Kane turned and stared at her in disbelief. “She’s alive? But I couldn’t find a pulse.” He fumbled in his pockets for the drug reversal nasal spray. “I have Naloxone.” He thrust it into Wolfe’s hand and heart racing with anticipation, waited as he administered the drug. “It’s too late, isn’t it?”
“I don’t think so.” Wolfe administered a second dose. “Breathe, Jenna. That’s it.” His fingers pressed against her throat. “I can feel a pulse.”
Heart thumping in anticipation. Kane stared at him. He needed to do something to help. “I’ll get your bag.”
“Not yet, just wait.” Wolfe sat Jenna up and propped her against his knees. “Come on, Jenna, deep breaths.” He flicked a glance at him. “Talk to her. We must bring her back. The drug will kick in faster if she breathes.”
Kane stared at him, unsure what to say. He raised his voice. “Dammit, Jenna, suck in some air before it’s too late.”
As if in slow motion, Kane stood frozen in time, waiting a lifetime for her to respond but it was only a minute or so before Jenna took a deep breath and another minute or so before her eyes fluttered open. Relief flooded over him as time slipped back to normal. He stared at her pale face and squatted beside her. He took her ice-cold hand and rubbed it between his own. “Jenna, stay awake, keep looking at me.” When she moaned something inaudible, he leaned closer. “You okay?”
“I need water.” Jenna’s voice came out in a whisper and then she frowned. “What happened to your hands?”
Kane glanced down at his skinned knuckles and shrugged. “I had to get through the door.”
“Okay.” She was recovering fast and looked down at her torn shirt and then up at him searching his face. “Have I been…?”
“No, that was me, sorry.” Wolfe frowned and eased out from behind her. “We couldn’t find a pulse. Someone drugged you.”
“That bit I know.” She looked from one to the other. “I’m so cold. Where’s my coat?” She tried to get up.
“You just stay there and take deep breaths.” Wolfe was reaching for his phone. “I’ll call the paramedics. You’ll need to go to the hospital for observation.”
“No way.” Jenna held her head in her hands. “Take blood and do what you do, Shane, but no hospital. I have a string of murders to solve.” She looked up at him. “I’m fine and I’ll get back to solving the murders but right now, I want to get back into town and drag Kim Strickland to jail.”
Kane stared at her, trying to hide his emotions. He swallowed a few times and forced out words from his parched throat. “She’s in custody. I’ll go get you some water.” He stood and searched the cabin, located her coat and tossed it to Wolfe.
Built as a haven for stranded hunters, the cabins had a supply of essentials. He found a carton of bottled water, cracked one open, and handed it to her. She looked better already and color was coming back into her cheeks. “I’ll call the Blackwater Sheriff’s Department and get them to take our prisoner into custody. We’re out of jurisdiction here.”
“What prisoner?” Jenna peered around the cabin. “Oh! I’ve never seen him before. Did you beat him up, Dave?”
Kane looked at his boots. “Ah, well I tossed him into the wall.” He glanced at Wolfe, who gave him a very subtle shake of the head. In that second, he decided not to inform Jenna he’d disturbed the prisoner’s obvious intent to rape her. He didn’t want to trigger a PTSD episode. “He was going through your pockets and had removed your coat.”
“I put him down.” Wolfe shrugged. “He was resisting arrest. You can see Dave’s point. You were down, a guy was leaning over you. Trust me, he deserved a beating.”
“And he tried to remove my jeans, didn’t he?” Jenna sipped the water and looked straight into Kane’s eyes. “You can stop using your combat face on me, Dave. I’m not going to break. Oh, boy. He thought I was dead too.” She pushed a shaky hand through her hair. “Nice to know they have sick freaks in Blackwater as well.”
“We thought Kim might have had an accomplice and didn’t discount the possibility she was working with The Sculptor. I’ll run his prints but I’m guessing he just came across you. His truck motor was still warm when we arrived and Kim was in town when we left to find you.” Kane touched her cheek and pushed a strand of hair behind one ear. “I have coffee in the truck and I’ll need to bring Duke inside before he freezes to death out there.” He straightened. “I won’t be long.”
Once outside, he made the call to the Blackwater sheriff and ran the prints. The man was out of Blackwater and had a sheet. He collected his Thermos, the takeout bags of sandwiches, and Wolfe’s bag then headed back inside with Duke at his feet. Jenna was in a chair, in front of an old wood stove, which Wolfe was attempting to light. Kane placed everything on the table beside Jenna and poured her a cup of coffee. “I have sandwiches. I guess you haven’t eaten for some time.”
“I somehow knew you’d have a stash of food.” Jenna looked at him. “Can’t we just leave and drop the prisoner into the Blackwater sheriff? I want to go home and get some sleep.”
“You’re sure not sleeping or going anywhere yet.” Wolfe checked her blood pressure. “Not until I say so. You nearly died, Jenna. I’d like to take blood and find out what she used on you.”
“Go right ahead.” Jenna sipped her coffee and smiled when Duke rested his head on her knee. “Is there something you’re not telling me? Duke’s giving me his sad face and Dave looks like he wants to kill someone.”
Kane didn’t respond. Instead, he wedged a chair against the broken door, checked the prisoner, who was out cold, and went back to sit with her. How could he explain the rage, the need to tear apart the man who wanted to hurt her? His feeling of emptiness when he thought she’d died, came back in a rush. He schooled his expression. “You were down, I reacted with necessary force but I’m always in control.” He smiled at her. “He’s alive, isn’t he? Mind you, Shane lost it there for a second or two.”
“Basic restraining tactics.” Wolfe stored the blood samples and then poured himself a coffee. “And to answer your next question, we can leave as soon as someone arrives to pick up that pile of garbage, you should be able to travel by then.”
“Something else.” Jenna lifted her chin. “I want to take some swabs and make sure you test me for all the nasties.”
Kane took her hand. “He didn’t rape you, Jenna. He didn’t get the chance.”
“It’s late.” Jenna’s hand trembled. “Kim gave me the first hit of whatever around two, maybe three, I don’t remember. She obviously kept me under all the time and then hit me up before she left me here to die. You caught Necrophiliac Man but who else came by in the hours I was out cold?”
“You were dressed.” Wolfe narrowed his gaze. “Few rapists dress their victims after an attack, they get away as fast as possible.”
Kane cleared his throat. “Not so often in date-rape cases when the victim is unconscious. Often the rapist replaces the clothing and acts as if nothing happened.”