Page 66 of Forged in Flames (Made of Steel 2)

Chapter 27

Wednesday

I pulled the covers up to my chin and rolled over once again. Sleep evaded me. Every time I closed my eyes I saw the hurt look on Miles' face. Or the fire he seemed to light inside of me. It was like I had stopped breathing when we were apart. And as soon as he kissed me, my lungs had suddenly inflated.

When I forced my mind to push thoughts of him aside, I'd see Sadie Davis slowly counting down until she reached zero. This isn't working. I shoved the covers off of myself and climbed out of bed.

I had gotten back from my date with Miles late, and V's apartment had been empty. Hopefully it still was. I didn't want to talk to V or anyone else. The lights immediately turned on when I stepped out of the bedroom. Maybe now that Athena seemed to like me a little better she'd let me do some research.

I was on my way to the computers when a file on the glass table caught my eye. I opened it up and sat down. It was the results of the fingerprint analysis from my copy of Heart of Darkness.

My fingerprints were on there, which was nothing obvious. I turned the page. The real Sadie Davis' fingerprints were on it. I stared down at the picture of her. Same birthday as me. Matching hair and eye color to my current ones. Why? I put my forehead in my hand. Why couldn't I piece it together? What possible reason would Don have for making me steal some random woman's identity?

I looked down at her eyes. She looked so sad. And lost. Was that how I looked? I wondered if he was beating her too. Forcing himself on her. That's what caused that look. Suddenly I felt myself feeling bad for the person who was playing games with my head.

Staring at her didn't help anything. It didn't put the pieces together. It made me pity her like everyone pitied me. Really, it just made my chest ache. Because she looked so much like my mother. And it tore me to pieces that she looked so sad. All I could remember was my mom smiling up at my father. Laughing. This wasn't her. It couldn't possibly be her. But I used to laugh. I used to smile.

I tried to shake away the thought, but it had settled around me, sending a chill down my spine. This is not my mother. I turned to the next page in the file to try to dismiss the nagging suspicion. And...my breath seemed to catch in my throat. Julie Harris. I reread the name at least a dozen times. Julie Harris' fingerprints were on the book. I wouldn't have even known my babysitter's last name, but I recognized the picture of her. It looked like it was a picture from a newspaper, announcing her engagement to a man named Jacob. His arm was wrapped around her shoulders as they smiled at the camera.

Jacob. I swallowed hard. I wondered if it was the same Jacob who she had just started dating when I last saw her. The one who bought her the Converses. The one she said she didn't know if she was in love with. I stared at their smiling faces. Clearly they were in love now.

I didn't want to tear my eyes away from the picture. I wanted one person from my past to have ended up happy. But there was another newspaper clipping below this one. I knew in my gut it wouldn't be good. Because why on earth were Julie's fingerprints on my book?

I glanced down at the other clipping. It was a missing persons article. My heart seemed to pound in my chest as I looked at the date. Julie had gone missing three and a half weeks ago. Right around the time I escaped from hell with the help of Mr. Crawford. She had been missing for almost a month. What were the odds that she was still alive?

My mind immediately pictured the bloody bunny slippers. I had been wearing them the last time I saw her. She's dead. I put a hand over my mouth stifling my sob. Oh my God, Julie's dead. There had been so much blood. I fumbled with my phone as I pulled it out of my pocket. So much fucking blood. I needed to talk to V. We needed to try to find her in case it wasn't too late.

As if answering my silent plea, there was a whooshing noise in the apartment. I turned around to see the window slowly rising. V stepped in. When he saw me, he immediately pulled his hood down a little lower.

"You should be sleeping," his voice rumbled.

I grabbed the newspaper clipping and ran over to him. "I know her. Julie Harris was my babysitter growing up. She was the last person who saw me in my bunny slippers. The ones I told you about. The ones that Don sent to me covered in blood." I was almost too terrified to ask him my question. "Is she dead?" My hands were shaking so badly I couldn't get them to stop.

"I don't know."

"V, we have to find her. She's in trouble because of me. Please, we have to do something."

"I've been out all night trying to find her. Or Sadie Davis. Or Don." He pulled off his gloves. "I don't know where any of them are."

"I don't care about Sadie or Don right now. We have got to find Julie. We have to. If she's still alive..." I swallowed hard. Part of me expected him to reassure me. But maybe it was better that he didn't. What was the point of being optimistic when nothing ever seemed to turn out okay?

"We have less than three days to piece this together. We can't..."

"She's an innocent bystander! She has nothing to do with this. We have to save her."

"I'm exhausted, Sadie. I just told you I've been looking for her. I'm sorry."

"Why do you keep calling me Sadie?!" I wasn't sure why I was fighting with him. He had been out all night doing exactly what I was asking him to do. But he hadn't found Julie. And I was upset. And the thought of her being dead made my head pound. "I'm not related to that monster! V we have to do something. We can't let Don kill Julie."

"I can't even think straight right now. I need rest. We both do."

"There isn't time!" I could hear the clock ticking down in my head, racing toward zero.

"Bed. Now." His voice had suddenly gotten stern.

"No." I hated how I always sounded like a child whenever I got in a fight with him.

He sighed and stepped toward me, lifting me up in his arms.

---