Page 35 of Cole: Bloodlines
“We can’t think about that,” Dane said. “What matters, right here, right now, is that those bodies aren’tourkids. Maddy and Savannah are still alive—and that means we have hope of getting them back.” He touched Cole’s shoulder. “And Gabe, too.”
Cole shook his head slowly. “He won’t let Gabe go. He knows how much I love him.”
“I wasn’t talking about him letting them go,” Dane said. “I meant, us getting them back.”
“How?” Cole whispered.
“By not giving up hope.”
Detective Jordan crossed the park and approached the men, a look of distress on his face.
“Do you know who they are?” Dane asked.
Jordan rubbed his mouth, quiet despair in his eyes. “The male body matches the description of a boy who disappeared from a homeless shelter a few days ago. His mother has come to the station every day to see if we have any new information.” He sighed as the weight of the world settled on his shoulders. “We never had anything for her. Now…” He glanced back toward the bodies, the burden of his responsibilities as a cop drawing tension into his face.
Dane wiped tears from his eyes. “I can’t be sorry that those aren’tourkids,” he said thickly. “But I’m sorry for the mother.” He sniffed. “And the girl… do you know who she is?”
“No, not yet. We’ll try to match her to the missing reports, probably recent.” He rubbed his eyes. “There seems to be no limit to human depravity.”
Cole pushed away from the car and walked over to Devlin’s vehicle, which he was to drive to the hospital for the doctor.
“I can’t imagine what he’s going through,” Jordan murmured. “Does he blame himself for all this?”
“Yeah,” Dane whispered. “He does.”
Nausea rose in Cole’s gut like a tidal wave. He leaned on the car, his head in his hands, fighting the need to vomit. A cold sweat broke out all over his body, causing a prickling in his scalp, heightening the sick feeling. If he stepped away from the vehicle, tried to stand on his own, he was sure he would pass out.
He used these kids as pawns.Two innocent children who had nothing to do with this, taken, desecrated, butchered… just to play a twisted, cruel joke on Cole and his friends.
Their blood is on your hands, too.
Cole lowered his head to the roof of the car, the cold metal chilling his brow, seeping into his skull. He gripped the back of his head as the tears came, running down onto the car. Angel and Abel’s screams ricocheted inside his head, thedevastationof those cries ripping him apart still. How soon until they were screaming again—with no reprieve, this time?
Dane struggled to hold onto hope… but Cole had lived the nightmare with the madman. He would kill them all, one by one, keeping Cole alive until everyone he loved was dead. Even then, maybe he would leave him alive still… knowing the torture was in trying to live a desolate life alone, aware that his loved ones were gone because of him.
“Hey.” Dane approached and wrapped an arm around him. “Are you okay to drive? If not, I can—”
“I can drive,” Cole rasped and raised his head. He wiped his eyes and straightened. “Are we done here?”
Dane nodded. “If Jordan needs anything else, he knows how to reach us.”
Looking at his friend, Cole asked thickly, “Where are Clint and Cochise? Did they follow Gabe?”
“Yeah,” Dane murmured. “But they were tagged.”
Everything inside Cole dropped like a stone. What hope he might have had rested in the gangsters.
“They’ll find him,” Dane whispered. “Gabe is their brother. They won’t stop looking until they find him. And when they find him… they’ll find the kids.”
But will they find them in time?
CHAPTER 15: SOMETIMES THEY DON’T COME BACK
“You’re wondering why I haven’t taken you yet?”The madman squatted on his heels outside the cage and smiled at Savannah. “Did you know fear has a flavor? The more afraid the prey, the better they taste.” He tilted his head, a sinister grin breaking through his smile. “You’re almost ready, darling. You just need a bit more seasoning.”
Savannah crammed her body against the back of the small cage, hugging her knees to her chest. The last time he took her out of the cage, she thought he would rape her, then gut her like he did Maddy. She buried her face in her knees, the horror of that moment coiling tightly around her mind, refusing to release her.
“I thought you might like to know…” he murmured. “… your brother is no longer with us.”
