passengers.
The plane was parked at an angle, ready to roll onto the runway. Baker roared onto
the paved tarmac and slammed on the brakes.
The team sprang into action, opening the cargo doors to the van and making sure the
hatch to the jet was open.
Donovan started to reach for P.J., but Cole brushed him off and gently gathered her
in his arms, careful to keep the blanket around her to shield her nudity.
He hurried to the plane, carrying her up the three steps into the cabin.
“Bring her to the back and lay her on the couch,” Donovan said. “I’ll get my med pack,
give her something for pain and then see what I can do to suture the cuts until we
get her to a hospital. Tell the pilot to get us off the ground.”
To Steele, he gave a terse order. “Get on the horn with Sam and fill him in. Rio and
his team need to be here in twenty-four hours and in position to intercept the shipment
of girls.”
Cole bore his precious burden to the back of the plane and gently arranged her on
the sofa so that she was shielded from the view of others.
The slashes to her body were horrifying. Two were deep and the flesh lay raggedly
open. One carved a path down her midline between her breasts. There were two just
underneath her breasts and one across her flat, muscled belly. And another two on
the insides of her thighs.
The son of a bitch had carved her up and then forced himself on her because that’s
how he got his rocks off.
“Damn,” Donovan murmured.
Cole focused on Donovan, trying to calm his fury. Donovan was holding P.J.’s right
hand. It was swollen and bruised. Cole hadn’t noticed because it had been her left
hand he’d clung to as they’d raced for the airport.
“Looks like she broke it,” Donovan said grimly.
He turned it over carefully in his palm and examined the swelling before returning
it to her side.
Dolphin brought back the med pack and then took a seat across from the couch, his
eyes burning with concern.
“Is she going to be all right, Van? How bad is it? Level with us. We’re going crazy
up there.”
Donovan took in a deep breath. “Physically? She’s going to be okay. Eventually. The
cuts are bad but not life threatening. Emotionally? I can’t say. What she went through
was horrific. P.J.’s strong, but I don’t know of any woman who can escape what she
suffered unscathed.”
Cole scrubbed his hands over his face and then through his hair. “This shouldn’t have
happened. I should never have let it happen. Goddamn it, I knew it was wrong. My gut
was screaming at me that it was all wrong, and I let her walk into that situation.”
Donovan sighed. “It was her decision, Cole. You can’t make those for her. It was a
team decision.”
“It was bullshit,” Cole spat. “It was a coward’s move, using a woman to draw out a
monster. There was another way. There’s always another way, but we were too anxious
and lazy to find it.”
“Try telling that to the mothers of the girls we’ll send home,” Dolphin said quietly.
“And then ask P.J. if she thinks it was worth it. Knowing her as I do, I know which
way she’ll go. Do you?”
Donovan gave P.J. an injection of pain medication and then numbed the area around
her wounds. Afterward he began the meticulous task of stitching the wounds closed.
“This is beyond my scope,” he admitted. “There is tissue damage that needs to be repaired,
but my main concern is to get the wounds closed so infection doesn’t set in.”
He checked the pulse in her injured wrist and then did another perusal of the swelling.
Then he wrapped an ice pack around it and secured it so she couldn’t move it if she
awakened.
Steele ducked into the back. “How is she?”
Donovan’s shoulders heaved. “I’ve patched her up. She needs care more advanced than
I can provide, but she’ll do until we get to Fort Campbell. Have you gotten us clearance
to land there instead of Henry
The plane was parked at an angle, ready to roll onto the runway. Baker roared onto
the paved tarmac and slammed on the brakes.
The team sprang into action, opening the cargo doors to the van and making sure the
hatch to the jet was open.
Donovan started to reach for P.J., but Cole brushed him off and gently gathered her
in his arms, careful to keep the blanket around her to shield her nudity.
He hurried to the plane, carrying her up the three steps into the cabin.
“Bring her to the back and lay her on the couch,” Donovan said. “I’ll get my med pack,
give her something for pain and then see what I can do to suture the cuts until we
get her to a hospital. Tell the pilot to get us off the ground.”
To Steele, he gave a terse order. “Get on the horn with Sam and fill him in. Rio and
his team need to be here in twenty-four hours and in position to intercept the shipment
of girls.”
Cole bore his precious burden to the back of the plane and gently arranged her on
the sofa so that she was shielded from the view of others.
The slashes to her body were horrifying. Two were deep and the flesh lay raggedly
open. One carved a path down her midline between her breasts. There were two just
underneath her breasts and one across her flat, muscled belly. And another two on
the insides of her thighs.
The son of a bitch had carved her up and then forced himself on her because that’s
how he got his rocks off.
“Damn,” Donovan murmured.
Cole focused on Donovan, trying to calm his fury. Donovan was holding P.J.’s right
hand. It was swollen and bruised. Cole hadn’t noticed because it had been her left
hand he’d clung to as they’d raced for the airport.
“Looks like she broke it,” Donovan said grimly.
He turned it over carefully in his palm and examined the swelling before returning
it to her side.
Dolphin brought back the med pack and then took a seat across from the couch, his
eyes burning with concern.
“Is she going to be all right, Van? How bad is it? Level with us. We’re going crazy
up there.”
Donovan took in a deep breath. “Physically? She’s going to be okay. Eventually. The
cuts are bad but not life threatening. Emotionally? I can’t say. What she went through
was horrific. P.J.’s strong, but I don’t know of any woman who can escape what she
suffered unscathed.”
Cole scrubbed his hands over his face and then through his hair. “This shouldn’t have
happened. I should never have let it happen. Goddamn it, I knew it was wrong. My gut
was screaming at me that it was all wrong, and I let her walk into that situation.”
Donovan sighed. “It was her decision, Cole. You can’t make those for her. It was a
team decision.”
“It was bullshit,” Cole spat. “It was a coward’s move, using a woman to draw out a
monster. There was another way. There’s always another way, but we were too anxious
and lazy to find it.”
“Try telling that to the mothers of the girls we’ll send home,” Dolphin said quietly.
“And then ask P.J. if she thinks it was worth it. Knowing her as I do, I know which
way she’ll go. Do you?”
Donovan gave P.J. an injection of pain medication and then numbed the area around
her wounds. Afterward he began the meticulous task of stitching the wounds closed.
“This is beyond my scope,” he admitted. “There is tissue damage that needs to be repaired,
but my main concern is to get the wounds closed so infection doesn’t set in.”
He checked the pulse in her injured wrist and then did another perusal of the swelling.
Then he wrapped an ice pack around it and secured it so she couldn’t move it if she
awakened.
Steele ducked into the back. “How is she?”
Donovan’s shoulders heaved. “I’ve patched her up. She needs care more advanced than
I can provide, but she’ll do until we get to Fort Campbell. Have you gotten us clearance
to land there instead of Henry
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