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“We need to get to Marietta, Georgia, Slate.”
“What?”
“I put GPS on the mother-fucker’s car. That’s where it is. I just checked. Lindsey’s car is still parked at Applebee’s. I just verified that.”
“Calm down, Taz. We have to follow protocol, here.”
“What the fuck are you saying, Slate?”
“I’m saying we follow procedure. We don’t know that any crime has been committed so we follow the process.”
“Fuck that,” I said, “I’m leaving for Marietta. That psycho has her.”
“Taz,” he bellowed, “listen to me. I’ll get the locals to check her vehicle, okay? Let’s make sure we cover that angle. I’ll have them question the people at the restaurant, workers, regulars, anyone that might have been there. I’ll file a missing person’s report. You need to calm down, though. You can’t go off half-cocked.”
I nodded, covering my face with my free hand. I knew he was right. I needed to put my emotions aside and follow the evidence.
“Okay. Sit tight while I contact the authorities. I will phone you back in just a few.”
The few minutes that it took for Slate to put the investigation in motion seemed like hours. All I could think about was that Lindsey had been abducted, and I knew who had done it.
When he called a few minutes later, he advised that the local authorities were on it. The car was being towed to impound.
There was no visual sign of foul play. They would be contacting the employees that had been on that shift first thing in the morning.
In the meantime, Slate had contacted the authorities in Charlottesville to question Kyzer Stanfield.
“He’s not in Charlottesville,” I said, getting impatient.
“You don’t know that for sure, Taz. Maybe he doesn’t have that particular car at school. The family is wealthy, right? We have to close out the obvious first.”
“Yeah, yeah,” I snapped, wanting to put my fist through the phone. Time was precious. Lindsey was precious. Then I thought of Sammie.
“Slate,” my voice cracked for some reason. “What are you going to tell Sammie?”
“God, I don’t know,” he replied. “I’ve got to get Donna scheduled in for the morning. Try and sleep, Taz. There is nothing we can do until we get updates from the locals here and in Charlottesville.”
I knew he was right. We had nothing that would support a warrant. Besides, Stanfield knew that he would be the first person suspected since Darcy knew he had been there with Lindsey when she left. He wasn’t stupid.
CHAPTER 41
My eyelids were still heavy. It felt like sand had been poured into my eyes. My mouth was dry like cotton. I kept opening and closing my eyelids to drive the sand out. The room was dark. There was a window, but the sun-filtering blinds were closed tight. I had no clue where I was. My mind was fuzzy, worse than any hangover fuzzy.
I figured out I was on a bed. My arms were up over my head. I was wearing only my bra and panties. I tried to move my arms and couldn’t. My wrists were tied to something. I jerked harder. All that did was to cause the ropes to dig into my skin. I realized my hands were tied to a spindled headboard that slammed against the wall when I tugged at my restraints.
My ankles were tied together, I soon realized.
What the hell is going on?
I tried to stop the panic momentarily. I needed to think. What was the last thing I remembered?
Okay. I had lunch with Darcy. When was that? My mind raced. Then I was with Kyzer. That’s right. Darcy left right after Kyzer got to Applebee’s. Kyzer and I talked. I didn’t give him the copy of the paper from Banion. I lied and told him I had left it at home. Then I went to the restroom. I didn’t recall anything after that.
I jerked my arms again, causing the headboard to bang against the wall loudly. The skin on my wrists was burning from the rope.
I heard a key in the door to this room turning. The door opened and shut. I saw a shadowy figure coming closer. Was it still Sunday? I seemed to be in a bedroom, but whose?
A light switch sounded and the room was illuminated. It was Kyzer standing next to the bed, looking down at me.
