Page 114 of Half Baked

I needed to untie my feet.

I set to work and managed to finish it despite a whole lot of fumbling, but then an overwhelming fatigue settled in on me. I didn’t have the energy to even consider what to do next. I laid my head down on the floor, the cool tile on my cheek giving my throbbing head some relief. I closed my eyes and then jerked awake few seconds later when I realized I’d fallen asleep. I couldn’t fall asleep. I had to find a way to escape.

It sounded like a good plan, but my eyelids felt too heavy, and my arms and legs were like blocks of concrete.

Get up, Maddie!

I knew I should.

I knew I had to—and Iwould.

Right after I took a little rest.

ChapterTwenty-Nine

Noah

Iwatched the two officers take off in a hurry while Lance studied me.

“Maybe you should sit down, Noah. You’re looking a little green.”

Panic flared through me, with nowhere to go. “I have to find her, Lance!”

He put his hand on my arm. “I know. I know. Just take a moment.”

My eyes burned and my throat was clogged.

I was failing her. Just like I’d failed when dealing with Caleb.

“What if she doesn’thavea moment?” I choked out.

He didn’t say what I was already thinking. She’d been gone for at least two hours. Ten seconds wasn’t going to make much of a difference.

I took a deep breath in and held it for several second before releasing it. My panic settled, making room for my professional side to slip back into place. “We need to see if any of the neighbors have surveillance footage. I doubt we’ll catch what happened since the two neighbors across the street don’t have cameras, or at least they didn’t the last time we pulled footage from the block. But others might have captured the vehicle or, please God, a license plate.”

“On it,” Lance said, pulling out his cell phone.

I walked over to Margarete, who was standing on the side of her yard, horror written on her face.

“What time did you leave for your lunch?” I asked.

Her gaze darted to the driveway, then back to me. “Where’s Maddie?”

“I don’t know,” I said, my voice breaking again. I cleared my throat. “I’m trying to figure it out. What time did you say you left?”

We both knew she hadn’t told me, but she didn’t correct me. “A little before noon.”

“Did you see anything unusual going on?”

“Well, there wassomethinga little weird. Just as I was about to leave, I saw Maddie back her car into the street. A green car pulled into the driveway, then Maddie pulled in behind her and parked. But when I drove past on the way to lunch, Maddie’s car was in driveway, and I didn’t see a green car at all.”

“When you left for lunch was the garage door up or down?”

“Down, definitely down. I noticed right away it was up when I brought Deidre home.”

“Where is Deidre now?”

“My daughter was with me in the car. She took Deidre into the house.”

---