Page 43 of Falling for Mindy

“I know she took off and left her phone behind. That’s all I know. She didn’t tell me where she was going or even when she left. I don’t know where she is. I swear.”

“I will fucking kill you, bitch. You’re lying. You don’t think I’ll kill you?” he was screaming, and I started to cry.

He was the most terrifying person I’d ever met, and he was seriously going to hurt me. I couldn’t tell him where Alicia was because I didn’t know. But he thought I was lying, that I was only going to tell him the truth if he tortured me. My whole body shook with terror. He reached over at a stoplight and grabbed a fistful of my hair. I screamed and he kept shouting at me that I was going to tell him, that he would make me tell him. Pain sliced through me, the sharp burn in my scalp as he yanked my hair, my whole body canting toward the driver’s seat because he was pulling me so hard. I was screaming, he was shouting for me to shut up.

Inside, I was begging for help. I don’t want to die. Don’t let him hurt me. Don’t let me be pregnant, please, please. I don’t want my baby to die.

CHAPTER 28

KYLE

She wasn’t there. I got home, eager to see her. I hoped she was feeling better. I was going to make us dinner. But she was gone. Why couldn’t she have just listened to me and stayed put? Just for one day. I looked all over and called for her, but she wasn’t there. I stood on the porch, telling myself I wasn’t watching for her, looking for her to come home.

My phone rang and her number popped up.

“Where are you?” I said, hating that I didn’t even say hello because I was keyed up and worried and irritated with her for leaving the house.

There was no response. “Melinda,” I said sternly. “Hello? Hello?” No one was there. It must have been a pocket dial, unintentional. I tried saying hello again, but no one answered. I listened for a moment to muffled noises and mumbled speech I couldn’t quite make out.

A man’s voice, rough and indistinct.

Mindy’s voice, keening to a high pitch, a shriek, the word ‘please’.”

More shouting from the man, and Mindy’s ‘I don’t know! I swear!’

I made myself concentrate, try to pick up any sound I could, any clue.

Alicia’s ex had Mindy. I had to save her. I held on until the call cut off. Then, shaking with fear and fury, I called Drake.

He picked up on the first ring.

“Hey, what’s going on?”

“I need your help. A student of mine has been kidnapped.”

“A student? Where are you? Did you see it happen?” he said, flipping instantly into cop mode.

“No. I got a call from her number, and it was an accidental dial. I could hear a man shouting at her, and her screaming, and I heard him say his ex’s name, Alicia. That’s one of her clients at the job center for domestic violence survivors,” I said, my voice steely and calm despite how I felt. “You have to help me find her, Drake.”

“I’ll meet you at the station. I still have some contacts there. We’re gonna find her,” Drake said.

“Thanks,” I said and hung up.

At the station, I gave a statement and turned over my phone to the officer, who took it to IT. In a few minutes they had a read on the location the call came from which was near my house.

“We can use the phone to track her location. We’ll have them soon,” the lieutenant said to me.

“I want to go,” I said. “I know it’s unorthodox but—I need to be there.”

“That isn’t possible. We’ll let you know as soon as we secure the location and get her out,” the officer told me.

“This student,” Drake said. “You seem very invested in her well-being. When was the last time you saw her?”

“When I kissed her goodbye this morning before I left for work,” I said, daring him to say anything. It felt good, even at a time like this, to admit that I was with Mindy, that we were together. “I have feelings for her, Drake. It’s something real. I can’t lose her. You have to help me.”

“Get in my car,” he said.

We headed out of the station. “I’ve got my scanner on their channel. I can take you to the location. As long as you swear you’ll stay back and let the cops do their job. I’m not taking you to interfere with a hostage situation.”

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