It had to be one of the officer’s cell phones ringing.
He pressed on, then halted again. Wait a minute—the ringing was coming from a cluster of trees ahead of him.
Jace broke into a run and circled the junipers. There stood the Toyota.
“Up here!”
A dozen officers hurried to join him.
The left rear door and the front passenger door were open. He spotted Dana’s remote and purse lying in the wet grass. Her phone had stopped ringing.
The keys were still in the ignition. There was no sign of blood or a struggle, thank God.
Her overnight bag lay on the back seat. He opened it. Several changes of clothes had been neatly packed. He grabbed one of her sandals and walked over to the dog handler.
“Rudy? See what Fritz can do with this.”
“Hey, Fritz—” He let his German shepherd grab hold of the sandal. “You like shoes better than anything, don’t you, boy. That’s right. Get that smell in your nose. Go ahead. Play with it.”
While Rudy helped the dog to become familiar with Dana’s scent, Jace gave Pat an update. Finding the car had narrowed the search to an area where all their manpower could be focused.
“Hand me her purse,” Rudy said.
Jace gave it to him.
As soon as Rudy put it under the dog’s nose, Fritz got excited. “Good boy.” He handed the purse back to Jace. “Okay, let’s see what you can find.”
Fritz sniffed the front seat of the car and ground where Dana’s things had fallen. Then the excited dog took off at an angle up the mountain.
Signaling for the guys to spread out and follow, Jace stayed a few paces behind Rudy to give him and the dog space as they began their trek up to the ridge.
Though the rain wasn’t coming down as hard as before, it was still difficult to see. Yet miracle of miracles, the dog seemed to know exactly where he was going.
They’d been climbing a few minutes when Fritz began to strain at the leash. Rudy held him back and waited for Jace to catch up.
“See those rocks above us?”
Jace nodded. “Fritz found our cave.”
A fresh spurt of adrenaline filled his body as he opened his backpack and pulled out a pair of night-vision goggles. After putting his pack back on, he said, “You men know the drill. Let’s go.”
DANA HAD BEEN Glen’s prisoner since she’d awakened in the smothering dark of the cave. She’d glimpsed firearms and camping gear when they’d used the flashlight. Without light, they were entombed in thick, heavy blackness. The cave reeked of the awful cologne he wore. Everything was closing in on her.
Glen had made her sit down between his legs. “This is nice and warm, now, isn’t it.”
He’d wrapped his arms around her waist. Most of the time he rested his chin on her shoulder and kissed her neck. Every once in a while his hands roamed, but so far he hadn’t tried to rape her. She knew he was waiting for Lewis to leave them alone.
“Please let me go outside. I’ll be quiet and do what you say. Just don’t make me stay in here. I can’t breathe!”
“It’s raining out. You might catch a cold. Can’t have my bride-to-be getting sick before the wedding. We’ll stay in here where it’s dry. You sure smell sweet.”
“I’m feeling sick, Glen. I need to get out of here.”
“You’d better shut her up or I’ll do it for you.”
Glen smoothed the hair away from her ear and kissed it. “You don’t want Lewis to get mad,” he whispered. “We’ll get out of here as soon as it stops raining and fly away to Mexico. I got money, Dana. So much money we’ll never be able to spend it all. I’m going to buy you a white Mexican wedding dress. No woman’ll look prettier than you in one of those.”
“You can’t go to Mexico and leave your grandfather. What will he do without your help?”
“The same thing he done before I got here.”
“He loves you a lot, Glen. Your dad broke his heart. Are you going to run away and break it again?”
“Grandad don’t love me.”
“Then how come he’s going to give you the property with the barn you can turn into a house?”
“How does she know about that property?” Lewis demanded.
Dana had already figured out Lewis was older than Glen. He saw himself as the one with the brains and abused Glen unmercifully.
“I went to see your grandfather yesterday morning to give him the next month’s rent. He bragged about what a good job you’re doing at the grocery store, how dependable you’d become. That’s when he told me he was giving you the land and the barn for a wedding present.”
“I told him I was marrying you. He’s sweet on you too.”
“Do you know how lucky you are to have a grandfather who’s looking out after you and your future? If you run away to Mexico and take all that money you say you have, he can’t help you.”
“If you don’t believe me, I’ll show it to you. I’m sitting against one of the bags right now.”
“You show her anything and I’ll blow both your heads off.”
Ignoring Lewis, she said, “I don’t want to see the money, Glen. It’s not yours. You didn’t earn it, and you know the police are going to get it back one way or another. Why risk going to prison when you’re already earning your grandfather’s respect?”
“’Cause I know you won’t marry me if I don’t take you to Mexico.”
“Glen, you don’t want to marry me. For one thing, I’m older than you, and I’m a scientist who studies the stars. My world is inside that observatory.
“You need to find a younger woman who will love you and look up to you to protect her. Think what a wonderful life you could have here in Cloud Rim as a rancher with a wife and family. Everything respectable.”
“I don’t want no other woman.”
“But I’m in love with someone else.”
“It’s that IPS driver, isn’t it?”
“Yes.”
“Did he ask you to marry him yet?”
“No.”
“Why not?”
“Because he’s in love with his dead wife. But when he finds out I’m missing, he’s going to come looking for me.”
“Don’t make no difference. He’s never going to find you.”
“You mean you’ll lock me up somewhere in Mexico and force yourself on me.”
“If I have to.”
“The law calls that kidnapping and rape. If you’ll leave this cave with me and go back to your grandfather’s, I’ll tell the police it was Lewis who dragged me up here. He’ll be the one in trouble, not you.”
“That’s where you’re wrong, bitch,” Lewis muttered. “Glen’s a wanted man. He’s got nowhere else to run but Mexico, and I’m the only one who can fly the plane to get him there. So shut your mouth and leave him alone.”
“You haven’t thought this through,” she persisted, sensing that Lewis wasn’t as sure of Glen as he thought. “You can’t take me over the border without a birth certificate. The Mexican authorities won’t let me in.”
“I know you think I’m dumb, but I’m not that dumb, Dana. I took the passport out of your bedroom drawer the second day you moved in to the trailer.”
Glen had been coming and going from her trailer the whole time she’d rented it?
Ice filled her veins.
Jace had never trusted Glen. She recalled him asking her if she had the only key.
“You sure wear some pretty underthings,” he murmured against her ear. “But you’re even prettier without them.”
Had he hidden in her closet to watch her?
Bile rose in her throat.
She had to do something. She couldn’t just sit here and hope to be rescued.
The moisture had all but gone from her mouth. “Glen—we’ve been in here for hours. I need to relieve myself.”
“Hey, Lewis…?”
“I heard.”
“Where should I take her?”
“Nowhere. In a few min
utes I’ll go to the front of the cave and see if it’s stopped raining. If it has, then we’ll get out of here and she can go outside on the way to the plane.”
“Did you hear that, Dana?”
Lewis chose that moment to shine the flashlight in their faces. “You better not let her con you into doing anything while I’m gone. I don’t need you to help me fly, and I sure as hell will enjoy spending your half of the money.”
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
THE CAVE SEPARATED into two tunnels after a distance of about two hundred yards. Glen and Lewis were in the right tunnel about a hundred yards from the split.
Officers and FBI were positioned throughout the cave from the opening to the place where the tunnel separated, awaiting Jace’s instructions.
For the last half hour he and three men had remained hidden in a recess of the cave wall in the right tunnel. With their night-vision goggles, they’d been able to see Dana and her assailants.
He’d heard their conversation. He knew she was frightened, but she was being so brave and using her head to survive. The old divide-and-conquer theory was working well for her.
Burdick was nervous. He didn’t trust Glen now that Dana was working on him to give himself up.
She’d survived prison. It had made her strong. This courageous woman was doing everything in her power to survive this nightmare. Most women would have fallen apart by now. Especially someone who suffered from severe claustrophobia.
Lord, how he loved her.
Now he knew she loved him. In front of everyone, visible or hidden, she’d declared her love for him. He felt his heart expand.
This was the hard part. Waiting for everything to go down so he could crush her in his arms.
Five more minutes and Lewis got up. He was going to make the biggest mistake of his life leaving Dana and Glen alone. The break they’d been waiting for had come. He got on his walkie-talkie.
“Burdick’s just passed us on his way out of the cave. He’ll be rounding the curve in the tunnel before long. There’s a semiautomatic in his left hand and a flashlight in his right. Give him two minutes, starting your count now.”
In his own mind, Jace began the countdown.
“Hey, Dana. Lewis is gone. How about a little kiss. I won’t force ya unless you make me.”
“I have to go to the bathroom so bad it hurts. How can I think of kissing you?”
The need to strangle Glen with his bare hands sent the adrenaline surging through Jace until he was jumping out of his skin. Then his ears picked up unmistakable scuffling noises. Everything went silent.
“Hey, Lewis?”
It was too much to hope Glen wouldn’t have heard any sound. No matter how well the men might handle Burdick, even if they could disarm him without a shot being fired, everything resonated inside the cave.
“I don’t think I can wai—”
“Shh.”
Jace watched him muffle her. When that wasn’t enough, he slapped her. Her whimpering sounds devastated him.
“I don’t like doing that to you, Dana, but you got to shut up like Lewis said.”
Agonizing minutes passed while Jace waited for Glen to make his next move. The sight of him holding her between his legs was enough to tear him apart. But with that gun at Glen’s side, Jace and the other officers couldn’t go in until there was a minimum risk of injury to Dana.
“Please let me up for a minute, Glen,” she begged.
Good, Dana. Make him do it. At this point he removed his goggles.
“Hold on.”
“I don’t think he’s coming. Maybe he took his money and left you.”
“He wouldn’t do that.”
“Turn on the flashlight and see.”
Jace heard the click and saw light before it was shut off again.
“The money’s still here.”
“Maybe he decided to leave anyway.”
“Not without his share.”
“Then why hasn’t he returned?”
“He’s probably looking at the sky, trying to decide how soon we can take off.”
“I’ve got to relieve myself.”
“I’m not moving from here.”
“So you want me to go where I’m sitting?”
“All right. You can get up and walk over there a couple of steps. No funny stuff or I’ll have to use this.” He turned on the flashlight. In his other hand he pointed a gun at her.
Jace saw her rise to her feet.
“I’d like my privacy, Glen. Turn off the light.”
“Forget it.”
“If you’re going to keep that light on, you can forget it.”
In the next second he saw her spin around and kick the flashlight out of his hand.
“You bitch!” he yelled. In that second of confusion Jace lunged for him, knocking the gun away. It went off, the bullet striking the wall.
While Dana’s screams reverberated throughout the cave, Jace wrestled Glen to the ground. The pervert let out a vile curse and scrounged for his weapon.
Dana’s cries grew faint. It meant one of the officers was leading her outside into the fresh air. Knowing she was safe gave Jace the latitude he needed. Summoning his strength, he rolled Glen across the cave floor like a crocodile with his victim.
Their bodies slammed against unyielding rock. Glen let out a groan.
“Cuff him!” Jace ordered, taking advantage of his weakness. In a matter of seconds the men had rushed to Jace’s assistance, securing Glen’s wrists and ankles.
At that point light filled the tunnel. The whole team rushed in to begin their investigation of the crime scene.
The men set Glen on his feet. His head reared back when he saw who’d tackled him.
“You!”
“That’s right, Mason. Your friendly IPS man.”
“You ain’t no delivery-truck driver!”
“Right again. I’ve been on to you since the day I saw you letting yourself out of Dana’s trailer. Too bad you didn’t take her advice and let her go while you had the chance. Now you’ll be sent up for life.”
“I never killed no one. It was Lewis who gunned down the driver and that cop. He was the one who cut the pilot’s oxygen. All I did was shove him out after he was dead.”
“Save it for the judge.” Jace nodded to one of the men. “Read him his rights.”
“Captain Riley?” An officer walked over to him. “I found this inside his personal things.” He handed him Dana’s passport.
Jace opened it to her picture. She’d been twenty when it was taken. Anyone might think she wasn’t that much older now. But he could see the difference. The sunny smile of the woman in the photo was that of a happy girl without a worry in the world.
The smile of the woman Jace had come to know didn’t have that carefree look anymore. Wretches like Glen were a big part of the reason her joie de vivre had been extinguished.
“Get him out of my sight.”
Jace put the passport in his pocket. He would give it back to its owner just as soon as he could wrap up this case.
“DANA?”
She’d been praying Jace would be standing there when the police officers brought her out of the cave. Instead, it was Gideon’s voice she heard calling to her. But she wasn’t complaining.
After thanking the officers profusely for saving her life, she made a dash for his outstretched arms. At this point, she was so grateful to be free of those monsters, she couldn’t find words.
He held her tight. “The nightmare’s over, Dana. Glen’s been taken into custody. He’s no longer a threat to anyone.”
She shivered. “I didn’t think I’d ever see my loved ones again.”
“You’re safe now.”
“Gideon? I’ve got to talk to Jace. Where is he?”
“Giving information to the FBI. He’ll come by the apartment as soon as he can.”
“The FBI’s involved?”
“Yes. As it turns out, both Glen and Lewis have outstanding warrants for their arrest in G
eorgia and Florida, so the feds were called in.”
“Mr. Mason’s going to be devastated.”
“Life’s dealt some serious blows to that poor man. Maybe tomorrow we’ll visit him and see how we can help. Right now I have a wife who told me not to come home unless I brought you with me.”
“I’m beginning to think you’re the poor man.” She made a sound between a laugh and a cry.
“Why do you say that?”
“Because ever since you met Heidi, you’ve been rescuing me from one disaster after another.”
He eyed her narrowly. “Am I complaining?”
“No.” Tears spilled down her cheeks. “But you must be sick of it.”
“It’s not your fault you’ve had a run of particularly bad luck, kiddo. However, I have it on good authority that’s all going to change. Come on. I was talking to the sheriff a minute ago. Sometime later they’ll send an officer to return your car and take your statement. For now, you’re in my care. How does that sound?”
“You know how that sounds.” Her voice trembled.
They made their way down the sodden slope to his car. While she’d been in the cave, there’d been a downpour. Now it had stopped. So had the wind. But it was still dismal out.
The area near the firebreak road looked like a disaster scene after a bomb explosion, with all the ambulances, police cars and vans, officers on walkie-talkies, even a K-9 unit.
After Gideon had helped her in to his car, she noticed the time. “It’s almost six o’clock!”
“You must be starving,” he said as he backed around so they could reach the main road.
“I guess I am. But I was running on adrenaline in there, praying Jace would come.
“Trouble seems to follow me around. I’ve started thinking of it as the Turner syndrome. I should have some signs made up. Stay away. Disaster lurks. Proceed at your own peril.”
Gideon made no comment as he pulled into the Watkinses’ driveway. By the time she got out of the car, Heidi had rushed from the apartment. She threw her arms around Dana.
“I swear, if anything had happened to you—”
Suddenly it was Dana comforting her friend, who’d broken down sobbing.
“LOOKS LIKE they brought everything in here but a TV set.”
Beneath A Texas Sky (Harlequin Super Romance) Page 20