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Dierdre Ayers was the only patient in the one-bed room. She was young, in her early twenties. Her dark hair had been washed and fell softly against her face.
Colleen wouldn’t have recognized her as the woman they had rescued from a pine box the night before. She had only seen her covered in dirt.
She remained pale and ashen, and an oxygen tube was attached to her nostrils. But she managed a weak smile as Mark and Colleen entered. She lifted a hand before it fell back to the bed.
“Hi. This is Colleen Law, and I’m Mark Gallagher,” Mark said. “We don’t want to cause you stress, but we need to see you.”
“You’re the ones who saved me!” she said. “Thank you,” she added in a whisper.
“We’re thankful you’re alive,” Colleen said softly.
“But I wouldn’t have been without you,” she said. She frowned and then saw Red was by her side, wagging his tail but keeping his distance.
“I thought—I thought there had been a dog!” she said. “I thought maybe I’d been dreaming. I remember...darkness. And I couldn’t breathe. I was choking.”
“Colleen and Red found you,” Mark said, his manner easy as he walked around the bed. “And we are so grateful you’re alive. But we need your help. We’re hoping you remember something, but we don’t want to upset you. Do you remember much? How did you get into the box? I know people have already spoken with you, but I’d like you to close your eyes and try to remember.”
Colleen glanced at Mark and continued, “We need to know everything, where you were and who you were with before this all started. We need you to think about anything you saw, heard, or even anything you smelled.”
Red whined softly.
Dierdre seemed to know he was Mark’s dog. She looked at him. “May I?” she asked.
“Red would be delighted,” Mark assured her.
She sat up, reaching out for Red. The dog stood on his paws, and Dierdre wrapped her arms around his neck, heedless of the paws on her sheets. She closed her eyes as she did.
“I remember you,” she whispered.
“And he remembers you,” Mark assured her.
“We were out, Gary and I, as we often are. Not late; we’d just had dinner. I’m still living at home. And my parents worry. They love Gary because he is very respectful.”
“What happened then?” Colleen asked. “Didn’t Gary see you to the door?”
She shook her head. “We took two different cars.”
“And then?” Colleen asked softly.
Dierdre shook her head. “The strangest thing is, I don’t remember. I was driving home. It felt like I hit something and there was a man in the street. I thought I had hit him, and I jumped out of the car, and then there was something dark...that’s all I remember! Well, that’s not true. I remember waking up in the box in the pitch-darkness and screaming and screaming and banging and... The darkness was overwhelming.”
“Any smells, any sounds, any anything?” Mark asked.
“I’m sorry,” Dierdre said. She hesitated. “I hear the doctors and nurses talking. I heard you caught a man who was holding another missing woman. The Embracer. I guess he could have come after me while he had her in his basement?”
“Possibly. But the kidnapper and killer they call ‘The Embracer’ has always held only one woman at a time. This guy had a woman in his basement when you were kidnapped,” Mark said.
“Well, still...”
“We just don’t know,” Colleen said gently. “We were hoping you could help. Any tiny thing helps. Even that you didn’t see a man’s face helps us know this person hides his identity when he’s on the prowl. Your main job now is to get better.”
“Thank you.” Dierdre hesitated and looked from Colleen to Mark. “They haven’t let my parents see me yet, and I haven’t even been able to talk to Gary. Please...”
“I’m sure by tomorrow it will be fine,” Mark said. “We’ll assure them you’re on your way to doing much better.”
“Thank you. And thank you again for saving me,” Dierdre added in a tremulous whisper. “They told me I would have been dead in just another few minutes. You were my miracle.”
“We thank you,” Mark said. “You were strong and resilient.”
“And we’re grateful! We love being your miracle,” Colleen told her.
Red woofed.
“But it is important that if you remember anything, anything at all, you call us,” Mark said, producing a card and putting it on her hospital tray.
Colleen set one of her cards next to Mark’s.
“I would do anything to help you!” Dierdre said.
“You never know what you might eventually remember,” Colleen said. “Not to worry—but something might just come to you.”
“We’ll bring Red back to see you,” Mark promised. “Oh, and we’re working as a bit of a team on this. We have several task force teams across the area, but Red, Colleen, and I are also working with my partner, Ragnar Johansen. He’ll stop by in a minute to see you too. I hope that’s all right.”
Dierdre grinned and Colleen thought she was a pretty girl with a great smile when she let it through. It was tragic this had happened to her.
But she was alive.
