After the Storm(54)
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.”