Page 80 of High Intensity

The SUV Bellinger drove off in is parked outside, but when we enter the house there is no sign of him. A woman is getting up from the kitchen table when we walk in.

“Any luck?” Williams asks her.

The woman shakes her head. “Only a few sips of milk and one bite of toast. She went back up to her bedroom.”

“This is Ms. Lederman.”

“Jillian, please,” I correct him as I face the female agent.

She offers her hand and I take it.

“Stephanie Kramer,” she introduces herself. “I hope you have more luck with Hayley than we’ve had.”

I hope so too, but I’m afraid what little gains I had made with her in the hospital will need to be rebuilt, if that’s even possible. I can imagine Hayley might feel like I abandoned her and I may have to earn her trust again. That takes time. Time I may not have.

“I want to be realistic,” I caution her. “I understand from Agent Bellinger, her uncle is to pick her up sometime tomorrow. That’s not a lot of time for me to gain her trust, let alone get her to talk to me.”

“We’re trying to delay him as best we can under the guise of security, but Mr. Vallard is getting very impatient.”

She leads me up a set of stairs and stops outside a door, knocking softly.

“Hayley? There’s a visitor here for you.” Then she turns to me and whispers, “Good luck,” before heading back down the stairs.

I open the door a crack and see the girl lying on her side on the bed, her back to the door. My heart breaks for her; she must feel so alone.

“Hayley?” I alert her. “Can we come in? Nugget really wants to say hello.”

The moment I mention the dog’s name, Hayley turns her head and shoots up in bed.

“Nugget?”

I open the door farther so she can see the dog I’m carrying, but I have to steel myself when I get a good glance at Hayley. She looks gaunt, her beautiful copper-colored eyes dull and sunken, her skin pasty, and her hair looks greasy and stringy.

When I ease into the room, I notice she scoots with her back against the headboard and grabs one of the pillows, cradling it in front of her like a shield.

Everything in me wants to run up and gather this child up in my arms, but I don’t think she is ready for that. If she ever will be. Instead, I put Nugget down at the foot end of the bed and mentally cross my fingers he can work his magic again. I swallow hard when she lowers the pillow as he scoots up the bed toward her.

When I last saw her in the hospital, she’d still been confined to her bed hooked up to an IV and monitors. She’d been limited in her movements, but not so today. The pillow falls to the side as she scoops Nugget up in her arms. But I know I shouldn’t be cheering just yet when she throws an angry look my way.

Nugget may be forgiven, but I’m not.

I glance around the basic guest bedroom. There’s not a hint of personality in here, just a bed, a dresser, and a small desk holding a few old copies of Nancy Drew books and a pen and notepad, and I get angry all over again. No computer, or even a tablet, no pictures on the wall, nothing to make this a welcoming room for a young girl.

The only redeeming feature is the view. Her window faces the rear of the house and has a clear view of the Big Cherry Creek, and the mountains beyond.

“Oh wow. Your view is almost the same as the one from my house. Same creek too. My place is not that far from here.” I pull out the desk chair and take a seat facing her. “In fact, I was walking the dogs along the creek earlier this morning. If I’d known you were this close, I’d have walked a little farther. I could’ve waved at you, and you could’ve seen my other dogs.”

She doesn’t look at me—her face is buried in Nuggets shaggy coat—but I can tell she’s listening to every word.

“You see, I would’ve loved to have stayed in touch, but the FBI felt it was safer for you to be brought here and keep your location a secret. Even from me. I didn’t even know you were still in town, Hayley.”

When her eyes lift to mine, I’m afraid to breathe. It feels like the silence stretches forever, but it’s worth it when she asks me a question.

“How many dogs do you have?”

I have to swallow the lump in my throat before answering.

“Five, including Nugget. He’s the smallest of the bunch though.”

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