Free Justice for Laine (Badge of Honor: Texas Heroes Book 4) by Susan Stoker Page A

head whipped up to the opening of the hole, high above her . . . and she saw the stray dog. She bit back a hysterical laugh. Of course. Now the dog was curious. Now she came over to see what she was all about.
    Resting her head on the dirt wall behind her, not caring in the least about how filthy she was going to be when she was finally hauled out of this tomb in the ground, she refused to think that this would be her final resting place. Laine did what any sane person would do . . . she talked to the dog as if she could understand her.
    “Hey there. I’m pretty safe down here now, aren’t I? I can’t hit you, or kick you . . . or any other number of things, can I? Here’s the deal . . . how about you go and get some help. Run to the road, flag down a motorist, preferably a trustworthy one and not a big, scary, hairy guy who would rescue me only to rape and torture me to death. And while I’m asking, make it a cop, would you? You’ve got all sorts to choose from. Let’s see . . . SAPD, maybe a game warden, a sheriff’s deputy, FBI or CIA agent, and I’d even take a medical examiner like Calder. Any of them will do. Oh, I know, you can pick a firefighter. If you can get one from Station 7, that’d be great. I’ve met most of them. Then lead him or her or them back here to this hole in the ground. There’s a big juicy steak in it for you if you do.”
    The dog lay next to the hole and rested her head on her paws as she continued to look down into the deep hole. She didn’t make a sound, only watched her with what seemed like curiosity.
    The tears began again, and Laine felt her lip quiver as well. She wrapped her arms around her waist and continued to talk out loud. It made her feel better to hear her own voice. Made her feel not so alone. “Where’s Lassie when you need him? I’m scared, dog. I fucked up and I’m scared I’m gonna die down here and no one will ever find my body. I need Wes. I’m usually pretty self-reliant, but I’d give anything to have his strong arms around me, telling me it’ll all be okay.”
    The dog didn’t answer; only lay at the mouth of the abandoned well as if trying to understand what the strange human was doing.

9
    W es paced the floor in agitation. Laine was late. Very late. Like three hours late. It was nine o’clock already and she was supposed to have been at his place at six. He’d texted and called her cell and gotten no answer. The call had gone straight to voice mail, as if her phone was turned off or dead.
    They’d had a conversation about keeping her cell charged, so it could be she’d forgotten to charge it again. But he didn’t think so. She’d been very apologetic when he’d explained why he was so upset with her, and seeing him distressed troubled her in return, and she’d sworn she wouldn’t let it go dead again. That had only been a week and a half ago, and Wes didn’t think she’d break that promise so soon after they’d had the discussion.
    Wes had called Dax to see if Mackenzie had heard from her best friend. She hadn’t. Dax and Mack had even driven over to Laine’s house to see if she was there, and Mack had used her key to go inside to make sure she wasn’t injured and not able to get to the door . . . but neither she nor her car were there and it didn’t look like she’d been home that night after work.
    The last thing Laine had told him via text was that she was going to check out a property.
    All sorts of horrible scenarios ran through Wes’s head. He couldn’t turn off his Ranger brain, thinking about all of the scary things that could’ve happened to her. Someone could’ve followed her and accosted her while she was isolated. She could’ve gotten in a car accident. She could be lost, although that was unlikely since she had a map app on her phone.
    She could simply be doing some errands and running late. But in the past, when she’d been running late, she’d called or texted him. He didn’t want to embarrass her if nothing