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15
Logan was just getting into his car when his phone rang. He took it out of his pocket. Dr. Morton’s office. Strange. The technician said he probably wouldn’t hear from anyone until sometime tomorrow. This was quick.
“Hello?” he said as he closed the car door.
“Logan?” He’d expected to hear the receptionist’s voice. Or maybe his nurse’s. But it was Dr. Morton himself. Was he making sure he’d had the MRI?
“Yes?”
“Is it possible for you to come to the office?”
Logan swallowed. “When?”
“Now. I want to go over your test results.”
“You ... you have them already?”
“Yes. It’s important I speak to you right away.”
Logan glanced at his watch. Jeff had told him he didn’t have to come back to work today. He might as well go to the doctor’s office.
“I’ll be there in a few minutes,” he said. When he ended the call, his mind raced. Had they seen something in his back that required surgery? But why couldn’t he have told him that over the phone? He thought of another possibility, but he didn’t want to seriously consider that. It made him feel like throwing up.
As he drove out of the hospital parking lot, he turned on his favorite Christian radio station and let the music minister to him, reminding himself that he belonged to God and God loved him. He wasn’t alone. Still, he wanted to call Alex and tell her what was going on. He wanted her by his side. But that was ridiculous. They didn’t have that kind of relationship. Besides, she needed to concentrate on getting herself strong after everything she’d been through. She couldn’t pick up his problems too. It was selfish of him to even consider that.
He finally reached the doctor’s office. He turned off the car’s engine and sat in the parking lot, gathering his thoughts and praying for God’s strength and protection.
When he was ready, he went inside.
Tracy woke up with a headache. She had no idea what time it was, but she felt as if she’d slept for more than just one night. Was that because of the tea? Or did she still have some of whatever had been in that syringe in her system as well? Either way, she was tired of being drugged.
She forced herself to sit up. Immediately, she felt the bed. It was dry. Thank God. She wasn’t sure why it mattered so much, but that experience had made her feel helpless. Weak. After stumbling to the bathroom, she relieved herself. The plastic bucket was back, and the bags from yesterday were gone. She washed and dried her face, then walked back into the room and saw that someone had delivered another tray of food. She had no intention of eating it—or drinking anything. She picked up the tray and threw it across the room. A cup and carafe shattered. The food and coffee made a mess on the cement floor, but she didn’t care.
She sat down in the chair. How could she get out of here? She tried to recall how the woman escaped in that movie she’d seen, but it was just a dim memory. Maybe she’d attacked her kidnapper and made her way out of the underground maze. Was that it?
Suddenly, she realized she’d made a tactical error. Her abductor was drugging her because he couldn’t trust her. He was aware that if he came into the room while she was awake, he was vulnerable.
She needed to get his guard down, even if it meant allowing him to continue giving her drugs. But what if he made a mistake? Unless he was a doctor, how could he know exactly how much to give her without killing her? But the truth was unless she could get out of here, she didn’t care that much about staying alive anyway.
There was only one thing she could do. She had to quit fighting. Although fury toward her abductor burned like a fire in her belly, she had no choice. To defeat him she had to make it look as though he’d won. Until she knew what he wanted, it was too risky to make him angry. Not only could it possibly put her in danger, but it could also bring harm to the other women. The note said they could all be punished, and she didn’t want to make them more vulnerable because of her. It was clear that she had to play it smart and do whatever it took to get them all out of here alive.
Tracy quickly cleaned up the mess she’d made before placing the tray near the bottom of the door, in front of the panel. After that, she changed clothes and made her bed, hoping her abductor was watching. Maybe he’d think she was feeling defeated and giving in to her surroundings.
She selected one of the books in the bookcase. Jane Austen’s Persuasion. Her last novel. Tracy had read it when she was sixteen and loved it.
She sat down in the chair to reread the touching story of Anne Elliot. As she got into the story, she was inspired by Anne’s strength, and it gave her courage.
In an effort to stop thinking about Logan, Alex worked until almost seven, trying to figure out how the missing women were connected besides their ages and looks. She sighed as she closed the file. Some people had a wrong concept of what the BAU did. They didn’t understand that BAU agents don’t run around chasing serial killers and shooting people. Their work was done by going through files and sitting through endless meetings. Actually, it was rather monotonous and not even close to the way TV shows portrayed it.
She finally decided to call Logan since he hadn’t responded to her text. She clicked on his number and listened to his phone ring. No answer. She’d had enough of this. She’d drive to his apartment and check on him.
By the time she got there, she’d moved from being worried to feeling afraid. This wasn’t like him.
She was just getting out of her car when it started to rain. It had been raining a lot lately. Oh well. Supposedly April showers would bring May flowers.
Alex checked Logan’s parking spot and was relieved to see his car. She hurried up to the main door and pressed his buzzer. No response. She pressed it again and spoke into the speaker. “Logan, if you don’t open the door, I’ll call the police. I mean it!”
A few seconds later, the entrance unlocked. She went inside and knocked on the door to his apartment. It opened slowly. Alex almost gasped. She’d never seen Logan look the way he did at that moment. His face was pale, and something in his eyes frightened her.
