Her eyes widened in fear. “How do you know that?”
He motioned to how she was dressed. “My partner is injured. We were trapped in the abandoned factory across the field—”
She interrupted him. “You have to go right now.Right now!”
“My partner has a deep cut and has lost a lot of blood. She needs medical attention. I understand that you might not want to let strangers inside, and I don’t have any identification on me, but I can give you a number to call to verify I am who I say I am. They’ll send help.”
“You don’t understand,” she said, her voice quivering. “Just please go.”
“I can’t,” he said softly. She had no weapon. He didn’t want to scare her, but he couldn’t walk away. He didn’t think Kara would make it much farther. “My partner and I were held hostage in the factory across the field for the last two days. No food or water.” He took a step forward. “I won’t come in, if you insist, but if you can bring us something to drink,” he took another step forward, “and call my boss—”
“No! Stop!” Tears started streaming down her face as she clutched a small gold cross on a chain around her neck. “If you take one more step my son is dead. Please, just stop.”
Matt did as she asked.
“What is your name?” he asked.
“You have to leave.”
“I’m Matt Costa. My partner is Kara. I can get help if you have a phone.”
The woman wiped her face. Her hand was trembling.
“We don’t need to come inside. If you could call for me, that would be great.”
She continued crying.
“What’s your name,” he asked again.
“L-Lily.”
“Hi, Lily. I’ll help you any way I can, I promise.”
“My son is trapped in a cage in the basement. If I do anything to try to get him out, he’ll die. There’s a gas canister down there, poison. She will set it off—she told me she would. I’m not going to risk my son’s life for you or anyone. Do you understand that?”
Matt attributed his fatigue and pain for being slow on the uptake, but he finally put two and two together. They were less than two miles from the factory; a field separated them.Shewas the sameshewho had taken Matt and Kara from the resort.
“I understand,” Matt said. “If you let me help you and your son, I can get you out of this.”
“I’m not risking my son’s life because you think you can help. What if you fail?”
“Someone is keeping you here against your will,” Matt said. “Just like my partner and me—someone put us in that factory. It’s the same person. We nearly died getting out, but we got out. What kind of gas is down there?”
“I don’t know! There’s no label on it, but it’s in a canister with a phone attached. She says if she calls that number, the phone will set off the canister. My son is locked in a cell. Who has a cell in their basement?” She shook her head.
“What else did this person tell you?”
Lily clearly didn’t want to say anything, but maybe because she was terrified and he was her only lifeline for help, she relented.
“My husband is being forced to do something he doesn’t want to do. We were taken here to make sure he complies.”
“Who is your husband?” A cop maybe, someone involved in the investigation.
“Franklin Graves.”
Matt didn’t recognize the name. “Is he in law enforcement?”
“He’s a lawyer.”
