Out Of Control (40 page)

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 sheets. 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 walk 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.