Page 111 of Half Baked

This is just a normal case.

I opened my eyes and examined the blood.

“It might not be hers,” Lance said. “It could be someone else’s. Like I said earlier, she’s resourceful.”

I nodded but didn’t say anything. My gaze followed the small drops of blood to the end of the driveway and out onto the street, where there were more. It looked like whoever was bleeding had stayed there longer than they had on the driveway.

“Whoever was hurt was walked or carried down the driveway and put into a car.”

Lance gauged the distance from the curb to the location on the street. He grimaced and gave me a grim look. “Or a trunk.”

Fury blazed through me. I’d find the son-of-a-bitch who did this and make him wish he’d never been born.

I turned to the officer closest to me. “I want every officer in this city tracking down Gina Moore. She was likely here and could have taken Maddie. The sooner we find and question her, the better.”

Maddie’s life depended on it.

ChapterTwenty-Eight

Maddie

Iwoke up with a terrible headache. My stomach was churning, and I could feel the bile rising in my throat. I took me a few moments to orient myself. Moving vehicle. Confined space. Stale and musty smell.

A trunk. I was in a trunk.

My head was fuzzy and there was a constant ringing sound. Something wet and sticky covered the back of my head and neck. I struggled to stay awake, but I forced my eyes to stay open. I needed to take stock of my surroundings. I wasn’t sure what was going on—my last memory was of Gina backing out of my driveway—but I needed to try to get out of here.

I was in a car, in the trunk, facing backward, where the taillights would be. Daylight seeped through the cracks enough for me to get a dim view of my surroundings.

Something floated into my memory, telling me that I could get out of this trunk. That newer cars had cords you could pull to escape. Only I didn’t see a cord and my arms were tied behind my back. My feet were secured too.

What had happened? It all felt surreal, but I wasn’t scared, just confused. It was like I was out of my body, removed from the situation. But I was here in my head, very much in it.

Focus, Maddie.

I racked my brain to remember how I’d gotten here. I remembered the pain in my head and now I was in the trunk of a car.

Obviously, I’d been kidnapped!

What was the ringing? It was piercing my ears.

Focus on Noah.He was going to be devastated when he found out I was missing. Then, for the first time since waking up, pure panic washed through me.

Aunt Deidre.

Everything returned at once, and I realized that Aunt Deidre must have been left unsupervised. Mallory wasn’t coming home until Sunday night and who knew when Noah would be back. What would my aunt do all alone?

Oh God. The back door was still open!

Tears streamed down my cheeks. She’d eventually find the open door and get out. She wasn’t dressed for the cold weather. How far would she get before someone found her?

Ifsomeone found her.

Had Gina set this up?

The car turned a corner, sending my body sliding toward my feet.

Right turn. They’d made a right turn.

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