Chapter 38
JOHN
“She’s not at the hospital. I went to the one you mentioned, and she wasn’t there.
I called all the other major ones in the city, including the ones that would have been closest to campus, and no one has a record of her.
” Actually, I had Mary call most of them while I stopped at the ones that were on the way back to campus.
I wanted to stay in the city, in case one of Mary’s calls located her.
But when it became clear that Jeremy lied, I gunned it back toward Faith Union’s campus.
What the fuck is going on and how did it go this far?
“I’m sure she’ll turn up,” Mackenzie says, a little too much pep in her voice. It’s a stark contrast to the panic that has a chokehold on my heart.
“Have you gotten ahold of Jeremy?”
“He’s not answering his cell.”
“That’s bullshit!” I yell into the phone.
“Professor Ali, are you okay?”
“No, Mackenzie. I’m not okay. I have two missing students, one who may still be unconscious and in need of medical attention.”
“Wait, is this, like, serious? I just thought Emma was dehydrated or something and passed out, and Jeremy took her back to her room or the doctor or something.”
I pinch the bridge of my nose. “You are the one who told me that he took her to the hospital.”
“Yeah, when I called Jeremy after the show to check on Emma, he said she still wasn’t feeling well, and he was gonna have her checked out at the hospital. I figured she woke up and was throwing up, or she had the flu or something.”
“Mackenzie, listen to me carefully. Something is seriously wrong. Why would he tell you he was taking her to the hospital, and they have no record of her? And why wouldn’t he take her to the closest hospital?”
“Maybe she woke up and told him she was fine, and he just took her home?”
“She’s not in her apartment, nor is she at the campus nurse. I had my buddy Nate from campus security check. Can you call him again? Text him?”
“Do I need to call the police?” she asks in a panic. “I’m sorry, I kinda thought you were just overreacting. You can be kinda intense sometimes.”
“Let’s see if we can get in touch with Jeremy first. Nate is patrolling student apartments and her usual hangouts on campus. He’ll notify me if he sees anything.”
We hang up, and I try Emma’s cell again, but it goes to voicemail, the mailbox full. When I pull into campus, I head toward the theatre. The building is dark. It’s been several hours since the show ended.
I pull out my phone to send a quick text.
Hey Nate, I’m over at the theatre. No sign of her. Find anything?
Nothing at the library. Heading back from student apartments. I’ll check out the buildings near the theatre. Check in with me in fifteen. If we come up empty, I’ll call it in.
An eerie silence permeates the space, and I walk through the building looking everywhere I can think of: the green room, dressing room, costume closet, scene shop, rehearsal spaces, classrooms, even the light booth and all the catwalks above the house.
The doors to the administrative offices are locked, and I look over at the doors that connect the theatre building to the music building.
There’s a light on. No one should be in here; the theatre has long been emptied, but there are music students that occasionally use this building on the weekends.
As I’m turning off the light, I notice the door to the basement practice rooms is slightly cracked open. It’s not an unusual sight, but something in my gut tells me to check down there just in case.
I’m walking through the corridor when I notice a light on in a room at the end of the hall and I quietly hustle over to it. Most of the rooms are fully soundproofed, but a few of the rooms at the end of the hall are older and still need updating.
A muffled cry comes from the room, and I rush to the door, sickened by what I see inside.
Emma is face down on a piano bench, her wrists bound behind her, her ankles tied to a broom that is attached to the legs of the bench. The broom is holding her legs open like a spreader bar.
“I’ll make this good for you,” Jeremy’s muffled voice says as he kneels between her legs and moves his face close to her cunt. My cunt. I’m about to open the door when I notice the knife in his hand.
Fuck.
I pull out my phone and silently curse when I realize there’s no signal. I can’t leave her here to call the police. There’s no telling what that sick fuck will do, and she’s already lived through enough nightmares.
A plan forms in my mind, and I swallow down my nerves at what I have to do. I pull up the camera app and hit record, sliding my phone in the front pocket of my shirt with the camera facing out.
Jeremy’s face is inches from her body when I violently throw the door open, startling him. He falls back onto his ass, nicking his leg with his knife in the process.
“Back the fuck away from her.”
He recovers quickly, adjusting his grip on the knife and scooting closer to her exposed skin. Her skirt is flipped up, and I can see a scrap of lace on the floor from where he must’ve cut her panties off.
He drags the tip of the knife up the back of her thigh as she whimpers, chanting “Please don’t do this, please don’t do this” on repeat.
I want to kill the sick fuck. But first I need to get him away from her. I inch closer, letting go of the door as it snicks closed behind me.
“Don’t come any closer!” he shouts, a manic edge to his voice. He doesn’t sound like his normal self.
“I said, back. The. Fuck. Up.” I take a step toward him, and he points the knife at me.
“You really don’t want to come any closer.” There’s a crazed look in his eye and his voice is eerily calm, which is really fucking unnerving.
When I take another step, he moves the knife between her legs, holding the blade against the upper part of her thigh. “Do you know how quickly she’ll bleed out if I nick her femoral artery?”
I freeze at his words, my heart beating rapidly as the room starts to feel like it’s closing in on me.
“Minutes. She’ll be gone in minutes, and it will be all your fault.” He pulls at his hair with his free hand, tugging on the blond strands.
“Okay, let’s be calm and talk about this. We can figure something out.” I hold my hands up in surrender, taking a step back.
Emma is in the same catatonic state, still chanting, her face pressed into the bench.
I drop to a knee, and Jeremy’s head pops up. “What are you doing? Don’t do something stupid.”
“I’m just going to take her pulse,” I explain. Leaning closer to her ear, I repeat it for her. “I’m going to touch your neck and take your pulse. Okay?”
She grows silent, nodding her head slightly.
Gently pressing my fingers against her neck, I count silently as I stare at my watch. As expected, her pulse is racing, but it slows slightly at the end of my count. “You’re doing so good for me. Deep breaths, okay?”
“Einstein,” she rasps, turning her head toward me, and I nod at her as my heart breaks. When a tear streaks down her cheek, I swipe it with my thumb, spreading the moisture around her face as I try to comfort her with my touch.
I hear the faint squeak of a sneaker on the polished floor of the hallway and remember that I hadn’t checked in with Nate. Hoping I’m not imagining things, I stand, backing away slowly to make Jeremy think I’m retreating. I see what looks like a flashlight out of my periphery.
“You can have her,” I say loudly.
Emma shudders as several tears fall down her face.
“What the fuck are you talking about?”
I swallow down the bile in my throat, sick about what I have to do next.
“I know when I’m outmatched. Clearly you two have something going on.
And she just gave me her safe word. She told me she’d only say that when she wanted out,” I lie.
“She’s not mine anymore, and I know when to walk away.
” My voice is loud and clear, and I hope that whoever is in the hall can hear us.
“Just like that?” he asks, confused.
I grab the doorknob as I crack open the door. “Yup. I suggest you ditch the knife, though, unless you’re into that sort of thing. No judgment if you are. I’m not shaming anyone’s kinks.”
Nate pushes the door open, his gun propped over the hand holding his flashlight, and he nearly knocks me over as I throw my body over hers.
“Drop the knife,” Nate booms as I snake my hand between her legs in an attempt to shield her and push the knife away.
The knife falls to the floor, and Jeremy holds his hands up in surrender.
“Called it in. There’s an ambulance enroute. It’ll probably be out there if you want to get her out of here,” Nate says as he moves to restrain Jeremy.
I pull Emma’s skirt down and reach down to untie the ropes. Once her legs are free from the bench and broom, she sits up, and I quickly work at the knots around her wrists. When I get her free, I scoop her into my arms and move quickly down the hall.
There are EMTs and a stretcher rolling up to the building when we walk outside and I watch in slow motion as they take her from me and start strapping her in.
I follow after them as several police officers hustle up the path. “Can she not be restrained? Some psycho had her tied up in the building just now. Campus security has him detained.”
Two of the officers walk past us into the building while another stays by Emma’s side as she’s loaded into the back of the vehicle.
“Sir, you’re bleeding,” an EMT says, pointing at my hand.
“I’m fine,” I say, waving her off. “Where are you taking her?”
The officer motions me over, takes my info down, and I agree to follow them to the hospital so I can give my statement.