AllFreeNovel
Share Us
33
Alex was seized with a fit of coughing and sat up. It took every ounce of strength she had to stop her body from convulsing. As the bile rose in her throat, she searched for a place to be sick. She was in some kind of room, but she didn’t see a bathroom.
Then she spotted a long, dark-blue curtain in one corner. She got up quickly and pushed the curtain back. Thankfully, there was a small sink. She had dirt in her throat and had to keep coughing it up until she could control her gag reflex.
Slowly, her memory came back. The Ghost Shack, the tunnel, the voice ... an explosion. When she looked in the mirror hanging over the sink, she was shocked. Her face was streaked with grime, and her hair was filthy. When she looked down she realized just how dirty she was. She washed her hands with a bar of soap she found, then after locating washcloths and towels on a rod, she turned on the water and rinsed out her mouth before washing her face.
She looked in the cabinet under the sink, grabbed a hairbrush, and worked on her hair. It made a mess, but she felt a little better. After noticing a camping toilet, she stepped outside the curtain and surveyed the room. Where was she?
Some folded clothes sat on a small table with a piece of paper lying on top of them. A handwritten note. Was this the same handwriting as in the note that came with the burner phone? Maybe.
You can change into these. Clean sheets and a blanket are in the dresser. There is a toilet behind the curtain. Next to the toilet is a plastic receptacle for the bag, which will be picked up daily. Just move it next to the door at the end of the day.
She looked at the clothes. They appeared to be her size. Jeans and a T-shirt. She walked over to the dresser and found underwear and socks. The socks reminded her of the knife in her boot. She looked down and realized she was still wearing them, but they were incredibly dirty. So was the bed where she’d been lying. It seemed someone wanted her to change clothes and get comfortable.
She had no intention of complying.
A wave of dizziness hit her, and she grabbed the edge of the dresser. She gingerly made her way back to the bed so she could sit down and decide what to do. No matter what, she couldn’t let the UNSUB think she was being compliant. She had to keep the upper hand.
She gazed around the windowless room and spotted a camera up in one corner. She looked for a speaker but didn’t see one. It seemed her captors were watching but weren’t interested in listening to her.
She pushed the only chair in the room under the camera before reaching up, twisting it off the bracket attached to the stone wall, and dropping it onto the concrete floor. Then she jumped down and smashed it with her boot. “You’re not going to watch me,” she said aloud, not caring that no one could hear her.
She walked over to the only door in the room. Metal. She turned the knob, but it was locked. A small panel at the top of the door also had a knob. She slid it open as quietly as she could, revealing only a slit, and found herself looking into what appeared to be a hallway. All she could see was a closed door across from hers.
“Is anyone there?” she called out. “My name is Alex Donovan. I’m an FBI agent. I’m here to get you home.”
No response at first, but then she heard the sound of metal scraping against metal and saw the upper panel across from her open. A pair of eyes looked at her. Someone was alive. Alex almost sighed with relief.
“That might make me feel better if you weren’t in the same situation we are,” the woman said.
“Who are you?”
“I’m Marla. Marla Bess. Just how do you intend to help us?”
Marla. The missing woman who worked for a dog rescue.
“Don’t worry about that now,” Alex told her. “Just know the plan is to free you. Is Tracy Mendenhall here? What about Merrie McDowell?” She needed to know how many of the missing women were still alive.
“Merrie went on a date last night.”
“A date?” The idea filled Alex with alarm. What had happened to Merrie?
“I’m Tracy,” said a voice to Alex’s left. “Don’t worry about Merrie. He takes everyone out on a kind of date, but they all say he’s very nice to them.”
Alex was especially relieved to know Tracy was alive. Seeing her parents’ fear firsthand had made her abduction feel personal. Now she had to find a way to get Tracy—and the rest of the women—out of here and back to their families. “You haven’t been on this date, Tracy?”
“Not yet. I was supposed to go, but they moved Merrie ahead of me.”
“Because you fought back,” a voice said. “I’m Amy. Amy Tharp.”
“Hi, Amy. Tracy, what does she mean you fought back?”
“One of them—a blond guy—comes during the night to give us fresh supplies and to pick up our bags. You know, the ones from the toilet as well as our dirty clothes. A couple of nights ago I didn’t drink the drugged tea they give us. When he came into my room, I managed to confront him, and he fell and hit his head. He was unconscious, so I ran out and found the door at the end of the hall that leads upstairs.”
Upstairs? They were probably underground, then.
“I wanted to find a way to get help.”
