I started shedding things, throwing my hoodie back behind me, key fob in my hand, so he couldn’t grab me by the hood and it might slow him down. I yanked off the thumb ring Rachel gave me for graduation as I ran and tossed it into the yard next door. I was leaving a goddamn trail if I had to. I had made it half a block, terrified, when I felt the jerk of a hand on my ponytail. This was why I kept my hair pinned back at work. Because if somebody grabs your hair, you’re going wherever they pull you. I twisted, tried to wrench away and ignore the pain tearing through my scalp, but a hand and a cloth closed over my face, pressing hard. I tried to bite, thrash, kick. I hoped my call had gone through, hoped someone would come and see the clear signs of a struggle, the bag I had dropped and the hoodie, the phone, the ring. Everything that said I had been there and put up a fight. I cursed myself for changing out of my uniform where I would’ve had pepper spray, a stun gun. I fought against his hard grip and tried to hold my breath.
I even tried to go limp like the sedative had already worked, but he didn’t loosen his grip on me or take the cloth away. Before long I was dizzy, everything going black at the edges. Then, I was out.
24
Brody
An hour passed. I sat in the waiting area while Damon shifted in his seat and checked his phone.
“Where is she? Mom is bugging the crap out of the nurses at the desk. She needs a sweater and a book or she’s going to keep fixating on wanting an update they can’t give her yet. Jesus, did Laura forget how to get to the only hospital in town?” he asked, sounding fretful.
“I dunno,” I said. “I thought she’d be here. Did she text?”
“Not since she said she was getting ready to leave and had a bag full of stuff for Mom. That’s been—“ he checked his phone, “like fifty minutes. It’s ten minutes away.”
“So call her,” I said, getting anxious myself.
“No, she won’t answer if she’s driving. Little miss good cop would never talk on the phone in her car,” he said with a roll of his eyes. “I don’t see why it’s all on me. She moved back here to help with Dad. And so far, they’re living in my house and now I’m the only one at the hospital.”
“Damon, get a grip. She probably just decided to make sure she had everything for your mom and she’s double-checking,” I said. I was trying to keep him calm, but I didn’t like it one bit.
A doctor came out, and Mrs. Vance rushed toward him. Damon went to join her. I took the opportunity to dial Laura’s number, but it went straight to voicemail. I called Carl at the station.
“Hey, Laura was supposed to be at the hospital almost an hour ago. I want you to run to her brother’s house and check the route to St. Judith’s Emergency, see if you can find her or if she had car trouble. Her dad’s here and we’re waiting on her.”
I hung up and waited to hear back from him. I knew he’d jump in a squaddie and go straight to Damon’s. Mrs. Vance was crying, and Damon had an arm around her. He met my eyes, looking like a wreck. I went to them and helped settle her in a chair.
“He had a stroke. They’re transferring him to ICU. They won’t know anything else for a couple hours. Where is my sister?” Damon asked, despair in his voice. He was a grown man and a firefighter, brave and strong. But his dad was sick and maybe dying, and he wanted his family around him. I did what I could to console him, but he needed Laura here.
“I’ll go get us some coffee. Tea, Mrs. Vance? With honey?” she nodded through her tears.
I was in the cafeteria getting coffee and tea and a muffin for Mrs. Vance. My phone went off and I answered.
“Brody, she’s not at Damon’s. No sign of her car either—but there’s a bag of clothes spilled out on the driveway and her phone was broken on the sidewalk in front of the next-door neighbor’s house.”
“Shit,” I said, “he got her.”
I grabbed the metal rail the tray was on and held it to steady myself. I couldn’t even think. He had her. He had Laura.
25
Laura
Before I even got my eyes open, I noticed the smell. Wherever I was, it smelled like mold and mice. That filthy, musty stink of rodents. I rolled onto my back on the rough floor. It was drafty, which meant either the temperature had dropped with a storm rolling in or we were up in the mountains. I didn’t know how long I was out or where I was.