“Looks that way,” a long pause then, “Nana, can you take me to the rodeo grounds?”
“Sure, sweet pea, if you remember to call me Carrie. Is that your dad?”
“Yes.”
“Why is he going to be late again?”
“Don’t know. Thanks . . . Carrie. We need to leave in half an hour. I want to be there early.”
The sound of something ripping filled the air. “I’ll be ready just as soon as I carry this box out to the trashcan.”
“I told Dad you’d throw that away.” His daughter giggled. “Dad, she can take me. Why are you gonna be late?”
“A new case I’m working on. Nothing you need to be concerned about.” He unwrapped his burger, probably cold now.
“Don’t say that! Whenever you do I get worried.”
The second he said that last sentence, he’d wanted to take it back, especially when Maddie’s voice held a frantic edge to it. “Hon, you don’t need to worry. All I’m doing is interviewing a girl. No big deal.”
“Are you sure?”
“Yes. See you at the rodeo grounds.”
When he hung up and laid his cell on the seat next to him, he took a bite of his hamburger and washed it down with a gulp of tea, then cranked the engine and pulled out of the parking space. Out of his rearview mirror, he noticed the four teens leaving the restaurant with the manager coming to the door to watch them. The group moseyed toward the street and intentionally ran across just in front of a car that had to brake to keep from hitting them. Gloria’s piercing gaze zeroed in on him. He wondered if those teens came into the restaurant just to see the manager’s reaction. Wyatt laughed at the thought. It would have been something he’d have done as a teenager.
Five minutes later, Wyatt parked in the same place at Beacon of Hope and finished the last bite of his food. The interview with the teens at the Ultimate Burger kept spinning around in his brain. Was the redhead Lillian? What had Rose given her? Why was she crying the next day? Did Rose know the girl because they had the same pimp? Did her ex-pimp know where Rose was?
Wyatt went in search of Kate Winslow. Without finding Rose, he doubted he would get too many answers to those questions. He might never. If Rose had talked with Lillian, was their encounter the reason the young redhead was found dead this morning? Would Rose’s body be discovered too? He needed to talk with Daniel to make sure they search the surrounding land for another body.
When he approached the director’s office, he saw the door open. He found the woman standing at her window looking out. He cleared his throat.
She swiveled around. Her dark brown eyes flared for a few seconds. “Oh, you’re early. I thought you might be Cynthia. I’m having Harriet bring her here.”
He entered. “Does she know I want to talk with her?”
“No, I wanted to wait until you came. If she’s given time to think about you talking with her, she’ll get nervous and upset.”
He cocked a grin. “I have that effect on some.”
She gestured toward the table. “Have a seat. I hope it’s okay that I sit in on the interview.”
“I want your input. You’ve worked with these girls for a while and know them. Your presence might make them open up more to me.”
“Then would you mind if I conduct the interview? I think Cynthia will respond better to me asking the questions than you. She doesn’t do well with strangers.”
“Sure. If there’s something I need to know, I can ask at the end. I mainly want to know what happened the night Rose left with the van.” Wyatt took a chair. “I was hoping to stay after talking with Cynthia and interview a few more girls, but I have a family obligation.”
Kate chuckled, her whole face bright with merriment. “I know about family obligations. I get pulled into one at least once a week.”
“Pulled in? That’s an interesting way to put it.”
“With my mom—that’s the only way to put it. Laura Winslow can run over a person faster than a herd of stampeding cattle.”
“I’ve read about her in the newspaper. She is a force to be reckoned with in Dallas.”
“If it’s a large charity event, she has her fingerprints all over it. She runs the Winslow Foundation and takes her job very seriously.”
“Much like you?”
Kate’s gaze fastened onto his. “Yeah, much like me. I guess my mother and I are more alike than I care to admit.”
“I can’t say that about me and my mom. She’s like that runaway train bounding down the mountain. Full steam ahead is her motto, without checking to make sure the brakes work first.”
“Your mom sounds the exact opposite of mine, who plans everything down to the tiniest detail. I’ve seen a show about swapping wives for a week. How about swapping mothers for a week?”
“Shh. Don’t let them hear us say that. We’d never hear the end of it.”
Her soft laughter stirred something in Wyatt—something that he’d buried a long time ago when his wife, Rebecca, had been murdered. He never wanted to care again about someone that way.
A sound out in the corridor drew his attention toward the entrance. A petite girl about Maddie’s age appeared in the doorway with an older lady behind her.
“Thanks, Harriet. Come in, Cynthia, and have a seat.” Kate patted the table in front of a vacant seat.
The girl’s eyes grew round as she stared at the silver star he wore. “I haven’t done nothing. I don’t know nothing,” she mumbled and stayed put, even placing one foot back as if she was going to whirl around and flee.
“Cynthia, you aren’t in trouble. Ranger Sheridan is here to help us find Rose. You want us to find her, don’t you?”
The scared teen nodded once then rested her chin against the top of her chest.
“He wanted me to ask you a few questions. You don’t have to answer any of them if you don’t want to, but you may know more than you think. Will you join us please? It’s your choice.”
Kate’s soothing, coaxing tone relaxed him. He hoped it did the same for the child. Out of all the girls he’d seen in the house, this one looked the most vulnerable.
A minute ticked away before Cynthia shuffled toward the table. When she reached to pull the chair out, her long sleeve shirt rode up her arm, and he glimpsed several lashes, one red, done recently, and two healed on her skin. What had this child gone through in her short life? All he wanted to do was go home and hug his daughter and never let her go.
Cynthia jammed her sleeve back in place and plopped onto the seat. She kept her head down, her hands in her lap.
“If you get uncomfortable, remember you don’t have to say anything. We’re here to help Rose, and you can, too. Nothing else. Okay?”
The child gave a quick nod.
“I’ve told Ranger Sheridan what happened the night that Rose disappeared. Have you been able to think of anything else that might help us?”
“No,” she mumbled in such a low tone that Wyatt had trouble hearing her.
“Do you know who Rose was talking to that night she disappeared?”
“Someone in trouble. Not sure who.”
“Did Rose ever receive any other calls on that phone?”
The only indication Cynthia heard the question was that she ducked her head down even further. Wyatt shot Kate a look, urging her to probe her reaction.
Kate leaned closer to Cynthia, next to her but not crowding her. “Who called Rose? Lillian?”
“I think so. The night before,” a long pause, then, “No, it wasn’t Lillian but Lily.”
“Did you hear what was said?”
The teen shook her head, finally peering up at Kate. “I only heard the excitement when Rose answered. Then she left our room.”
Lily was probably Lillian. Wyatt shifted in his chair. He had a connection between the dead girl and the missing one.
“And you didn’t overhear anything in the hallway?” Kate asked.
Tears glistened in the girl’s eyes. “No. When she came back into the r
oom after talking with Lily, she wouldn’t say anything. She was upset. I should have asked her what was wrong. I didn’t want her to get mad at me.”
Slowly Kate reached toward the child and placed her hand on her shoulder. “You were a good friend to Rose.”
“No, I wasn’t. She’s gone.”
Kate lifted Cynthia’s chin so the girl would look at her. “What you told us could help us find her. Thank you for that.”
Cynthia closed her eyes, one tear running down her face.
“Any time you need to talk, you know my door is always open. Rose might not be here right now, but I am.”
The teen swiped her hand across her face. “Okay. Can I go now?” Her gaze darted to Wyatt then back to Kate.
“Sure, I’ll see you at dinner.” Kate smiled warmly at the girl.
Beneath her grin, Wyatt sensed the exhaustion the past couple of days had produced in Kate. The gesture didn’t reach her brown eyes, a lackluster hue. A furrow of concern above her nose telegraphed the effort it took Kate to maintain the smile as Cynthia hurried toward the exit.
The second the girl disappeared through the doorway, Kate’s expression fell. A long breath hissed from between pursed lips. “Did I miss anything?”
“You did fine. We now know Rose had been in contact with Lily on more than one occasion. What if Rose wanted to go back to her old way of life?”
With a violent shake of her head, Kate shot to her feet. “No. She didn’t. I’ve worked with these girls long enough to know when one is teetering on the brink of going back. I’ve lost my share to their old way of life, but that wasn’t Rose. She wouldn’t choose it willingly.”
“So you think her pimp gave her no choice? Used Lily as a way to get to Rose?”
She walked toward her desk and spun about on her heel. “Yes. This is the man responsible for her being left for dead by the side of the road. This is a man Rose could identify, if she wanted to.”
“Why hasn’t she?”
“I think she would have when she really thought of herself as safe.” She collapsed back against the desk. “But she wasn’t safe, was she? I try to keep them safe. Now they’ll know it’s not possible.”
The defeat in her voice hovered in the air between them. Wyatt surged to his feet and closed the distance between them. “No one is one hundred percent safe, ever. Not even the President of the United States.”
“They need to feel that way here.”
“She wasn’t taken from here. She left. There is a difference, and you’ll help the girls see that. We can’t control everything as much as we wish we could.”
Her chest heaved as she gulped in a deep breath. “I know that. I fought that a good part of my life. You’re right, there will always be some things out of our hands. But I’m not going to let these guys who prey on children win. Not as long as I have a breath.”
The fervent appeal in her voice struck him, zapping him with a connection that took him by surprise. That was how he felt. His approach came from a different direction, but they fought the same battle. Knowing a little about her privileged background brought his respect to the foreground. She could have stayed in her nice little safe environment and never gotten her hands dirty. But she hadn’t. What made her open Beacon of Hope?
“You aren’t the only one wanting to stop the predators. That’s why I jumped at the chance to be on the Child Rescue Task Force. I have a daughter who just turned fourteen. I want a better world for her.”
“You know that’s close to the average age for one of these girls to go into prostitution. That’s not right. They should be worried about things like getting a boyfriend, what clothes to wear to school, the pimple that broke out right before the big dance.”
“Our children are growing up too fast. They’re in a hurry to be adults.”
She quirked a smile. “If they only knew all our headaches.”
“I’d like to come back tomorrow and talk with some of the other girls. What’s a good time?”
“After three. I want to keep their schedule as normal as possible. Some will be going to work, but a lot of them will be here.”
“I’ll start with people Rose has hung out with.”
“That’s easy. Everyone. She was popular in here. With all she’s gone through, she cared about the others, and they knew it. That’s also why Cynthia responded to her.”
“Good. I should have the autopsy back on Lillian Harris by then. We’re checking out the area where we found the van. Also, I’m going to drive around some of the parks and see who is there.”
“Why?”
“A teen I interviewed at the Ultimate Burger said a small group of girls come to the park for a short time and then move on. Where do they go? I think Lily was one of them and Rose connected with her. That’s probably what prompted Lily’s call the night before Rose left.”
“That makes sense. I’ll see you tomorrow. I want to check on Cynthia and reassure her she has done what she can to help Rose.”
“Yeah, she’s given us something to start with. Now I get to go watch my daughter ride in a rodeo.”
“What does she do?”
“Barrel racing is her favorite event. She’s really good at it.” He made his way toward the hallway.
Kate followed him and paused in the doorway to her office. “That’s something I wanted to do as a girl, but I never did.”
“What kept you from doing it?”
“My mother. A Winslow would never participate in a rodeo. Too dirty. Too undignified. Of course, look at me now. I—”
A scream sliced the air, curdling Wyatt’s blood.
5
Hearing the sound from above froze Kate for a few seconds. Her heart skipped a beat, then charged forward as she headed toward the stairs behind Wyatt. The sight of him drawing his gun caused her to stumble on a step. She caught herself before going down on both knees. Pushing herself up, she kept up with the Texas Ranger.
Three girls stood in the entrance to Rose’s room. One of them pointed inside, her hand quaking, her face ashen. She saw Kate. “It’s Cynthia. I think she’s dead.”
More people poured into the corridor from every direction, including Harriet. While Wyatt forged his way through the girls crowded around the doorway, Kate waved to Harriet. “Take them downstairs. We’ll handle this. Get the nurse.” She forced as much calmness into her voice as she could manage, but she shook with the implications of what the child in the doorway had said.
Please don’t let that be true.
As the students filed past the door, they all tried to look inside. Kate hurried toward the entrance, glimpsing Wyatt reaching down to feel for a pulse at the side of Cynthia’s neck. Blood covered the blue spread on the bed where Cynthia lay.
Stomach churning, Kate pivoted and blocked the last few girls’ view of the scene while Wyatt called 9-1-1. Now that the hallway was empty, the thought that Cynthia was still alive gave Kate courage to turn toward him.
As Susan, the nurse on duty, rushed inside with a green bag of emergency supplies, Wyatt stepped back from the bed. “I’ve called for help. They should be here in a few minutes.”
After assessing the situation, Susan opened her bag and dug around in it until she found gauze and passed it to Wyatt. “Apply pressure on the wound to stop the bleeding.”
While Susan took care of the right wrist, Wyatt followed the nurse’s direction and pressed down on the wound on the left one. Kate came to Wyatt’s side.
As he held the gauze over Cynthia’s injury, Wyatt scanned the room. His gaze latched onto the desk. Nodding his head toward it, he asked, “Are those marks new?”
Kate looked toward where he indicated and found grooves cut into the edge of the desk. “Yes. They weren’t there yesterday morning when I came up here to check on Rose. This is new. Cynthia has cut her arms before but never furniture. She’s hasn’t cut herself much in the past six weeks. And she’s never tried suicide. I should have realized she might do this. Rose’s disappearance hit her
harder than anyone else in the house.”
“How about you? This hasn’t been easy on you either.”
She clenched her teeth. “I can’t help it. I’m supposed to protect them. Who else is going to look out for these girls?”
“I am,” Wyatt whispered.
Surprised by the strength and will behind those two words, she stepped nearer. “Why? Most of the cops I’ve talked with haven’t cared much for my girls. What makes you so different?” Rage built up in her as though all those times she’d tried to get the police to see these teenagers as children, not adults, deluged her with frustration.
“I have my reasons.” He closed his mouth and stared at the door.
Two EMTs rushed into the room and attended to Cynthia, stabilizing her before moving her to the stretcher.
Kate trailed behind them. “Which hospital?”
“Mercy Cross,” one of the paramedics answered.
“I’ll follow the ambulance.” Glancing back over her shoulder, she said to Susan, “Can you take care of this?”
“Yes. Don’t worry. I’ll stay and answer any questions the girls have. I’ve had experience with suicides.”
“Thanks.” Kate started down the back staircase that would take her to her office.
Wyatt followed a few steps behind her while he talked on his phone. When he finished, he caught up to her. “I called this in. They’re sending an officer to fill out a report. He’ll come to the hospital after checking here.”
“Now they care.” In her office, she fumbled for her bag in the desk drawer. She couldn’t get rid of the image of Cynthia lying on her bed in a pool of blood. It shuddered through her. As Kate retrieved her handbag and hunted for her keys, she dropped her purse onto the floor, her items inside spilling out.
Wyatt took her bag and keys and cupped her hands in his. “I’m driving. I’m not needed here, but I think you need someone with you.”
“I can do this by myself.”
His fingers squeezed gently around hers as if to say she wasn’t alone. “I know. Humor me. I want to be there.” He scooped up her items from the floor and gave them to her. “Let’s go.”
Saving Hope: Men of the Texas Rangers Book 1 Page 5