Page 73 of Reclaiming Adelaide

I raced around the vehicle as they lodged a crowbar into the side of the white panel van and wedged it back and forth, grunting with their efforts.

“Adelaide?” I called out, rushing towards them.

I beat my hands against the metal coffin until I reached the driver’s side door and flung it open. “You can’t get in that way,” one man said. “And the locks are broken.”

My guts twisted as I gawked at the solid steel wall towering halfway up with a metal grate attached to it and the ceiling.

“Adelaide?” I climbed inside and wrapped my fingers around the metal, looking in and all around. And once again, my heart plummeted as though I were on a never-ending ride of fear, sorrow, and shock.

She lay on the ground, her splotchy black hair matted with congealed blood, her face as white as a sheet of paper.

“Sweets?” I shook the metal grate, then slammed my shoulder into it, only making it bow and bounce back.

Her labored breaths tormented me as her chest rose and fell too fast. It was too fast. Her body was shutting down as the heat boiled her from the inside.

She didn’t move.

I placed my back on the dash, resting my butt on the console, and kicked my feet into the grate. The center bowed, and a corner popped free. I gave it three more kicks, breaking one side off, but still not enough to climb through and get her out.

The men worked their crowbar, its metallic protests groaning along with their grunts, as I gave it two more swift, firm kicks. The metal shot off, flying into the empty cavity where she lay half dead.

“Adelaide?” I said, scrambling in a panic to get through the tight opening, ignoring the searing pain in my hand as I pressed my healing cut on the jagged metal. “Adelaide, come on.” I fell through, landing next to her, and dragged her limp, exposed body onto my lap, tapping my palm against her cheek. “Open your eyes, baby.”

“Hmm,” she murmured, her weak grip wrapped around my wrist. Her eyelids fluttered open, just long enough for her eyes to connect with mine and my name to cross her dry lips with a crippled sigh. “Jake?” Her hand fell to her chest.

“Open this fucking door now!” I bellowed to the men on the other side. “Keep your eyes open, sweets.” I tapped her cheek again. “Come on, Adelaide. Not like this. Okay?” The weakness in my voice sickened me, but an all-consuming terror gripped me tight, stripping me free of my control. “Not like this.”

“Did you find her?” Charity said from the other side.

“She’s here,” I said, banging on the sidewall. “Get us out of here.”

Adelaide’s pulse pounded against my fingertips, her cheeks a bright cherry red. Her skin was dry in stark contrast to her damp shirt.

The sliding door cracked as they wedged the crowbar further inside. It cracked wider, allowing a beam of sunlight to break through. Then wider and wider until it broke open with a slow roll.

A slight breeze caressed my soaked skin, bringing temporary relief from the baking temperatures inside the vehicle.

“We need a doctor. I think she has heat stroke.”

“I’ll call my doctor; he’ll set up a team,” Charity said.

That may be too late. “I don’t think she’ll make the forty-minute drive.”

“You can take her to the hospital around the corner, but that might flag her.”

I scooped Adelaide’s limp body into my arms and held her to my chest as Charity picked up her belongings, then raced to my car. Where the hell did she find the money for a laptop and cell phone?

“Thanks for the fucking directions, Dennis. Really helpful,” Charity said as she followed behind me.

“It’s a junkyard, Charity. How do you give someone turn by turn out here?”

She mimicked him, but I tuned her out and slid Adelaide into the backseat of my rental.

“Drive, Charity.” I slid in beside Adelaide and pulled her shirt off over her head. “Put the AC on full blast. We need to lower her temperature.”

Charity adjusted the dials as I fanned Adelaide’s face, then took off down the road toward the hospital.

Adelaide’s chest lurched toward the ceiling as though someone had hit her with a thousand volts of electricity, then fell back to my lap.What was that?Her body did it again, coming alive with wild motions—her face turning a vibrant red.

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