Joshua fought his way to consciousness. He felt himself being dragged across the damp grass next to the sidewalk. Unseen hands hoisted him and dumped into a contained space. He could see nothing, but he caught the scent of rubber and vague whiff of gasoline.I’m in the trunk of someone’s car!he thought. His hands had been tied behind his back, and though he thrashed and struggled to free himself, his movements only seemed to tighten whatever device bound his wrists.
He drew in a deep breath and screamed “HELP!” at the top of his lungs. His captor’s hand quickly slammed down onto his face, covering his mouth, silencing his cries, and a moment later a damp rag was shoved into his mouth, nearly suffocating him. He sucked in air through his nose, fighting with all his strength to remain conscious.
He felt his captor’s hands scrabbling over his body as if searching for something, then heard a low, male voice mumble, “Where’s the phone?”
He’s looking for my cell phone!Joshua thought. And through his panicked fear he felt his mind crystalize on this one fact.It’s in my jacket pocket,he thought.The inner pocket!Then he moaned in anguish.But…it’s turned off.
* * *
Colin– 8:03 p.m.
The clinic was dark when Colin arrived, and Joshua’s car was nowhere to be found. Colin rattled the clinic’s main door, his entire body tense with anger and fear, but the door would not give. Wheeling away, he ran to the window outside Joshua’s office. “Josh!” he called out again and again, pounding on the glass. “Josh!” He raised his fist to pound once again, then slowly lowered it. It was futile: Joshua was not here.
He got back in his car and raced toward home. Maybe Joshua had arrived while he was gone. As he drove, he thumbed David’s number. “Davy! Have you heard from Josh?”
“No,” David said. “Jesus, Colin, you sound frantic. What’s wrong?”
“He didn’t come home from work! I can’t get an answer on his phones, and he didn’t reach out to me at all! David, something’swrong!”
“Colin, take a breath. You can’t drive while you’re this upset. Come to my house!”
“No! I’m heading home to see if he’s there. God, David, I don’t know what I’ll do if he’s not.”
“What about that jackass who threatened him?”
“If he’s not at home when I get there, my next stop is campus police. I’ll take one of them with me to Alensworth’s house. I’m not going alone.”
“Colin, call me the minute he gets home. I need to know.”
“I will. Where’s Nate?”
“He has rehearsal tonight. Colin, did you hear me? Call me the minute Josh gets home!”
“I will,” Colin promised, then he threw the phone onto the passenger seat.
“Oh god,” Colin moaned, feeling fear sweep through his veins like a thick river of dark sludge. “Oh god, Josh, if anything’s happened to you...” His voice trailed off, unable to speak the unthinkable, and he felt the dull agony of his terror expanding, consuming him.
The drive home seemed to take hours. As he pulled up at their house the lights from his car illuminated the driveway, and he gnashed his teeth when he saw that Joshua’s car was still not there. He called Joshua’s phones again as he strode toward the house: no answer.
“That’s it!” Colin blurted out as he entered their home and sank onto the couch. “I’m not waiting any longer!” He dialed the campus police station. “Ray!” he said, recognizing the voice of the desk sergeant who answered. “Listen! I need your help. Josh is missing! I can’t find him anywhere! Have there been any accidents reported? Any suspicious activity? Anything?”
“Hang on, Colin. Let me check. A few guys from last shift are still here. I’ll ask them too. Hang on.” Colin stared down at the floor clutching his phone with white-knuckled fingers until Ray returned.
“Colin, there’s been nothing. Nothing at all. I’m going to check with city police. Why don’t you call University Hospital? Maybe they’ll know something.”
“I will. But once I do that, I’m coming there. I want someone to go with me to check out that bastard who threatened Josh last month.”
“We’ll have a team standing by to go with you, Colin. No sweat. But we’ll probably need a court order.”
“I’ll take care of that,” Colin said. He quickly called the hospital, but there had been no emergencies or unusual admittances in the past few hours. He glanced at their mantel clock: It read eight-fifty.
Feeling his heart slamming against his chest he pressed the number for the judge he knew and liked best, Anthony Robinson. “Your honor,” he blurted out, “It’s ACA Campbell. I’m sorry to call so late, but my husband is missing and I need an emergency court order so we can search the premises of the guy who threatened him last month.”
“The one you got the restraining order against…what was his name, Alensworth?”
“Yes, sir. Please, Your Honor.”
“Well, I’d say that his previous behavior constitutes probable cause. OK, Colin. I’ll call it in. Where will you be?”
