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CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR
Searing pain blanketedher head as she struggled to consciousness. Opening her eyes, only a low, horizontal sliver of light could be seen. Her two best friends’ warm, panting bodies lay beside her on the floor. Roberta reached out to stroke their fur, resulting in a flurry of licks and slobbers as Goober and Tucker greeted her wakefulness. Trying to sit up led to more throbbing in her head. Her eyes now adjusted to the darkened room; she got on her knees and let the wave of dizziness pass. “We have to get out of here,” she said to the dogs. They looked at her expectantly but had no suggestions.
Pushing up to her feet, she was drawn by the sliver of light to a door, but it was locked. Another wave of dizziness, this time with nausea, swept through her. She rested back against the wall to steady herself.Someone has taken my money, lured me into this building, knocked me out, and locked me and the dogs away? But why? It didn’t make any sense. She couldn’t identify the dognapper or the person who hit her, assuming it was the same person. Was that the point? Did they think she would eventually be able to free herself from this creepy, deserted place? Or had she been left here to die? She shuddered with the thought.
The pups curled up to her when she sat down again. She found her purse on the floor, pulled a handful of dog biscuits from it, and gave them out. The voracious response of the dogs proved they probably hadn’t eaten since they were taken yesterday morning. They were also probably dehydrated from lack of water the whole time as well. Her insides went cold at the mistreatment her babies had suffered. She got to her feet and began searching again for an escape. But there wasn’t any other way out except through the door, and it was locked.
My phone!Roberta snatched up her purse, searching for the phone, but it was gone. The person who struck her must have taken the phone while she lay unconscious. So much for calling for assistance. Oddly enough, her car keys and wallet were still in her purse, just the phone was missing.
Roberta paced the little space she knew to be empty. Tears started down her cheeks. She gave in to the hollowness in her chest and cried as she slumped to the floor. The dogs nestled around her, resting their heads on her thighs. “I’m sorry, my babies,” she sobbed. “I don’t know what is going on or how to get us out of here.”
She wallowed in her despair until a thought popped into her head, something a friend had once told her.
Jumping to her feet, she pulled a credit card from her wallet and slid it in the crack of the door and door casing between the striking plate and the latch. Wiggling it back and forth, she managed to get it to slide down, dislodging the latch. With a snap, the card broke, and the latch slipped back into the hole. Teeth clenched, she fished another card out of her wallet and tried again. The second time, the latch slipped out of its recess, and the card held. With a yank, light flooded the little room as the door swung open.
Squinting against the brightness, Roberta gingerly peered out the door. A quick look around the warehouse proved they were alone. She seized the dogs’ collars and led them to the exterior door.
Stepping out of the warehouse building, the waning sunlight blinded her. She had delivered the money around six in the evening. Sunset descended after nine p.m.Was it the same day?
Roberta heaved a sigh to find her car still parked where she’d left it. Without any encouragement, the dogs jumped into the car, and together, they drove straight home.
After feeding the dogs, Roberta called Taylor from the house phone, but there was no answer, and even stranger, his phone didn’t roll over to voicemail.
Next, she called Sara.
“Sara, I got the dogs!” she said, watching as Bling and the pups snuggled together on the floor.
“Oh my God! Where did you find them?” Sara asked.
Roberta briefly described the ordeal.
“I can’t believe you went through all that alone! Why didn’t you call me?”
“Because the person said to come alone. Look, I was not going to piss anyone off. I just wanted my babies back,” Roberta stroked Goober’s black and white wiry fur. His wet tongue licked her hand, his soft brown eyes full of love.
“But it’s bizarre the call came from Taylor’s cell phone. I don’t understand how that could have happened,” Sara said, her voice full of questions.
“I don’t know either, and I can’t reach him to find out for some reason. I hope nothing has happened to him,” Roberta said, her mind suddenly filling with whirlwinds of scenarios of Taylor being kidnapped by the same person who took the dogs.
