began to place them on various
parts of her body.

Believe, believe in Melor, believe it
will work, it has to work.
The thoughts churned over and over in her mind.

She gasped as a sudden energy gripped
her whole body; it vibrated and pulsed through her. Her right side seized
suddenly. Her eyes flew open as she realized the metal pins in her legs were being
rejected by her body.

Summer groaned in agony.

"Easy, my love, I did not expect
this. By the twin moons, Drystan, it must stop."

"No, let the gems do their work."

Summer threw back her head and
screamed as the pain ripped through her before her mind could no longer cope,
making her pass out.

~ * ~

Detective Grant Crowell of the
Australian Federal Police sat beside Detective Gortez of the LAPD. The palms of
Grant's hands itched as if he knew he'd soon be getting what he wanted.

Over six months his sister had been
missing. Six months he'd been working to find those responsible.

Officially he couldn't do a thing but
act as a consultant. It didn't matter as long as the result was the same; they
caught the ones responsible for the disappearance of the nineteen women and one
man.

He'd traveled from Tasmania when he
finally found what he'd been looking for after putting out internet feelers,
searching for the same style of dating agency targeting a particular kind of
woman.

It seemed a half a dozen women in L.A
had already taken the bait and simply disappeared. When Greg dug further with
the help of the LAPD, some of the women had informed their families they were
getting married and moving to a new country. But then they were never heard from
again.

Although they rarely spoke, when Elly
had told him she was getting married and moving to another country, Grant had
asked to meet the groom. But after she'd told him the news, she simply
disappeared.

It had to be foul play; there was no doubt
in his mind. He would catch the culprits and make them confess where they had
hidden the bodies.

After two weeks of getting approval
permits, a team was set up to stake out the agency. Sitting in cars, they
watched the shop front and had cameras placed around the back. There had been
no activity until now when a huge man, similar to the suspect profile, a woman
and child turned up, disappearing inside.

"We can't afford to lose one more
life." Grant nodded as the door closed. "Once they go in, they never
come out."

Detective Gortez gripped his two-way
to inform the plain clothes officers to be ready.

The scream of a woman echoed out to
the street.

"Go,
go, go!" Cried Gortez into the radio.

Grant jumped from the car. What the
hell were they doing to the woman! It was time to shut down their sick
operation once and for all.

Swift and coordinated, a heavily armed
team rushed the door, opening it with a hand held battering ram. Cautiously and
quickly, they moved forward going from room to room, their weapons raised,
ready to fire.

"This is the L.A.P.D. Come out
with your hands up!" They burst into a room where two huge men held down a
woman on a bed, her lower half covered in blood.

"Keep your hands where we can see
them; get down on the floor, now!" the officer in the lead yelled. The big
men glanced at each other; the first one raised his hands, the other one stood
in front of the bloodied woman, reluctant to comply.

"Do as they say, Melor. You can't
protect her if you're dead," he calmly told his friend.

Slowly, the other big dark man raised
his hands.

Even when they lowered themselves to
their knees; they were big bastards. The team dived in, shoving them to the
ground and yanking their big meaty arms behind their back and cuffing them.

"We've secured the other suspect.
She was with the child, the one who came in with this woman."

Grant weaved his way through the
officers to check on the woman, feeling her pulse. It was strong and steady;
her jeans were torn and he couldn't see what they had done for the blood
covering the tear.

"Call a fucking ambulance!"

"Mommy!" A little girl came
running through the door. She jumped on the bed, hugging the unconscious woman
tight, tears streaming down her face. It was clear she was frightened. Her big
blue eyes darted around, landing on one of the big men.

"Melor?"

"It will be alright, Blossom.
Stay with your mother." He raised his head to look at the child.

Satisfaction curled through Grant. Six
long months and two countries later, he'd finally caught the suspects in the
vanishing women of Tasmania case.

"Don't worry, sweetheart. No one
will hurt you or your mother." He turned to the officers. "Get these
sick bastards out of here. There's nowhere to run this time."

Chapter
Twelve

"Mom, Mom, please wake up."
Blossom's voice penetrated through the darkness. Slowly Summer began to awaken.

She drew in a deep breath and licked
her dry lips.

"Baby?" Her voice croaked.
She opened her eyes, blinking against the glare of the overhead lights. Lights
she recognized from her long stays in hospital; she was back.

"Oh, Mom." Blossom sobbed
throwing her arms around her, hugging her.

She gripped
her daughter, holding her tight. She struggled to remember what had happened;
why was she in hospital? She stretched her muscles, expecting the familiar
twinge of pain through her right leg and knee. But there was nothing.

"What's wrong, baby?" She
sat up, studying Blossom's tear-filled, distressed state.

"The police came with big guns
and took Melor and his friends away and brought you here. There was blood all
over your leg. They said they hurt you. I was so scared, Mom."

"Hush now, it's going to be
alright. I don't feel hurt, in fact, I feel very good." The memory of the
pain in her leg and hip came flooding back. But there was no pain now.

A young thin nurse with blond hair and
blue eyes walked into the room. "Oh, Mrs. Rose, you're awake. There are
several men waiting outside wanting talk to you. How are you feeling?"

"Good,
very good. I don't need to be in bed."

Blossom moved back as she shoved the
white hospital sheets aside.

"No, please stay in bed until the
doctor has checked you over again. He found some unusual things. I'll go get him."
She quickly backed out through the door.

Summer, ignoring the nurse, got up,
standing on her feet. She laughed, realizing there was no pain at all.

"Oh, baby, it worked. The healing
gems worked! Melor isn't crazy! There's no pain!" She laughed, grabbing
her daughter, lifting her up into her arms and swinging her around. Something
she'd never been able to do with her pain and injuries.

Blossom giggled. "I always
believed him, Mom. I don't know why you didn't."

"I know. I was silly and I'm very
sorry for it. Are the scars gone?" She lifted the hospital gown to peer
down her side. Her skin was smooth, pale and not one sign of a scar.

A tide of joy washed over her. She
laughed and hugged Blossom again.

"Do you know where my clothes
are?"

"I think they cut them off you
when you came in. The only thing they couldn't take off you was the bracelet;
everything else is still in the car," Blossom said. "Mom, we have to
help Melor, and Jane. They haven't done anything wrong."

Summer lifted her wrist, the jewels
sparkling even under the dull fluro lights. She felt comforted and was thankful
no one had been able to take it. "I know, baby, and we're going to fix
that. We'll get them out then we can all go to Kell."

"Mrs. Rose."

Summer spun around on her bare feet.
Several men walked into the room. One she recognized as her old Doctor, Mike
McClutcheon, who had seen her through the worst of her injuries after the car
accident which had killed Tyler.

"Dr. McClutcheon," she
greeted with caution.

The other men wore casual jeans, dark
t-shirts and all but one had badges hanging around their necks with the LAPD
badge on them. Summer's smile fell.

"It is good to see you again, and
I have to say I'm very surprised. When the ambulance brought you in, I was
informed and came down to see what the problem was. But we've checked you over
from head to toe. Frankly, there is nothing wrong with you."

"Is there a problem with that?"
Summer kept Blossom close to her side.

"Your medical records and my
photographic memory recall putting several pins into your knees and a metal
plate into your hip. You had irreversible nerve damage after the accident,
which I did my best to repair."

Summer drew in a slow breath.
Everything Melor told her was true. He
was
an alien along with his
friends. He had healed her, and now they wanted to know how.

"I have done every test there was
to do and can find nothing wrong with you. How did this happen?"

Summer glanced at the men behind the
doctor; they too waited for the answer.

"I was healed." And that was
all she was going to tell them.

"Mrs. Rose, I'm Detective Gortez
of the LAPD. Did your miraculous healing have anything to do with these?"
The first of the policemen stepped forward. He held up an evidence bag with a hand
full of little gleaming gems. He set them down on the bedside table.

The healing gems.

"I'm not at liberty to say."
No way would she betray Melor now. "Where are Melor and the others?"

"They are in custody, and you're
safe from them." The one man without the badge stepped forward. She picked
up on his Australian accent.

"Mrs. Rose, do you realize the
danger you were in with those people? Over thirty women have gone missing
because of them. I've been tracking them since they vanished from Tasmania over
six months ago. We need to know anything they might have told you or what they
said to convince you to go with them into the agency."

Summer knew she couldn't tell them
anything.