Gem Stone (15 page)

One old guy stepped closer to the sheriff, almost shoving his face into the other man's face. "Sheriff, you've had a pretty easy ride here for a long time. That can come to a quick end if we don't see this handled, and handled correctly." Up came a gnarled finger to shake under the poor sheriff's nose. "I don't want to be having a talk with your daddy about this, but I will if things don't get fixed real soon."

Gemma grinned at the discomfited look on the sheriff's face. He might try to ignore Gem, but that wouldn't wash with these townspeople. They'd put him in power and they could take it away just as easily.

"We have been made aware of these individuals, yes. We're looking for them as we speak." The sheriff kept his voice even and commanding, his shoulders straight and his head high.

No one appeared impressed.

Gem straightened, one eyebrow raised. "Right, like I believe that."

"The sheriff was good to me. Once he believed me, that is," Reid assured her. He reached an arm around her shoulders and squeezed gently.

"About time. It didn't seem like they were listening to any of us yesterday." She glowered at the world in general and sank back against the bench.

"You need to come into the office and we'll take your statement."

The young deputy went as if to take her arm, when the older lady who'd been patting her back stepped up. "Don't you touch her. She needs to see a doctor. You're gonna take her straight to the hospital."

The sheriff stepped forward. "Did they hurt you?"

Gemma held out her torn and bleeding wrists. "My ankles too."

"There's also blood showing through her shirt," said the older lady, her hand plucking away at the light cotton material on her back under the afghan.

"Really?" Gem twisted around automatically but of course, she couldn't see anything.
Couldn't be that bad if she didn't feel it.

"Yeah. It may not be much, but better that the doctor checks you out." Reid reached out a hand and helped her to stand up. "I'm not sure who's driving us where, but my vote is to get your wrists cleaned and bandaged before anything else."

"Right. Wash away the evidence so there's no proof, huh Reid?" She tried hard but couldn't quite manage to keep the bitterness out of her voice. "Those kidnappers will love that."

"Good point." The same senior who'd confronted the sheriff, pulled out a fancy camera phone, high tech enough that it surprised Gem. "We're not going to let anything get by this time. We don't want men around here who abuse children." He bent down to her ankles. "Lift up your pant leg."

When Gemma gingerly lifted up her right one, the crowd cried out. She looked down to see blood pooling at her shoe. "It's probably not that bad."

"It's not good either." Reid stepped back so the camera buff could take pictures. The elderly man took several of the welts on that ankle and then repeated the process with her other one. "There. Now your back." He took a couple pictures of Gemma's wrists, her back, her exhausted face and the blood-stained shirt. "The blood is already drying on your back. They're going to have to soak it off you at the hospital, as it is."

The camera buff stepped back. "Now get this little 'un down to the hospital and get her fixed her up." He pierced the young deputy with his glare. "Barry, I don't want to be hearing anything about you not taking good care of her. Not if you're looking to turn this summer gig into a full time law enforcement career."

The hapless special constable shook his head. "I'll take care of her, sir."

"
Hmmpph.
See that you do." The old guy tapped his camera. "I've got the pictures to prove what she's been through. I'm going to the station with the sheriff and give him a copy. But I'll be keeping some for myself. Just to make sure this little girl gets justice."

Barry nodded solemnly. "I won't forget, sir. We'll take more pictures at the hospital, too."

"See that you do. Now go." The old man stepped back. "I'm gonna have another little talk with our sheriff now. See what the rest of us here can do to help."

Gem barely hid her grin at the man's tone of voice. She hoped the good ole boy sheriff enjoyed what was coming. Old age apparently had its advantages.

***

Mark groaned and tried to sit up again. Everything hurt. He'd been trying not to swear for the better part of the last week as another step to cleaning up his act. Only no one had noticed.
Figures.
Then again, everyone else's swearing had increased these last few days. Except for John and Doris.

The home had been such a pleasant surprise after juvie that he'd made a conscious effort to make a go of it. Eighteen was looming. A new start. He could work, eventually get his record expunged and put some thought into college. Only he didn't know if he could get student loans. He knew he sure couldn't make that kind of money very quickly. The temptation to revert to his old way of life had reared its ugly head more than once.

He'd resisted. He knew now, it wasn't the life he wanted.

If he could get through this, he had a chance for a new start.

As he lay on the hot ground, with tall grasses surrounding him and a bright blue sky above, he wondered what his chances were of making it to the first day of college. Right now, he believed if these guys had their way, he'd never get there.

They weren't going to win. He couldn't let them.

But at the moment, it sure felt like they might. He struggled to his feet again. One step at a time. Just one, then another.

He forced himself forward.

***

Unbelievable. How could these kids get away each and every time?
Fixer couldn't believe it. His cousins weren't the brightest, but damn…he hadn't believed they were this stupid?

Everything was going wrong. This was supposed to be a quiet operation. Not a public spectacle. And his cousins were supposed to be in disguise. So they couldn't be identified.

Should have just knocked the kids out, tied them up and blindfolded them.

Instead...

Damn.
They'd been too soft on that girl. She probably faked having to go to the damn bathroom. It's what he'd do in the same situation.

Why hadn't they drugged her like the first girl? Or would she have reacted badly to the drugs, too? A shudder rippled down his back. For the first girl, they'd probably used some of the drugs they used on their horses.

He had no trouble blaming his two helpers for these problems. They'd been fired from most of the jobs they'd held. It's not that they were completely incompetent. They just didn't think on their feet.

Still, maybe this would get the job done after all. The kids were obviously in danger. They
should
be shipped back to juvie now.

If not, he might have to ask the same uncle to step back in and help out. Talk about keeping things in the family. Even his aunt had been roped in to answer the phone calls to the number they'd put on the EPA business cards. She'd been verifying their IDs all along. Now if only he could keep the charade going long enough to get through this.

Unfortunately, his access into the sheriff's office hadn't revealed much about what these juvie kids had seen or heard.

And that wasn't good.

G
em sat in the hospital waiting room, the young deputy on one side and Reid on her other. She'd given her story to the deputy while waiting nervously. She liked doctors about as much as she liked the authorities. Still, being treated as if she were a normal person, instead of a criminal, was pretty easy on her soul. Out of the blue, she snorted in disgust, causing Reid to look over at her with an unspoken question on his face.
As if.

She stared down at her tattered shoes and ragged jeans. Who'd have thought her wild run and escape would destroy her outfit? Her generic clothing had shifted to the homeless look – and she hadn't even turned eighteen or been kicked out yet. Great.

"Gemma Stone?"

She stood up and followed the harried nurse to the next cubicle. The deputy stood just outside. The nurse disappeared. Gem hated to sit on the white paper sheets. They'd have to be incinerated afterwards.

A doctor entered the cubicle. "Go ahead and hop up here so we can take a look." She closed the curtain and picked up Gem's paperwork.

Gem sat on the examining table and held out her wrists. Walking over to her, the gray-haired doctor gave her a sharp look then turned her attention to the bleeding lacerations. "I guess this explains the presence of the deputy out there."

As she didn't seem to need an answer, Gem stayed quiet. Until the doctor hiked up her pant leg and stripped off one of her anklet socks. Then Gemma yelped. The blood had soaked through and dried and removing it was like pulling off a big scab.

"We'll get this cleaned up so we can get a better look. Anything else?" She stood in front of Gemma, her hands on her hips.

Gem swallowed. In a low voice she said, "Apparently there's blood on my back. I don't know from what." The doctor walked around and a low whistle filled the small cubicle. "Okay. I'm going to need to see this better. Off with the sweater."

Crossing her arms in front of her, Gem gritted her teeth and went to grab the corners of her sweater. The doctor stayed the motion with her hand.

"Stop. We're going to have to document this first. Then we'll either need to soak this off or cut your sweater. Is it a favorite of yours?"

"The sweater? No. But I don't have anything else to wear out of here."

"Just a second."

Gem turned slightly to see what she was doing and was reassured when she heard the sound of water running. When the doctor returned with a wet towel, Gemma turned around obediently so she could place it on her back. The towel was warm and instantly soothed her aching muscles through the thin nylon of her sweater. It also loosened the dried blood so they could remove the sweater.

"That feel okay?"

"Yes, thank you." It felt better than okay; it felt great.

The nurse returned with a weird square bucket, half full of something. She brought over a footstool, placed the tub on it then directed Gem to put her feet into it. The water was warm too and came up to her lower calves. "Ohh," she whispered. "Thank you."

The nurse smiled warmly. "No problem. Now let's get those wrists cleaned up."

Another five minutes and Gem had to admit that maybe her prejudice against doctors was unfounded.

"Now, let's try to remove the sweater so we can take a closer look."

With their help, the sweater was removed, her back cleaned and some kind of salve put on that instantly soothed the sting. Gem still had no idea where or how she'd received that injury.

Her wrists were cleaned, ointment applied and then they were wrapped. Her ankles received the same treatment. By the time they were done and the very sad-looking sweater was back on, Gem could barely stand. She was exhausted and swayed in place.

"Before I let you go, I have to ask – were you sexually assaulted?"

Gem stared blankly. Understanding pushed heat across her throat.

"No. No, I wasn't." She shook her head vigorously enough to send her hair flying. "They might have been planning on it but I got away before…" She shuddered. "I don't want to think about it."

"Then don't. Didn't want to upset you further, but I had to ask." She patted Gem gently on the shoulder. "Let's get you back to the waiting room with the others. I need to speak with the deputy who brought you in."

In the waiting room, they found the sheriff had joined the group. He paced the room, slapping his hat against his thigh. A grim look aged his features.

Good.
Why should she be the only one to suffer? Immediately she felt guilty because for a moment she'd forgotten…Reid had suffered already, and Mark probably still was.

"Sheriff. I've given her a shot for the pain and a muscle relaxant to help her get through the night. She's going to be very sore in the morning so I'm writing her a prescription. I presume there is someone who can get it filled for her?"

The sheriff reached over and took the paper. "I'll give this to John. He'll get it filled."

"Good. I sure hope you're going to get to the bottom of this. Enough is enough. That's two girls now. I don't want to see anymore kids in here."

"I'm not crazy about it either. I'll take her home now." The sheriff glanced over at Reid and added, "Both of them."

"Good." The doctor gave him a curt smile before turning and walking back to the nurses' center.

Reid stepped up and slipped his arm around Gem's ribs to help support her. "Easy, Gem. Home time."

She gave him a woozy smile. "I'm just starting to feel like partying."