Page 70 of Inherited Light
“She could be hurt or dying; I’m not waiting. You’ll see my truck in the parking lot. If she’s not in the van, I’ll wait for you to start searching.”
I didn’t wait for him to respond, just hung up the phone, silenced it, and slipped it into my pocket. I grabbed a baseball bat from the truck, since I had no other way to protect myself, and sprinted across the street, swinging it as though I was there for no other reason than doing a little batting practice. Once my feet hit the grass I jogged toward the van nonchalantly as if I didn’t have a care in the world. When the trees enveloped me, I dashed to the van, peering in the driver’s window. Her seat was empty, but her chair was still in the back of the vehicle. She couldn’t go anywhere without her chair. I jogged to the front of the vehicle and searched for signs of footprints, but there were none. The front end of the van was wrapped around a small tree. It wouldn’t have killed her, but it would have knocked her out. I didn’t need to look twice to see her van would never run again.
“Dammit,” I said aloud, heading back through the trees. I broke through them as Tabitha and Noah ran toward me. Noah had his gun out and Tabitha looked like she had seen a ghost.
“What did you find?” Tabitha whisper asked.
“She’s not in the van, but her chair is. Whoever has her is big enough to carry her.”
Noah stopped and shook his head. “This doesn’t make any sense. We have Xavier’s killer in custody. This can’t have anything to do with his murder.”
Tabitha shook her head. “No, you have the wrong person. Whoever killed Xavier has Cat.”
Noah swiveled toward her. “And you know this how?”
“Call it a gut feeling,” she answered, not making eye contact. “Wherever they are, she’s hurt and we need to find her.”
Noah glanced between the two of us and then shook his head. “She could be long gone in a vehicle by now. I need to put together a team and get them out here.”
I had no plans of waiting for a team or anyone. At the back of the van I put my hand on the window, closing my eyes. “Come on, baby. Talk to me,” I whispered. I had a sharp pain in my back, and focused on it. Her back hurt, but I couldn’t get a line on where to find her. I started jogging toward the ball field, parallel with the pitcher’s mound.
“Where are you going?” Noah called from behind me.
Tabitha told him to be quiet and follow me. I tuned them out as I focused on homing in on her pain, and the fear, which made me feel like vomiting. The closer I got, the stronger the pain in my back became. She didn’t have her chair, which meant she wasn’t mobile, and she was in an uncomfortable position. My hand strayed to my back, as though I could ease her discomfort by massaging my own. I kept my inner eye focused on the dark place, letting my feet carry me across the field. I could hear Noah barking orders into the receiver as we ran. He told Tabitha to stay behind him in case someone started shooting. I didn’t care if someone came out with an automatic rifle, I had to find her before she gave up trying to stay alive.
I’m coming for you, baby, I answered her inside my mind.I need more help. Tell me where you are. My steps slowed and I waited with my hands on my back, bent over at the waist. If I listened she would tell me. I waited, concentrating on her face and the feeling I relished when she was in my arms. Her fear and pain washed over me, and I focused on the anxiety of claustrophobia. I popped my head up, jogged back to Noah, and took his shoulders.
“Tabitha said she’s somewhere dark. Does the bandshell have a crawlspace?” I asked, motioning to the hulking monolith where the Battle of the Bands is played every year.
“There’s more than a crawlspace. It’s a storm shelter in case a storm blows up during a performance,” he answered. “Do you think she’s in there?”
“Yeah, I can feel her hanging onto hope by humming the song we danced to last night.”
“Danced to? Isn’t she paralyzed?” Noah asked.
“I’ll explain later,” I promised. “We need to find her. She’s hurt and without her chair she can’t escape.”
“Whoever put her there might still be with her. We need to wait for backup,” he insisted.
Tabitha grabbed his arm. “I’ll wait here and direct them when they arrive. She’s in danger, you two go find her.”
Noah handed her the radio and I gave her the bat. “Go back across the street to our cars,” Noah instructed. “Wait there for my men. They shouldn’t be more than three or four minutes out.”
She had already taken off for the truck before he finished and he followed behind me, his gun drawn. We edged along the side of the building, and I switched places, since he had the weapon and knew where the entrance to the shelter lay. He stopped and plastered himself against the wall, pointing at a door, the sand recently disturbed. He put a finger to his lips as if to say, ‘shhhh’ and pulled the door open a hair. Too far and the road noise would give us away. Not far enough and we wouldn’t be able to hear anything. He listened for a few seconds and then closed it again, pushing me back toward the front of the bandshell. I could tell by his demeanor not to argue and when we were far enough from the door he stopped, and took my shoulders.
“It’s a woman. She told who I can only assume to be Cat, she’s waiting for you to show up, because she knows you’ll be searching for her. Once you arrive, she plans to kill Cat in front of you, so you and her can be together.”
My brows knit as I listened. “She’s going to kill us both?”
He shook his head. “No, she’s going to kill Cat. Whoever is in there thinks you and she are destined to be together. This doesn’t make any sense.”
I had to agree with him, it didn’t make any sense whatsoever. I glanced around, wondering how much longer until his team arrived. “I don’t know who it is, so I can’t make sense of it either. All I know is, the woman I love is in there. I need to get her out and to a hospital before this causes irreparable damage.”
In seconds, two squads drove into the parking lot and parked, followed by two ambulances. No sirens blared or lights flashed as they grabbed guns and gear from the backs of the cars and ran across the road. The ambulance drivers stayed with Tabitha while the team gathered near home plate of the baseball field. Noah and I jogged to them and filled them in on what little bit of information we had.
“I’m going to have to go in there,” I said adamantly. “If I don’t she’s going to kill Cat.”
Noah shook his head. “Not a good idea, Lorenzo. She might shoot Cat before you’re close enough to save her.”
