Page 131 of Another Girl Lost

I looked behind the counter to the kitchen and the back door. When I looked over my shoulder, I saw Tanner’s van slowly pulling away.

“You okay?”

I looked at the man standing behind the bar. He wore a white T-shirt, an apron, and a name tag that readMike. “You look worried.”

“I’m fine,” I said. “Just hungry.”

“You here with anyone?”

I must have looked shady. “No.”

He studied me a beat and then returned to the kitchen.

Tiffany filled a stoneware mug for me. “While you wait.”

“Thanks.” I wrapped chilled fingers around the warm mug and slowly raised it to my lips. I blew on the hot brew and then sipped carefully. Hot, bitter, jarring. It tasted like the real world.

I wanted to be free. I wanted to escape Tanner’s basement prison. But Della. I looked at Tiffany’s smiling face. “There are puppies out back behind the dumpster.”

She grinned. “Seriously?”

I cradled the cup. “Very sweet. Little. Want to see them?”

“I got to work now.” She filled mugs with coffee for a couple of customers at the bar.

I tried not to stare at her even as I willed her to return. When she set the pot down and faced me, I said, “It’ll only take a second.”

Smiling, she motioned me around the counter, and we cut through the bustling kitchen. My temple pounded as amazing food smells swirled. My mouth watered as my stomach grumbled. Out the back screen door, I watched Tanner’s van roll slowly into place. He got out and opened the sliding door.

Scream. Scream. Call for help.

I clamped my lips shut as we moved closer. Della had done this to me.Come with me to my van.And I’d followed as willingly as Tiffany did now. Was she really trying to save the Other Girl, or had that also been a lie?

“Where are the puppies?” Tiffany asked.

“Hiding behind the dumpster,” I said.

“Aw, poor babies.”

“They looked hungry.”

Tiffany tucked a curl behind her ear. “I can get them hamburger. Mike won’t mind. He’s a dog lover, too.”

“Terrible when a puppy suffers.” I glanced toward the van and a smiling Tanner. It was that electric grin he’d tossed my way in the beginning. Now I wasn’t charmed, but chilled. “I saw the puppies just a second ago. There are at least three.”

Tiffany glanced up and for the first time saw the van. “Tanner. What are you doing here?”

He waved. “Hey, Tiffany.”

I moved toward the van and the dumpster on the other side. Tiffany’s confident footsteps thudded against the pavement behind me. I pictured what was going to happen. Tanner would shove a needle in her arm, she’d black out, and when she woke up, she’d be lying on the stained mattress in the dark basement room. She’d be like a new toy to him, and he would be excited to play. While Della and I watched, she’d cry, scream, and beg. He would laugh.

I stopped walking.Della, were you strong enough to get out of that house?

Clutching my fingers, I froze, whirled around, and my attention shifted to Tiffany.

I’m sorry, Della.

“Run!” My voice was weak, raw, and it took another deep breath and an image of Della stumbling out of Tanner’s house to force the word over my vocal cords. “Run!”

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