Page 76 of John’s Yearning

“Well, are we going or not?”

“Hey, don’t get pissy with me.” Somebody passed by the elevator and Deirdre called out to him, “Hey, which level is the medical center?”

The guy stopped, gave her a strange look, then answered, “Lower level two.”

Deirdre hit the button and the elevator doors closed.

Before Savannah could comment on the fact that Deirdre didn’t know where the medical center was located, Deirdre cut her off with a glare. “I just started here, okay? And it’s not like I’d ever need the medical center myself.”

“I didn’t say anything.”

“You were going to.”

Savannah refrained from answering back. Clearly, the woman had issues. When the elevator door finally opened, Savannah stepped into the hallway. It wasn’t very hard to figure out which way the medical facility was located, since a myriad of voices drifted to her from a set of double doors. Kids’ voices.

Savannah’s heart leapt, and she started running. She pushed the double doors open and rushed into the large room. Several doors led from there to other, smaller rooms. Some of them were open, and she could see girls sitting on examination benches and on chairs. In the main room, there were partitioned off areas for various purposes. Here, too, she saw many kids, as well as several adults. Vampires, she assumed.

One person she recognized from behind. “John!”

He spun around. Their eyes locked. What she saw in them turned her blood to ice. “No!” She shook her head and let her gaze wander around the large room, let it fall on each child, examine each face. She walked farther into the room, turned this way and that. But there was no sign of Buffy.

She pivoted back to John, and he was already there, already gripping her shoulders, holding her so she wouldn’t collapse.

“Where is she, John? Where is my baby?” Tears stung her eyes.

“She was never on the boat. She was picked up before the ship left for Russia. The children confirmed it. A man came just before the ship left and took her with him.”

She slammed her hand over her mouth, but the sob tore from her chest nevertheless. “No, no, John, no!”

John wrapped her in his arms and pressed her to his chest. “Don’t give up, Savannah, because I won’t. She’s still in the country. She’s still here. And I’m gonna find her.”

“But how?” she wailed. “She’s gone, my baby’s gone.”

“The girls gave us a description of the man who took her, and we still have the two guys who held the girls at the port in Oakland.”

She looked up at him. “What makes you think they’ll tell you who he is?”

“They’ll talk, because I’ll make them fear me. I’ll show them what I will do to them if they don’t tell me all they know.” He slowly released her.

“You’ll torture them.” She made no judgement, only an observation.

“Yes.”

“I want to be there.”

“No. I don’t want you to see this.”

“I need to see it,” she insisted.

He hesitated for several seconds, then reached for her hand. “Come.”

John led her outside and down the corridor, then opened the door to a staircase. They descended one level, then entered another corridor.

“What happened in Russia?” she finally asked.

John gave her sideways glance. “The men involved are dead. They had a couple of customs officials on their payroll so they could smuggle the girls into the country. We got rid of them too. We went through their papers, anything they had on them. My team is currently combing through everything to see if they had anything that’ll identify their boss. The girls gave us a description of the man who took Buffy away. Detective Donnelly is on his way. He’s bringing a sketch artist with him so we can get a picture.”

She nodded. It was a long shot, but she appreciated that John wasn’t giving up.