by Carolina Mac
“Over there.” One of the deputies pointed. So many scrub bushes had grown to heights of ten and twelve feet, the cave was invisible.
“Roll them out of the way,” said Farrell. He pushed branches back to reveal an arch in the stone about five feet high. The opening wasn’t wide. Two feet at the most. He ducked his head, squished through and stood up inside. Much higher inside the cavern, but dark and damp. Water dripping was the first thing he heard as he turned on his Maglite and shone it around the cave.
The first room wasn’t too large, maybe four paces long. Twelve or fourteen feet, then another rough archway. Oxford and the deputies pushed in behind him with flashes of their own and provided more light.
“Let’s keep going,” said Farrell.
The second chamber was bigger and filled with the pointy things Misty had drawn. He didn’t know the names of them and didn’t care. He hated caves and cramped spaces. As they crossed through the second room the smell of death became more prevalent and hung heavy on the air. They were getting close to something. Farrell swallowed hard trying to keep his coffee and muffin down.
Then he heard her. Robin was crying. He shone the light into the third chamber and spotted her. Naked and tied up, lying on the cold gritty floor of the cave. Farrell dropped to his knees to help Robin and she pulled back from him. She was shaking with fear.
“I’m a cop, Robin. I’m here to help you. I won’t hurt you.” He turned to the others and barked out a couple of orders. “One of you guys run back and tell the ambulance to drive as far as they can down the lane and wait. Also, call for a crime scene unit. By the stink of it, there has to be corpses farther back.”
“I’ll go,” said one of the deputies.
Farrell brushed Robin’s tangled hair back from her face and touched the duct tape over her mouth. “I’m going to take this off, Robin. It might hurt at little bit, okay?” She lay perfectly still, and Farrell eased the tape off as gently as he could. “I’m gonna untie you now.”
He had Robin half untied when he heard another noise. A scuffling or kicking sound. He let go of the plastic ties on Robin’s ankles and shone the light in the direction of the sound thinking it was some cave-dwelling animal. The Maglite lit up the other side of the cave and there was another girl close to the far wall. Long dark hair. Was it Sylvie Dennison? He couldn’t tell. “Over there. Help that girl. Untie her and get her out of here. If two are alive we have to look for more. It’s dark in here and the cave is large. We don’t want to miss anybody.”
Sheriff Oxford shuffled over to help Sylvie and the one remaining deputy shone his light over every inch looking for more victims. “No more in here, Ranger. Should I go further back?”
“Take a look,” said Farrell. “By the smell of it, it might not be what you want to see.”
The deputy disappeared into the blackness, but Farrell heard him nonetheless when he caught sight of whatever was in chamber number four.
When Robin was untied Farrell whipped off his t-shirt and slipped it over her head before he carried her outside. “Let’s get you out of this cave where you can breathe some better air. I’m gonna pick you up, okay with that?”
She tried to smile at him.
I don’t want to think about what the Golden boys did to these girls.
When Farrell got to the entrance he had to set Robin on her feet. “Okay, you bend down and go through. I’m right behind you and I’ll pick you up on the other side.”
Robin squinted her eyes shut. The sun was so bright, and she’d been in the dark for a few days. “The ambulance should be on the other side of this bush.” He picked her up and trudged through the woods until he got to the laneway.
At the back door of the ambulance Farrell tried to hand her off to the paramedics and she wouldn’t let go of his neck. “You’ll be safe with the medics, Robin. I have to go back and get Sylvie.”
“You know my name,” she whispered.
“Uh huh. “Miss Brooke is worried about you and I’ve been to see her a couple times.”
“I was stupid.” Robin started to cry.
“I’ll take her, Ranger,” said one of the paramedics. “I’ve got a blanket for you, Miss, and some water.”
Robin nodded and let go of Farrell.
Farrell was halfway through the bush on his way back to the cave when he met a shirtless Sheriff Oxford coming his way carrying Sylvie Dennison. She’d been confined longer and was in worse condition than Robin Dawson.
“You okay, Sheriff, or could you use some help?”
Sheriff Oxford happily let Farrell take Sylvie. “I’m not in as good shape as you are Donovan. I’ll let you take over.”
Farrell made his second trip back to the ambulance carrying Sylvie Dennison—he was pretty sure it was her from the picture Avery had given him—but she was limp and not totally conscious. Wait and see. He’d let Avery know and she could come to the hospital.
The ambulance took off with sirens wailing and the two girls inside. Farrell trudged up the laneway to the farmhouse expecting to see Joey’s pickup and possibly Joey Golden in the flesh, but he wasn’t there.
Luke had finished a run through the house and sat on the porch steps smoking. “Not much to see inside, boss, and Joey never showed.”
“I thought he’d book it straight home from the courthouse,” said Farrell. “Weird. We found Robin Dawson and Sylvie Dennison in case nobody told you. I’ve gotta let Avery know.”
He walked away from the deputies chatting on the porch to make the call and Avery didn’t answer. He left a message, then called Jesse.
“Farrell, any good news?”
“Found two alive, boss. Misty was right on the money about the cave. Techs are in there now doing a body count.”
“Jeeze, I can’t imagine. I’m so happy two girls are alive. Excellent job, Farrell. Excellent.”
“Thanks, boss. Hope we can get out of here soon after we write up some reports.”
“You need to get back with the gang thing heating up. They tried again for Blacky yesterday.”
“Shit, nobody told me. I should be there.”
“Yeah, you should. Clean up in Sonora as soon as you can.”
“I will, boss.”
Austin. Texas.
BLAINE PACED in the waiting room at the hospital while the doctor examined Misty. Declan had already given his opinion and Misty needed a specialist, not some random hospital doctor on call with too many patients to look at in an hour.
Blaine did what he always did when he needed advice. He called his Mom.
“Hey, sweetheart. Are you staying safe?”
“I’m not even driving in my own truck, Mom, but that’s not why I’m calling.”
“You sound upset. What is it?”
“Misty has had a setback and I may have caused it asking her to do—you know—like woo woo stuff to help Farrell. Dec says she needs a specialist in head injuries and…”
“And you want the name of my doctor?”
“And I’m gonna need a referral, Mom. How am I gonna get that?”
“Let me call you back, sugar boy.”
Blaine blew out a breath. “Thanks, Mom.”
Declan raised a dark brow wondering if Blaine would share. “Mom’s calling her doc.”
Dec nodded. “I think Doctor Kaplan would be the best, but last I heard he wasn’t seeing any new patients.”
Blaine’s cell rang. “That was fast.”
“Doctor Kaplan will see her at the Neurology Center at three. He’s expecting her.”
“That’s a load off, Mom. Thanks so much. I can’t tell you how relieved I am. I’ll call later.”
La Grange. Texas.
ANNIE ended her call, happy she was able to help Blaine. She parked her truck close to Home Depot, picked up the list from the passenger seat and tore inside to do some shopping. She was going to be late for her lunch at the Bistro with Tyler.
While she stood at the checkout counter, she texted and gave him a heads-up.
“Running behind, sugar. Ten minutes.”
“Okay. Have a beer waiting for you.”
She arrived at the restaurant a little out of breath and slightly apprehensive about stalling Tyler on the weekend getaway after it had been mostly her idea. She flopped down into the chair across from him and chugged half her draft.
“Oh, I needed that so much.”
“Why are you out of breath?”
“A lot to do, and that brings me to my next topic you’re not going to be too happy about… I can’t get away this weekend. There’s a situation in the city and Blaine is in danger. A lot of his men are hurt and out of action and I have to watch him.”
Tyler sipped his beer and pondered it. He never got excited about too much of anything. “It’s okay, baby.” Then he smiled. “We’ll meet down the back lane or in the back of my truck.”
Annie giggled. “Either or.”
Tyler reached across the table for her hand and then withdrew it quickly when Jesse came through the door.
“What are you two doing here?” he asked.
“Same thing you are,” said Tyler. “Eating.”
“I think I’ll eat somewhere else.” Jesse spun around and walked out.
“Shit,” said Tyler. “Why does he do that?”
Sonora. Texas.
FARRELL drove with Luke to the Sonora hospital to check on the condition of the two girls to see if they were up to giving statements.
“I can’t get ahold of Avery to tell her to come to the hospital,” said Farrell, “and it’s driving me a bit nuts, so I’m going to drive up there. She would want to know right away about her sister.”
“Course she would,” said Luke, “but you got something special going on with her, don’t you partner?”
“I think so,” said Farrell. “I’ve got no marker.” He changed topics. “Sheriff Oxford put out a BOLO on Joey’s truck, but I think we’ve got a tag on it. Where’s that tag showing up?”
“I was thinking about that,” said Luke, “and I’m guessing it’s showing on Travis’ phone.”
“Shit,” said Farrell. “I’ll call him while I’m driving up to Bluebonnet and see if he’s out of range or if he can see it.”
“Are you picking me up later?”
“If you’re finished and I’m not back, call a cab and go to the Sheriff’s office. Help out with the paperwork and send copies of everything to Jesse and Chief Calhoun. I want a full report on all the bodies they bring out of the cave and the Chief will want that too. Those bodies and bones are going to match to a lot of cold cases in this area, but with a lab smaller than ours, it’s gonna take a while.”
La Grange.
JESSE stomped out of the Bistro fuming and cursing as he headed for his truck. He’d spent the morning in the tack shop waiting for several bridles to be repaired and thought he’d grab a bite of lunch. The last people he expected to see were Tyler and Annie… together.
They’d been a couple a long time ago and with him moving from Coulter-Ross and taking Charity with him, he could see how broken-hearted Annie was. He’d always been the cause of all their relationship problems and after leaving her like he did, he should step away and leave her in peace.
He sat in the Quantrall truck in front of the tack shop trying to calm his breathing and while he was doing that, he checked his messages. One from Farrell.
“The crime scene people are in the cave. Multiple bodies and bones. It’s gonna to take a long while. Full report later.”
Bluebonnet. Texas.
FARRELL arrived at Avery’s trailer and she wasn’t there. He thought it was almost time for her to be done work. What time did she quit? Was it five or six? Did she mention the time she was done? She might have but he couldn’t remember. Would she want me to come to her work and tell her about her sister? He was sure she would.
He drove out of the small trailer park and turned right. How many ranches down the road had she said? Jeeze, he was a terrible listener. He drove through the gate of the third one thinking it looked like a horse ranch. He passed the house and drove straight to the big cream barn. He parked, jumped out and pulled open one of the heavy double doors.
Inside it was cool and smelled familiar, just like the barn at Coulter-Ross. He stopped and asked the first hand he came to, a cowboy forking horse shit into a wheelbarrow. “Avery Dennison work here?”
The guy shook his head and pointed. “One more ranch that way. You’re the second guy looking for her today. Must be nice to be popular.”
Second guy? No. That can’t be true.
Barely able to breathe, Farrell broke into a run.
Austin. Texas.
BLAINE sat in his second doctor’s waiting room of the day holding Misty’s hand while she waited for the appointment Annie had made for her. “Mom loves this guy, sweetheart, so you might like him too.”
Misty gave him a half smile and nodded, but she didn’t look convinced.
Sonora. Texas.
AT THE HOSPITAL in Sonora, Luke waited while both girls were checked out physically and the rape kits done. The doctor taking care of them decided to hold both of them overnight for observation to be on the safe side. By the time all that was done, Luke had consumed far too much bad coffee and found himself wishing he’d gone to the cafeteria for a decent lunch and a Coke instead.
A nurse came to fetch him when the girls were settled in their room. They’d been placed in a double room together with a deputy from the Sheriff’s Office posted at the door.
Luke sat down with Robin first because Sylvie Dennison was in and out. Sometimes aware and crying and other times unmoving. He figured her statement might not be available for a day or two.
“Miss Dawson,” Luke began in his slow Louisiana drawl, “I’m Luke Hyslop from State Violent Crime and I’m here to listen to your statement and record it.” He set up the interview and started the small recorder.
Robin turned her head and began crying. “I don’t know if I can talk about it,” she said between sobs. “I want to forget about what happened and go home.”
“I understand that, Miss, but we need to hear what happened and you have you tell us who did this to you, so we can bring the perpetrator to justice.” Luke leaned in closer. “No pressure and no need to rush. You take all the time you need, and as many breaks as you want. Okay?”
Robin took a deep breath and said, “Okay.”
Luke pulled a notebook out of his pocket in case he needed to remember anything important.
“It was all of them,” said Robin. “Joey took me from the roadhouse and I can only remember bits and pieces of that night. He might have put something in my drink, or his twin brother did. I didn’t see them do it, but I left my drink on the table when I was dancing.” She paused and shook her head. “I was stupid. Totally stupid.”
“We all make mistakes, Miss Robin.”
“When I woke up—no idea when it was or what time it was—but an old man was on top of me.” She made a face and inhaled a couple of times. “He smelled like manure or a barn or something and he was raping me.” Robin sniffled, and Luke handed her a tissue. “Joey and his brother were staring down at me and smiling. They were waiting for a turn.” Robin choked back a sob and said, “It was horrible. They hurt me so bad.”
“Do you know where that was?” asked Luke.
“I don’t know,” said Robin. “In a house somewhere. It looked like an old house. It wasn’t new, but it was big.”
Luke jotted down farmhouse.
“After they finished with me, Joey wouldn’t let me get my clothes or clean up in the bathroom or anything. He laughed at me when I said I wanted to get dressed and pushed me out the door naked. He took me straight to the horrible cave and tied me up.” Robin glanced across the room. “That was the first time I saw Sylvie. She was already there in that cold, wet place and I don’t know how long she’d been there.”
“She was taken a few days before you,” said Luke. “We were trying to find her.”
“I’m afraid of snakes and spiders and I just knew there were thousands of them in the cave. I could feel them crawling on me and my hands were tied, and I couldn’t get them off me.”
Robin shuddered thinking about the spiders. “Did you lock Joey up? I’m afraid he’ll come and take me away again.”
“My partner is taking care of that,” said Luke, “and I don’t want you to worry. You’re safe here in your room. There’s a police officer sitting on a chair right outside the door.”
“Is there?” Robin raised her head and tried to see. “I didn’t know that.”
Luke stood up and turned off the recorder. He opened the door of the room and the female officer in uniform came in and introduced herself.
“I’m Deputy Cheryl Young and I’m right outside the door to protect you girls.” She smiled at Robin.
“Thank you,” said Robin. “I didn’t know you were there, but I’m glad you are.”
Luke said, “I’ll be back tomorrow to check on y’all. You rest now.”
Bluebonnet. Texas.
FARRELL drove out the ranch laneway at warp speed kicking up a rooster tail of dust behind his truck. He took a sharp right and tried the next laneway feeling the tension building in his chest.
Be there, Avery. Please be mucking out a stall.
Farrell rammed the truck into park, left the truck running and ran for the barn door. He blasted inside and nearly ran down an older man with a pitchfork in his hand.
“Help you, son?”
“Does Avery Dennison work here?” he asked out of breath.
“She does, but she left a while ago. A man came and picked her up. Said he’d found her missing sister and was taking her there.”
Farrell shook the man’s hand quickly, spun around and left.
“Her truck is still here,” the rancher called after him.
Where would he take her? He can’t go home.
La Grange. Texas.
TRAVIS eased his truck into the line of vehicles in front of Annie’s garage at Coulter-Ross. He’d just turned off the engine when Farrell called.