Page 82 of My Heart to Find

Cara

“WHAT?” MY HEART POUNDSas I stare at Jana and Trevor. Phia’s in danger? I rush forward. Damien’s right behind me.

“It’s Mr. Richards,” Jana shouts. “He’s taken her, I’m sure of it.”

“He could have Marnie too,” Trevor yells.

Marnie? My heart does a jumpy thing.

Jana’s breathless. “Come on.”

The four of us practically fly the remaining distance to the café, and, somehow, I’m running without my body threatening to give out. It’s the adrenaline, it has to be. My Boots bag bangs against my thigh.

The Red Panda’s in darkness.

Jana grabs the door handles and shakes them. Locked. She digs a key out of her pocket and jams it into the lock. The door opens moments later, and she practically falls in.

“Phia!” Jana yells, and then Trevor’s inside too and Damien.

I hurriedly follow, trying not to brush against everything.

“You okay?” Damien asks, his voice low.

I nod, but everything feels like it’s spinning around me now and I can’t keep up. My head’s pounding, and I was feeling groggy to start with, but with the added adrenaline it’s awful.

“What’s happened?” I look at Jana. “Start at the beginning.”

“Phia worked today—she said she wouldn’t. Mr. Richards touched her inappropriately before, and—”

“I saw him,” Damien says suddenly.

“What? When?”

“Last week, when I was walking one of the dogs. I was in the woods—that walk that Marnie last took, it was thesameroute. And Mr. Richards was there too, walking that way with his dog.”

Jana turns—a stormy whirlwind as her hair flies out—to Trevor. He’s still got a phone to his ear. I think it’s Jana’s. “Are you speaking to that detective?”

He shakes his head. “Just on hold. They’re connecting me to someone,” he says. “But we can’t just wait here. It’s his house. Has to be his house. We can’t wait for the police to show up. We have to go now.”

“Hold on,” Damien asks. “If he’s abducted two women, this guy’s going to be dangerous. We should wait for the police.”

Abducted. My mouth dries. This is a crime. An actual crime. I look at Damien, feel breathless, but he’s not looking at me. He’s just shaking his head, looking worried.

“We don’t wait when our friends’ lives are in danger,” Jana says.

Trevor’s already out the door.

*

IT’S ALL HAPPENINGso quickly, and I can’t concentrate. Can’t...can’t process it.

The engine of Jana’s car makes a slightly high-pitched whirring that seems to set my spine on edge. We’re all bundled in. Jana’s driving, Trevor’s in the passenger seat up front, directing Jana, and Damien and I are in the back. I clutch my prescription like it’s a lifeline.

I can’t remember the last time I was in Jana’s car. Not with my OCD...but I am now, and my head’s spinning. And it’s like time is wrapping around my body, squeezing tightly. One moment I’m taking a breath outsideThe Red Pandaand the next we’re hurtling through a housing estate.

“Slow down,” Trevor tells Jana. “I think we’ve gone past number thirty-one.”

Jana slams on the brakes, and the tires shriek. I’m thrown forward, and the seatbelt grabs me round the neck. A startled sound escapes my mouth.

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