Chapter 58
CHAPTER
FIFTY-EIGHT
By the time the team rolled into Barstow, the daylight had shifted to that bleached, end-of-day gold that made the desert look both endless and exposed.
Andi stared out the window as the town came into view—low buildings, sun-faded signs, wide streets that felt built for people passing through rather than staying.
Tomorrow, they’d be hosting an event here—an unscheduled stop, slid quietly into what was supposed to be their day off.
There hadn’t been any promotion yet. No announcement. Just a room booked and chairs arranged, waiting to see who showed up.
They pulled into the hotel parking lot—beside a squat, beige building with a clean lobby and polite landscaping. It was the nicest one in town, Rupert had insisted.
That wasn’t saying much.
The vans stopped. Engines cut. Doors slid open.
Before anyone could grab their bags, Andi’s phone buzzed in her hand.
She glanced down.
Her pulse kicked as she answered. “Pam?”
There was a breath on the other end—sharp, unsteady—and then a sound that wasn’t quite a laugh or a sob. “They found her.”
Andi’s heart slammed hard against her ribs. “Found who?”
“Gina.” Pam’s voice cracked. “They found Gina.”
“What?” Andi needed to make sure she’d heard correctly.
“She’s alive,” Pam rushed on, as if afraid the words might disappear if she didn’t keep saying them. “She’s hurt and shaken, but she’s alive. The police just called me.”
Andi pressed a hand to her mouth, emotion surging so fast it made her dizzy. Around her, the others were unloading bags, talking—normal sounds that suddenly felt impossibly far away.
“Thank God,” Andi whispered.
“I don’t understand all the details yet. The police said she walked out of the woods. But she’s alive. That’s all I care about.”
Tears burned at Andi’s eyes as relief crashed through her, fierce and overwhelming.
“Listen, another woman is missing,” Andi said, already turning back toward the vans. “What are the chances we could talk to Gina? It would have to be through video call.”
A pause stretched. Then, “She’s at the hospital being checked out right now. But I have my computer with me. Maybe I can steal her for a few minutes.”
“That would be amazing. Maybe she knows something that will help us find this other woman.”
“I’ll see what I can do.” Pam exhaled, the sound heavy with everything she’d been holding back. “Thank you. For not giving up.”
“I’m not sure how much we did, but I’m so glad she’s okay.”
“I’m going to go talk to her now. I’ll see if she’s up for a chat and let you know.”
Andi ended the call and looked up.
Everyone paused, waiting to hear the update.
“They found Gina,” Andi said. “She’s alive.”
For a heartbeat, no one moved.
Then hope rushed in—bright, electric, undeniable.
For the first time since this had begun, Andi let herself believe that maybe—just maybe—they were finally ahead of whoever had tried so hard to stay invisible.
Twenty minutes later, Duke stood near the window of Andi’s hotel room while the FaceTime call connected.
The rest of the team had joined them but remained in the background.
He kept his posture relaxed, but his attention was locked in—on the screen, on Andi beside him, on the weight of what they were about to hear.
Finally, the screen flickered.
Gina appeared, her head held up by the hospital bed behind her.
She looked thinner than Duke had expected. Pale. Wrapped in a blanket, hair pulled back, dark circles beneath her eyes. She was alive but clearly still standing on the edge of what she’d survived.
Andi leaned closer to the screen. “Hi, Gina.”
Gina gave a small nod then swallowed. “Hi.”
Andi did a quick introduction, explaining who they were and what was going on.
Duke watched her as she spoke, tracking the cadence of her breathing, the way her eyes flicked to the side as if replaying images she couldn’t shut off. She had a way of being kind but professional—partly it was her character and partly it was her training as an attorney.
“They found me this morning. I didn’t think anyone would. Not after . . .” Gina trailed off, tears filling her eyes. “I was able to escape. That’s the only reason I’m here.”
“Tell us what happened,” Duke said, careful to keep his voice gentle.
She drew in a shaky breath. “This man . . . he grabbed me from the parking garage. Took me to a cabin in the mountains. Somewhere remote. I don’t know where.”
Tears spilled down her cheeks, and they gave her a moment to gather herself.
Then she started again, her voice tighter now.
“I think . . . I think he left me there to die. And I might have. But I managed to get the door open. I think the locking mechanism must have failed or something. All I knew was that I needed to leave. So I did. I ran—barefoot—as fast as I could. I was about to give up. I didn’t think I could make it another step.
I thought I was going to die out there.”
Duke’s jaw tightened.
“Then I stumbled onto a road,” Gina said. “I had no idea it was there until I broke through the brush and . . . there it was, almost like it had been waiting for me. I walked a little way until this family came by in their car and found me. I must’ve looked terrible. But they helped me anyway.”
“Gina, this man who took you . . .” Andi said. “Did you recognize him? His face? His voice? Anything about him?”
Gina shook her head. “No. He wore this light on his head. It was like a headlamp but brighter. Blinding. I couldn’t see anything else. I tried. I really tried.”
“He didn’t want you to see his face,” Andi murmured.
Gina’s eyes flicked up sharply. “Exactly. He had all kinds of rules. It was like he was playing a game or something.”
“I can’t imagine how hard that must have been.”
Gina leaned closer to the camera and lowered her voice. “There’s something else.”
Andi straightened. “What is it?”
Gina hesitated, fear creeping back into her expression. “He’s done this before. He said that people like me were easy targets. That we needed to pay for what we’d done when we disappeared by our own freewill and people thought we were missing. He said there were more.”
The pieces clicked into place in Duke’s mind, cold and precise. “You’re sure?”
Gina nodded. “He wasn’t bragging. He was . . . explaining almost.”
Duke glanced at Andi then back at Gina. “You did exactly what you needed to do to survive. And you’ve already helped us more than you know.”
Her eyes shone with tears. “Please. Stop him. Please.”
Duke didn’t hesitate. “We will.”
When the call ended, the room felt different—charged and heavier but unmistakably clearer.
Gina had survived.
Now, they had proof that something really was going on.
Whoever was responsible had just made one fatal mistake—he’d left a witness behind.