Page 70 of Reclaiming Adelaide

“I don’t know. I wandered in during the night.”

“Was it large or small?”

“Pretty big, I think. I got turned around a few times.”

“There are four major wrecking yards here,” Charity said. “We’ll have to split up if we’re going to find her.”

“What’s around you?” Max asked.

“Fucking vehicles. What the hell do you think is around me?”

“Well, at least you know we have time. She still has an attitude,” Charity said.

My phone beeped in my ear, and I pulled it away, looking at the screen. “Fuck,” I said, raising my voice with urgency.

“What is it? What’s wrong?” Jake asked.

“My battery is going to die.”

“Sit tight. We’ll find you. Get off the phone. I’ll call you if we get close.”

“If?”

He had to find me. We still had years left of being angry with each other.

“When, Adelaide. I’ll find you.”

His disquieted tone sent my thoughts on a tailspin, and it only exacerbated my fear. If Jake was worried, then I had reason to panic.

“It’s going to be ninety degrees today,” a male said in the background.

I groaned, and pressing my head between my knees didn’t help this time.

“Just try to stay still. Don’t do anything strenuous. We’ll find you, sweets.”

A small smile tilted the corners of my lips. “Okay.” A tear slipped down my cheek, and I brushed it away as if someone could witness my fragility. “I love you,” I whispered before hanging up and putting my phone on the bench beside me.

I focused on my breathing, in and out, using a steady rhythm a meditator would be proud of.

This was a mistake.

Leaving him was a mistake when all he wanted to do was help me in his odd, roundabout way. And now…

Fear summoned panic, and panicking didn’t help me. I stripped off my heavy sweats and grabbed my laptop with clammy hands.

Windows computers came with two games, Solitaire and Hearts.

A warm wave rushed over me, followed by a shiver of goosebumps. That’s odd. My skin raised as the pressure sank into my chest.

Jake would find me.

He has to.

But what if he didn’t? What if I became another dead body among many? Would the police be able to identify me even without an ID on me? Did I have dental records in the system?

How did that even work?

I have black hair now, not red. What if my parents came to identify me and didn’t recognize me? I’ll end up in an unmarked grave with the name Jane Doe number one-thousand or something.

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