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Honey released her hand and disappeared for a moment. When she returned she dragged a chair up beside the bed, and dabbed at Charlotte’s tearstained face with a tissue.
“Does your head hurt?”
Charlotte licked her dry lips. “Yes, but it doesn’t matter—”
“It does matter,” Honey said with conviction. “You matter to me, Charlotte.” Honey’s voice cracked. “I know it must be scary to open your eyes and not be able to see.”
“I always hated the dark,” Charlotte admitted.
“Me, too,” Honey said softly.
Charlotte squeezed Honey’s hand and blinked back tears. Maybe her friend was right. She had to be strong. Dig deep. Heal herself.
She wouldn’t be any good to the girls if she fell apart.
* * *
LUCAS CALLED A crime-scene investigative team to search the warehouses and surrounding area, and to process the interior of the building, where they’d found the chains and blood. He and Harrison had done all they could do, but didn’t want to miss anything. Even a partial print or button from one of the kidnappers could help.
His phone buzzed, and he settled the kitten in the SUV. He didn’t know what he was going to do with it, but he didn’t intend to leave it out here to fend for itself.
Maybe his mother would want it. Or Honey. Or... Charlotte.
Hell, what was he thinking? He didn’t even know the woman. She might not like cats. And no telling how long she’d be hospitalized.
“Lucas, it’s Tradd.”
The agent’s voice jerked him back to the present. “What’s up?”
“Did you find anything?” Tradd asked.
“We’re at some warehouses outside Tumbleweed that appear to have been a holding place for victims, although judging from discarded food containers, they’ve been gone a while. We don’t think it’s the Tumbleweed victims.”
“These crews know how to slide in and out under the radar,” Tradd said.
“What about you guys?” Lucas asked.
“I’m on my way to the Mexican border,” Tradd said. “Got a tip from a CI to check out. Agent Sandino is en route to Miami to look at some containers we suspect the traffickers might be using to transport the human cargo.”
Human cargo. Those two words shouldn’t be used in the same sentence.
“I’ll keep you posted.” Tradd ended the call and Lucas hurried to meet Harrison by his SUV. The crime team had arrived and they were combing the warehouse space, processing the charred van and searching the property. If there had been trouble with one or more of the girls or one had escaped, they might find someone in those woods.
The next three hours were grueling as they combed the area. Lucas and Harrison joined in, searching behind trees, rocks, in the ditches and a section of ground that looked as if it had been disturbed.
The dirt was piled high with leaves and brush spread across it. A grave?
Lucas jammed a shovel into the dirt, and proceeded to clear away the soil, leaves and sticks, while Harrison explored another section that had been covered up as if it led to a tunnel or a cave.
Lucas held his breath as he dug deeper and deeper. The shovel hit something hard, and a sick knot clenched in his stomach.
Was it bones? Or a body?
Chapter Six (#u879bc957-ee39-5475-897c-9277cac85550)
Praying it wasn’t one of Charlotte’s students, Lucas dropped to his knees and dug with his hands, tossing aside dirt and leaves. Harrison yanked sticks, leaves and branches away from the space behind him that appeared to be a hidden cave.
Voices echoed from the woods. A coyote howled in the distance.
Dammit, he dug faster. His fingers hit something hard. He felt the surface. Jagged. A large stone.
Not a body.
Thank God.
For a moment, he was so relieved that he leaned his head on his arm and simply focused on breathing.
“Lucas?”
Harrison’s voice made him jerk his head around. The grimness in his brother’s eyes twisted Lucas’s stomach.
“Did you find something?”
“I’m afraid so,” Harrison said.
Lucas stood, dread rolling through him. Just a short time ago, he and his brothers had searched a cave not too far from here and found his sister’s remains.
“One of our girls from Tumbleweed?” Lucas asked.
Harrison shook his head. “I don’t think so. This body has been there too long.”
Lucas stiffened. “You think it could have been one of Elden’s victims that we don’t know about?”
Harrison shrugged. “I doubt it. His mother came clean after we made the arrest. Once we identify her, we can find out if she was a kidnap victim, a runaway or...a victim of another crime.”
Harrison phoned the ME while Lucas crossed to the cave entrance and ducked through the opening.
Sure enough, a skeleton was inside, brittle hair rotting along with the corpse.
Lucas shined the light around the bones, searching for any way to identify the girl, but there was no ID or wallet. Her clothes were decaying on her bones, yet he could see that three of her fingers looked broken.
Defense wounds?
Or she’d broken them trying to claw her way out of her chains in that damn warehouse. An image of her escaping taunted him, followed by another image of her being chased in the woods.
Harrison poked his head in. “The ME and CSI are on their way.”
Lucas nodded and exited the cave, his anger blending with grief over the dead girl.
He hadn’t known her but her young life had been snuffed out way too soon.
* * *
CHARLOTTE’S EYES FELT heavy again. “Thank you for coming, Honey,” Charlotte said. “I have no idea what time it is, but if you need to go home, please go. I’ll be fine.”
“I’m not leaving until I hear from the guys.” She patted Charlotte’s hand again. “But you need to rest, so sleep, Charlotte. I’ll wake you when I hear from them.”
The need to close her eyes tugged at Charlotte, although even when she did, the darkness grew blacker. She couldn’t erase the images of what had happened earlier or the sounds of her students’ cries. “Why did they target me and my students?” she asked, thinking out loud.
“I don’t know,” Honey said. “Harrison said that they’re part of a larger group so it was probably random. They probably scope out local businesses or areas where they can find female groups.” She brushed Charlotte’s hair away from her forehead again. “But this wasn’t your fault. No one could have known what they were planning or where they were going to hit. And you certainly couldn’t have stopped them.”
Funny how Honey could read her mind. When she’d heard Honey’s story of growing up in Tumbleweed, Charlotte had instantly been drawn to her. Honey reminded her of herself.
She was a survivor.
Sweet Evie’s face flashed in her mind, along with her other students. Those girls were survivors, too.
The throbbing in her head intensified, and she lifted her hand and touched the bandage. The movement caused her shoulder to ache where she’d been shot.
“Do you need more pain meds?” Honey asked.
An image of herself as a child with that port-wine birthmark returned to haunt her. She wasn’t a little kid anymore, but she knew her forehead had taken a bashing. “No, I’m okay.” She refused to complain and wanted to clear her head. “Can I ask you something, Honey?”
Honey stroked her arm. “Of course, Charlotte. What is it?”
She felt silly for asking, but she had to face the truth. “Is my face, my eyes, am I...going to be scarred?”
Honey sighed softly. “According to your doctor, you have a half-dozen stitches, but they’re in your hairline, and the wound should heal.” She paused. “I know you’ve lost your vision for now, but your eyes look normal, Charlotte.”
Charlotte blinked back more tears. “That sounded vain, and it’s really not important, especially considering my students are in danger—”
“It doesn’t sound vain,” Honey assured her. “It’s only human to wonder. Besides, you and I are alike, Charlotte. We both have to know what we’re dealing with, then we face it head-on.”
Charlotte’s throat closed. Honey was right.
When she’d first heard how awful some of the locals had treated her friend, she wasn’t sure she wanted to settle in Tumbleweed. But Honey’s giving spirit had made her want to call this place home.
Only now, her studio had been trashed, her future ripped apart and the kids she devoted her heart and time to help were missing.
* * *
LUCAS’S PHONE BUZZED as Harrison drove away from the ranch. Thankfully, his mother had been thrilled to have the kitten. He’d known she was lonely and should have thought of getting her a pet sooner.
Harrison veered onto the road leading to the hospital.
Lucas connected the call. Keenan Hart from the Bureau.
“I’ve been researching those tattoos,” Keenan said. “Snakes are common, and I’ve found several lightning bolts. I need more details. It would help if Charlotte would look at photos—”
“I’m afraid that’s not possible,” Lucas said grimly. “She lost her sight. The doctor doesn’t know if it’s temporary or permanent.”
“Oh, gosh, I’m sorry. I’ll send you the photos of the ones I found and you can describe them to her.”
“Good idea.” Lucas explained about the body they’d discovered at the warehouse and the charred van. “Also, run background checks on the victims’ foster families. Check their financials for trouble.”
“You think one of them is involved?” Keenan asked.
“I’m just covering the bases,” Lucas said. If a foster parent had been bribed or paid off, he could use that as leverage to push him—or her—for more information about the kidnappers.
Before he hung up, his phone buzzed again.
“Keep me posted,” he told Keenan, and then clicked to answer. “Brayden?”
“Yeah, I’m here with Mom. She was upset about what happened in town today.”
Everybody in town was probably upset. Missing children had a way of inciting panic and fear.
“Reassure her that we’re doing everything we can to find the missing teens,” Lucas said.
“I have, but that’s not the reason I called. We were watching TV, Lucas, and the story is plastered all over the place. It made national news.”
Lucas scrubbed a hand through his hair. Of course it had.
“Some reporter named Gerald Ingram showed a picture of Charlotte in the hospital.”
“What the hell?”
“He announced that she was the only surviving witness.”
A litany of curse words spewed from Lucas’s tongue. “That idiot bastard. He might as well have put a bullet in her head.”
“I know. I’m sorry, man. Is there anything I can do?”
“Just stay with Mom for a while.”
They said goodbye just as Harrison pulled into the hospital parking lot.
“What happened?” his brother asked as they parked and walked toward the entrance.
Lucas relayed the news about the reporter. “I should have posted security at Charlotte’s door,” Harrison said.
“I should have thought of it, too.” But they’d both been too anxious to track down that van and look for the kidnapped victims. “I’ll stay with her tonight,” Lucas offered. “Tomorrow we’ll assign a detail.”
Harrison nodded, and they went inside and rode the elevator to the second floor. With that damn news report on his mind, Lucas scanned the halls and corridors in case one of the kidnappers returned to try and take out Charlotte.
* * *
CHARLOTTE WAS ROUSED from sleep again as footsteps echoed in the room. Then voices.
