Page 56 of Abandoned

Becca said, “I will too. Amelia said she’d take the girls.”

“Thanks, y’all.” Will spun to the door. What if Ernie and Rainie decided to get revenge on Zara because of their arrests? What if Ernie made good on his threats?

Zara had no idea what time it was. She felt like she’d been stuck in this bathroom for days, but she wasn’t sure—it could have only been a few hours. However long it had been, she’d spent most of the time trying to talk herself out of a panic attack or searching for something to break down the door with.

The bathroom was a disaster now. She’d pulled everything out of the tiny linen closet. Her curling iron sat broken on the floor from her attempt to use it to pry the pins from the hinges. It had worked on one of the hinges but broke on the second one. Nothing else could help get the others out.

She considered everything in the little room. Could she break the doorknob off? She’d tried with the tank lid of the toilet but only managed to crack the porcelain.

Once that had been a failure, she curled up with the small pile of towels and tried to sleep. She wasn’t even sure she had slept at all. In and out. And when she did fall asleep, she was quickly overwhelmed with images of the masked man who’d attacked her. So then she’d tried to stay awake.

But that didn’t work either.

Her lungs hurt. Her head hurt. Her stomach hurt. Everything hurt.

Should she try again? But what else could she try? Hadn’t she thought of everything?

She hadn’t tried yelling, but there was no point in that. No one would hear her.

“Help.” Her voice barely met her own ears. She took a deep breath. “Help.” It was a little louder, but her voice cracked.

A coughing fit seized her lungs.

Fresh panic rushed in like a tsunami. She couldn’t get the air she needed. The coughing wouldn’t stop.

She pulled herself up to the sink and filled a plastic cup. Between coughs, she took a few sips, and the fit eased. She needed her inhaler. But it was in her purse with her phone and her gun.

She slid back to the floor. What was she supposed to do? Would she starve to death before someone found her? Or would she die from a lack of oxygen? If these attacks kept happening, the latter was likely.

Resting her arms on her knees, she leaned her head down.

Thump.

She lifted her head. What was that?

There it was again.

Her heart took off. Was her attacker back?

She scrunched up further, hugging her knees.

The sound continued and then stopped. Was it someone knocking?

Could it be someone that could help? But there was no way she was going to be able to get their attention. Her voice was shot. And she didn’t want to risk another coughing spasm.

She pushed herself off the floor. The bathtub was on the outside wall. She banged on the plastic bathtub surround. But she was so weak.

She stopped and listened. The exterior wall was brick. If someone was outside, there was no way they heard her.

Picking up a bottle of shampoo, she chucked it across the tiny bathroom. She would be stuck in here forever.

She grabbed a handful of the shower curtain and yanked. It didn’t give. Flinging it aside, she jumped out of the tub and collapsed back into her pile of towels. It was hopeless.

Chapter Sixteen

Ten minutes after leaving the church, Will and the others had pulled into Zara’s parking lot. Her car was there. He’d feel stupid bringing four extra people if she’d just overslept. But AJ had said Zara hadn’t answered her phone. And if it rang, that meant it was on. So if she overslept, the call should have woken her up.

He had started with a gentle knock and called her name. But when she didn’t answer, he knocked harder. “Zara?”