More banging and crashing.
Was the woman angry at her? Had she done something wrong? Had the woman figured out that she’d been trying to twist off the doorknob every time she was left alone?
Was she going to hurt her?
Trembling violently, Krissy cringed farther away.
The door swung open, and the woman raced down the stairs, her heels making quick, loud clicks on each step.
“Krissy, get up,” she ordered. Her voice wasn’t gentle and nice the way it usually was. It was high and shrill. Her face looked strange.
“Why?” Krissy asked.
“We’re moving to another house right away.” The woman reached over and grabbed Krissy’s hand. “Come on. We have to hurry.”
“Ow, that hurts.” Krissy held back, clutching Oreo and Ruby even tighter. “Where are we going?”
“Don’t ask questions,” the woman snapped, although she did relax her grasp. “Not now. We don’t have time. I’ll explain everything later. And I’ll create another princess suite later. But not here.” She pulled Krissy off the bed and onto her feet. “Let’s go.”
“No!” Krissy wrenched her hand with all her might.
It paid off. The woman wasn’t ready for Krissy to fight back. Her grip had loosened. Krissy’s hand was free. And so was she.
She’d run up the stairs so many times. But the door had always been locked.
Now it wasn’t. It was wide open.
She raced toward the staircase as fast as she could.
“Wait!” the woman yelled. She was running now, too, coming up quickly behind Krissy.
But Krissy had youth and speed on her side. She blasted up the stairs, nearly tripping over a suitcase. She looked wildly around, finally spotting the kitchen—and the door that she saw led outside. She was through it in seconds.
Fresh air. Woods. Trees everywhere. No open spaces.
It didn’t matter. Krissy didn’t pause. Even if she ran smack into a bear, it would be better than this. She had to get away.
She tore off into the woods, winding her way through the clusters of trees, and vanishing from view.
The New Hamburg train station was different than the others.
There was no set of stairs or overpass connecting the two platforms, or connecting the platforms to the parking lot. Instead, there was a tunnel that all passengers had to walk through to get from place to place. That made it more difficult to locate all those who had to be interviewed.
The task force was already on it. Given the added complexity, they welcomed Ryan and Patrick’s help.
As before, Marc led Hero through the parking lot, into the tunnel and on to the opening of the train station platform. He harnessed the bloodhound and let him sniff Felicity’s scent pad. He kept Hero’s lead taut, but let him explore at will.
They were barely inside the tunnel, when Hero started pulling Marc, sniffing the ground, straining in his harness to keep moving forward.
Marc tightened his grip on the leash, letting Hero sniff the length of the tunnel. The bloodhound moved swiftly, giving sharp, repeated barks.
It was all the confirmation Marc needed.
“Good boy,” he praised. “Let’s go.”
He sprinted Hero back through the tunnel and across the parking lot to the van. “Success!” he called out to Casey, giving her a thumbs-up. He gestured to Ryan and to Patrick, as well as to the task force. “Felicity got off the train at this station. There’s not a doubt in my mind—or in Hero’s.”
“That’s it.” Hope practically jumped off the seat. “We have to find her. I have to go.”