Ellie woke to a rag being pressed hard against her face and the familiar fumes invading her lungs. The world spun, and then she was out again. She had dreams of being carried away by a cool stream, the raft she floated on bobbing easily in its gentle wake. The water faded and she dreamt of home. Her mother, brother, and even Bentley. The feel and smell of her house comforted her and cradled her in a feeling of peace and warmth, safety and familiarity. Then it shifted again and she dreamt of blood.
Jaxon and Victoria searched the basement with her flashlight for thirty minutes and found nothing. It was barren. A chair, table, and Styrofoam cooler were all that remained of the missing Ellie. Apparently, she had gotten sick on the floor and Jaxon worried she was being tortured.
The urgency he felt ramped up a notch and his nerve endings felt fried. He was jittery and the headache that had followed him all day grew stronger, with white pinpoints of light invading the perimeter of his vision. He didn’t need a migraine now and he downed four more aspirin, dry, his acid stomach protesting but letting him keep it down.
“Who called you?” Victoria finally asked as they made their way back up the stairs.
Jaxon had completely forgotten about his phone vibrating while they entered the basement. He pulled out the phone and looked at the caller ID. It was a number he didn’t recognize and the icon for a voice mail blinked in the upper left corner.
“I got a voice mail,” he said and let it play out through the speaker.
“Mr. Jennings?” a young female voice said. “This is Deana Harrison. Luke’s sister. Can you please call me back. Luke has left the hospital and says he’s going to find Ellie. I’m scared! My parents are still in the hospital and we need your help. Call me back as soon as you get this.”
“Damn that kid!” Jaxon said. “This is all we need.”
“Call her back,” Victoria said. “Maybe he’s come to his senses and returned to the hospital.
Jaxon called and the phone was answered almost immediately. Deana told him what had happened and what she thought Luke was going to do.
“When did he leave,” Jaxon asked her.
“About eight hours ago.”
“And you’re just telling me this now?”
“I’m sorry,” she said and started to cry. “My mother tried to talk to him, but he wouldn’t listen. We didn’t know what to do.”
“Alright,” he said. “It’s alright. I’ll find him. We won’t let anything happen.”
She cried a little more and he reassured her they would get to him before he did anything stupid. She seemed to relax a little and he was finally able to get her off the phone so he could try and call the Harrison boy.
“How long has he been out?” Victoria asked.
“Eight hours.”
“Shit!”
“Yeah. Let me see if he’ll answer the number I have for him.”
He scrolled through his call log list and found the number, dialing it. It rang eight times and just when he was about to hang up, Luke answered it.
“Have you found her?!” Luke said, the excitement in his voice palpable through the connection.
“No,” Jaxon said. “And I don’t need you keeping me from my job.”
Luke was silent for a moment and then Jaxon could hear the disappointment and anger in his voice. “From what I hear, you don’t have a job.”
“That won’t keep me from finding her, but if you’re out there blundering around in the dark, it only makes my job harder. What the hell do you think you’re doing?”
“What you can’t,” Luke said and Jaxon winced.
“Don’t do this. I don’t have time to be protecting you while I hunt for her. Stay at home.”
“You can’t stop me. And I have the edge.”
“What are you talking about?”
“You couldn’t find him before,” Luke said, “but we did. And we’ll find him again.”
“Don’t be messing with this guy. You know what he’s capable of. Just about your whole family is in the hospital because of him. If you’re willing to risk your life and theirs, then by all means keep doing what you’re doing, but this man will hunt you down and take everything that means anything from you.”
“He already has.”
“Dammit Harrison! I’m warning you! Stay out of it!”
“Too late.”
“What are you talking about?”
“He’s already contacted me. We can track him.”
“Then give the information to me,” Jaxon said quickly. “Victoria and I can stop him. We have the whole DC Metro area police force behind us. Tell me where he is.”
Silence.
“Harrison?”
“I don’t know where he is yet. But I will soon.”
“Give me what you have then.”
“No. You botched it before, you’ll botch it again.”
Jaxon turned to Victoria looking for help. He was losing and didn’t know what to do. She signaled for the phone.
“Hold on,” Jaxon said and handed the phone to Victoria. She put it on speaker.
“Luke, this is Victoria. You can’t do this alone. You know that.”
“I have help.”
“Even if you do, you’re putting your friend’s lives at risk. Can you live with that? Think about what you’re asking of them. Is it worth their lives for you to stumble around blindly, anger this man, and get them killed?”
“They know what’s at stake. They’re with me.”
“I can tell you have your mind made up and I know what Ellie means to you. She means the world to me and I’m sorry we failed her. But we will not fail again. We will not let her die! Jaxon and I are willing to give up everything to save her. Let us do our job. If you won’t listen to reason, then at least let us work together.”
“You had your chance,” Luke said. “She’s where she is because of you two.”
“I don’t blame you for being angry, but don’t risk her life because you blame us. You do know that’s what you’re doing, right? You’re taking her life into your own hands. A kid from the suburbs of Virginia, putting his girlfriend’s life in his untrained hands because he has something to prove. If you know something that can save her, tell us what it is and let us save her.”
“You had your chance,” is all that came out of the speaker. “You had your chance. You failed.” And the line went dead.
Luke held the cell phone in a hand that shook. Jaxon and Victoria had gotten to him even if he had ultimately refused to help them. He was feeling unsure of his actions and his resolve felt weakened a bit. He stared out the window into the dark night and talked to her.
“Ellie-I don’t know what to do. I’m sorry! I miss you so much. Please-tell me what to do.”
He slammed his fist into the wall and hot tears burst from his eyes. Of course, no answer came to him and he stood staring into the black void beyond the window and let his sorrow overtake him. He heard someone come into the room and he got himself under control. Just then a musical chime played from somewhere in the house. Luke had never heard it before.
“Luke!” Jimmy yelled. “His phone just turned on!”