I let out a groan, shifting my hips to try and relieve the tension in my strained back. Sitting on the concrete floor with only a beam to lean back against has done a number on my joints already.
Deciding to stand and stretch again, I lift myself from where I was sitting. The chain clangs against the ground, reminding me of my confinement. The black scenery around me blurs as I sway back and forth on my feet. It’s a familiar dizziness that I now know is from the poison.
It’s a wonder I’m still alive after ingesting as much of it as I did. I don’t know what type of poison it is, but Emma must havehad the intention of disarming my abilities rather than sending me to a quick death.
The chain only stretches far enough for me to reach the unfinished bathroom, and I consider trying to kick the toilet, breaking the porcelain, and using it as a sharp weapon. Tears spring to my eyes as I try and calculate how much brute strength that would take.
If there were anything else down here, I might have more ideas about how I could defend myself. Without so much as a chair or maybe even something like a paintbrush, my options are nonexistent.
I take a few more steps into the dark space, twisting my upper body to hopefully pop my back and relieve some of the tension there. My stomach rumbles from a mixture of sickness and hunger, but I ignore it completely. I don’t know how long I’ll be down here and if I pay too much attention to the fact that I have no food to eat, I’ll go insane.
“Mind over matter,” I whisper.
My hands run over the fabric of my sundress and it reminds me of yesterday. It’s easy to fall into a state of delirium after the lack of food and sleep. I can almost feel Warren’s hands roaming my body. Hear the words that he said to me.
I try not to think about what he’s doing right now. There’s no doubt in my mind that he knows I’m gone, seeing as how I never made it back to the ranch last night. As it stands, it looks like I won’t be showing up in Westridge for work tomorrow either.
My heart flutters with hope realizing that along with Warren, friendships I’ve made recently all but guarantee that they’ll realize quickly that I’m gone. They’ll be looking for me.
That’s a new feeling that I hadn’t experienced in the past. Sure, I’ve never gone missing before. But if I had, I doubt anyone would have noticed, including my own family. Now I know that many people will be turning over every stone to find me.
Although the basement probably isn’t as bad as the rest of the house, it’s still hot down here, making my hair stick to my skin and sweat drop in beads down the side of my face. If it were cooler maybe my stomach wouldn’t turn so violently.
At first, I wasn’t sure if I was going to throw up, but I eventually made myself do it. I wanted any bit of the poison that was in that drink that Emma gave me to get out of my body as soon as possible.
Apart from the distant low sounds of the city and the beat of my own heart, it’s deadly silent. I’ve screamed a few times, hoping that someone might hear me. But in this small, secluded suburb with no apparent residents, my cry for help has gone unanswered. I’m not giving up on hoping that someone hears me, but I’ve given up for now with it being the middle of the night.
I move toward the beam in the middle of the room and sit back down. My knees pull up to my chest and I lean my chin on them, hugging my legs close to my body.
“They’re looking for me,” I whisper out loud.
33
WARREN
“It’d be best if you stuck around here to help answer questions. Let the officers and the Search and Rescue team do their job, Warren. Things like this can get complicated and even dangerous in a hurry,” Justin says.
“Sure thing,” I lie. I’m not going to sit on my hands and wait for them to assemble their team. I get that they need to do things by the book, but I won’t be wasting any time. I’m going to look for her myself the second Gage gets here.
“I know what you’re thinking,” he glares at me. “Just know that meddling can mess up the process and slow things down. I’m just trying to help you, man. This sucks but I’m going to do whatever I can to help.”
“Thank you, I appreciate it. And what about her car? Any clues there?”
“No,” he shakes his head, “but we’ve got forensics on it. And we’ve got a guy coming to look at the other tire tracks out back too.”
“Did you get a hold of the owner of this house? She lives in Savannah’s apartment in the city. Maybe she went there. Maybe?—”
“Not yet,” he cuts me off. “We’ve got this. We’ll find her.” His hand lands on my shoulder, but I just nod and look toward the driveway.
We’ve been here all day and the sun has long since set, but the entire front yard of Mesa’s property is lit up with red and blue flashing lights. They were skeptical at first since she still hadn’t been missing for even a full day when I called in to file a missing person report. But after I checked the security camera again and found the old footage from before I checked it the first time had been scrubbed, it was enough evidence of foul play for them to come investigate the property.
As soon as Justin shakes my hand and then walks away to speak with a few other officers, I drag a hand down my face. I can’t make myself move from the spot on the front porch while waiting for Gage to get here, despite wanting to run off and scour every inch of this county while yelling her name.
“He’s here,” Heston says as he steps up behind me with Tripp on his left. They’ve been looking around for clues while I gave my statement to Justin.
My head snaps up to see Gage’s truck coming up the drive. He parks in a hurry next to a few cop cars, hops out, and jogs toward us.
“Did you get everything?” I ask.
