When Dove Cries Read Free Page B

know?”
    “Well, I missed your little showdown with the Tribe, but North told me a little about Hiller. He’s working for someone else, right?”
    Cade walked over to stand next to him again and crossed his arms over his chest, face-to-face with Givon. The sheriff seemed to measure Cade up. Questions dawned in his expression.
    “Might as well tell him too,” Draven muttered. “We’re too entrenched with this.”
    “As you know, Allis was abducted by a man named Michael Hiller,” Givon finally said. “He was part of some kind of trafficking ring out of Durango that has ties here in Destiny. At the old mill. Five years ago, he had a run in with Gray Dog, who dropped all charges. Hiller still spent a year in jail on other charges.”
    “The Demon Devils are behind this?” Draven demanded.
    “Shh,” Givon warned. “There’s no proof and when I interviewed Gray Dog, he claimed he didn’t remember the incident.”
    “But Michael Hiller was killed, right?”
    Givon nodded. “We recovered his gun, and the bullet that Hiller fired at Allis was matched to a cold case in Durango. With a bit more digging, I discovered there’d been sixteen missing women over a four-year period.”
    “The exact same time that Hiller was out of jail,” Draven concluded.
    “Yep,” Givon said. “At his house there was a list of initials plus the dates when he’d snatched them that the Durango detective and I believe were his victims.”
    “What were the initials right before hers?” Cade asked.
    “I don’t remember off hand. Why?”
    “I’m wondering if those initials are Dove’s,” he said, narrowing his eyes. “When did you find Allis?”
    “About a month ago.”
    “Shit,” Draven said. “If Hiller kidnapped Dove right before her that means she’s been down in that dark hole for over a month.”
    “That’s why she was left down there,” Cade surmised. “Hiller was killed and no one knew to look for her.”
    “It makes me sick to my stomach to think I was there not too long ago to check it out and never found Dove,” Givon muttered. He turned to Charlie. “Go to the old mill. Rope it off and process it. Maybe we’ll get lucky with fingerprints or something.”
    “Gotcha, boss.” Charlie gave a departing nod to Draven and Cade then hurried out of the hospital.
    A tall doctor emerged from the back and made a beeline to them. Draven recognized him from earlier visits when Nick had been admitted for his heart attack.
    “Dr. Blake,” Givon greeted, holding out his hand.
    The doctor shook it. “Sheriff. We’ve got to stop meeting under these circumstances.”
    “I know,” he replied grimly. “How’s the patient?”
    “Can I see her?” Draven asked.
    “Can we see her?” Cade corrected and elbowed him in the side.
    “Are you the two who were giving the receptionist a hard time?” the doctor asked, frowning.
    “I don’t exactly trust this hospital,” Draven stated, staring hard at the doctor. “I think you know why.”
    Dr. Blake cleared his throat.
    “About all we know so far is that she’s severely malnourished and slightly dehydrated,” Dr. Blake reported. “She wasn’t raped, although she was beaten, and she sustained a lot of scrapes and bruises. Plus her wrists are severely infected. Right now we’re running toxicology tests to see if she has any other infections.”
    “Is she awake?” Givon inquired.
    “No. Do you know her name?”
    “She said it was Dove,” Draven answered. “But I don’t know her last name.”
    “I’ve ordered a mild sedative added to her IV drip because what she needs now is restorative sleep as well as time to heal,” Dr. Blake added. “She’ll be moved into a room shortly.”
    “When can I get her out of here?”
    Three pairs of eyes stared at him in confusion.
    “I don’t understand,” Dr. Blake said slowly. “She’ll need to be in here for at least a week, maybe two—”
    “No,” Draven interrupted.
    “Draven, she needs medical attention,”