Page 64 of The Unknown Colton
And over her mouth…
She couldn’t move. She couldn’t speak, and in the dimness of that cave, she really couldn’t see, either. But she knew, from the rumble of voices, that she wasn’t alone. Had more than one person abducted her? Was more than one holding her here? Or was it just one person on the phone?
A sudden flash of light illuminated a corner of the cave. The light was from a phone. She could see its screen but not the face of the person holding it. Once again, he was only a shadow looming in the darkness, like the monster she used to imagine lurked in her closet or under her bed.
Now she knew that the monster was real.
* * *
Troy kept his phone app open, looking for an update on Lakin’s location. But her last location still showed the cabin from nearly an hour ago.
“Why do we have to wait for search and rescue?” Troy asked. Eli had shown up soon after Troy at the cabin. But it hadn’t mattered; they’d both been too late to save Lakin from being abducted. “You and I should be able to follow the tracks.”
“Do you want to waste your time?” Eli asked. “We don’t know if she was dragged off to a vehicle or…” He choked as if he couldn’t even say the words.
Was he going to say what Troy was afraid to even consider? That she’d been partially buried like those other women?
“She could have been put in a vehicle,” Eli said. “And if they’re not on foot, they could be anywhere.We have to wait for the dogs to see if they can follow a scent.”
Troy understood that, but waiting was killing him. It was like those weeks he’d lain in the hospital bed unable to move, to feel anything but fear and panic. He’d hated that helplessness.
He hated even more that someone had taken Lakin.
“Where are they?” he asked, his voice gruff with the fear choking him. He felt as if he couldn’t breathe, like he’d hit the water again after a long fall.
Eli shrugged. “I don’t know where the team is, but they should be here soon.”
Troy realized Lakin’s brother was as frustrated and frightened as he was. Maybe more so because he’d seen what had happened to the other women who’d disappeared.
“This isn’t the serial killer, is it?” Troy asked, although he’d been reluctant to even consider that horrific possibility. “This has to be Whitlaw. Or maybe that rich RTA client. Or Billy Hoover.” But any of them might also be the serial killer. His stomach pitched, bile rising with the terrifying thought.
“It’s not doing either of us any good with you speculating about what’s happened,” Eli said, his voice gruff with emotion. “We just need to stay calm.”
When the person who mattered most to him was in danger? Possible grave danger? Troy was hanging on to his sanity the best he could at the moment. Calmness was out of the question.
“If the SAR team doesn’t get here soon, I’m going to start looking myself,” he warned Eli.
“And potentially contaminate the scene and the dogs’ ability to track?” Eli shook his head. “You don’t think I want to be out there myself, looking for my sister? I know I have to follow protocol.”
Troy didn’t have to; he wasn’t in law enforcement. But he also didn’t want to do anything that might lower their chances of finding Lakin alive.
* * *
Eli totally understood and shared Troy’s frustration. Where the hell was search and rescue? They had to get the damn dogs here before the scent went cold. Before they lost their chance to find his sister.
Troy was right; maybe they needed to just start looking for her themselves.
Eli’s cell vibrated in his pocket. Maybe it was Kansas, calling with an updated ETA. But when he glanced at his screen it was lit up with:Dad.
Eli was tempted to swipeIgnore. But he couldn’t help but wonder about the timing of his dad’s call. Had someone notified their parents that Lakin was missing? If so, Dad had to be as out of his mind with fear as Eli and Troy.
He clicked to accept. “Dad—”
“Eli, I just got a ransom call for Lakin.”
“What?”
“You told me she was home,” Will reminded him. “So I wanted to check with you—”
