Page 154 of Whispers and Wildfire
“Cramped.” She paused, her forehead creasing. “I think I woke up because I was bouncing around so much. But that stopped, and the road got smoother again. Not smooth like a highway. But better than the bumpy part.”
“Gravel road, probably,” Theo said.
“I’m not sure if it was.” Bella paused again, her eyes on the table like she was trying hard to remember. “Gravel roads can be bumpy, but this was different. We kept going up and down, up and down, like he was driving over something. It was rhythmic, not random like potholes or driving off-road.”
For a moment, I stared at her, and my ribs ached with remembered pain. “Did it feel like driving over railroad ties? Like following the actual tracks?”
“Yeah, that’s exactly it,” she said. “The bumps were regular, in a pattern like a railroad track.”
“I think I know where that is,” I said, not sure who I was really talking to. My mind was racing, trying to remember exactly where that had been.
“Where?” Theo and Anton asked at the same time.
“There’s a railroad bridge near the old racetrack. Has to be out of service. I don’t think it connects to anything. The guy who drove me to the hospital took us over it, said it was a shortcut to Echo Creek. I thought it was going to kill me.”
“Where is it?” Anton asked.
I hurried over to his map and pointed. “The racetrack is roughly here. There are a couple of old dirt roads that lead to it from the highway, but obviously they’re not on here.”
Tilting my head and gazing at the map, I tried to make sense of the hazy memories from the night of the crash. Which way had we gone?
“It’s gotta be around here.” I pointed at a thin blue linethat snaked across the terrain outside Echo Creek. “It was dark, so I couldn’t see much, but the bridge crossed over a ravine. There could be a creek at the bottom. Over on this side, it’s pretty flat. There could easily be a hunting cabin or something in this area.”
“Maybe even something abandoned,” Anton said.
“Luke,” Theo said, and the alarm in his voice caught my attention.
“What?”
“That’s where the fire’s headed.”
He handed me his phone, open to a map of active wildfires. The main burn was east of there, but if it was moving toward Echo Creek, that bridge—and any dwellings in the area—were right in its path.
Without a word, I tossed Theo his phone and ran for the door.
Questions were shouted at my back, but I didn’t have time to answer. In seconds, I was in my car, tires peeling out in the parking lot.
I didn’t know if I was right. Maybe the bridge was a dead end. I’d have to trust Garrett and his crew—and everyone else who was looking for her—to act if they discovered better information. If the trail led somewhere else, they’d follow it.
But that psycho had her, and if I was right, the fire was headed straight for them.
CHAPTER 38
Melanie
The combinationof thirst and a full bladder were almost unbearable. My mouth was so dry, my tongue felt thick and sticky. And if I didn’t pee soon, my bladder was going to pop like an overly full water balloon.
I had no real sense of time, but it seemed like Roswell had been gone for hours. And while my head was clearing as the drugs wore off, thank goodness, I still found myself zoning out occasionally. But as the minutes ticked by, and my discomfort grew, the sensation of being disconnected abated.
Did hewantme to pee my pants? Because that’s where things were headed.
The chain holding me to the wall didn’t have much slack. And no way could I break the duct tape around my wrists. He’d wound and twisted it, securing me to the chain. After my first abduction, I’d practiced breaking zip tie and duct tape bonds. I’d gotten pretty good at it. But I hadn’t accounted for the lack of mobility from being chained to a stupid wall.
I was able to move around enough that I’d taken stock of the room. Not that there was much to see. Based on the window set high in the wall, and the musty smell, I was in abasement. The floor was finished—some kind of vinyl—but the walls looked like plain plywood. There was a small bathroom in the corner, but it didn’t appear to have a door.
The subtle creak of the stairs made my back clench and my stomach churn. I maneuvered myself onto my other side so I could see.
Roswell came down the stairs carrying a water bottle with a straw. I wanted it so badly I was willing to do… not anything. But a whole lot of things I wouldn’t under different circumstances. Beg being the foremost among them.
