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Hell, that woman would be practically defenseless out there.
Whoever had taken her was on borrowed time.
“What do we know so far?”
4
She heard someone breathing next to her face. Almost felt movement right next to her face. Terror shot straight through her. Haldyn didn’t know where she was. But there was something alive, right next to her face.
Haldyn opened her eyes.
There were dark brown eyes staring at her. Less than two inches away. Haldyn stared right back. At the little boy who just stood there. He couldn't have been more than four. "H-hello. Who are you?"
"Hi," he said quietly, shooting a look toward the door. She was on a bed. A bed covered with a child's comforter. “Hi. You wake now?”
"Hi, buddy. I’m awake. What's your name?" Haldyn sat up, then winced. She was pretty certain every inch of her body hurt or ached in some way or another. But she was alive. Her hands weren’t bound any longer, and she seriously doubted her little captor could overpower her. Maybe. She felt…horrible.
"Beck." He just blinked at her, a stuffed toy in his hand. He turned his head like he was studying her. "My used to be Harry. Now my Beck. You not my new mommy."
She certainly hoped she hadn’t been abducted to be this kid’s new mommy.
She wanted kids someday, maybe, but not like this. Every possible scenario ran through her head. Landing on that case two years ago where a twenty-two-year-old woman had been abducted by a college professor at FCU.
To be his two-year-old’s mommy. Whether she wanted to be or not.
Haldyn had seen some really dark things in her work in forensics. That wouldn’t be the worst she’d seen. But no. She wasn’t going to panic. "No. My name is Hal, Beck. Is your...daddy here somewhere?"
He shook his head. "He not my daddy no more. He Grandpa now."
Haldyn tried to clear the cobwebs. Her body still felt heavy, like she’d been sedated. She remembered exactly how that had happened. She would never forget. “Okay. Can you tell me why?”
He shrugged exaggeratedly. "I go to new mommy’s house now."
"Who is your mommy?" There had to be parents somewhere. Or someone responsible for this kid. The room was well maintained, and it wasn’t small. The furnishings were of the highest quality. And there wasn’t a tablet or any other way to connect to the internet to be seen.
Any idea she had of sending an SOS to the TSP went right out the window. Well, maybe she could go out the window instead. And just keep walking until she found help. Or a phone. Well, maybe she would just go out the window, if that was what it took. "Is your mommy here?"
"No. My mommy not here."
She wasn’t about to play twenty questions with a preschooler.
"Beck, who is here with you? Who is the grown-up?" There had to be an adult somewhere. Or had someone carried her in here and just left her with this kid? She’d seen some seriously strange things in her time with the Texas State Police, but…
A woman being held captive by a four-year-old would probably take the cake. If the TSP ever rescued her, she’d never hear the end of it.
"You are. Grandpa says I go new mommy now.” He was looking at her like she was seriously missing something. And like he was just waiting for her to catch on. He…reminded her of someone. She just couldn’t figure out who yet. It was the shape of the eyes, she thought. The color.
"Did he? Where is Grandpa exactly?"
The little boy turned toward the door. He reached up and turned the knob with a little hand. It wasn’t locked. He opened the door, stood there—and yelled. "Grandpa, Hal's awake! Hal's awake! Her is awake now! I sees her and talked her!"
And then her little captor just took off down the hallway, wearing Wonkus McBubbles pajamas. Haldyn made a silent vow. She was going to figure out what was going on, and if at all possible, she was going to help this little boy.
Because there was just something not normal about this at all.
That was confirmed when a tall man in his sixties pushed open the door next. He stood in the doorframe and just stared.
Haldyn stared right back. She sank onto the bed, and just stared.
