Page 85 of Abandoned

“Will? Is Zara okay?”

“That’s what I’m calling to ask. Have you talked to her?”

“Not since she left the party last night. I’m at work.”

“Can you try calling her and let me know where she is? Doug’s concerned that the guy that attacked her might try again.”

“I thought he was in lockup.”

“Wrong guy.”

“Oh no. All right. I’ll call you back.”

AJ hung up, and Will reported what she said to Doug and Logan.

Doug called dispatch and had a squad car drive by Zara’s old and new apartments, but she wasn’t at either location.

Will asked, “Do we have enough cause to track her cell phone?”

Doug nodded. “I believe so. Let’s go to my desk.”

Logan said, “I’m going to put my uniform back on and check in with the sergeant on duty.” He grasped Will’s shoulder. “We’ll find her.”

Will nodded. The sick feeling in his stomach was growing more unsettled by the moment. Where was Zara?

Chapter Twenty-Four

Zara wiped the tears from her face with the back of her cuffed hands. Jesus was the only One holding her together right now. He was holding the panic at bay. But she had to fight. She couldn’t let Brett, the panic, or ultimately Satan win in this situation. Her time here wasn’t over yet, it couldn’t be. The Lord was only starting to work in her life. She had to fight.

“Lord, help me.” Her voice cracked. It was almost completely gone, but she pushed it. “Help.” She yelled as loudly as she could. But it wasn’t enough. The sound barely made it to her own ears, let alone out past the cinder block foundation of this old house.

The rain seemed to have picked up outside too. That would make it even harder for anyone to hear her. Is that why Brett waited for today to lock her down here? Did he pay attention to the weather forecast? He’d clearly planned this. The zip ties on the dash. The chain down here.

Her mind closed in on her again. She really was going to die down here, wasn’t she? No, she had to think of a way out. She messed with the cuffs. They were too tight. Too tight to even break her thumb and slide out. Her wrists were too much smaller. She’d try if it came to it though, but maybe there was another possibility.

She followed the chain to the beam it was locked around.

A padlock with a keyhole secured two links of the heavy chain around the beam. She tugged. Nothing.

No, no, no, no, no. The panic blurred her mind.

“God, help me. I need You. I need help. I need a rescue. Please.”

The panic subsided.

God was with her. She finally understood she would never be alone. His words were true—He would never leave nor forsake her.

An image of Will came to mind, causing her jaw to quiver. How she loved that man! Would he even come looking for her after the way she’d treated him this morning? Why had she not given him the benefit of the doubt? Did she expect too much? Was she being selfish? She was wrong to treat him so, wasn’t she?

If he did find her, if she did escape this hole somehow, she would run to him and forgive him and beg for him to forgive her pettiness. She wanted to wrap her arms around him and hold him forever.

She directed her thoughts away from the fact that she was trapped and looking death in the face and to happy memories of Will.

The first memory she pulled up was the time they’d met. She’d been keeping tabs on her dad and had failed to notice the two men walking down the sidewalk in downtown Indianapolis. She and Will had literally run into one another. Romance-book-level meet-cute. She chuckled at the memory. Their eyes had met, and the rest was history.

Then she brought to mind her first day at work in Hazel Hill. She hadn’t talked to Will again since he’d helped arrest her dad, but when she’d walked into the police station that he’d told her was looking for cops, his face had lit up like a police spotlight.

Their first kiss. She relished the memory of his tenderness.