Chapter 16 #3
“We need to find her.” Emmett knew they needed to stop wasting time Janie didn’t have.
When his teammates stared back but said nothing, Emmett wanted to scream. Instead he became the leader they needed, and got his team back on track.
“We need to figure out a way to get a bead on her location.” He glanced at their surroundings. “But I don’t want keep standing out here.”
“Meet back at the office?” Gwen suggested.
Emmett agreed. “Go straight there,” he told them all in a rush. “We’ll follow each other. I’ll lead. Last car, watch your six.”
He started across the lot, trusting the others to do as they’d been told.
“Uh, hello?” Boone caught up to him a few steps later. “Just exactly what do you and your team plan to do?”
“What do you think we’re going to do, Lincoln?” Emmett used the man’s first name. “We’re going to find Janie, get her to safety, and end the threat.”
“See? It’s comments like that, that make me nervous. Because those kinds of comments will get my ass fired, and you and your team behind bars.”
“Which one?” He continued marching swiftly across the dark pavement.
“Which one, what?” the other man asked.
They reached his car, but rather than get in, Emmett stopped next to the driver’s door. “Which of my comment made you nervous?”
Detective Boone’s face twisted with incredulity. “All of them.” The man threw his hands out to his sides.
“Good.” He opened the door and started to get behind the wheel. With one foot in the car, he looked back at the other man and said, “You coming?”
It took Boone a good five seconds to decide before he let out a string of curses on his way to the passenger side. As he drove them away from the hospital, Emmett forced himself to remain mission focused. Not an easy task, but one he knew was necessary.
If he let his emotions in, if Emmett allowed himself to wonder where Janie was or what she was suffering, he might never be able to bring himself back to the clarity needed to save her.
So he didn’t feel fear or terror. There was no time for sadness or regret. Those things could come later, after Janie was safe. For now, the only thing he felt was a murderous need to kill.
Hold on for me, sweetheart. I’m coming for you.
And he’d keep going until he found her.
Janie woke to the throbbing pulse of her own heartbeat as it pounded its way through her head. She kept her eyes closed for fear that letting in any light would make it worse.
She was laying down on something sort-of soft, but not comfortable. That much she could tell.
At first, she wasn’t sure what happened or even where she was. Her memories were faded, and as she tried sorting them out, they became blurred with one another.
She made another attempt, this time letting them come on their own, rather than forcing them in. The first clear thought to enter Janie’s mind wasn’t a thought at all but a picture.
Emmett.
She smiled as his ruggedly handsome face filled her internal vision. Soon more memories came in an order that made more sense.
They’d been in his apartment. She’d been upset. Everything with Amy’s murder and the attacks on her own life had hit her all at once.
Janie remembered talking with Emmett. The incredible man had all but confessed his love. He hadn’t said the actual words, but what he did say was enough. And then he’d made such sweet love to her after.
Right there, on his big, comfy couch.
There’d been a phone call sometime later. She winced, releasing a whimper of sorrow when the memory of seeing Devon’s bruised body returned.
I’m so sorry.
Tears fell from Janie’s sealed lids. One tickled the bridge of her nose as it passed, and she reached up to swipe it away.
The bathroom.
She’d been leaving the hospital bathroom. That was the last thing Janie remembered. Knowing she couldn’t avoid reality any longer, she fought through the fear and opened her eyes.
No!
Janie pushed herself up, her breath freezing inside her lungs. She was in concrete room that couldn’t be any bigger than twelve-by-twelve. The mattress beneath her was paper thin and stained.
There were no windows, just a small fixture mounted in the center of the ceiling The door to the room appeared to be metal. Its hinges sturdy and shiny, making them appear new.
Peeling paint. Concrete that was cracked and chipped. An inch of dirt covering the floor, and she didn’t even want to think about what had been on that mattress.
Janie pushed herself up, wavering slightly as she attempted to stand. Her hand shot out to the side, and she pressed her palm against the cool wall to keep herself steady. The wave of dizziness passed, and she blinked several times to clear her vision.
Because the room was small, it took less than a dozen steps to get to the door. It was thick and virtually impenetrable. The damn thing was also locked.
I’m trapped.
She was locked up without any way of calling for help. There were no means of escape or even a way to attempt to get herself free.
All Janie could do was go back to the mattress and sit with her back to the wall. She brought her knees to her chest and wrapped her arms around them tight. With nothing else to do but sit and wait for someone to come, Janie kept her guard up and a vigil eye on the door.
And then, she began to pray.