After the Storm (KGI #8)(37)

Donovan pressed a kiss to her matted hair. “Don’t you want me to find Eve? She doesn’t know Joe or Swanny. I don’t want her to be frightened. Wouldn’t you rather I be the one to find her?”

Cammie seemed to consider this a moment, her thumb sliding firmly back into her mouth. Then she nodded slowly, but her gaze was latched cautiously onto Swanny, taking in the jagged scar that covered half his face.

“I’m not as mean as I look, honey,” Swanny said with a half smile. “Some bad people did this to me, which is why we don’t want any bad people to get you or your brother and sister. We’re going to make sure that doesn’t happen, okay?”

“Does it hurt?” Cammie blurted.

Swanny reached tentatively for her, taking her from Donovan. Cammie was shaking, but she didn’t utter a protest as she was transferred from Donovan’s hold to Swanny’s.

“No, sweetheart, it doesn’t hurt. Not now. Now come on. Let’s get Travis into the truck. He’s hurting too. And he’ll feel much better once you and he are safe.”

“Will Trav be okay?”

Swanny nodded and injected a cheerful note into his voice. “Absolutely. In a day or two he’ll be right as rain.”

“Can you make it?” Joe asked Travis.

Travis nodded resolutely. “You just find Eve. She’s out there somewhere. I won’t leave her.”

Joe clapped a hand on his shoulder and pushed him in the direction Swanny was heading with Cammie. “We’ll find her.”

As soon as Swanny disappeared down the road to where Donovan’s truck was parked, Donovan turned to Joe. “Spread out. Don’t leave an inch of ground uncovered.”

“Thank God it’s starting to get light,” Joe muttered. “We’re going to need all the help we can get.”

Donovan nodded. “If we don’t find her immediately, I’ll call in the others.”

“We might be recovering a body, Van,” Joe said quietly.

“She’s alive,” Donovan said fiercely. “She’s a fighter. I don’t see her going down that easily.”

Joe looked as though he wanted to argue, but perhaps he saw the resolution in his brother’s face. He shrugged and then started in the opposite direction, his flashlight bouncing over every single inch of ground.

“Eve!” Donovan called. “Eve, can you hear me?”

Joe picked up the call, shouting Eve’s name as they searched the immediate area around where the trailer used to stand. Donovan picked through rubble from the trailer. Twisted metal from the roof. Pieces of the walls. Glass from shattered windows. Pieces of carpet. Drapes.

His flashlight bounced over the mattress from the bed when he saw one side of it lifted from the ground. It didn’t lie flush like the other side did. His pulse kicked up and he dropped to his knees, lifting the corner of the heavy, waterlogged mattress.

“Joe!” he shouted. “Over here. I need your help!”

Joe sprinted over and bent down next to his brother. To-gether they lifted the heavy mattress and tossed it over on its side. There underneath, curled into a protective ball, was Eve.

“Holy shit,” Joe murmured.

With shaking hands, Donovan reached to feel for a pulse at her neck. He was so relieved to find the faint, erratic patter that he damn near lost it. He had to get it together. His brother would think he’d lost his mind, but then all his brothers already knew he was in way over his head with Eve and her siblings.

“Eve. Eve,” he said in a louder tone. “Wake up, sweetheart. I need to see how badly you’re injured.”

“I should call an ambulance,” Joe said grimly. “Travis is hurt too. Looks like he could have busted some ribs.”

Donovan shook his head, and Joe looked at him in surprise.

“No. I can’t do that. I won’t betray their trust.”

“What the f**k, man? They need medical attention!”

Donovan stubbornly resisted as he stroked Eve’s cheek, trying to rouse her from unconsciousness. “They have no money, no means to go to a hospital. It was why I was bringing Maren out today to check on Cammie. And they’re scared shitless. I don’t know of who. Yet. But I’ll find out. And when I do, then we can tackle whatever the hell it is that’s had them running for God only knows how long.”

“So what the hell do we do then?” Joe asked in exasperation.

“We have an infirmary in the compound. Sam just had X-ray equipment set up for Maren last month. It’s fully stocked and we can call Maren to come over there and check them all out.”

“And what if they need a CT scan or something more involved?” Joe persisted.

“Then we’ll cross that bridge when we come to it,” Donovan said calmly. “Now help me get Eve up. We need to not jostle her more than necessary. I don’t have a C collar with me, so we’re going to have to be damn careful in case she has a spinal injury or any internal bleeding.”

CHAPTER 13

EVE swam to consciousness, her mind muddled, her thoughts filled with panic and pain. She felt herself being swept upward, and for a moment she thought she was in the grip of the tornado. Again.

“No!” she protested, struggling, though she knew it was useless. She had no power against the force of the storm.