Page 89 of Abandoned

Doug asked, “What did you hear?”

“That’s the thing, I’m not sure.”

They all stopped and listened, but all they heard was the sound of the rain pounding against the house and leaking somewhere.

Doug said, “I don’t hear anything, Cooper.”

“Let’s look around here for another minute before we leave. My gut is telling me something. I just don’t know what.”

“The gut is the detective’s most vital tool.”

Wyatt snorted. “Although sometimes unreliable.”

Will resumed his search. He went out back and considered the property. There wasn’t a garage or a carport or even a shed, although there was what looked like the remnants of one in the corner of the yard.

He wished he had grabbed a windbreaker to block some of the rain, but he ventured out anyway.

Why am I looking out here? She’s clearly not here.

He walked along the edge of the house. Streams of water flowed around. A small orange item caught his eye. He leaned over and picked it up.

A twisty-tie. Shaped into a ring.

Zara!

Now he had no doubt she’d been here. Was she still here?

He moved around an overgrown bush. An old door was leaning up against the foundation of the house.

As stupid as it seemed, he grabbed it and looked behind the door. An opening to a crawlspace!

Throwing the door out of his way, he whistled and then called out to the guys.

Was she inside? If Zara was in there, it wasn’t good. She would not be okay.

Zara could hear someone in the house, and now it sounded like they were outside the crawlspace. Was it Will?

She’d tried to bang the chain against the beams, but she wasn’t sure it made any difference. Yelling was out of the question.

She tried again anyway, but nothing came out but a raspy breath. It was so gone, she wasn’t even going into coughing fits at the attempt. She needed whoever it was out there to know she was down here and to come looking for her.

She had to find Miley before it was too late.

The board covering the opening to the crawlspace moved.

“Zara?”

Will! Nothing came out.

A flashlight clicked on and illuminated the space. She closed her eyes at the brightness.

“Zara!”

Her eyes adjusted, and she smiled at him. He had actually found her. He’d noticed she was missing and went looking for her.

She lifted her hands to show the chain and cuffs holding her captive in the middle of the crawlspace.

He crawled in and drew her mouth to his, giving her a kiss that dispelled any remaining doubt in her mind about whether or not they could work through her abandonment issues. They would figure it out. They would be fine.